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Good morning! It’s Tuesday, June 2. This is Rob, wishing you a happy primary election day!
Summertime: Sunny skies again today with highs around 95. NOAA
‘Hands Down’: California’s top cop came to Fresno early Monday to celebrate a massive joint investigation centering around Fresno-area gang activity that resulted in 69 arrests and the seizure of dozens of guns, weapons, narcotics and almost $156,000 in cash. KMPH
Politics: A former political opponent is apparently behind an anti-Joaquin Arambula website launched just days before Tuesday’s primary. The Fresno Bee
New rules: Stricter CalFresh benefits kicked in Monday. YourCentralValley
Bad and Nationwide! ZZ Top is coming to Fresno this summer! YourCentralValley
First time ever! A Fresno State student ensemble will perform at one of the world’s largest clarinet conferences this summer. KVPR
1. Fresno County wants out from under a federal consent decree
Fresno County is gearing up for a legal fight to end the federal court’s now decade-long oversight of the county jail.
Fresno County has been under a federal consent decree since 2015 after reaching a settlement with the Prison Law Office to address a long-list of concerns ranging from mental health and standard medical care of inmates to accessibility and reduction in violence.
In a letter dated May 27, Fresno County Counsel Doug Sloan disputes the latest assessment from the Prison Law Office, which informed the county on May 20 that the jail’s healthcare system remains “deficient” and described an “ongoing and longstanding failure to comply with critical healthcare requirements.”
But Fresno County is pushing back hard, arguing, at least in part, that not only have they complied with or exceeded standards over the years, but that the federal consent decree has also expired.
In the county’s letter to the Prison Law Office, Sloan says the county has eliminated any scheduled inspections and will no longer comply with document production requirements.
The Prison Law Office has informed the county of its intent to “proceed with enforcement litigation.”
2. It might take years to get a second vote center in southwest Fresno
Voters in southwest Fresno are likely at least two years away from obtaining a second vote center, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reports this morning.
The handful of dropboxes and single vote center on the city’s southwest side reinforces decades of under-service in the community.
The issue first came to light in late May in an editorial penned by California Advocate Publisher Mark Kimber.
In a recent interview with Fresnoland, the Fresno County clerk acknowledged the challenges of opening centers and said he would support more centers and dropboxes in the coming years.
3. Superintendent candidate says he ‘was not being truthful’
With only a handful of hours before the primary election polls, a candidate in the three-way race to lead Fresno County’s office of education is admitting that he hasn’t been truthful about some of his recent work history, ABC30 reports.
During a May 19 interview with the ABC affiliate, candidate Johnny Alvarado denied being placed on administrative leave from Parlier Unified.
But in an interview Friday with KMJ, Alvarado acknowledged “I was not being truthful.”
Alvarado went on to explain that he was actually under investigation at the time of the May 19 interview and was unsure about whether he was allowed to talk about it.
“Not knowing that I could speak about it, maybe that was one of the reasons why I didn’t say, ‘yes.’”
Alvarado is running against incumbent Superintendent Michele Cantwell-Copher and retired Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O’Brien. Check out more about that race in Fresnoland’s primary election guide!
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
