(📢 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 Thursday, June 18. This is Rob.
Easy: Highs in the mid-90s today with slightly cooler temperatures ahead. NOAA
Editor’s note: The Toplines newsletter will take Friday off in honor of Juneteenth but will return Monday, June 22.
Stay safe: The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office is planning to distribute nearly 300 life jackets to the community. ABC30
Wild 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. Fresno Unified won’t reverse contentious administrative transfers
Frustrated Fresno Unified teachers and parents packed the school board chambers Wednesday to pressure the superintendent to reverse a staffing move that forced the transfers of dozens of vice principals and administrators to new campuses next year.
Trustee Susan Wittrup took the unusual step of publicly demanding from the dais that Superintendent Misty Her reverse the staffing change. Wittrup’s remarks drew applause from the crowd but her demand carries zero authority. Wittrup has been a longtime critic of Her and adamantly opposed Her’s selection as superintendent last year.
In a brief interview with Fresnoland following Wednesday’s debate, Her said she respected Wittrup’s position and the positions of frustrated employees. But she also confirmed the staffing decision is final and once again said the changes would not be undone.
The staffing changes come on the heels of an ugly budget cycle that saw the district scramble to close another multi-million dollar deficit through a combination of retirement incentives, spending cuts and attrition that included pressure from unions and the public to cut administrative spending over classroom staffing.
-Rob Parsons, senior editor
2. Rate hikes looming in smaller communities
A dozen small Fresno County communities are scheduled for utility rate increases, Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver reported this week.
The hikes will apply to the county’s community service areas (CSAs), which are independently operated districts, often near the Millerton Lake and Kings River area, where homeowners pool together tax dollars to pay for water and sewer.
The districts could be created by a single vote from a land speculator, then pass water-system costs to future homeowners once the land was subdivided.
Four CSAs raised rates in the past year; two more face Prop. 218 hearings this month—a West Fresno County farm and Auberry’s volunteer fire department.
A list of the 10 other areas with rate increase hearings due in the coming year can be found here.
3. Raw milk politics
KVPR’s Central Valley Daily podcast sits down with ProPublica reporter Annie Waldman to discuss her recent profile of Raw Farm, a popular Fresno County dairy that has made national headlines with Robert Kennedy Jr.-endorsed raw milk at the forefront of a growing wellness movement.
But the farm has been the subject of recalls and outbreaks in recent years that have increased scrutiny over the safety of their products.
Raw Farm’s Pat McAfee: “I’ve put a couple kids in the hospital, and they have been sick, but they recovered. But here’s the thing: I’m a pioneer. And I’m going against the grain here. I’m climbing a mountain they say you can’t climb.”
Check out the ProPublica profile here.
