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☀️ Good morning! It’s Wednesday, March 19. This is Rob wishing you a happy National Chocolate Caramel Day. And it’s probably going to be a good day for it, too, with daytime highs around 70 and overnight lows in the high 40s.
❎Brandon Vang appears on the verge of capturing the open seat on the Fresno City Council after Tuesday’s special election. Vang cruised to a commanding lead in the crowded four-candidate field. When the polls closed and the dust settled, he held 50.5% of the vote — enough to avoid a summer election run off, if he can remain above the 50% threshold. However, a few hundred late and mail-in ballots are expected in the coming days. Read the full story below from Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano and Diego Vargas.
🚭 In related news, filling the open City Council seat sooner rather than later could potentially help break a 3-3 split among council members in the effort to crack down on the city’s smoke shops. Beefed-up guideline proposals died on the vine last week after hours of debate failed to reach a solution. The proposal could have forced dozens of smoke shops in the city to shut down. Read the full story below from Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
How plans to crack down on tobacco shops in Fresno went up in smoke
Three hours wasn’t enough for city councilmembers to agree on the fate of smoke shops in Fresno. In front of them last week was a proposed ordinance years in the making, meant to crack down on smoke shops engaged in illegal practices — from selling cannabis and marijuana without a […]
Vang takes big early lead in special Fresno City Council race. But will he avoid a runoff?
Brandon Vang seemed poised for victory in Tuesday’s special Fresno City Council election. Vang held 50.5% of the early vote, followed by Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas at about 34.56%, with Jose Leon Barraza holding 12.2% and Paul Condon at almost 2.5%, according to unofficial results posted shortly after 9 p.m. by […]
‘A dream come true.’ Doctors cheer Madera Community Hospital reopening
Over the last two years, Mohammad Ashraf has lost contact with dozens of his patients. It was inevitable for the cardiologist, following Madera Community Hospital’s closure in December 2022. Ever since then, every Madera resident in need of emergency care has had to weigh whether their medical needs are worth […]
