☕Good morning! It’s Tuesday, Nov. 25. This is Rob.
😶🌫️Tule fog season: More dense fog again today, triggering a hazardous conditions advisory that remains in effect until at least Thanksgiving Thursday. Daytime highs in the 50s. NOAA
Holidays = tamales! Dig into the masa-making process at El Toro Tortilla Factory. ABC30
🎁Share Fresno: Some neighbors are standing against the holiday consumerism surrounding Black Friday by giving away old things. CBS47
😋Opening Downtown? Zaatar Euro Bistro, a popular north Fresno Lebanese restaurant, hopes to open a second location in downtown Fresno by the end of the year. Business Journal
1. ‘Preserve its core mission’
As Fresno Unified changes the name and focus of a key program addressing Black student achievement, some community advocates fear the district’s response to Trump administration anti-diversity policies could set students back again, EdSource reports.
FUSD made the name change to avoid losing $250 million in federal funding.
“There’s a lot happening at the federal level that we have no control of,” said Lisa Mitchell, executive director of A4. “When we think about the threat and loss of $250 million, not only does it impact the students we’re serving in A4, but it impacts students across our entire district.”
But Eric Payne, executive director of the Central Valley Urban Institute, told EdSource that the name change raises a “dangerous” question about FUSD’s equity priorities.
Payne: “It must preserve the core mission, which is academic acceleration, social-emotional support and cultural affirmations for Black students.”
2. Fresno’s low-energy semiconductor plant progress
Two years ago, Fresno city leaders touted the promise of a new semiconductor plant that would bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to the region.
In retrospect, City Hall and the Economic Development Commission were a lot more eager to discuss Wyoming-based Tynergy, LLC, than the company was — and not much has changed in almost 24 months, the Business Journal reported.
Backed by a $15 million California Competes award, the semiconductor manufacturer planned to relocate to the Fresno-area, build two facilities, and create more than 500 jobs paying starting salaries of around $70,000.
Two years later, the project’s status remains uncertain. Tynergy has yet to announce a final site in Fresno.
Semiconductor manufacturing is water-intensive, and the central San Joaquin Valley already struggles with agriculture demand, drought and overdrafted aquifers and it remains unclear where the company could find the water.
3. Fresno firefighters’ overtime, explained
Six of Fresno’s 10 highest compensated employees last year were firefighters, and the top 15 overtime-earners were all firefighters, The Fresno Bee reported this week.
Citing records obtained via public records request, The Bee reported that seven of the 15 firefighters earned more in overtime pay than they did on their base pay.
The 24/7 emergency nature of firefighters and police officers can make overtime pay unavoidable, City Manager Georgeanne White says.
To staff all the stations across the city, there are 110 firefighters on the clock at any given time, officials said.
The Fresno Fire Department has a $133 million budget that includes salaries and benefits for 375 people, including administrators. Of those, 330 are the crew members who cover the stations.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
