Good morning! Today is Tuesday, August 25. This is Rob.
Good news for food banks: The full three‑year, $1.2 million project further strengthens food distribution across 19 rural communities in Fresno, Madera, and Tulare Counties. Central California Food Bank
3.5 acres burning, 0% contained: U.S. Wildland Fire Service wildland firefighters continue to battle a wildland fire in a wilderness area of Kings Canyon National Park that broke out over the weekend. YourCentralValley
Students find gun: Clovis Unified School District said that an off-duty law enforcement officer with the California Justice Department left his service weapon unattended in the men’s restroom at Veterans Memorial Stadium during Friday’s football game. The Fresno Bee
“Something tiki coming soon”? Rum, bamboo and kitschy carved gods are finally coming back to Fresno. The Business Journal
Fresno book launches: “The fall 2026 Fresno Poets’ Association reading series will include book launches for a U.S. poet laureate and a Philip Levine Prize winner, readings by three Fresno State alumni with new books, and a special tribute to one of the university’s most notable alumni authors, the late poet Larry Levis.” Fresno State
Taco Tuesday news: “A taco shop that has roots in San Diego is taking over a former Fresno comic book store.” YourCentralValley
1. Is today the day Fresno voters finally get some answers?
A long-awaited court hearing is set for later today as Fresno County takes on Sacramento over a local transportation tax measure.
Whether Tuesday’s hearing actually goes forward is just about anybody’s guess, though, especially after more than a month of backroom political jockeying that has, as of Tuesday morning, already seen three Fresno judges assigned to and then disqualified from ruling on the case.
In July, a narrow conservative majority of Fresno County supervisors voted for further study on the “Better Roads, Safer Streets” transportation tax measure.
The additional 30-day study — that few people wanted and even fewer people actually read — was widely viewed as nothing more than a delay tactic that would effectively prevent the measure from making it on the November ballot.
Two moderate liberal Fresno-area lawmakers countered the supervisors’ move a few days later by rewriting and then quickly jamming through a brand new state law — just for Fresno County — essentially ordering the supervisors to place the measure on the November ballot.
The supervisors did not back down. They ordered the measure placed on the ballot but not until 2028. County elections clerk James Kus has still placed it on the November 2026 ballot, where it has been named Measure S.
And then, they started fighting over judges. After both sides disqualified two different judges last week, Tuesday’s hearing briefly landed in the hands of Judge Lisa Gamoian in Fresno County Superior Court. On Monday, the Better Roads side disqualified Gamoian, leaving the Judge Jonathan Skiles at least for now.
Additionally, a community discussion is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at My Homie’s Kitchen where some of the supporters of the Better Road, Safer Streets transportation tax measure will be on hand to answer questions and explain what’s in the hot-debated measure. More information
2. Fresno City Attorney wants prosecutors to carry guns
In the wake of what he described as escalating attacks against criminal prosecutors, Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz on Monday called for changes allowing prosecutors to carry guns into courthouses, KMPH reports.
Janz’s remarks came the day a Fresno County judge granted Janz a five-year restraining order against the name who came to Janz’s home in May armed with a knife.
The city attorney also noted the connection to the daytime stabbing of a Senior Deputy District Attorney in Courthouse Park last week.
Janz: “I’m here today to announce that I am authorizing my attorneys at the City Attorney’s Office, specifically my prosecutors and investigators, to carry firearms if they are licensed through the county process, hold a valid CCW, and have the proper training.”
3. Farmers brace for impact
“Farmers, agribusiness leaders and elected officials gathered last week at the Fresno County Farm Bureau to press for tariff-free trade with Canada and Mexico as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement moves through its Joint Review — days before a separate U.S.-Canada dispute escalated into new tariffs,” The Business Journal reports.
The issue “carries weight” in Fresno County, which recorded $9.03 billion in agricultural production in 2024, making it the “top-producing agricultural county in the United States,” the Journal says.
The gathering took place days after U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
