Good morning! It’s Thursday, Sept. 25. This is Rob. Happy National Quesadilla Day!
😎Highs in the upper 80s again today and tomorrow with a small chance of rain.
🚅 Where will the money go: The Trump administration wants to redistribute more than $2 billion that it pulled from California’s beleaguered high-speed rail project. AP News via KVPR.
🚇Tonight: Join Fresnoland from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25 at the Lookout Room at the Tioga Sequoia Brewing Company to hear from some of Los Angeles’ biggest transit leaders and discuss what transportation lessons Fresno might be able to learn from LA’s public transit expansion. All ages welcome! Ticket link
🛍️ Fair changes: The Big Fresno Fair is changing its bag policy and fair officials want visitors to be prepared so they aren’t turned away at the gate. The fair begins Oct. 1. ABC30
1. Fresno trumps feds on constitutional arguments – for now
Fresno city leaders cheered a federal ruling this week blocking the Trump administration from rescinding millions of dollars in congressionally-approved funding, but acknowledged the legal battle isn’t likely to end any time soon.
U.S. Justice Department attorneys haven’t responded to questions about whether they intend to the appeal the ruling handed down late Tuesday by the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad reported.
Fresno leaders have been quick to frame the issue as a constitutional dispute instead of a political fight between City Hall and the federal government. Mayor Jerry Dyer and Councilmember Nick Richardson, both Republicans, talked about how the money would be used to benefit local residents and projects.
But Richardson, the freshman Woodward Park councilmember — who described the lawsuit as an effort to combat federal government overreach — also said he had a message for both California’s blue leadership and Washington D.C.’s red leaders: “Don’t fuck with Fresno.”
2. Pave More (right) Now!
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer on Tuesday formally launched his “Pave More Now” initiative with the start of “Phase One” involving a project on Shields Avenue from Fruit to Palm, KMPH reports.
The $100-million bond investment program aims to repave miles and miles of Fresno’s crumbling roads. Announced earlier this summer as “Pave More Now, Pay Later,” included a roughly two-year timeframe to complete more than 50 paving-related projects, Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad reported in June.
Fresno leaders have said the city is already sitting on more than $1.2 billion in deferred road maintenance and nobody expects repair costs to get cheaper in the future.
Mayor Dyer: “This is only the beginning of the Pave More Now initiative. Starting in spring 2026, the City plans to launch more projects during the paving season, which runs from spring through fall. “Maybe your street could be next.”
3. Judge tosses discrimination suit against Fresno Unified
A federal judge recently tossed a discrimination lawsuit against Fresno Unified, claiming — without providing evidence — that a program designed to address Black student achievement gaps violated the Civil Rights Act, EdSource reported.
A group called Californians for Equal Rights Foundation filed the complaint in February, The Fresno Bee reported, claiming non-Black students were excluded based on their race from the district’s African American Academic Acceleration program, commonly dubbed A4.
The group claimed programs “are designed, marketed, and promoted as only available to black students” and that “even if they had learned about the A4 programs, they and their children are not made to feel welcome because of their race.”
But the complaint contained “no factual allegations” that non-Black students had been denied entry or access to the group based on race.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
