Good morning! It’s Friday. Aug. 28. This is Rob.
Pesticides and schools? A Fresno-area parent group spoke out Wednesday, calling on the district to ban the use of around 50 additional pesticides and chemicals that farmers are allowed to use around rural schools. Fresnoland
Safe routes: “Measure C is providing $6 million for new sidewalks, crosswalks, and other improvements aimed at making school routes safer for students across Fresno County.” KMPH
Fowler growth: “A 38-acre agricultural parcel just outside Fowler could become 180 single-family homes after the Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved the cancellation of the property’s Williamson Act contract Aug. 25.” The Business Journal
Inside the house fight: “California’s 22nd Congressional District, which now stretches from Bakersfield up to parts of western Fresno County, was newly redrawn to improve Democrats’ chances, but it remains among the nation’s most competitive this cycle and could determine control of the U.S. House. It’s long been held by Republican Rep. David Valadao.” KVPR
‘Get Crackin’: Firebaugh-native and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is featured on the newest packaging of Wonderful Pistachios. ABC30
Fresno’s comedy boom: “The city hasn’t had a dedicated venue for comedy since Screwballs became a blues club back in 1997, but the local comedy business seems booming.” The Fresno Bee
Jobs: “Fresno State is set to get more than $4 million in funding aimed at supporting job creation and economic growth.” ABC30
1. Fresno Unified students fall short of early literacy goals
Fresno Unified students missed their latest early literacy goals, falling off pace by more than 5% compared to last year.
The results from the latest round of early literacy iReady scores emerged Wednesday night during the regular meeting of the Fresno Unified School Board.
The recent iReady sample results appear to be in line with the district’s latest SBAC scores released earlier this month that also showed test scores climbing but at a slower pace.
Early literacy scores were 5.3% off, Superintendent Misty Her said. About 52% of the sampled test scores reached proficiency standards, short of the district’s target goal of 58.7%. The district’s overall goal is to increase its early literacy proficiency rate to 80% by the summer of 2030.
Read the full story from Fresnoland here.
2. HVAC issues some plague Fresno Unified schools
A Fresno Unified librarian spoke out this week on the district’s HVAC and air quality issues.
During Wednesday’s regular school board meeting, Meg Wunder, a library media tech at Rowell Elementary, spoke during FUSD’s meeting and asked the board to replace the library’s 55-year-old HVAC system.
Wunder said that Rowell had previously been renovated in the early 2000s but said those renovations did not extend to the HVAC system in the library building. Wunder described the Rowell HVAC systems as inefficient and old, and said district maintenance workers have to manufacture parts for repairs because the machines are no longer made.
Wunder: “And just so you know, I don’t care about the frizzy hair, I care about having to replace another copy of ‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’ because it’s growing mildew.”
Read the full story from Fresnoland here.
3. Fresno adopts new tobacco licensing program
The City of Fresno voted to introduce a licensing program for its tobacco retailers, joining many larger cities throughout the state in introducing a system proponents say helps curb the illegal sale of the products, especially to young people.
The Fresno City Council approved the creation of the new tobacco retailers licensing program in a 6-1 vote on Thursday, with councilmember Nick Richardson as the lone dissenting vote.
The program, first introduced by its authors Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza, Council Vice President Tyler Maxwell, and Councilmember Mike Karbassi in July, will take effect about 30 days after this week’s council meeting.
The program is expected to go into effect within 30 days, with retailers getting 90 days to be in compliance, or until about the end of the year.
The City of Fresno was, until Thursday’s meeting, the largest city in the state to not have a licensing program.
Richardson, the lone councilmember who voted against the new program, was receptive to retailers’ concerns that penalties committed by employees would unfairly be tacked onto a business owner.
Richardson: “I’m not willing to shut down an owner’s business and make he and his family look for other employment because one employee…decided to knowingly break the rules.”
—Pablo Orihuela, Fresnoland
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
