Good morning! It’s Monday, April 13. This is Rob.
‘Sun is cold’: Patchy clouds and around a 20% chance of rain this afternoon with highs in the upper 60s today. Clear skies are expected this week with temperatures climbing into the mid 70s as the week goes on. NOAA
That’s a big burrito: Taqueria Yarelis’ Fresno-famous three-foot “Anaconda burrito” has landed in northwest Fresno, the shop’s third location since launching their business in 2009. ABC30.
Swede Fest! Want to create your own sweded film, but don’t know where to start? CMAC has you covered. Two free classes are available to help you learn how to pick a project and build a production plan, among other tools. Class begins at 6 p.m. on April 14. CMAC
Ready? The 48th annual Fresno Basque Festival begins at 9 a.m. on May 2. The free public event includes a parade, Basque music, dancing, and food. More info
What rhymes with ‘contest’? The Fresno County Public Library is accepting submissions for its 27th Annual Poetry Contest, inviting residents of all ages to share their writing and be recognized as part of a long-standing community tradition. Facebook
1. ‘No way around it’
Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver sat down with KVPR’s Soreath Hok on the Central Valley Daily podcast to discuss the political pressure exerted by the Fresno mayor who has fought to keep a massive housing development alive.
Text messages obtained by Fresnoland between Mayor Jerry Dyer and several Fresno Unified school board members over the contentious SEDA megadevelopment — a massive $4.3 billion, 9,000-acre housing plan roughly the size of Clovis — has been in the works in various forms for decades. But now, FUSD says it will accelerate the district’s enrollment losses and force more school closures.
In February, the FUSD school board briefly debated taking a formal position opposing the sprawl development widely expected to fuel the district’s enrollment demise, but ultimately took no action.
The night before FUSD’s vote, Dyer sent text messages to at least most of the board — which he told Fresnoland weren’t “intended to be a threat” — urging them to stay out of the issue.
Trustees Keisha Thomas, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, Susan Witrupp and Claudia Cazares acquiesced to the mayor’s demands and voted to table the issue indefinitely.
Three FUSD trustees pushed back against Fresno’s two-term mayor, with Veva Islas and Andy Levine telling the mayor that SEDA was bad for FUSD students and families.
Islas, Levine and Trustee Valarie Davis voted to oppose the urban-sprawl development.
“Let me be clear,” Dyer wrote to Levine. “If the FUSD takes a formal position against SEDA the relationship between the city and FUSD will be damaged. No way around it.”
2. Meet Fresno’s Dream Team
R and B and gospel music returned to Kearney Park on Saturday and Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano got to meet the team behind the highly popular event.
Co-organized by Dream Team Promotions and led by Delanno Hopkins, Rosalind Butler-Patrick and David Harris, aka DJ Daave, among others, the R and B in the Park event drew nearly 1,000 people last year and was already on track to out pace that number this year.
And this isn’t the only event the team has in store for 2026 — or even the only R and B in the Park.
Co-organizer Rosalind Butler-Patrick: “I would like to move onto our next event so that we can continue to be flourishing for the city and for them to see all different types of things from us, not just R and B in the Park.”
3. Hanford’s famous Superior Dairy moves into a trailer — for now!
One of Fresno County’s most famous and beloved ice cream shops is temporarily closing its doors for major renovations, YourCentralValley reports.
The old shop closed up at 8 p.m. Sunday.
While renovations are underway, the company plans to roll out its new trailer on Monday at Civic Park in Hanford, where it’s expected to set up for at least the next two weeks.
“New lighting, a fully renovated dining area and restoration to those pink seats are all on the way,” KSEE/KPGE writes. “And when it reopens, customers will finally be able to sit down and dine in. It’s something that hasn’t been possible for years.”
Superior Dairy CEO Jacob Zonneveld: “I think people really miss dining in, and there’s nothing more that we want than that. But we also want to have a quality product and something that people are proud to have in their community.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
