☀️Good morning! It’s Monday, July 6. This is Rob.
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📚Fear of libraries? Tioga Beer Garden invites the public to Cafe Scientifique for discussion and lecture over the history and context of controversies surrounding libraries. The event begins at 7 p.m. July 7 at 745 Fulton St. Instagram
⭐‘Seeing stars’ The Kings River Land Trust invites the public to join them for an evening of star-gazing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 16 at Kinney Ranch, 769 N. Piedra Road, Sanger. Kings River Land Trust
1. Rats. Flying cockroaches. Feces. Urban legends?
Scrutiny is growing around the conditions at the Fresno Council of Government offices in downtown Fresno with at least four employees telling Fresnoland that the office is too dirty and too dangerous for working conditions.
But not everyone agrees.
And despite claims from multiple employees, Fresno COG recently renewed a five-year, $20,000 per month lease.
The building is owned by the politically-connected Tom Richards, a developer and former high-speed rail board member. He didn’t respond to numerous requests for comments.
Some of COG’s top brass dispute the building’s conditions as described by the employees, including Mayor Jerry Dyer, who called the complaints an “urban legend.” And one of COG’s longest-serving employees acknowledged rats in the building, but said it’s not as bad as some claim.
Read the full story from Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver here.
2. Tragedy strikes Sheriff’s Office on Fourth of July
Numerous homes were damaged and caught fire over the long holiday weekend, ABC30 reports.
Fresno city fire spokesperson Josh Sellers told the television news crew that the department briefly stopped responding to medical calls Saturday night as all city firefighters scrambled to respond to house fires.
Firefighters said this year was busier than last year, with crews responding to 110 medical aides, 203 fire-related calls and 328 total incidents.
And tragedy struck over the weekend for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office when an off-duty canine got spooked by nearby illegal fireworks and was struck by a vehicle that sped away from the scene, deputies said in a statement.
Santi, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, was struck by a vehicle around 8:30 p.m. Saturday near Shaw and Helm in Clovis.
The Clovis Police Department is investigating the hit-and-run collision and working to identify the driver who left the scene.
3. ‘So much more than hair’
Last week marked the seventh anniversary of California becoming the first state in the nation to pass the Crown Act, a law protecting people from discrimination based on natural hairstyles and textures.
Since then more than two dozen states have adopted similar laws, but advocates say the effects are still being felt in workplaces, schools, and communities.
Krisha Sanchez, owner of Crown Healing Salon in Clovis, is helping people embrace their natural hair.
Sanchez: “Hair is so much more than hair. It’s tied to culture. It’s tied to identity, and it’s tied to confidence.”
Read the full story from YourCentralValley.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Omar S. Rashad.
