Good morning! It’s Tuesday, Dec. 9. This is Rob.
More gray today: Cloudy skies over Fresno, with highs in the 40s. NOAA
Road trip to Bakersfield: On this week’s Fresnolandia podcast, Jordan and Danielle jetted down the 99 with Fresno downtown developer Reza Assemi to talk with Bakersfield developers about the joys and challenges of revitalizing Central Valley downtowns. Fresnoland
Safer roads? Fresno County’s Department of Public Works is asking residents to help shape a safer transportation future by using a new online mapping exercise designed to capture community-identified traffic safety problem areas. Find the online tool and more information here.
Free books! To support winter break reading for students and help them expand their home libraries, the district is partnering with Scholastic to provide more than 100,000 books to students in preschool through fifth grade — each student gets to take home five books! The event is set for 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12 at McCardle Elementary School, 577 E. Sierra Ave.
1. New law for sex offenders?
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors plans to debate a new proposal that would cap the number of registered sex offenders allowed to live together in a single-family home, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports.
Speaking with reporters at a news conference on Monday, Supervisor Garry Bredefeld said property owners would face fines of over $50,000 for successive violations, a six-month jail sentence, the loss of their business license if they’re a care provider, and potential litigation from the county.
The ordinance targets property owners of single-family homes, including accessory dwelling units and mobile homes that may be attached to the property. It will not affect apartments.
Bredefeld: “Many transitional houses such as these are often located in county islands and unincorporated areas of the county. These operators often believe they can avoid scrutiny, evade accountability, and use loopholes and existing laws to make a profit at the expense of our families.”
2. ‘Every community deserves that’
Central Fresno’s Radio Park faces a $10 million makeover that will add a splash pad, more trees and walking paths and a stage for performances, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reports.
City leaders rolled out the renovation plans at a news conference Monday at the park at First Street and Clinton Avenue.
Much of the redesign draws from feedback across four community meetings.
The city expects to complete renovations to Radio Park in early 2027.
Mayor Jerry Dyer: “Families who have lived in this neighborhood have gone without what so many in our community take for granted in a park: a safe, welcoming, vibrant green space, a place to recreate, to socialize and to create memories. Every community deserves that.”
3. ‘We’ll never get it back’
Neighborhood advocates and property owners are mourning the loss of a historic building in Chinatown after a weekend blaze gutted the century-old property, ABC30 reports.
Built around 1895, the building was part of China Alley, an area home to several immigrant communities in the 19th and 20th centuries.That history is gone now, a blanket of ash following the weekend blaze.
City leaders have pledged to crack down on the owners of long-vacant buildings in downtown and Chinatown, but the High-Speed Rail Authority owns the building that burned over the weekend.
Elizabeth Laval, president of the Fresno City and County Historical Society: “Our whole team just feels a bit dejected whenever we see something like that.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Omar S. Rashad.
