Good morning! It’s Wednesday, March 4. This is Omar!
More “spring” sun: Fresno will have a slightly cloudy morning before the sun will come out. Expect temperatures to stay in the mid to upper 60s! NWS
Highway 41 partial closure: More than nine miles of a northbound lane on Highway 41 will be closed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Rose Avenue to Floral Avenue for “asphalt sealing operations.” Caltrans
Vigil outside ICE office: Local faith leaders and community members will gather this morning at 10 a.m. outside the ICE office in downtown Fresno for a multi-faith vigil, seeking to offer prayers for those impacted by the ongoing crackdown on immigrants in the United States.
Train route input: Want to give input on a proposed regional rail line in Fresno County? Now’s your opportunity to weigh in on a proposed route that’ll connect Firebaugh and Mendota, as well as Reedley, Dinuba and Selma to Fresno. Share your input by filling out a survey from the Fresno Council of Governments. Fresno COG
Fresnoland is hiring: That’s right, we’re hiring for our first-ever Senior Revenue Officer to help lead and execute our fundraising strategy with local donors and sponsors. Share with your fundraising friends! Fresnoland
1. Fresno celebrates 100th Black History Month
When June Stanfield researched Black history in Fresno while putting together a Black heritage exhibit a few years ago, she uncovered a lot.
From Fresno’s first Black fire chief to the county’s first Black judge, Stanfield learned firsthand the importance of tracing those important figures. She was also struck by how little she had been taught about it, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reports.
“I was born and raised here in Fresno and it was surprising that some of the stories haven’t been shared, not in school or at community gatherings for every Black History Month,” Stanfield said. “When I was able to find some of that information, I had no idea they even existed. It goes back to, if you don’t know, you can’t tell me.”
Stanfield’s exhibit from 2021 was preserved and expanded in an exhibit at the Cultural Heritage Center in Chinatown last month.
Gisselle also spoke to Fresno State Professor Michael Onyebuchi Eze, who teaches Africana Studies, about how important Black History Month is not only as a commemorative occasion, but as a vital intervention in public memory, too.
“When you deny history, you mask people’s presence, you objectify them,” Eze said. “And when you objectify them, violence becomes a possibility. Black history teaches us to demand more than mere survival.”
2. Huron gets sheriff help
After the Huron Police Department’s staffing levels fell to only six sworn officers, out of a total of 15 funded positions, the small Fresno County city needed help.
Back in October, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office began stepping in to help with basic policing needs, including patrol. The sheriff’s office is going to be sticking around a while longer, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports, thanks to a new $1.68 million contract approved by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.
The City of Huron will pay the Sheriff’s Office for policing services for the first half of 2026. The city has the option of extending the contract another six months, if the city needs it.
The Huron Police Department may not need the extension: It now has 10 police officers, with four others in training.
Huron police Chief John Hall: “We had a great continuity of services. There was no break in public safety patrol functions.”
3. Smaller High-Speed Rail stations?
After the Trump Administration pulled $4 billion away from California’s High-Speed Rail project, agency leaders began trying to come up with cost-saving strategies.
That no longer means axing a high-speed rail station in Merced, The Fresno Bee reports. However, High-Speed Rail Authority leaders are considering smaller train stations for Central Valley stops, which they say could save $2 billion.
The rail authority released its 2026 business plan over the weekend. In it, the rail authority says it has about $5 billion more than the required $34 billion needed for only the rail’s Central Valley portion — from Merced to Bakersfield.
State law requires the rail’s 171-mile Central Valley segment to be built first.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Rob Parsons
