Good morning! It’s Tuesday, Feb. 24. This is Rob.
Nice: Sunny today with highs in the 70s and a 30% chance of overnight rain. NOAA
Run like a raisin? The ‘Heard it through the Grapevine’ 5K run is set for 9 a.m. March 21 at Kearney Park. Highway City Community Development
Got old tires? The Fresno City Attorney’s Office hosts a Waste Tire Amnesty Day at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Hanoian Shopping Center, 4218 E. Butler Ave., giving residents the chance to dispose of unwanted waste tires free of charge.
1. Fresno County social services back under the microscope?
Five years ago, Fresno County’s social services department made national headlines after whistleblowers exposed the poor living conditions foster children experienced under county care.
Now, one of those same whistleblowers is sounding the alarm once again, publicly claiming the department is mishandling cases, forcing family reunifications over the objections of frontline social workers and creating a “vicious cycle” of reabuse, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports.
Social worker Lorraine Ramirez is urging the county’s board of supervisors to investigate and conduct an independent audit. She says she’s retiring in protest over the situation.
For its part, Fresno County’s social services department didn’t want to discuss Ramirez’s claims. Instead of answering detailed questions this week, Fresno County issued a brief, general statement that ignored the questions and simply said the county takes child safety seriously.
She said too many social workers are afraid to speak out.
Social worker Lorraine Ramirez: “A lot of people are afraid to speak up because of that, because they’re still employed and they need their jobs.”
2. Fresno taxpayers on the hook for Arts Council’s missing money?
At the first meeting of the city’s parks and recreation board since a $1.5 million embezzlement scandal rocked the local arts community, City Manager Georgeanne White said the city’s Parks Department could make organizations whole.
And, Julianna Morano reports for Fresnoland, the number of organizations hit hard by the scandal could be even greater than initially suspected.
In addition to dozens of organizations that are still waiting for all or part of their promised funds, at least one group says the check they got from the Arts Council bounced.
That news came Monday at a meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission, which included some tense exchanges, including one between the city manager and the commission’s chair.
Many in attendance reminded the commission that local artists and groups had been trying to raise transparency alarm bells for months last year before the scandal emerged.
Alicia Rodriguez, co-founder of Labyrinth Art Collective: “I’m not going to be told one more damn time that my observations and the community’s observations — that are valid — are not valid.”
3. Flights from Mexico resume after cartel violence
Flights between Fresno and Mexico resumed this week after the slaying of a suspected cartel leader sparked violent clashes, the Business Journal reports.
Several Fresno-area and Central Valley residents were temporarily stuck at airports after flights were grounded in connection with the violence, which reportedly included the killing of a cartel leader and numerous retaliatory attacks, YourCentralValley reports.
Americans still in the state of Jalisco are urged to shelter in place until the violence subsides, ABC30 says.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad.
