Quote of the Week
“It’s always kind of been that way, but now it’s really like, ‘Where the hell can we go?’ It’s illegal to be on public property. It’s illegal to be on private property.”
-Rabbit, an unhoused man in Fresno commenting on looming new laws aimed at eliminating encampments.
This Week in Fresnoland
Nowhere to go
With the city and county anti-encampment ordinances expected to begin enforcement in just a few days, Fresno’s homeless community will be forced to contend with a question they wish they had an answer to.
“It’s always kind of been that way, but now it’s really like, ‘Where the hell can we go?’” one encampment resident told Fresnoland reporters Pablo Orihuela and Omar Rashad. “It’s illegal to be on public property. It’s illegal to be on private property.”
Omar and Pablo wrote about the before and after of an encampment scheduled to be swept by the City of Fresno. Speaking with encampment residents, as well as neighboring homeowners, they reported on what concerns folks had before the clearing, why it can be so hard to keep an encampment cleared for long, why finding shelter in the city can be difficult and what happens next.
Too many liquor stores in Fresno?
A convenience store in Fresno got its alcohol license back, despite some objections over the store’s proximity to a school, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reported.
The Fresno City Council voted Thursday to grant an alcohol license for Circle “D” Food & Liquor store on the southeast corner of North Fresno Street and East Olive Avenue.
The store had previously operated with a license for over 20 years, city leaders shared, but a fire forced the store owners to rebuild and start the license application process over again.
Council’s discussion renewed debate surrounding the city’s Responsible Neighborhood Market Act, adopted in October 2020.
“I would not normally advocate for granting an additional license in the district or, really, within the city,” said Councilmember Nelson Esparza, whose district includes the store, “this one that existed long before the fire – probably 20-plus years.”
Celebrating Fresno artists
Gallery 25 recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, Fresnoland’s Charlotte Burks reported.
Founded on the idea that everyone — and especially underrepresented people — should have a place to display their art, Gallery 25 began as a female-only gallery with ties to the Fresno State Feminist Art Program.
“I wanted my students to know how to pitch their artwork to galleries,” said Joyce Aiken, former president of the Fresno Arts Council and Fresno State professor emeritus. Aiken picked up the Feminist Art Program once Judy Chicago departed Fresno State for CalArts, and began Gallery 25 in 1974.
“I wasn’t really wanting to do it,” Aiken said, “but I realized that it’s a program that was very iffy with the administration, and unless someone with a tenure position took it over it probably would have been eliminated.”
Dirty water
In the San Joaquin Valley, the state is coming up short to deliver on safe drinking water as a human right.
Over 735,000 residents, primarily in rural Latino farm communities, still lack access to clean water, CalMatters’ Rachel Becker reports. Pervasive contaminants like arsenic, nitrate, and 1,2,3-TCP plague hundreds of failing water systems. While state funding has helped some communities address the issue, many others have waited years for solutions.
Residents resort to bottled water and face financial burdens, Becker found. Safe drinking water for all Californians is estimated to cost $16 billion, but only $3.5 billion is available in grants and loans. State regulators are pushing for long-term fixes, but progress remains slow, leaving vulnerable communities to bear the brunt of this chronic problem.
Valley Children’s Hospital looks to settle wage lawsuit
Valley Children’s Hospital hopes to settle a class action lawsuit over unpaid wages that nurses launched in 2022 but the attorney representing a nurse who sued the hospital for wage theft more recently says the proposed settlement falls well short of what the nonprofit hospital really owes, The Fresno Bee reported.
The lawsuit filed in 2022 by two nurses accuses the Madera-based hospital of labor code violations, including failing to pay all wages and overtime wages, missed meal and rest breaks, and a failure to reimburse expenses, among other items.
“Although Valley Children’s Hospital strongly denies all allegations in the Westfall lawsuit, we’ve agreed to a settlement so we and our employees can focus on providing high-quality healthcare to our patients and our community, rather than on litigation. The court has preliminarily approved the settlement,” the hospital said in an email to The Bee. “A duplicate lawsuit, known as the Ferreria matter, similarly is without merit.”
Outside the Lines
Fresno State will be part of an effort to rebuild the Pac-12, which was reduced to two teams — Oregon State and Washington State — a year ago in a “whirlwind of realignment,” The Fresno Bee’s Robert Kuwada reported. Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State start play in the conference in 2026.
Fresno police are seeking the public’s help identifying a man caught on camera last month attacking a 47-year-old unhoused man sleeping on a Tower District sidewalk, ABC30 reported. The victim was sleeping on Olive Avenue, near Van Ness Avenue, when he was kicked in the head by an unidentified attacker around 2 a.m. Aug. 26. Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call the Fresno Police Department. Callers may also remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867.
Santa Cruz city leaders approved a new law this week in connection with a recent controversy involving the Hanford Police Department, KVPR reported. The new city ordinance makes it a crime to drop off unhoused residents in the city without first coordinating with Santa Cruz leaders. The issue emerged earlier this year when Hanford police officers dropped off an unhoused woman at a Santa Cruz shelter.
Block Beat
SOUTHWEST: The public is invited to Wednesdays on the West for an evening of “pottery and community.” Hosted by the Alley in the Valley, the event features live demonstrations of wheel-throwing and hand-building from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Edison High School. More information
DOWNTOWN: Fulton Street Coffee is apparently closed permanently, according to a social media post that also teases a “new project at 2011 Tuolumne COMING SOON!” The popular coffee shop has shuttered before amid disputes between employees and owners, The Fresno Bee previously reported.
FRESNO STATE: The university plans to build student housing for the first time in more than five decades. The university announced Friday plans for a $59 million 228-unit apartment-style complex near existing residence halls that could be ready for students as soon as next fall. The campus will have about 1,500 beds across 10 buildings. KVPR
CENTRAL WEST: The JSK Farmer’s Market returns from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 28 at Jaswant Singh Khalra Neighborhood Park at North Brawley and West Clinton Avenues. More information
RIVER PARK: Plans for a second Sam’s Deli location in Fresno have been delayed following an announcement that Sierra Nut House will remain at its current Fresno location in the Villaggio Shopping Center through 2025. Fresno Business Journal
Around Town
Fresno residents are invited to Fiestas Patrias 2024 beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, with a parade followed at 12:30 p.m. by a festival on Fulton Street.
The City of Fresno will host a short series of open house discussions about the future of west Fresno neighborhoods “ four reimagined community centers.” The first meeting is set for 5 to 8 p.m. at the Sunset Community Center. More information
