I had a brief conversation with Ceres’ Interim Police Chief Trenton Johnson who I’ve known for decades. I came away more impressed with his commitment to Ceres and whipping the Ceres Police Department into shape. As an agency, Ceres Police is facing a real challenge keeping officers. Like many small cities with tight budgets, Ceres is losing its officers to other agencies that pay better and currently is short 13 officers!

These are sad times for local government. Why the state bureaucracy is allowed to keep the vast majority of sales and property taxes and then piddle it away on unnecessary things needs to be addressed. Meanwhile, local governments continue struggling to come up with the funds to pay for basic police and fire services. By the way, about 80 percent of a city’s general fund goes to public safety.

* * * * *

I had a completely unexpected conversation with Kevin, owner of My Garden Café. I had breakfast to one of his restaurants as he was helping workers to fix the front door. As I was leaving he asked how the food was, to which I honestly said I really liked it. I asked if he was the owner and he told me that he was. Our handshake was the beginning of a long conversation in which I told him I admired anyone who had the courage to start a business in business-unfriendly California.

That was like spinning a top. He began recounting how it cost $500,000 to do an environmental cleanup of the ground behind the Coffee Road building he had prepared for his new restaurant. He told me that at a 5 percent profit margin, it would take 10 years to just break even on his new venture.

I asked why he would continue under such an unfriendly environment and he said it was because of his employees who have been good to him.

Our conversation touched on the high cost of living in California, especially energy costs. He launched into his feelings that PG&E is allowed to charge too much for natural gas and electricity so they could pay for the fires they cost. His energy costs are double at his Ripon restaurant due to PG&E’s exorbitant rates than the Modesto restaurants served by MID. That led to talks about fires and mismanagement of forests and our mutual contempt for that contemptable politician Gavin Newsom. He noted how Newsom approved a $20 minimum-wage for fast-food workers yet his restaurant minimum-wage is $16.50 an hour.

We need to support our small restaurants the best we can – and reward the ones who do their best to provide quality products at reasonable costs. It’s gotten to the point that you can eat unhealthy fast food for about the same cost as a nice meal at a sit-down restaurant.

* * * * *

Things have been tough for the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department in the past month.

The department was reeling after Deputy Daniel Hutsell killed his wife Dinella Hutsell Madrigal and then himself in Hughson. Then came the shocking report that another deputy, Israel Morales, a 30-year-old resident of Hughson, was arrested and charged with two felony counts of forced oral copulation by a public official involving two adult female victims; one felony count of oral copulation by force involving an adult female; one felony count of forced oral copulation during the commission of an aggravated kidnapping; one felony count of aggravated kidnapping involving one adult female; and multiple counts of solicitation of prostitution.

It’s always tragic when a lawless officer gives his entire profession a black eye and erodes the public’s confidence in those who are held to a higher standard.

Sheriff Jeff Dirkse was quick to release this statement: “I am deeply troubled and outraged by Morales’s actions and condemn the behaviors described in this case. Such conduct is reprehensible, criminal, and a violation of the public’s trust. It is completely contrary to the mission, values, and standards that every member of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office is sworn to uphold. The actions of one individual do not, and will not, define the character or integrity of our organization or the dedicated men and women who serve our community each day with honor and professionalism.

“Transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of the Sheriff’s Office. With that, let me be clear: any criminal actions by a law enforcement official, including members of this department, should be held to the same standard as any citizen.

“The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office will continue to serve with integrity, transparency, and respect for every member of our community.”

Dirkse deserves praise for going full board public and condemn such criminal behavior.

There are rigorous standards to meet before anyone is allowed to become an officer. The reality remains, however, that police officers are human beings with their own standards and demons. When they fail their fall is magnified.

In an age when it’s more difficult to find people to fill law enforcement jobs, we must rethink how we make sure those who have been hired don’t go down the sad wrong and criminal path.

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A high school English teacher has gone viral after she posted a TikTok rant to say after three years in her profession, she’s done. She said most kids aren’t serious about their education and she warns about technology and AI ruining them for good.

Maria F. Hannah said lots of kids can’t read because they are being read to instead of reading to others. She said: “I just don’t think that these kids even care. They don’t care about making a difference in the world. They don’t care about how to write a resume. They just have these devices in their hands that they think will get them through the rest of their life. They don’t know how to write a cover letter because ChatGPT will do it for them and I think we need to cut off technology from these kids probably until they go to college.”

Specifically she told Fox News that at times when she asked students to write five sentences to answer a question and “a lot of times it would be about two-and-half sentences and they would say, ‘Well, I can’t think of anything else to say,’ or ‘Why do I have to answer in complete sentences, like you get the point from what I’m saying in just those little sentences?’”

She also has noticed a trend of well-written essays coming from kids who previously have lacked those skills – which is a sure sign they are dishonestly have artificial intelligence produce them. The end result will be adults who can’t think or problem solve or use their faculties in productive ways.

It’s fostering laziness in kids that will only results in laziness in adults which will affect the quality of the workforce and the quality of our society. 

Jun Zhao, a mathematician and computer scientist, expressed the same concerns, saying that Hannah “spoke openly about the reality we witness every day in our classrooms: shortened attention spans, brains that crave constant stimulation from social media reels, over-reliance on AI tools to solve problems, and – perhaps most concerning of all – a growing inability to learn deeply and independently.”

But Zhao goes further, asking, “Are electronic devices really the only problem in education today? And is quitting the only way forward when frustration mounts?”

He said that banning cell phones from the classroom is a move in the right direction but noted that’s like plugging a leak on a sinking ship with chewing gum. Until we address the deeper cultural and institutional issues, progress will be minimal.”

Zhao suggests parents need to get more involved, and I would agree. He also faults school leadership teams that care more about “ticking boxes than igniting curiosity.” Even bigger is the problem of the influence of media on our culture. He puts it succinctly when he writes; ‘As long as our society continues to celebrate influencers over intellect, celebrity over substance, we will be fighting a war with blunt weapons.”

* * * * *

Is college the way to go? Maybe and maybe not, depending on what you want to do.

A lot of college grads are ending up disappointed that their degrees didn’t get them that high paying job.

Oxford Economics shows that unemployed recent college grads account for 12% of an 85% rise in the national unemployment rate since mid-2023. That’s a high number, given that this cohort only makes up 5% of the total labor force. 

Why is this happening? The increase in the recent graduate jobless rate is mostly due to an oversupply of recent graduates in fields where business demand has waned, particularly in the tech industry. Keep in mind there are more college students graduate with degrees in computer science and related fields than any other major. Things may only get worse with advancing AI.

Lots of blue collar trades are allowing those who want to earn great money – six figures. But most young people don’t want to work hard or have even have nailed the concept of a strong work ethic.

TV personality and author Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” believes there is a warped understanding of how the job market works right now. He suggests that a tight labor market is allowing for additional accommodations because people are not “lining up” to do the work needed.

“We’ve got a huge labor shortage and the push to get to the AI thing over the finish line. That means data centers. We’ve got to train people to build these data centers.”

* * * * *

When I was a kid my parents took me and my brothers on the road trip of my life. We spent an entire month traveling in a car and staying with family or nights in a motel. We started out in Stanislaus County and ended up in Washington, D.C. and back. I learned so much of our nation!

Being a kid who had a passion to study the presidents, one of the highlights was stopping in Independence, Mo., to see the famous house on Delaware Street where Harry and Bess Truman lived in retirement.

It was 1975 and Harry had been dead for over three years. Behind the wrought iron fence and gate, we sensed that Bess was at home since she rarely went anywhere and the lights were on.

In 2009 I was able to tour the home, led by a park ranger. I was struck by the simplicity of the kitchen. It was no fancier than my grandmother’s kitchen. The appliances were far from fancy. The linoleum that Bess had patched instead of replacing was still in place.

Harry Truman was never a millionaire. In fact the house wasn’t even his; Bess inherited it from her parents.

When he retired from office in 1953, he had no presidential pension and his income was a U.S. Army pension of $112.56 per month. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an allowance and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower’s inauguration, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves with no Secret Service protection. 

Corporations licked their chops to add him on as CEO. A Florida real-estate developer invited Harry to become chairman, officer, or stockholder, at a figure of not less than $100,000. He declined, stating later that “I knew that they were not interested in hiring Harry Truman, the person, but what they wanted to hire was the former president of the United States. I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable, that would commercialize on the prestige and the dignity of the office of the presidency.”

What a far cry from today’s self-serving politicians who charge hundreds of thousands for speeches. The cost of providing protection for ex-presidents and their families is estimated to cost taxpayers $20 million a year.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to see a return to the days when public servants refused to use taxpayer money? For a high ranking official to say, no thanks, I’ll pay my own way, would not only be refreshing but would lower the tax debt on Americans. 

It’s not just presidents who take advantage. All areas of government need to curb spending. City halls need to quit waste and school districts need to stop catering lunches for special occasions.

It is the people’s money!

This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation.  How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com