Good morning! It’s Friday, Aug. 21. This is Rob. (Hello!)
$370K? “A Fresno trial attorney says Fresno Unified School District could face significantly higher legal costs as a defamation lawsuit involving Trustee Keshia Thomas.” YourCentralValley
Disproportionate share? “Turner’s outlets are among the top firearms dealers tied to crime guns in Los Angeles, Fresno, Anaheim, and Long Beach.” The Trace via KVPR
Little help here? Air-conditioning problems persist at Sierra Vista Mall, reportedly affecting businesses amid triple-digit summer heat. KMPH
Just 30ish days, but still …“The Costco in West Fresno is scheduled to close its food court starting Aug. 24 for renovation and upgrades.” The Fresno Bee
Kingsburg Soccer Swap: It’s “leave what you don’t need, take what you need from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22 at 2528 Hudson St. All ages and sizes are welcome to swap. Want to donate but can’t make it? There will be a box at the swap location all day Friday to collect donations. Kingsburg Youth Soccer
1. Is Chinatown Fresno’s best food neighborhood?
The safe answer is not no.
From Chef Paul’s and La Elegante, to the Central Fish Company and Ho Ho Kafe, Fresno’s Chinatown has long housed some of the city’s tastiest spots.
This morning, Fresnoland’s Vince Mancini takes a deep dive into the history, cultures and cuisine that make up one of Fresno’s funkiest and long-neglected communities.
“It was a product of redlining, plus a long line of past politicians’ way of doing things. That’s why there’s so much dirt, and so many empty lots, because people in Chinatown were forced to tear things down,” said Central Fish owner Morgan Doizaki. “There was a huge gap of disinvestment. The last thing that was ever built in Chinatown was Central Fish, in 1979.”
But the shape of Chinatown is also changing fast as Californai’s high-speed rail makes major changes to the historic neighborhood.
And even as the neighborhood begins to change, it remains unique and beloved among many.
“Real people, real food,” Vince writes, “Chinatown is historic in a way that lives and breathes. It’s honestly hard to think of many analogs for it.”
Check out the full guide from Fresnoland Food.
2. Critical farmworker wage ruling pending in Fresno
A federal judge in Fresno says an “expedious” ruling is in the works in the legal fight over the Labor Department’s new wage rates for foreign guest workers in agriculture, The Fresno Bee reports.
The H2A program allows agriculture businesses to bring in foreign workers when domestic workers aren’t available. The United Farmworkers say the program’s new wage rules cut wages for workers.
“Use of the program has grown in the last five years as farmers say they can’t find enough workers nationwide,” The Bee reports.
The Department of Labor has said agriculture’s “acute labor shortages and instability” – caused by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — made the quick cut necessary.
As Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reported in March, the Economic Policy Institute estimates the new rule would cost the nation’s farmworkers at least $4.4 billion annually.
3. Slow bullet train comin’
California High-Speed Rail Authority chief appeared at the Fresno Rotary Club earlier this week discussing the ever-embattled bullet train’s aggressive cash problems while also describing the latest track-installation timeline, the Business Journal reports.
CEO Ian Choudri said plans are underway to start laying track as the near year approaches along the 119-mile stretch already under construction in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Choudri also described Fresno as the “more favorable site for a lot of reasons” for a heavy maintenance facility, which he touted as a jobs creator.
He also suggested train-testing could begin within three years — by 2029 — and carry passengers by the early 2030s, less than a decade from today.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
