Quote of the Week

“Now, we have no other choice, but to put our lives on the line to be heard. We are willing to continue over to the end … until we can’t no more. Until we get released. These facilities need to be shut down.”

— Rigoberto Hernandez Martinez, an immigrant detained at Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield. He is protesting abusive practices and poor conditions with a hunger strike.

This Week in Fresnoland

The executive director of Fresno’s African-American Historical and Cultural Museum is optimistic about its future.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t known Fresno had its own Black history museum until I read this inspiring profile of Nefesha Yisra’el, its director, by Jeremiah O. Rhodes for Fresnoland. I was taken by the descriptions, near the end of the story, of the actual building – water damage, chipped paint and poor ventilation – and the almost metaphoric quality these shortcomings take in Yisra’el’s quest to resurrect the museum. “I take broken things,” she said, “and I put them back together in a creative way.” 

I’m reminded of Victor Hugo’s idea that architecture itself was a sort of common language that preceded widespread literacy; that the buildings we have in our communities can take on meanings so much greater than their literal functions – like preserving photographs, art and artifacts. Like Yisra’el said, as she does the hard and diligent work of gathering donations from the community and wooing sponsors, the museum is “too good to lose.” 

The museum’s latest exhibit “Black History Into the Future” pairs student artwork with that of professional artists, weaving them together into a sort of promise for things to come: the old platforming the new, the soon-to-be. 

Challengers in the upcoming Fresno County Board of Supervisors election are going to ignore a recent legal statement from Fresno County because, the challengers claim, its an “Incumbent Protection Plan.”

If that sentence seemed a little packed with information just wait until you get a load of Melissa Montalvo’s latest for Fresnoland/Fresno Bee, all about the tensions between the incumbents on the Board of Supervisors and two challengers from the Fresno City Council. 

The gist of it is that city council candidates Garry Bredefeld and Luis Chavez cannot transfer their council campaign funds to their supervisor campaign funds, according to a legal opinion from county counsel. 

But following this ordinance would handicap Bredefeld and Chavez, compared to the deep pockets of incumbent supervisors Steve Brandeau and Sal Quintero. So, Bredefeld and Chavez have elected to ignore the legal statement and transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars into their supervisor election campaigns. 

Chavez told the Fresno Bee that his own legal counsel had a different opinion than the county’s. “We feel very comfortable with the (legal) opinion that we got,” he said. “It was based on state law. It was based on FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) statutes and it was based on our own legal counsel’s interpretation.” 

The Hmong language is dying, but a groundbreaking dual language program at Fresno Unified’s Vang Pao Elementary School is preserving it for the next generation.

According to Ashleigh Panoo’s coverage for EdSource the Hmong Dual Language Immersion Program, initiated in 2018, is the most extensive in the nation. That Fresno would have this program in two elementary schools and two middle schools (which pair with the Hmong minor at Fresno State) is no accident; we have the second largest Hmong population in the United States.

The hope is that these programs can not only ensure that the language is passed on to a new generation – 90% of students in the program have English as their first language – but that it also enhances the English skills of participants.

But integrating the two languages isn’t exactly easy. Hmong has traditionally been taught orally, and the current written language that exists was invented by missionaries in the 1950s. Thus the vocabulary is woefully incomplete: for example, there aren’t words for “solar system” or “legislative,” nor are there robust resources for teaching the language in the first place. It’s falling to teachers to innovate this curriculum on the fly.

Immigrants detained at two Central Valley facilities are on hunger strike.

You can read Yesenia Amaro’s report about it in the Bee, but suffice to say this hunger strike isn’t the first time immigrants in these facilities have had to take collective action; they were already striking the despicable $1-per-hour wage they were being paid to maintain the very facilities that are detaining them. The hunger strike comes amidst even more abuses of power and unacceptable living conditions. 

The GEO Group, who employs the security at the two facilities, denies that a hunger strike is even happening. GEO has already been sued for paying detainees as little as $1 an hour for their work maintaining the facilities, a situation that culminated in an ongoing labor strike. There are allegations of retaliation for that strike, including placement in solitary confinement, threats to transfer strikers to out-of-state facilities, write-ups, and what has been described as sexually abusive pat-downs. 

“Now, we have no other choice, but to put our lives on the line to be heard,” Rigoberto Hernandez Martinez, a detained immigrant and striker, told the Bee. “We are willing to continue over to the end … until we can’t no more. Until we get released. These facilities need to be shut down.”

Fresno’s rural residents and farmworkers can get free healthcare from a new mobile clinic.

The mobile health unit comes courtesy of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, Jackie Schuster writes – an investment of $8 million from federal ARPA (pandemic assistance) funds. Services rendered include all the topical stuff like immunizations, tests, and treatments for COVID-19, but also a slate of tests and screenings for glucose, blood pressure and diabetes. The clinic can even treat minor illnesses and medical complications, per their website.

Block Beat

NORTHEAST: Thousands of residents are still without power after strong storm winds downed power lines. The storm could bring measurable snowfall to the Central Valley for the first time in 30 years. ABC 30

FRESNO: Topliners might remember the ongoing issues between Fresno City Hall and the Fresno Arts Council over the Measure P Funds. City Manager Georgeanne White said she would clarify the Art Council’s role. Munro Review

REEDLEY: The Reedley City Council approved a 5% pay raise for Reedley city employees. Documenters 

OLD FIG: The site of a closed Vons grocery store on Blackstone Avenue north of Ashlan could become affordable housing for seniors, in addition to a planned senior center. Fresno Bee

MADERA: The Madera County Board of Supervisors hired a firm to review the defunct Madera Community Hospital’s finances. Valley Public Radio

FRESNO STATE: The Title IX Task Force has released their full report and recommendations for Fresno State, after assessing the university’s handling of sexual harassment complaints. The task force recommended enhanced training, more marketing, more transparency, greater efficiency, a centralized building for processing complaints, and new allotted positions. Fresno Bee

NORTHEAST: The Fresno Planning Commission moved forward on a 39-lot-subdivision in North Fresno’s Copper River Ranch. Documenters 

CLOVIS: The Clovis City Council is putting together a historic preservation committee. Documenters 

Department of New Construction

HOOVER: A conditional use permit was filed for Karabakh Banquets at the same location as Karabakh Market on North First Ave and East Shaw Ave. 

LIONS PARK: A Cheba Hut at West Shaw and North Marks Avenues filed a conditional use permit for alcohol use in a restaurant. 

HOOVER: A development permit was filed for a new four story hotel on Shaw just west of First Avenue.

WEST CENTRAL: A conditional use permit has been filed for the convenience store at West Barstow and North Grantland Avenues to upgrade the alcohol license from type 20 to type 21.

Around Town

The Pan Valley Institute Presents “Code Switch: A Solo Performance,” by Joshua Slack at the Fresno Art Museum on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. Instagram

Tioga-Sequoia Beer Garden is hosting Vegan Street Eats for all of you who live for food trucks full of salad. I’m just kidding, I know vegans eat things other than salad. Allegedly. Instagram

Ugh, this comedy event is really called “Just the Tips.” It’s at DiCicco’s Italian Restaurant, located at 408 Clovis Ave., today at 7 p.m. Facebook

Also, Eric Schwartz, described as a “multi-dimensional showman who combines stand-up, music, and visual elements” is coming to that same DiCicco’s in Old Town Clovis on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.  Visit Fresno County

At the intersection of Lil Uzi Vert and music that makes you want to cry, we have Emo Trap Night at Strummers, on March 3 at 11 p.m. Instagram

Next Week in Public Meetings

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Tommy is the author of Toplines, the Fresnoland newsletter curating the top stories in the Central Valley. He thinks he's very funny.