(📢 Tell us what you really think! Fill out our short, 3-5 minute survey about this newsletter to enter for a chance to win a $50 gift card to a local restaurant. 📢 )
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, June 24. This is Rob.
Hot: Remember yesterday? Today’s the same. NOAA
Retroactive: Blue Shield of California and Community Health System announced an agreement that restores in-network access for Blue Shield members at Community facilities. KMPH
It’s free: The Fresno County Department of Public Health is promoting education on proper car seat installation and provides free child safety seats to qualifying families. YourCentralValley
New look: The County of Fresno and Self-Help Enterprises will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated Lanare Community Center at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 26 at 20620 S. Grantland Ave., Riverdale. Instagram
‘Seeing stars’ The Kings River Land Trust invites the public to join them for an evening of star-gazing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 16 at Kinney Ranch, 769 N. Piedra Road, Sanger. Kings River Land Trust
Summer reading! The Fresno County Public Library is inviting residents of all ages to Go Wild for Reading this summer through its annual Summer at Your Library program, presented in partnership with the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. Instagram
1. Inside Fresno’s newly adopted budget
The Fresno City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a balanced budget of about $2.56 billion for the next fiscal year, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports.
It’s yet another record-breaking spending plan from Fresno’s two-term mayor, Jerry Dyer, who has seen the city’s budget swell each year since taking office.
The city found the funding for Advance Peace Fresno, the Eviction Protection Program and a one-year pilot program focused on affordable child care.
All budget motions can be seen here.
2. Dyer calls on nonprofits and Fresno County to step up
The budget that City Hall adopted on Tuesday closes a roughly $35 million spending gap and backstops key programs, like Advance Peace Fresno, a highly successful street violence reduction program that was financially gutted last year by the Trump administration.
As Fresno City Hall steps up funding for the program and others at the hands of White House budget cuts, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer is calling on other area governments and nonprofits to pitch in more in the coming years.
Dyer: “I believe we as city officials and nonprofits collectively must challenge the County of Fresno and our philanthropic partners to step up and do their part to fund these agencies in need.”
3. Fresno County to Host Two Virtual Town Hall Meetings
With thousands of residents bracing for massive cuts to food and health care access, Fresno County leaders will host another online town-hall style meeting to address questions and concerns ahead of a tough budget cycle, with the county expected to finalize its budget this fall.
About a quarter of a million Fresno County residents receive CalFresh benefits, and the county estimates that around 40,000 people will be impacted by new work eligibility requirements. And a little over half of county residents rely on Medi-Cal, which will also have new requirements for residents to stay on.
Two more budget town halls will be held this month, at noon on June 24 (today) and at 5:30 p.m. on June 25, and they’ll both be virtual.
There is also an online survey, provided in English and Spanish, for residents to help the county understand what Fresno’s constituency of over one million people wants to see prioritized in the next budget.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
