Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Aug. 13. This is Rob and Julianna, wishing you a happy National Prosecco Day!
🥶 Fresno’s triple-digit heat blinked first! That means mid to low-90s for the rest of the week and into the weekend.
🍻 Cheers! Moto Delicatessen & Bodega will celebrate its fourth anniversary from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, including a Fresno Beer Runners 2-mile run in the morning with special cocktails and food specials throughout the day at 1916 N. Echo Ave, across from Fresno High. More Info
🎵 Listen up: Owners of the legendary Buck Owens Crystal Palace say the music venue will be shutting down in the coming months after 28 years as they search for a new buyer for the iconic theater, steakhouse and museum, KVPR reports. So here’s a classic Buck Owens tune to celebrate the man who invented the “Bakersfield Sound.”
1. Executive health care pay back under the microscope
Supporters of a labor-backed ballot initiative next year would force clinics to redirect money away from what one health care union sees as overpaid executives and toward patient services instead.
But critics say it would do the opposite and potentially force closures and drastic cutbacks at many desperately-needed rural-area clinics throughout the state, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reports.
“While the clinic leaders argue the measure is kicking them when they’re already down under the looming federal budget,” Julianna writes, “the union said that’s all the more reason for budgetary scrutiny for clinics that receive federal dollars.”
Union spokesperson Renée Saldaña: “More than any other healthcare facilities, community clinics are funded by our tax dollars, which means they have an added responsibility to ensure that those funds are used responsibly and for the core mission of the clinics.”
2. Clovis opens new campus on the first day of school
On Monday, more than 1,000 Clovis students from seventh through ninth grade will begin their school year at the new Terry P. Bradley Educational Center, the most expensive school campus built in the central San Joaquin Valley, clocking in with a price tag north of $600 million, The Fresno Bee reports.
Ex-superintendent Terry Bradley, the center’s namesake, died about a month before the grand opening. Eventually, the 170-acre campus will become the largest in Clovis Unified, passing Buchanan High School’s 165 acres.
Sonia Torossian, principal of the educational center: “This is phase one of the project, we have the intermediate school towers ready to go, our office, our library. Over the course of the next three years, we’ll build out Clovis South High School, and then the larger competition gym, a football stadium, and so forth.”
3. ‘A vibrant hub’
Fresno leaders broke ground Tuesday on the first citywide Senior Activity Center, KMPH reports.
The center sits on a 4.5-acre site which will have a 34,000-square-foot facility with indoor and outdoor amenities designed for senior citizens, including a gym, aerobic rooms, a pool, bocce and pickleball courts, along with access to wellness services, education, meal plans and fitness classes.
The construction of the facility was made possible through a $41 million investment from Measure P, Community Development Block Grant funds, park impact fees and the city’s general fund.
Mayor Jerry Dyer: “Our senior community was asking for a place where they can connect, stay active, and enjoy life to the fullest – and we listened. This center will be a vibrant hub for wellness, learning, and socializing, and will serve seniors from every corner of our city.”
