
MENDOTA,CA---Wanda Leung, oner of Lucky Restaurant, sits in her empty restaurant shortly after 3 P.M. on April 21, 2010. Leung said that the poor economy has adversely affected the patronage at her restaurant. The unemployment rate of Mendota hovers around 41 percent. The ag-based economy of Mendota has been hit hard by lack of water deliveries to farmers as part of California's water crisis. A new prison, the Mendota Federal Correctional Institution, is nearing completion of construction that began in September of 2006. The medium-security prison will employ approximately 350 workers. It is hoped by many in Mendota that there will be economic benefits associated with the prison.