Good morning! It’s Wednesday, May 6. This is Rob.
Hot weather creeping: Sunny and clear today with highs in the 80s and warmer temperatures move into town ahead of the Mother’s Day weekend. NOAA
Roll ‘em out: The Fresno City Attorney’s Office hosts a Waste Tire Amnesty Day at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 9 at 1805 E. California Ave., giving residents the chance to dispose of unwanted waste tires free of charge.
1. ‘Not just symbolic’
Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina leads off our coverage today with this piece on two high-profile city council candidates seeking to become the first-ever Punjabi Sikh person elected to Fresno City Hall.
Fresno remains home to some 70,000-plus Punjabi Sikhs who have yet to see that representation at City Hall in downtown Fresno.
The two candidates spoke to Gisselle about issues facing the districts they’re running to represent, and also the local Punjabi Sikh community. A lot of those issues intersect, it turns out.
Fresno State student Taran Waraich: “This is personal and it shows that the hard work of immigrant families and the Punjabi Sikh community is finally getting recognized in leadership. This isn’t just symbolic, it’s a shift.”
2. What’s the state of Fresno?
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer will deliver his annual “State of the City” address this afternoon at a swanky fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce with ticket pricing starting at $95 per head.
Last year, the mayor used the speech as an opportunity to plug his plans for a massive 45,000-home sprawl development on the southeastern outskirts of Fresno.
That plan remains a major point of contention and debate that has only seen increased scrutiny over the last year, including recent clashes amongst Fresno Unified school board members who have resisted taking a formal position on SEDA, which is expected to exacerbate school closures in the coming years.
3. Clovis Unified ASL interpreters seek pay raises
American Sign Language interpreters are demanding higher pay and better hours at Clovis Unified schools, where, YourCentralValley reports.
Just last year, nine certified interpreters left their posts at the district.
Educational Interpreter Shonda Harrar: “Our pre-certified interpreters are capped at 5.5 to 5.9 hours so that they fall under the benefits position. And it means that we have interpreters who have to leave classes early and leave our students without interpreters.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
