Fentanyl bust, scooters in Modesto and white supremacy in Stanislaus County
Thumbs up for the big fentanyl bust pulled off Thursday by Stanislaus County deputy sheriffs and federal DEA agents. They were able to seize nine guns, money and a bunch of illegal drugs, including 18 pounds of fentanyl powder and 29,850 pills laced with fentanyl, called M30s on the street.
Removing all that from our community surely saved some lives.
Writing recently about a spike in local deaths from illicit drugs, mostly attributed to fentanyl, was a sobering eye-opener to me. I’m beyond appreciative of the parents of some young men lost to this undiscriminating killer, for sharing their heart-breaking stories. We hope their words helped boost awareness, even as deputies focused on this scourge with a 13-month investigation.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s office has earned a pat on the back as well. DA Birgit Fladager told me she was considering stiffer charges for those who knowingly sell illegal fentanyl to people who end up dead, and less than two weeks later she did exactly that. Now the guy who allegedly provided a deadly pill to one of the victims in my column will be prosecuted for murder.
Don’t gouge Modesto scooter riders
Is anyone else amused at the thought of electric scooter rentals around Modesto? Having used them in other cities, I can tell you they’re relatively quick to rent with a smartphone app, easy to operate and a blast to ride.
I’m not sure demand is high enough here, however, to justify an entire fleet. And as much as we love Modesto, it doesn’t have endless sights to see. But my biggest concern is cost; $1 to unlock a scooter and 30 cents a minute to ride adds up faster than you think. If they don’t make scooters reasonable enough to ride, they won’t get many repeat customers.
Something in the water
I made a mistake in a Dec. 5 column by saying treated river water is mixed with groundwater and sent to taps of all Modesto water customers. They include the communities of Salida, Empire, Grayson, Del Rio and parts of Ceres and Turlock, so I assumed they all drink at least some Tuolumne River water, which we get from melted snowpack.
It turns out that only people in Modesto, Salida and Empire get the mixture. Grayson, Del Rio and parts of Ceres and Turlock are indeed Modesto water customers, but they have their own groundwater sources, so I was all wet about them and I stand corrected.
Creating a monster
Lastly, a few thoughtful people called me out for a column I wrote about Oakdale white supremacist Nathan Damigo, who was among those recently found civilly liable for all the hurt caused by the deadly 2017 Unite the Right riot in Charlottesville, Va.
My optimistic headline read: “White nationalist Damigo may have lived among us, but he sure wasn’t one of us.”
But Damigo is not alone in his bigotry, some readers responded, and surely there are more like him. Here.
“He did not come out of nowhere,” read one email that touched on unconscious bias, and neutrality when racism is on display. “If we don’t want him to represent us, then we need to be aware of that. ... A segment of our population in different degrees created him, either by turning a blind eye or by saying, `He is not one of us because we are different.’ But part (of him) is still here, and accepting that truth is the first stage in recovery.”
Point taken.
