Quote of the Week
“You’re sharing roads designed almost exclusively for cars, with little buffer or protection; drivers frequently speed, crosswalks can be poorly marked or spaced far apart, and bike lanes—where they exist—are often narrow or blocked by parked cars or debris.”
Edna Pedroza, chair of the Fresno County Bicycle Coalition, on walking and biking in Fresno
This Week in Fresnoland
‘Compromise is the only option’
In a split vote late Thursday, the Fresno Council of Governments’ policy board agreed to continue working to reach a compromise on how the county should go about handling its final bid to rescue Measure C — a crucial county-wide transportation tax that has funded local projects for nearly 40 years and is set to expire in 2027.
Failure to reach a compromise could lead to multiple, rival tax proposals landing on Fresno ballots next year — a confusing option that would add yet another hurdle for the tax’s renewal bid, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reported this week.
The tensions are between two rival forces — one establishment-backed, and the other led by community advocates, dubbed “Transportation For All” — debating what spending oversight should be installed in the new version of Measure C. Emotions boiled over in April after the two sides appeared almost hopelessly deadlocked, sparking concerns that as many as three rival road tax proposals would compete on the 2026 ballot.
‘Fresno is not, by any definition, a sanctuary city’
The Trump Administration this week released a lengthy list of communities it claims are so-called “sanctuary” communities that could lose funding for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration agents — and Fresno made the list.
Fresno isn’t a sanctuary city and neither are a lot of the other ruby red cities and counties scattered across the Central Valley and the North State that somehow landed on President Donald Trump’s list, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina noted.
Mayor Jerry Dyer, a Republican, appeared mystified by Fresno’s placement on the botched list released by the Department of Homeland Security.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Clovis, which recently flirted with declaring itself an anti-sanctuary city, did not make the list. However, Huntington Beach, which declared itself a “non-sanctuary city” in January somehow made Trump’s list.
Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns — a noted Trump supporter — called the list “negligent,” the Associated Press reported, adding “somebody’s got to answer to that.”
Fresno is the seventh most dangerous metro-area for pedestrians
Fresno’s streets have grown increasingly more dangerous in recent years, with fatal car crashes and pedestrian deaths fueling the city’s rise to America’s seventh most-dangerous metro-areas, Deigo Vargas reported this week for Fresnoland.
And it’s only gotten worse in Fresno over the past decade. The county’s ranking climbed from the 21st worst metro in 2021, according to data analyzed by Smart Growth America, when there were 111 pedestrian fatalities from 2013 through 2017.
Pedestrian deaths locally are concentrated on major streets like Shaw Avenue and Blackstone Avenue, where 22 and 20 pedestrians have been killed by cars, respectively, according to an interactive map with data from 2008-2022.
Edna Pedroza, chair of the Fresno County Bicycle Coalition, said travelling through Fresno by foot or bike “often feels like you’re invisible.”
Cooling centers open as the first real Fresno heat of 2025 settles in
Fresno’s first triple-digit weekend lands with a big sweaty thud on Friday with temperatures climbing to around 102.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory through early Sunday. The weekend heat should peak on Saturday at around 105 degrees, an extreme threshold that triggers warnings from public health officials.
“Every heat-related death can be prevented,” Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County interim health officer, said in a statement. “It is important to check on older neighbors and family members, especially those who live alone. We advise residents to be proactive and understand steps they can take to keep themselves safe.”
In response to the regularly-scheduled extreme heat, city leaders in Fresno and Clovis said cooling centers would be open over the weekend. Find the full list as well as health and safety guidance on heat-related illnesses here.
Help shape the future of our coverage on Fresno County’s Latino communities
Words like “watchdog” and “accountability” get tossed around a lot in Fresnoland’s newsroom, where we try to do our best to honor journalism’s highest mission — looking out for the people who live in the neighborhoods that make up our collective community.
We approach this effort in a variety of ways and one of them is very simply to ask you for your input on our news coverage and what you would like to read from Fresnoland.
Now, we’re asking for that feedback specifically from Fresno’s Latino communities.
Latinos are the majority in Fresno County, representing nearly 55% of Fresno County residents. Last year, UCLA’s Policy and Politics Institute noted that over one-third of Fresno County Latinos are children and almost one in four Fresno-area Latinos live in poverty.
Please consider taking our short survey here. Thank you!
Outside the Lines
Things are getting weird at Fresno Unified where, this week, newly-minted Superintendent Misty Her acknowledged that the district’s main spokesperson, Nikki Henry, used artificial intelligence to fabricate or gin up bogus quotes and comments attributed to the Fresno Teachers’ Association. It’s the latest bizarre chapter in a growing feud between the new superintendent and the teacher’s union that opposed her appointment vehemently. ABC30
Tensions continue to mount over this weekend’s 2025 CIF Track and Field Championships set to take place at Buchanan High School in Clovis over the participation of a transgender female high school athlete from the Inland Empire. On Thursday, local elected officials called for the high school student to be excluded from the championship, framing it as an issue of fairness. In a social media post Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump threatened to pull federal funding in California if the state did not bar trans students from participating in girls sports.” KVPR
A 15-page Grand Jury report released last week “details several flaws in the current system – including antiquated software and a deficient website” and calls for more transparency for property and homeowners. The Fresno Bee
A local nonprofit has lost its lawsuit against the City of Fresno regarding litigation fees from a Measure P lawsuit in 2019. On May 23, Fresno Superior Court Judge Robert M. Whalen ruled against Fresno Building Healthy Communities (FBHC), awarding the group $290,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, according to a news release from Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz. The nonprofit sought more than $600,000 in attorney’s fees and costs.” The Business Journal
Block Beat
ROEDING PARK: The City of Fresno on Friday announced the completion of two “full renovated tot lots.” The $1.2 million-Measure P-funded project includes new amenities at the Maple Grove and Pine Grove Tot Lots. Instagram
SAN JOAQUIN RIVER: In a new story this week, The Fresno Bee breaks down the conflicting plans and goals around the future of the San Joaquin River — commercialization vs. conservation — and asks why more people don’t know about “Fresno’s greatest natural feature.” The Fresno Bee
FRESNO CITY COLLEGE: Community members are invited to help paint a new mural in downtown Fresno as part of what the organizers call an “artistric, interactive protest” that shares the stories of 21 immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. Painting days for the mural will be held at Fresno City College on May 28 and at My Homie’s Kitchen in downtown Fresno beginning today and continuing through Tuesday, June. 3. KSEE
PEACH AVENUE: Southeast Fresno residents are encouraged to nominate names for a new park on Peach Avenue. City leaders broke ground on the park in February and are asking residents to submit nominations by June 15. “We’re looking for a name that reflects someone or something that has made a meaningful impact in our community,” Councilmember Brandon Vang said in a social media post. More information
RIVER PARK: Fresno residents can join the national “No Kings Rally” from 10 a.m to noon Saturday, June 14 at the intersection of Blackstone and Nees Avenues. Organizers say the ‘No Kings’ protest is a “national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption from Trump and his allies.”
