Quote of the Week
“I don’t think the electorate was really ready to have another election, especially one that was, again, marred with what appears to be some dirty politics.”
– Fresno State political science professor Thomas Holyoke on voter turnout in the Fresno City Council special election
This Week in Fresnoland
Fresno special election could drag on another week – or for months
Tuesday’s Fresno City Council special election doesn’t have a clear winner yet and will stretch on through at least next Wednesday – if not July, depending on how another 200-odd District 5 residents voted.
Early returns teased at an outright victory by frontrunner Brandon Vang. In the race to replace Luis Chavez on the council, Vang needs more than 50% to evade a runoff. And while Vang held onto that after an update from the county clerk Thursday, his margin dwindled slightly, while second-place candidate Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas’ share of votes grew.
Regardless, Vang’s big lead came as a surprise to some. His opponent was in many ways the establishment pick with backing from unions, local electeds and business groups.
Read more in Julianna Morano’s analysis for Fresnoland.
Could affordable housing become part of the ‘Clovis Way of Life’?
Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela checked in on the City of Clovis’ progress around the one-year anniversary of a historic settlement reached over its affordable housing policies.
Though there are no new homes to show for it yet, Clovis has already reached some terms of the agreement, like creating a “housing trust fund” and rezoning parts of the city to pave the way for affordable housing developers.
The slow progress is indicative of the difficulties California cities face when it comes to building affordable homes, experts told Pablo. But the need for it is immense with skyrocketing rents in the local market.
“If we take our children in poverty and allow them to move into a neighborhood that is thriving … you can change that child,” said Dez Martinez, a homeless advocate who brought the case against Clovis.
‘A monumental achievement’
Madera Community Hospital reopened Tuesday morning after sitting shuttering in late 2022 and filing for bankruptcy in March 2023.
The hospital’s reopening restored the only emergency room and intensive care unit for all 160,000 Madera County residents. In addition, the hospital is also restoring surgical and diagnostic services — which includes CT scans and other kinds of medical screening.
Madera Community Hospital reopens today after a two-year closure. The closure of Madera Community Hospital in January 2023 created ripples that affected hospitals in neighboring Fresno and Merced counties. Its impending reopening is expected to ease the strain on access to care in the region.
Check out the full Fresnoland story from Omar S. Rashad.
‘The beauty of this sacred month’
The curators of Beyond Ramadan: The Heart of Fasting hoped to spark conversations about the spiritual, cultural, and communal significance of Ramadan within Fresno’s diverse Muslim community.
“Ramadan is observed in so many different ways across cultures, and this exhibit is an opportunity to share those traditions and the beauty of this sacred month,” said Manal Samaha, who co-curated the exhibit currently on display at the Fresno State Library with Madiha Patel.
The exhibit features a variety of artifacts, including Ramadan cookbooks showcasing different types of foods prepared during the month, as well as Qur’ans in multiple languages.
In an interview with Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina, Patel called it “a chance to reflect on the traditions we hold dear—those that are central to our faith and shape how we approach Ramadan, both individually and collectively.”
Smoke shop deadlock
Filling the open City Council seat sooner rather than later could help break a 3-3 split among council members in the effort to clamp down on Fresno’s smoke shops. Beefed-up guideline proposals died on the vine at the March 13 council meeting after hours of debate failed to reach a solution, Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad reported this week.
The proposal, which could have forced dozens of smoke shops in the city to shut down, essentially pitted councilmembers from the city’s south districts against their northside counterparts.
Councilmembers backing the ordinance argued that tobacco shops — good and bad — have grown exponentially and disproportionately in their neighborhoods, while the three opposing members said the proposal was overly broad and would force good city businesses to close along with the bad actors.
Outside the Lines
Fresno EOC recently approved a forensic audit that is expected to reveal how the nonprofit ran-up a multi-million dollar budget deficit. Questions about the nonprofit’s revenue and spending emerged last year shortly before the commission parted ways with its CEO. Fresnoland
“A bank is suing large San Joaquin Valley grower John Vidovich for more than $105 million in allegedly defaulted loans and is demanding the foreclosure and sale of large swaths of farmland, solar sites, a nut-hulling facility and the SunnyGem almond processing plant in Wasco.” SJV Water
Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr., the former co-CEOs of Bitwise Industries, have reported to prison to begin their sentences. A representative from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) said Tuesday afternoon that Soberal is in custody at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Atwater in Merced County, and Olguin is in the FBOP’s custody at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Victorville Medium I.” The Fresno Business Journal
Meet the editors of a newspaper run out of the women’s prison in Chowchilla, interviewed for Central Valley Daily. KVPR
The Bee dug into why Fresno City College has seemingly dragged its feet on spending most of $3.7 million in fundings it’s received from the state to cover basic resources like housing for its neediest students. The Fresno Bee
In April, S&S Activewear will lay off over 100 employees from its distribution center on Minnewawa Avenue. The Fresno Bee
Nonprofit groups and arts collectives interested in applying to the next round of Measure P arts grants are invited to an information session Tuesday, March 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Fresno City Hall (or tune into the livestream on CMAC). Fresno Arts Council
Block Beat
DOWNTOWN: FresYes returns this Saturday, March 22. Take part in the biggest block party downtown with food trucks, local vendors, beer, multiple stages with live music, and more. The festival, run by Tioga Sequoia and Fresno Street Eats, will be going on all day from 1-11pm.
FRESNO STATE: “On Saturday, March 22, the African American Student Social Worker Association will present ‘Taste of Freedom,’ Fresno’s first African American living history day.” Business Journal
CITYWIDE: This Independent Bookstore Day, Saturday, April 26, Fresno will have its own indie bookstore crawl. Judging by the Cover has put together a Fresno Bookstore Passport with six participating bookstores around town. Get all six stamps and win a prize! Judging by the Cover
DOWNTOWN: Fresno Grizzlies baseball opens April 4 at Chukchansi Park, with the Class A major league affiliate promising fireworks on opening night and the following game on Saturday, April 5. Grizzlies
