Quote of the Week
“This is Soul Housing’s fault. They’ve known for a long enough period that their contract was being terminated. They continued operations and then decided at the eleventh hour that they were going to make it somebody else’s problem.”
— Katie Wilbur, executive director at RH Community Builders, on the sudden closure of a Fresno shelter for homeless and medically fragile individuals
This Week in Fresnoland
Medical shelter tenants remain housed as Fresno groups step in
The abrupt departure this week of a Los Angeles-based care provider “shocked” Fresno City Hall and left local groups clambering to pick up the pieces and dozens of people without jobs.
Michelle Hernandez was among the employees abruptly laid off this week. She told Fresnoland that supervisors had repeatedly brushed off lay off “rumors.”
In a story first reported by Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela this week, Fresno’s RH Community Builders scrambled to take over a medical-related shelter on Blackstone after the provider, Soul Housing, abruptly laid off its staff in Fresno. LAist reported that many of Soul Housing’s LA-based facilities also expected to discharge hundreds of people this week.
Company officials have not commented on the number of people who lost their jobs in Fresno this week, but more than 120 former employees attended an emergency job-hiring session RH hosted this week. Only five open positions were available.
Fresno Unified test scores inch closer to pre-pandemic levels
Fresno Unified got both good news and bad news with the arrival of this year’s state math and reading test scores, Fresnoland’s Diego Vargas reported.
The good news is their students saw incremental improvements on math and reading, approaching pre-pandemic levels; the bad news is those scores remain well below the state average.
Overall, just over 37% of students scored at or above grade level on the English Language Arts test, while a little over 27% of students were proficient at math. That represented a 2.39% gain from last year on the English test and a 2.01% gain on math.
But on average across the state, closer to half — or 48.81% — of students demonstrated proficiency in reading and 37.3% at math.
The gerrymandering ballot landed in Fresno this week
Fresno voters got their first look at next month’s special election ballot to gerrymander California for the Democratic Party as a counter to GOP gerrymandering in conservative states ahead of the 2026 midterm election, Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver reported.
Ballots for the state’s special Nov. 4 election on Proposition 50, dubbed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as the “Election Rigging Response Act,” landed in mailboxes this week.
Prop. 50 would further carve Fresno County, currently split between four congressional districts, into six districts, with some Central Valley district boundaries stretching into the Bay Area.
If approved, the new map would also likely flip five of the nine Republican-controlled districts into the blue column, further eroding conservative voices in the Democrat-dominated state.
Newsom’s effort to further weaken California’s handful of conservative-leaning communities comes in response to President Donald Trump’s demands to gerrymander GOP-strongholds, like Texas, in an effort to avoid expected mid-term election losses that Republicans fear could cost them control of the House of Representatives.
Fresno-area residents waiting on transnational repression bill
Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sunday to sign or veto a new bill that many Fresno-area and Central Valley residents say is needed to protect the Sikh community and others from persecution, state-sponsored harassment and violence.
Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina has been watching for the governor’s signature, but it remains unclear what — if anything — Newsom intends to do with the proposal that has failed to get his support in the past.
Merced’s Democratic state senator, Anna Caballero, introduced the bill that would beef up training and education for law enforcement agencies to recognize and combat transnational repression.
Two prominent Sikh leaders have said they believed an October 2023 meeting with top Fresno city leaders felt like an act of transnational repression.
Local church leaders and advocates weigh in on mandatory reporting procedures
As survivors of sexual abuse fight for justice in Fresno and beyond, local advocates say there’s a need for clear, consistent accountability measures through mandatory reporting laws, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reported.
Mandatory reporting laws require certain people in positions of power to notify authorities of suspected child abuse. That includes clergy and church employees in California.
But how churches implement these protocols vary widely across different denominations.
Gisselle spoke with pastors at multiple parishes around town about their own protocols, as well as the leader of a local organization called the Central Valley Justice Coalition that offers training to churches on mandatory reporting requirements.
Outside the Lines
This week, Danielle and Jordan speak with Fresnoland Senior Editor Rob Parsons for a wide-ranging news roundup on the biggest issues shaping Fresno and the Central Valley. Topics range from the fierce debate over Proposition 50 and its implications for redistricting to the chilling rise in ICE activity locally. Fresnolandia
More than 200 people gathered in Fresno this week to unpack a recent report that shows the city’s economic mobility has improved for communities of color, but nobody thinks the work is done. Fresnoland
Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes on Wednesday endorsed former Sheriff Margerat Mims to replace him when he retires in 2027, which he announced at a joint news conference with the retired sheriff. The Fresno Bee
Fresno State’s award-winning student newspaper examines the ongoing suspension of a professor who was caught on camera — potentially filmed illegally — making offensive remarks about Charlie Kirk. The Collegian
A new effort seeks to keep more California firefighters on the clock during the winter months to combat the state’s never-ending fire season. KVPR
The conservative Clovis City Council this week joined the Fresno Board of Supervisors to formally oppose California’s Prop 50, the Democratic Party effort to further gerrymander deep-blue California in response to GOP gerrymandering in Texas and other states. If Prop. 50 is adopted, Clovis would be split among three districts. The Fresno Bee
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer took to social media this week to thank California’s governor for sending the city its second round of long-promised downtown infrastructure improvement funding — in the amount of $100 million on top of a previous award of $50 million. Dyer said the roughly $150 million “marks the largest investment ever made in Fresno’s urban core.” Instagram
Fresno County supervisors put the brakes on a new law that would cap the number of roosters allowed on county properties. GV Wire
Fresno County sheriff’s deputies have taken over street patrols in Huron. Your Central Valley
Plans are in the works for a new indoor pickleball court in the Central Valley. The Business Journal
Block Beat
TOWER DISTRICT: LitHop returns to the Tower District this Saturday, Oct. 18, from noon to 5 p.m. The LitHop website has a full schedule of authors and themed readings taking place across multiple neighborhood venues that day. LitHop
TOWER THEATRE: The Tower Theatre is hosting its first-ever Horror Film Fest this weekend. The two-day schedule is packed with short film screenings, themed drinks and, of course, a seance. Tower Horror Film Fest
WOODWARD PARK: Fresno County Reads invites the community to meet Dion Leonard, author of “Finding Gobi: A Little Dog with a Very Big Heart.” The event is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16 at the Woodward Park library branch. Space is limited and registration recommended. Fresno County Public Library
SOUTHEAST: Fancher Creek Town Center will celebrate the opening of a new Target location on Sunday, Oct. 19. The Business Journal
FASHION FAIR: The public is invited to the “Fall Flicks Series” this month at the mall’s Outdoor Village. KMPH
NORTH FRESNO: Sequoia Brewing Company reopened its north Fresno location this week. The Business Journal
