Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Oct. 8. This is Rob.
☀️Sunny skies and mid-80s today.
🥯Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer will be on hand this morning for the grand opening of downtown Fresno’s Einstein Bros. Bagels. The Business Journal
📢Veteran Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes is expected to announce his future plans today, including whether he’ll seek re-election or retire. Fresno County
🐳Going to the coast? Check out the whales. The Fresno Bee
🏈Fresno City College’s head football coach will retire after 25 years at the helm. KSEE
🎥Fashion Fair Mall hosts a ‘Fall Flicks Series’ this month in the Outdoor Village. KMPH
🚒The lives of two fallen Fresno firefighters were honored over the weekend. GV Wire
🎧Listen up: This week, Danielle and Jordan speak with Fresnoland Senior Editor Rob Parsons for a wide-ranging news roundup on the biggest issues shaping Fresno and the Central Valley right now. From the fierce debate over Proposition 50 and its implications for redistricting, to the chilling rise in ICE activity locally. Fresnolandia
1. ‘Unacceptable’
Sexual abuse scandals in American churches have been part of the national conversation for decades now, but advocates for abuse survivors say faith communities need to do more to keep members safe, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reports this morning.
In the decades since church abuse scandals emerged, much progress has been made for survivors. But advocates say there remains a need for more clear, consistent and uniform standards for mandatory reporting laws, rules and training.
In California, clergy and church employees are mandated reporters just like teachers, doctors and childcare workers. But how churches implement protocols varies dramatically across dominations, including in Fresno.
Pastor Simon Biasell-Moshrefi: “Jesus was clear that religious leaders who harm or exploit others are held to the highest standard. Abuse cover-ups are both morally and theologically unacceptable.”
2. Heading in the right direction?
More than 200 people gathered in Fresno this week to unpack a recent report that shows the city’s economic mobility has improved for communities of color, but nobody thinks the work is done, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports this morning.
The report from the Fresno DRIVE coalition shows the city moving from the bottom of the pack among America’s largest cities toward the middle.
Between 2013 and 2023, Fresno jumped 33 spots, from 274 to No. 235.
Ashley Swearengin, CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation: “I believe that Fresno is in this great midpoint of hopefully positive transformation … roughly 20 years into probably about a 40-year fix.”
3. ‘I don’t live in Texas’
The conservative Clovis City Council this week joined the Fresno Board of Supervisors to formally oppose California’s Proposition 50, the Democratic Party effort to further gerrymander deep-blue California in response to GOP gerrymandering in Texas and other states.
If Prop. 50 is adopted, Clovis would be split among three districts: District 5 represented by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, District 21 represented Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and District 20, The Fresno Bee reports.
Councilmember Drew Bessinger slammed Prop. 50, saying it further silences Republican voters in a state already dominated by the Democratic Party.
Bessinger: “They’re saying that this is an emergency because of what’s happening in Texas. I don’t live in Texas. I don’t vote in Texas. But it basically sends the voices of our citizens, literally and figuratively, out into the wilderness.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano
