Good morning! It’s Monday, Jan. 12. This is Rob.
🌤️More cold sun: A dense fog advisory expires at 11 a.m. today, followed by clear skies with highs in the 50s. NOAA
🎨Feeling crafty? Craft club launches at the Politi Branch Library (5771 N. First) starting Thursday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. Supplies will be provided. Fresno Library has details on that and other clubs at other branches this semester. Fresno Library
🧒Child safety seats: The Fresno County Department of Public Health received a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to educate parents and caregivers about the importance of child safety seats and to ensure that all children travel safely. For more information on the Child Passenger Safety Program, call 559-600-3330
1. ‘This murder was so obvious’
Hundreds gathered Sunday morning at Fresno’s River Park Shopping Center to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reports.
A protester named Naomi, who asked not to be identified by her full name, criticized the government’s response to the tragedy, which she described as an effort to double down on false narratives and gaslight communities, and for “taking actions without accountability.”
“To me, this murder was so obvious,” Naomi said, “I can’t, in good faith, not be here. I can’t live in a world like this.”
This was the second Fresno protest in the last week. On Thursday, demonstrators rallied at ICE’s downtown office, which culminated in an impromptu march through downtown Fresno. Numerous protests against the Trump administration and immigration enforcement took place last year, including the “No Kings” demonstrations, which also drew large crowds.
2. ‘How did you miss it?’
A Fresno judge grilled Caltrans officials on Friday over the state’s plans for an interchange expansion on Highway 99 as neighbors and community groups urge the court to block more industrial truck traffic to a community already choked by pollution.
Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver was at the courthouse on Friday where officials questioned Caltrans plans to expand the road from two lanes to four to possibly even six for more truck traffic on the North Avenue and American Avenue interchanges.
Fresno Building Healthy Communities and Friends of Calwa filed a lawsuit against the state’s transportation agency in 2023. They want to block the $150 million project because of Caltrans’ failure to analyze the health impacts of their project on the children at the County detention facility, which is roughly 100 yards away.
The judge’s ruling is expected within 90 days.
3. One dead, multiple injured in 17-car pileup on Highway 99
A massive 17-vehicle pileup Sunday on Highway 99 in Fresno left one person dead and multiple people injured, multiple newsrooms reported.
California Highway Patrol investigators told reporters the crash was reported around 9:15 a.m. on Highway 99, just south of North Avenue, KMPH reported.
Emergency responders utilized numerous ambulances and a Fresno city FAX bus to transport the injured, an exact number of which remained unclear early Monday.
Investigators say heavy fog reduced visibility to fewer than 15 feet early Sunday and drivers traveling too fast rear-ended vehicles ahead of them, triggering a massive pileup on Fresno’s main freeway.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
