Morning! It’s Tuesday, April 21. Omar here!
🌧️ “We needed this”: High of 66 degrees today, and you can expect cloud and rain conditions to persist the rest of the morning. There’s a chance of thunderstorms tonight, too. NOAA
🚌 Bus stop relocation: A handful of bus stop locations around the downtown Fresno courthouse park are being relocated due to construction. KMPH
💧Clovis water getting more expensive: Starting in January, water rates in Clovis will begin increasing. By 2029, ratepayers will be paying 60% more than they do now. ABC30
1. ‘Business as usual for Fresno’
In the wake of a Fresno County judge throwing out a legal challenge to the expansion of Highway 99, south Fresno will have to grapple with unanswered questions, Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver reports.
The judge, Geoffrey D. Wilson, just criticized California’s Department of Transportation back in January for not studying the environmental impact of expanding a freeway that would seriously increase truck traffic and air pollution right next to a Fresno County juvenile detention facility.
However, Wilson threw the lawsuit out a couple weeks ago on the grounds that complaints over California statutes can’t be filed in federal court. (That’s even though he seemed to hold a different opinion on that just a year and a half ago.)
Gregory’s latest dives into the legal backstory of Wilson’s court hearing earlier this month, and why community groups may appeal the April ruling.
Sandra Celedon of Fresno Building Healthy Communities: “It’s business as usual for Fresno.”
2. Most of $1.8 million stolen from Fresno Arts Council gambled away
At her arraignment in federal court Monday, Suliana Caldwell of Fresno pleaded guilty to one felony count of wire fraud in connection to $1.8 million that went missing at the Fresno Arts Council.
In doing so, she forfeited her right to a trial and will await a sentencing hearing set in August — likely to determine her future.
As operations manager of the Fresno Arts Council, Caldwell was in charge of the books. Over a period of three years and nine months, she stole $1.8 million through hundreds of wire transfers using a personal PayPal account.
Caldwell didn’t speak to the local news media on Monday, but her attorney Kevin Rooney did. He said Caldwell has an addiction to both alcohol and gambling, and that she will be seeking professional help for both as she awaits her sentence.
Speaking with local news media after the Monday arraignment, Rooney also revealed that most of the money Caldwell stole is gone.
Attorney Rooney: “Almost all the money was lost gambling. Miss Caldwell had some emotional problems, alcohol problems, all of it spirals into the gambling addiction.”
3. $600K for a new home in Fresno?
One of the biggest challenges for housing developers is apparently the availability of “developable lots” in the Fresno region, according to Corine Demetreos of D.R. Horton, a home construction company.
Realtors convened in downtown Fresno last week for a real estate forecast panel, The Business Journal reports.
There, Demetreos criticized how long it takes for land developers to get appropriate permits and government approvals. He said when those entitlement delays pile up, it can increase costs for developers, which are passed onto buyers.
At the same event last week, realtors also discussed the median cost of a new home in the Fresno region: $598,537. However, about 82% of households in the Fresno area can’t afford that.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
