Good morning! It’s Thursday, May 21. This is Rob.
Hot’n sunny: Highs in the mid-90s through the weekend. NOAA
Happening today: Interim City Clerk Amy Aller will lead a workshop for city officials and the wider public about her office’s progress so far in creating the city’s first ever public transparency portal. Fresnoland
‘Disturbing’ Man with a knife arrested outside the City Attorney’s home. The Fresno Bee
Good news: Fresno Unified will provide free meals across the city during the summer, helping children maintain good nutrition even while school is out. Fresno Unified’s free summer meals program begins on Monday, June 15. More information
1. Costco fight resumes today
The controversial effort to relocate the Shaw Avenue Costco farther north returns to the City Council this morning with roughly $40 million in fees on the line.
Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver will be at City Hall as opponents of the relocation plan to once again challenge the council’s project supporters on why the city is considering waiving about $40 million in fees in connection with the project.
Councilmember Miguel Arias said the council wasn’t aware of the total amount of money the waivers could be leaving on the table.
2. Fresno’s transportation tax fight stays dramatic
“The path forward for Fresno County’s 40-year transportation sales tax — and whether it can be replaced before it expires next year — now rests with the Fresno County Clerk, who says it’s “absolutely” possible to count tens of thousands of signatures in time, but not a guarantee,” Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reports.
The group closest to the finish failed to qualify for the November ballot in a random-sampling validation process, triggering the longer, more arduous count.
And while Fresno County Clerk James Kus said he was confident in his office’s ability to get the work done, he also acknowledged that he could not promise the count would be complete before a possibly make-or-break mid-July Board of Supervisors meeting.
3. Valley Fever returns
“An increase in seasonal agricultural work and the end of the school year in the San Joaquin Valley are expected to mean more people spending more time working and playing outside – and potentially increase the risk of valley fever, a fungal disease that can create respiratory problems in people who inhale its spores,” the Intersection reports.
More than 1,200 cases have been confirmed across Fresno and other central San Joaquin Valley counties, representing “more than half of all cases reported in California in the first quarter of the year.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad
