Quote of the Week
“There’s a struggle between needing to earn a living and wanting to stay safe,” Ruiz said. “This is how we survive. This is how we take care of our families.”
— Miguel Ruiz, co-president of the Mobile Vendor Association of Fresno, speaking about the challenges facing food vendors under the Trump Administration
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This Week in Fresnoland
Broadway Parque opens where Fresno police substation once stood
The corner of Elizabeth and Broadway streets in Fresno’s South Tower neighborhood used to be the site of a police substation.
Now, it’s home to a bustling city park.
Called Broadway Parque, the new park celebrated its opening Thursday. Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano was there to talk to the neighborhood advocates who made it happen — and families who were thrilled to finally have some green space within walking distance of their homes.
“We were literally counting down to this day,” said one parent, who was there with her 4-year-old son.
It’s a dream come true for many longtime residents, too, several of whom had been advocating for the better part of a decade.
“Our dream was for this day and beyond,” said Kiel Lopez-Schmidt, executive director of the South Tower Community Land Trust. “Eight years of work, and now it’s arrived.”
July temperatures were low-key awesome
While the rest of the planet heats up at breakneck speeds that have experts bracing for grim worst-case scenarios, Fresno cruised through this last month with one of the coolest Julys on record, Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver reports.
Only five days in July reached triple digits, which hasn’t happened since 2015.
Fresno’s coolest July on record came in 1993 when temperatures never reached 100°F. The second coolest was in 1997.
This year’s cool July was a sharp departure from recent years, including, and maybe especially, a year ago. July 2024 unloaded 22 brutal days in triple-digit heat, the second hottest July on record.
“However, don’t be fooled by Fresno’s backyard data,” Greg writes. “The planet is heating up, more quickly than ever before, passing tipping points which scientists say ‘pose threats of a magnitude never faced by humanity.’”
‘It’s dangerous for us to be out here’
Amid the rising food prices and economic uncertainty affecting everyone, many Fresno-area food truck owners are growing increasingly wary of even going to work as authorities target immigrant families with no criminal histories, fast-tracks deportations, and curtails due process protocols.
“If mobile vendors stop selling, we lose a part of what makes our community feel like home,” said Angélica Ortega, who oversees Cultiva la Salud’s mobile food vendor program.
Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina spoke with a local food vendor who said many are shifting hours, avoiding busy areas, or staying home altogether, fearing public encounters with immigration agents.
“They’re at stores, on the streets, looking for people and classifying us as criminals,” he said. “It’s dangerous for us to be out here.”
New Measure C numbers
Fresno County residents got their first look at preliminary numbers in connection with a new effort to save Fresno County’s Measure C, the half-cent sales tax that funds road and transportation-related projects.
The top priority remains local road and street maintenance, which roughly 1,300 survey respondents want to receive the largest cut of Measure C funding, or about 46%.
But residents who filled out the survey also want a lot more money for pedestrian and bicycle-related investments (19%) than the failed 2022 version (1%), Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reported in an exclusive scoop this week.
The argument over competing spending priorities, including the road vs. public transit fight, helped tank the 2022 Measure C renewal effort. Not surprisingly, distrust remains high this time around as the fragile coalition scrambles to avoid competing measures on a 2026 ballot.
Questioning dark money in Fresno elections
There’s a lot to unpack from Fresnoland’s July 21 investigation into the emergence of dark money in local races.
Despite existing voter transparency and financial disclosure laws, Fresno voters went to the polls in March’s special city council election with — at best — an incomplete picture of the group that financed the controversy that became the race’s most scrutinized issue.
Two local political science experts told Fresnoland these issues are likely to persist unless something is done to change the system.
Check out the full investigation from Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad here or find an overview of the story here.
Omar also sat down with Fresnoland Managing Editor Danielle Bergstrom and co-host Jordan Mattox to discuss the story on this week’s edition of the Fresnolandia podcast.
Outside the Lines
For immigrant families in Fresno and throughout the central San Joaquin Valley, a recent federal court decision offers a measure of relief for many immigrant families in Fresno, but looming legal threats and challenges mean the future of birthright citizenship remains uncertain. Fresnoland
Fresno County schools expect about $48 million now that the Trump Administration abruptly unfroze nearly $5.5 billion in federal funding earmarked for campuses. Fresnoland
Two City of Fresno workers unions inked new deals Monday that come with 3% raises effective immediately, including for nearly 1,000 Fresno Police Department employees. Fresnoland
Only a tiny fraction of mobile food vendors have started participating in a recent city program to streamline permitting applications but some vendors who spoke with The Bee said the process is overly complicated and confusing. The Fresno Bee
Newly released state guidelines propose a framework for how San Joaquin Valley groundwater managers can “best stop, slow or even reverse subsidence,” but reactions to the new guidance were mixed. SJV Water
Fresno’s Democratic congressmen visited a Reedley hospital earlier this week to highlight and criticize the Trump Administration’s Medicaid cuts, which are expected to have a disproportionate effect on central San Joaquin Valley residents. The Business Journal
Attorneys say it could take years to resolve the more than 150 sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the bankrupt Fresno Catholic Diocese. KVPR
Two Fresno hospitals — Saint Agnes Medical Center and Community Regional Medical Center — scored top marks in a recent national review. The Intersection
Three rural west Fresno County communities are at the center of California’s clean energy transition and the world’s largest solar project. The Fresno Bee
California Democrats are targeting this Central Valley Republican whose vote to cut Medicaid and food stamps helped President Donald Trump secure his controversial “Big Beautiful Bill.” NBC
Block Beat
RADIO PARK: The Fresno Arts Museum will host an opening reception on Friday, Aug. 8 at 5 p.m. for their newest exhibitions. The exhibition features multiple exhibits that will be on display into 2026. The event is free for members of the museum, and $20 for non-members. Fresno Art Museum
FRESNO STATE: The university’s Creative Writing Alumni Chapter presents the third annual Fresno Writers Summit, celebrating new books by Fresno State alumni authors from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Smittcamp Alumni House on campus. Tickets are $12. Fresno State
SIERRA: The CEO of Fresno Mission’s thrift store says he believes a recent string of fires at the store were intentionally set by an unknown “arsonist.” The Business Journal
RIVER PARK: Chick-fil-A located at Blackstone and Nees expects to reopen today after several months of remodeling shuttered the popular fast-food spot in north Fresno. KFSN
OLD TOWN: Clovis has a new “mythical themed brewery” owned by a local veteran. KSEE
JEFFERSON: Fresno correctional officers teamed up with the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church and distributed more than 300 free backpacks to local students as classrooms prepare for the first day of school. KMPH
ROEDING PARK: The Fresno Chaffee Zoo says both the Stingray Bay and the African Adventure savannas will be closed during the month of August, and the giraffe feeding station. KSEE
