Good morning! It’s Monday, Nov. 17. This is Rob & Danielle.
⛈️More rain early this week, with up to a half inch expected today with highs in the 50s. NOAA
⛸️Ice skating set to return: Snag your tickets, because the Mariposa Winter Village is coming to Mariposa Plaza starting Dec. 5. Confia
🪖The Central Valley Blue Star Moms are in the middle of their holiday drive, putting together care packages stuffed with essentials and snacks — and they’d like your help. ABC30
1. La Hacienda Mobile Home Park residents celebrate victory over predatory owner
It started with a deadly fire in 2021. And it ended, this fall, with community residents – in partnership with Self-Help Enterprises – finally getting control of their beleaguered mobile home park.
Residents of the La Hacienda Mobile Home Park in Pinedale – formerly known as Trails’ End – celebrated a nearly five year battle for community ownership of the park on Friday evening.
Last November, a federal bankruptcy judge slammed former park owners, Harmony Communities, for bad-faith tactics, which involved attempts to evict residents and significantly raise rents in order to clear tenants out, minimizing their financial liabilities.
In October, the state officially awarded $5 million dollars for the City of Fresno and Self-Help Enterprises, a Visalia-based nonprofit, to acquire and rehabilitate the park. They also plan to add 17 new mobile homes for veterans.
Attorney Mariah Thompson, of California Rural Legal Assistance: “The resilience of this community over the last four years of fighting against incredible odds and incredibly powerful wealthy people is so inspiring. I knew we would win.”
-Danielle Bergstrom
2. What happens to children taken from families by ICE?
As immigration enforcement intensifies, California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a law that expands the definition of a legal caregiver, potentially making it easier for families separated by ICE to find someone they trust to take care of their children, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reports.
But the system is also a nightmare of wildly inconsistent bureaucracy and what happens to children in these situations is based on a variety of factors — including the child’s citizenship status, and whether the family has a preparedness plan, among others.
Fresnoland worked with immigration advocates to put together this practical guide to help better prepare for and navigate the early stages of a separation.
Fresnoland is working on more stories about this topic. If anyone is interested in speaking about their family preparedness plan or how organizations have helped navigate childcare, please contact Gisselle Medina at gisselle@fresnoland.org
3. Fresno Unified still missing millions after scam
Fresno Unified schools still have yet to recover more than $2 million in stolen money after a fraudster managed to cash at least two large checks meant for a local construction company, The Fresno Bee reports.
The fund apparently went missing in February last year and the theft was disclosed to the county board of supervisors earlier this year.
The Bee reports that checks meant for Davis Moreno Construction were sent to the wrong address after an impersonator submitted a bogus address-change to the district, causing the checks to go out incorrectly — one check for $1.2 million and a second $1 million check.
FUSD said it has changed procedures to ensure a similar scam can’t hit the district again.
District spokesperson A.J. Kato: “Our purchasing department has added additional steps in the process of validating vendor contact information.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Omar S. Rashad.
