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Theres not much left over, he says. The partner kept the Cutie name but only after paying the Resnicks tens of millions of dollars. Vidovich went home with $74 million in his pocket. He was dressed in the latest slim-fit style. He doesnt know about the pipeline. Now, hes involved in a project that could set him up as a water marketer on an extreme scale. It is flowing to a place of dire thirst. Theres a lot happening in the world. If I follow them north through Resnick pomegranates, I can find out where the water is coming from. FAMILY OFFICE MARKETPLACE. Vicente Fernndez, the king of Ranchera music, is crooning to no one, but it wont be this way in 30 minutes, Hussein tells me. How much water are we talking about?, Id rather not get too specific. Well still make money.. The hospital, senior citizens center, and football stadium all bore the signature of his giving. He leveled its hog wallows, denuded its salt brush, and killed the last of its mustang, antelope, and tule elk. He sold a chunk of land to the builders of Sunnyvale and decided he could develop the rest himself. Kings County Supervisor Joe Neves, whose district would contain the proposed feedlot and slaughterhouse, suggests that the process for approval is just beginning. For the promotions of the upcoming Keanu Reeves movie the makers are revealing exclusive posters for the feature made by handpicked artists around the world. Stewart was the second of their four children, the only boy. He guides me back into the main store with its displays of fresh fruit and vegetables, meats, cold cuts, and baked goods. It was Lynda who teamed up with the USDA to develop 21 new single-family homes and 60 new townhouses on a couple of acres of almonds that Wonderful tore out. Theres a section stacked with weights and a yoga room with mats on a hardwood floor. Its a $500 million project, of which Semitropic is hoping to get $250 million from Proposition 1 funding. Vidovich says he uses that Angiola groundwater to farm in Dudley Ridge, so the groundwater isnt leaving its home basin. He turns out to be a kindly religious man whose short hair is dyed the black of shoe polish. To top it off, the greedy SOB (farmers rarely uttered Vidovichs name) intended to keep his 7,000 acres of nut trees in Dudley Ridge. Only after the media were alerted did Stewart and Lynda claim to have discovered the clear-cutting. Floodwater is considered a nuisance, a menace even. This hasnt convinced the people of Lost Hills, however. The parents of Vidovi and Mohat were featured in a documentary film titled Mentor, which premiered on December 9, 2014. Want to book a hotel in California? Everyone knew where it was going. Laton Lions Club shows off at popular annual rodeo and parade held April 1-3, City officials say developer says he will not pursue a controversial 12,600-cow feedlot outside city's boundaries, City of Lemoore officials cite serious concerns about proposed cattle feedlot, Lemoore Council likely to respond to proposed feedlot near Lemoore and college, Photo Gallery: NAS Lemoore aviators conduct change of command while in the air, Naval Air Station Lemoore to get new Carrier Air Wing commander in December. Somehow, it made its way to Lynda. It was the early 1900s, and his grandfather and grandmother decided to secure passage to America. The 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno has overturned a $73.4 million verdict against McCarthy Family Farms and Bay Area developer John Vidovich and Sandridge Partners involving a land and. In December, Vidovich filed an application with the Kings County Planning Department for a slaughterhouse and a feedlot for up to 12,500 animals. No stranger enters this zone unless its to get rid of a body or dump waste from cooking meth or drown a hot car. So beginning in the 1940s, Kern farmers went out and grabbed a share of not one distant river but two: the San Joaquin to the north and the Sacramento to the north of that. One hundred and twenty thousand acres of nuts and fruits and berries in California and still counting. At age 81, hes gotten so big, he doesnt know how big. All but a handful come from Mexico. I saw horrible things, Margarita says. Central Californias family raisin farms are drying up, Commercial bees, the unsung heroes of the nut business, Drought has California farms destroying crops, rather than pay for water, A California farm battles drought: Were out here trying to survive, Farm country frets over impact of John Deere strike, Inside the trial of Theranos Elizabeth Holmes, Californias drought takes a toll on the states clothing manufacturers, Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. He was going to Vegas, hanging out with his own Damon Runyon characters, and making plans to get even bigger. Through the haze I can see the knoll of the aqueduct come closer. More than one ballad was about the valley, so he came to Fresno. Or at least thats the way Vidovich puts it when I finally reach him. Today is quincena day, twice-a-month payday, and he needs me to scram because the workers coming in to cash their checks and wire 25 percent back across the border to families in Guanajuato and Guerrero will wonder if Im with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Olson did not indicate what the response might say. Everything but the turkey had come from his orchards. One of the first things he did with his monopoly was kill the California Pistachio Commission, the industrys marketing group, by yanking his funding. He paid em three times what anyone else wouldve for their land and now theyre all gettin water because of his policies, Page said. Down a rutted road, 100 trailers with foundations dressed in plywood back up against an orchard. It takes a lot of work to get ahead. She and Manuel were able to buy their trailer several years ago. The wildfires cant be far behind. Or at least this is what I can glean through the car window. Somehow, 30 or 40 nuts arent compelled to drop. By then, Wonderful, if it still exists, will be a portfolio run by men even farther away than Beverly Hills. (See sidebar online.). Unlike the almond, the pistachio is moist and combustible. Lucky for her that the young man was kind. Read our full comments policy: losaltosonline.com/comments, $5.00 As a consequence, the farmland here, nearly 100,000 acres planted in permanent crops, is completely reliant on the governments supply of mountain water. But he did pass and was admitted to the bar in 1980 at the age of 24. Russo and Ellsberg needed a place to photocopy the 7,000 pages, and Lynda volunteered the Xerox machine at her ad agency on Melrose Avenue. Its not the fidget of boredom. As you know, our philosophy at Wonderful is doing well by doing good. Their concern is where Vidovich is taking the groundwater. If this were any other part of Kern, the farmers would be reaching into the earth to make up the difference. I feel his gaze going past me, his voice turning oddly sentimental. Who anticipates that you cant fill a water bank for six or seven years?, Come on, I say. It was kind of a crutch in case I flunked, he said. Theres no waiting around. For the bright kids who have no interest in a bachelors degree, she has designed the Wonderful Agriculture Prep Program to serve an additional 1,000 students. My father, born in a vineyard outside Fresno, was a raisin grower before he became a bar owner. During the drought, the Boswell Company has drilled 52 holes into the old lake bottomseven of these wells reaching a depth of 2,500 feet. He studied the situation. In the years of plentiful rains and heavy snowmelt, the bank fills up with more than 1 million acre-feet of stored water. I find a former partner of Resnick. Many are here without documents, after all. When Lynda learned that half the students receiving thousands of dollars in company scholarships were dropping out of school, she wasnt deterred. And, importantly, Angiola promised not to take the groundwater outside of Tulare or Kings counties or allow any of its landowners to do so. Days Inn or Motel 6. But that money enabled me to go into Angiola (a water district in Tulare County) and have other water sources.. No way, according to Vidovich and his longtime associates. When I crossed the border and found Lost Hills, there was nothing here, he says. John Vidovich will tell you hes the interloper who came over the other mountain, the Coast Range. The price for pistachios has climbed from $4.50 a pound to an unbelievable $5.25 a pound. What kind of place is this? On the way out of the market, Pablo buys a case of Pacifico. He explains that Wonderful has grown too big to hassle such precision. Lynda isnt just writing checks, Donoso told me. The William Saroyan Theatre was packed that October 1996 night. A woman named Lupe is standing above me on the wooden stairway that climbs to the front door of her trailer. Antioxidants that delivered 32 grams of sugar in each serving didnt come cheap: $11 a bottle. "Even with the subsidy, I think cotton is a losing battle," he said, predicting that the commodity would increasingly come from China. Or is he just the newest water baron on the block? More recently, he filed a voter initiative in 2016 to allow a 48-foot-tall hotel after the Cupertino City Council shot down a De Anza proposal for building a 105-foot-tall hotel in the western Santa Clara Valley town. It takes a life every six seconds. Stephen Vidovich retired but kept a watchful eye on the company, getting daily reports and giving advice, John Vidovich told the San Jose Mercury News after his fathers death. Before he died at age 86, J.G. On the whiteboard in front of the weights, the big boys list their totals. The feedback were hearing is No. In fact, some of the workers think that we havent gone far enough., The workers arent around for a quick survey. And its even worse for the children in Kings County. If he sticks even a toe onto her turf, says a former business partner, she gives him a look that sends him right back.. So do the Israelis, who go to the trouble of repackaging the nuts so it doesnt appear that theyre consuming the product of an enemy. He became more involved with De Anza, working with his dad, whom he describes as bigger than life.. Theres a lot of people who dont like me, he said after his fathers death. I take a last bite of cauliflower rice. We can surely help you find the best one according to your needs. Coke, Gatorade, and Monster Energy are sky-high in sweeteners, but dont be fooled by that SunnyD, either. He guides me to the caf, and we grab our lunches from the buffet. Big fish eat the small fish here. If you already have a subscription, log in or register for an account on our website to continue reading.Click here if youre having trouble accessing your subscriber account. Sports and playground activities are prohibited at the beach, picnic areas are closed, and masks must be worn by all visitors. Amy Scott: Theres a stunning aerial photo in the magazine that shows these green green trees surrounded basically by dust. I pull over into the dirt of a pomegranate orchard, the ancient fruit that the Resnicks have turned into POMWonderful, the sweet purple juice inside a swell-upon-swell bottle. The suit alleges that then-Fire Marshal John Vidovich implemented an "Operation Catch-up" program in which he used untrained and inexperienced inspectors to perform duties after media reports that the LAFD had thousands of overdue inspections. He makes $10.75 an hour. This is where the pistachios, 400 truckloads a day, 50 days of harvest, come to be weighed, washed, peeled, dried, gassed, sorted, salted, roasted, packaged, and shipped out to the world. Like the wheat barons of the 1870s who lived on San Franciscos Nob Hill, Resnick isnt of this place. Lupe says no one in her family, and none of her friends living in the trailer park or on the other side of town, drinks the water that comes out of the pipe. The cost of loneliness: Social isolation holds back workers and costs employers billions, Businesses and consumers are borrowing more, despite rising interest rates, Why a Guarneri violin is expected to fetch $10 million at auction. But nobody didnt like my dad.. Lynda has a son who works as a musician and a son who suffered a birth trauma and lives in a care facility. There was a majordomo of the house, a butler, a chef, a sous-chef, three housekeepers, a limo driver, and a trio of assistants who worked in the basement, juggling Lyndas calendar and the buying, wrapping, and shipping of gifts she handed out to her Rolodex of highfalutin people. Stewart had made it clear that Lynda would not be joining us. The type of transaction is also recorded such as cash entry, credit entry, homesteads, patents (deeds . Month after month, she made ends meet on a $1,600 budget. Posted on August 6, 2018 Bakersfield Californian. I dont know. Me, Im a carpetbagger from Beverly Hills. Low 42F. Whether he realizes it, hes part of the biggest pistachio harvest in history. On one side of the road and the other, for miles in both directions, the dirt belongs to Wonderful. So so sleepy, says another. Who knows when a five-year drought is coming? The compass in my car says Im headed east, but that means almost nothing inside a province of 15 million trees. Bernard, whats happened? In Lost Hills, they call her Lady Lynda. She shows up in high fashion and stands in the dust and tells them about another charter school or affordable-housing project she is bringing to them. I study the terrain. Eat a corn tortilla instead, she urges. See Also: Stew Recipes, Spanish Recipes Show details. They were actually harvesting record crops. In the city of trees, I find a paved road with speed bumps that takes me to the harvest of pistachios. Each face wears its own weary. Theyre no longer in danger. To grow, Big Ag needed a bigger and more dependable supply. This is gamblers ground unlike any other in California, and as I drive from hill to dale, examining each orchard, my head spins. ", "I don't know why the county can't work with Sandridge (Vidovich's company) and suggest other locations because it's going to cause the county significant issues in terms of air quality Kings County doesn't have the best," said Gornick. When your current subscription expires later this year, you will be able to renew at losaltosonline.com/users/admin/service/purchase. But inside he had these weaknesses. However, Vidovich has been somewhat of a welcome presence to some in Kings County. Vidovich, he said, is just the new water baron on the block, thats all. My grandfather lost the farm to vine hoppers is the story he told.