It’s Tuesday, Sept. 9. Omar, here!
☀️ September sun comes bearing gifts: We’ve got a high of 84 degrees today. Expect temperatures to remain in the 80s for the rest of the work week.
🔥 Garnet Fire expands by another 5,000 acres: As of yesterday afternoon, the blaze was at around 54,925 acres acres, with 14% containment. As the Garnet Fire rages on in the Sierra National Forest, firefighters are hoping that this week’s calmer sun could make fighting the blaze easier. Authorities have yet to conduct their daily Garnet Fire briefing, but keep an eye on the forest’s Facebook page for it later today.
😷 Smoke watch: It appears that wildfire smoke from the Garnet Fire will be blown north and northeast today, away from Fresno, according to a smoke forecast from the National Weather Service. Keep an eye on Purple Air though, just in case!
🕺 Mr. Worldwide in Fresno this week: Boots in the Park, the music festival this weekend in north Fresno, will feature country music star Blake Shelton on Saturday and Pitbull on Sunday, The Business Journal Reports.
1. 4,500 county residents have spoken
After surveying 4,500 people across 72 zip codes, the Transportation for All coalition found that residents want Measure C revenue to prioritize roads the most, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reports.
Fresno County residents ranked public transit improvements at No. 2 and sidewalk improvements at No. 3. The survey results were announced in a Monday news conference.
Several rounds of data collection meant identifying needs others may not pay attention to. For example, the coalition heard about issues with heat early on, which prompted them to directly ask residents whether transportation investments should take heat into account.
About 86% of respondents said yes.
2. A more transparent county budget process?
Fresno County’s budget process looks a whole lot different this year, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports.
Was it because Supervisor Garry Bredefeld campaigned on increasing transparency in the county budget process? Seems like it.
Next week, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors will hold the first of its budget hearings, bringing up department heads to present their financial needs and responsibilities to the supervisors, as well as the public.
Supervisor Garry Bredefeld: “That, to me, is the important part of any budgetary process. I think the City of Fresno historically has done that in a very lengthy process, which is good, and the board is doing that now as well.”
3. Clovis raises permit and rental fees
The City of Clovis raised its rates for everything from senior center classes to picnic sites, The Fresno Bee reports.
The cost of reserving those picnic sites has doubled — now it’s $41 for half a day and $124 for a full day.
Assistant City Manager Paul Armendariz: “Before we have a park reservation, our staff will go out there, clean up the site, make sure the picnic tables are ready, our trash cans are cleared. There’s also electricity in there that they can use. And then it also covers the cost for staff to come back out after the rental to clean up afters, too.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
