Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Feb. 11. This is Rob.
Expect a little more rain today, with highs in the 60s, with drier weather on its way. NOAA
Recent large fires have sparked fear among central Fresno shopowners. ABC30
Central Valley ag supporters are urging the Trump Administration to fund the Shasta Dam expansion project. KMPH
Tickets are on sale now for a special screening and opportunity to meet some of the cast from the 90s classic ‘The Sandlot’ at the Tower Theatre. Instagram
1. Fresno City Hall takes over Measure P, promises to make groups ‘whole’
Fresno-area art groups left in the lurch in connection with a massive theft probe at the Fresno Arts Council will get paid — but when and how remain unclear.
The promise to make organizations whole in the wake of the $1.5 million embezzlement investigation came Tuesday in a joint statement from the Fresno mayor and city council, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reports.
City Hall also confirmed plans to take over the fund distribution going forward, but what that means for upcoming grant cycles is not yet known.
Fresno’s small arts community was rocked early Saturday when Fresnoland broke the news about the joint embezzlement investigation between the FBI and Fresno police.
City officials have carefully avoided identifying any suspect or suspects in the case, but have confirmed that no arrests have been made yet.
In their joint statement Tuesday, city leaders scolded Arts Council leadership that failed to catch theft until City Hall intervened.
“The Mayor and members of the City Council are appalled by the lack of safeguards put in place by the Fresno Arts Council,” the statement reads, “which ultimately allowed this embezzlement to occur.”
2. Fresno-area student protests continue outside ICE office, City Hall
Despite mounting public pressure to end the recent string of student walkouts, the protests led by high school and middle school students appear to be picking up steam.
Organizing through social media, students from at least 15 Fresno Unified schools were expected to skip classes once again Tuesday to protest Trump Administration immigration tactics that have sparked mass outrage in connection with the recent deaths of protesters in Minnesota.
On Tuesday, dozens of Fresno-area students converged on City Hall and the downtown Fresno ICE office.
Protesters told Fresnoland’s Diego Vargas that some students were throwing things at the ICE office and police were called to break up a brief confrontation between students from different schools.
No arrests were made and no injuries or violence was reported, Fresno police confirmed.
Hours earlier on Tuesday, Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld criticized Fresno Unified leaders’ failure to curtail the protests, which he described as a public safety issue, among other problems.
3. Fresno County eyes hotel tax
Looking for options to beef up county finances, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday began looking into a new hotel-related tax, Pablo Orihuela reports for Fresnoland.
Fresno County is just one of three California counties that doesn’t currently charge a transient-occupancy tax on hotels, motels, AirBnBs or other short-term rentals.
The other counties are Orange County, a conservative region that typically views any tax with aggressive suspicion, and Colusa County, another conservative community with only a handful of hotels.
The fact that the tax is only paid by out-of-towners makes it a more attractive tax than usual for Fresno County’s conservative supervisors, like Garry Bredefeld and Nathan Magsig — both of whom said they support the new tax.
County officials said it could generate more than $5 million in new revenue for the Hall of Records.
