Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Nov. 19. This is Rob & Omar.
☁️ Cooler again today in Fresno, with hazardous fog advisory in effect until 10 a.m. and daytime highs in the upper 50s. Rain could return Thursday. NOAA
Familiar face taking over: Fresno County names new public health director. Fresnoland
📝 Naturalization applications surge: immigrants looking to apply for citizenship are trying to get ahead of the new civics test. The Fresno Bee
🔧 Another manufacturing facility by FAT: Hayward-based Coast Aluminum, Inc, breaks ground in Fresno today on a $42 million, 163,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility. The Business Journal
📽️ The Big Tell Showcase at 7 p.m. today, Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Tower Theatre, features short documentaries from talented Fresno-area filmmakers, “capturing the creativity, resilience, and everyday moments that inspire and connect our community. More information
🎨 Fresno Arts Council invites you to share your ideas for the next cycle of “Expanded Access to Arts and Culture” grants, funded by Measure P. The first meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2 with a second at 6 p.m. Dec. 10. Both meetings will be held at the Fresno Arts Council, 1245 Van Ness Ave. Fresno Arts Council
1. Fresno supervisors call road tax spending proposal ‘foul’
Fresno County supervisors threw cold water on the most recent proposal for spending local road tax dollars, hammering the Measure C committee proposal’s allocation for road improvements and slamming the process for including numerous unelected leaders and nonprofit advocates, Pablo Orihuela reports for Fresnoland.
Supervisor Garry Bredefeld called the committee a “shitshow” and a “lie.”
“The majority of the mayors basically abdicated their responsibility as elected leaders to come up with an expenditure plan and punted it toward a steering committee of unelected people,” Bredefeld said.
Chair Buddy Mendes called it a “foul deal.”
And Supervisor Luis Chavez raised the specter of competing road taxes going before Fresno voters next, which would make passing either tax much less likely.
Chavez: “I’m going to save my colleagues some time and possibly some heartache. I don’t think we’re going to vote on this. I really don’t. I really think that there are going to be two competing ballots from the conversation that I’m hearing right now.”
2. Are more Fresno Unified students in class?
About 29.4% of all Fresno Unified K-8th grade students were chronically absent during the 2024-25 school year, Fresnoland’s Diego Vargas reports.
That’s about 14,866 students who missed at least 10% of all school days in a year.
Fresno Unified’s chronic absenteeism rate has gradually decreased every year since it reached a record-high during the pandemic. However, it’s still much higher than the district’s pre-pandemic chronic absenteeism rate.
It’s a challenge impacting school districts across the country, not just Fresno Unified. One administrator told Diego there are several interventions in place to help make sure students are in class.
Lexi Crothers of Go Public Schools: “Chronic absenteeism is still nearly double pre-pandemic levels and well above the state average. What’s promising is that the district is not treating this as a one-year issue.”
3. Fresno leaders move to regulate synthetic kratom
Calling it “gas station heroin,” Fresno leaders began cracking down this week on the synthetic form of kratom, a plant that some claim has medicinal properties but health officials are increasingly frowning upon, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports.
The Mayo Clinic has labeled the drug “unsafe and ineffective.”
And while federal health officials have signaled intent to scrutinize the plant, there are currently no state or federal prohibitions against kratom.
Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Fresno City Councilmember Nelson Esparza said he wasn’t willing to wait for more federal or state guidance.
Esparza: “If state and federal governments can’t move quickly enough, then the cities and counties here must. Our neighborhoods deserve protection from the predatory market of unregulated and dangerous drugs.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
