Good morning! It’s Monday, Aug. 31. This is Rob.
ICYMI: Fresno councilmember Nick Richardson is proposing a 10-year ban on data centers in city limits, to be discussed Thursday. Fresnoland
Swim hesitation: Fresno Unified started offering free swim lessons in 2020, but they still can’t fill all the spots open, as parents hesitate. EdSource
Water fight? U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, D- Fresno, highlighted legislation examining how rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers could affect energy supplies, including water in rural communities. The Business Journal
Oh boy! Mickey Mouse dropped into Fresno on Saturday at a youth sports clinic at Valley Children’s Stadium, where children had the chance to learn and play soccer and flag football. ABC30
Catch em’ all: Sanger’s Annabella Vega, who says she loves Pokémon “100%,” collects cards with her father, but now the fun family hobby has evolved into a good cause. KMPH
Dark Sky Fest: The 13th annual Dark Sky Festival will be returning to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and, for the first time, to Three Rivers beginning Sept. 11. YourCentralValley
Big Fresno Fair: The Big Fresno Fair and Central California Blood Center have joined forces for the “Pint for a Pass” Blood Drive, between Aug. 25 and Oct. 18, all blood donors will receive a “Buy One, Get One Free” admission voucher redeemable for the 2026 Big Fresno Fair. YourCentralValley
1. Gearing up
The first key legal ruling is expected later today in the long-running fight over the future of Fresno County’s transportation system.
Judge Jonathan Skiles on Friday questioned state arguments over the need for a special Fresno County-only law that the state argues supersedes the county’s authority, and requires the transportation measure to be placed on the November ballot.
But Skiles also appeared skeptical of Fresno County’s use of a 30-day study to essentially delay the ballot measure until the 2028 ballot.
The judge said he planned to issue a ruling Monday and acknowledged that an appeal in the case guaranteed regardless of the outcome.
In July, a narrow conservative majority of Fresno County supervisors voted for further study on the so-called “Better Roads, Safer Streets” transportation tax measure.
The additional 30-day study — that few people wanted and even fewer people actually read — was widely viewed as nothing more than a delay tactic that would effectively prevent the measure from making it on the November ballot.
Two moderate liberal Fresno-area lawmakers countered the supervisors move a few days later by rewriting and then quickly jamming through a brand new state law — just for Fresno County — essentially ordering the supervisors to place the measure on the November ballot.
The supervisors did not back down. They ordered the measure placed on the ballot but not until 2028.
Read the latest from Fresnoland here.
2. ‘It makes you sick’
A piece of land in Yosemite National Park could be sold to a private developer, multiple news outlets have reported since the news website NOTUS first revealed the potential sale on Friday, KVPR reports.
The plan includes selling a small parcel to a Las Vegas-based company Kingsbarn Realty Capital which would develop a road on the property and build on 40-acre parcels.
If approved, the plan would allow for a road to connect the company’s existing property to one of the park’s main roads.
Park experts say the move to sell a piece of it would break a long precedent of protecting and even expanding national parks.
Don Neubacher, a former supervisor at Yosemite, told the New York Times the plan for development inside the park was “so ridiculous, it makes you sick.”
3. Clovis Unified’s teacher union fight never ends
A group of Clovis Unified educators seeking to unionize with the California Teachers Association filed a petition with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board challenging the eligibility of its rival group’s union petition, The Fresno Bee reports.
Backed by a statewide teachers’ union with 310,000 members, ACE has been competing with ICUE for the past five years to become the exclusive representative of Clovis teachers.
But ICUE was the first to announce that it had reached the threshold of 50% plus one signature from teachers.
In a news release Friday, ACE called ICUE’s filing “suspicious” because the petitioner was not a local educator, but a partner of a private law firm based in Sacramento.
“This feels like more attempts by our historically anti-union school district administration to erode the only union in Clovis Unified that is led by local educators,” said Amy Kilburn, president of ACE. “It begs the question of ICUE’s intent to fairly represent Clovis school teachers.”
ICUE attorney Tony Silva: “Many staff still feel it is a betrayal of CUSD culture to join a bargaining group. ICUE aims to guard wholeheartedly the culture of CUSD while still operating as a legally recognized representative body.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
