Quote of the Week

“Great cities have great downtowns. We can’t be a great city without a great downtown.”

— Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, in reference to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget, which includes $250 million for infrastructure upgrades in downtown Fresno.

Note from the editor: last week, we issued a correction to our May 9 story, “Fresno County supervisors to scrap trailer housing plan for remodeling Poverello House kitchen instead” as it contained outdated information on the current use of the trailers. In the spirit of transparency, we wanted to share this correction with our audience, as we take our commitment to accuracy and fairness very seriously. Thank you for reading, and we hope we can continue to earn your trust. – Danielle

This Week in Fresnoland

Happy budget season, Fresno. Get ready for more cops, parks, and…higher trash rates?

Mayor Jerry Dyer released his $1.85 billion budget this Thursday, reports Omar Shaikh Rashad. Some of the winners? The police department, with 50 new police officers budgeted; fans of parks, with over 60 capital projects in this year’s budget, and – enemies of potholes, as the city is creating a new pothole response team with $1.77 million in this year’s budget. 

A few losers in this year’s budget? The city’s emergency rental assistance program, funded by pandemic relief (ARPA) dollars, is decreasing by $23 million.  

Budget hearings start Monday, June 5, at 9:00 a.m., when department directors will begin presenting the details to the City Council.

A survey found that the Madera Hospital Closure has hit particularly hard with migrant farmworker and Punjabi Sikh communities.

This story, reported by Fresnoland’s Omar Shaikh Rashad, is about a survey produced from a partnership between the Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño (CBDIO) and the Jakarta Movement, which serve the indigenous migrant farmworkers and Punjabi Sikh communities respectively. 300 people responded, and we now know that 91% of those surveyed indicated they had been directly impacted by the closure and that 80% are “highly concerned.” More than three quarters of respondents said that other hospitals are too far, and that long wait times are prevalent in neighboring counties, while there is limited access to preventative and diagnostic health exams locally in Madera.  

In other related Madera Community Hospital news, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill last week that will create a new loan program for struggling hospitals. Will Madera benefit? It depends, reports Rashad.

The zombie industrial rezone in southwest Fresno returns.

As Gregory Weaver reports for Fresnoland, the Fresno City Council had a workshop at their meeting last week to learn more about how negotiations between businesses owners, the developer, and southwest Fresno residents over a controversial rezone of 60 acres at Annadale and Elm was going. 

Not well, reported back one of the representatives for the businesses. City councilmember Miguel Arias asked city attorney Andrew Janz to explore more options for bringing the industrial rezone – or a new neighborhood industrial overlay – back to the council for their decision.

(Fresnoland has been reporting for nearly two years about the controversial rezone, which could revert industrial property that had been rezoned during the community-led Southwest Specific Plan from mixed-use back to industrial zoning, against the wishes of many in the community.)

Growers are racing to spend millions on levees in Tulare ahead of more flooding. 

The March storms overwhelmed the region’s water infrastructure. Homes, dairies, and crops were washed away. And not one person wants a repeat performance in May. “It’s turning into ‘Whoever has the biggest berm wins,’” Craig Andrew, manager for a large landowner named Sandridge Partners, said in this story by Jesse Vad (SJV Water). There’s a “mad scramble” to move dirt to repair damaged levees but also to fend off future flooding – future flooding that is quite expected given a historic snowpack that’s already swelling rivers in the valley.  

Mark Grewal, a water manager in Kings county, said that growes are spending millions on these levee projects. And even the under million price tags are in the area of tens of thousands. 

Dozens of childcare centers in Fresno have dangerous levels of lead in their tap water. 

Lead! Oh my god! Julianna Morano has a story in the Fresno Bee about the alarming discovery spurred by AB 2370, which requires licensed childcare centers to test tap water for lead levels. The Sacramento Bee created a database of the results, and more than 70 childcare centers in Fresno County tested at or above 5 parts per billion, which is the legal limit by state law. Notably, young children are particularly vulnerable to lead, which does lasting damage to their brain function and behavior. 

The five highest levels of lead in Fresno County were found at:

  • King’s Corner Childcare in Fresno 
  • Fresno EOC Franklin Head Start in Fresno 
  • Fresno Jewish Day School in Fresno 
  • Kids Kare Central West in Fresno
  • Bright Beginnings Learning Center in Clovis

Block Beat

AIRPORT: Fresno Yosemite International Airport’s new $127 million terminal expansion broke ground Friday. The Business Journal

TOWER DISTRICT: A new initiative that aims to incentivize job creation by local entrepreneurs in the historic Tower District will waive impact fees for local retail and commercial businesses opening in vacant properties. Fresnoland

DOWNTOWN: A new study found that people are visiting downtown in record numbers, even as many major cities struggle to bounce back from the pandemic. ABC30

VISALIA: The nays have it: no chicken backyards allowed after the Visalia City Council voted on Monday, May 15 and declined to revise their municipal code. Documenters

FRESNO STATE: One of the last native speakers of the Chukhansi language, 81 year old Holly Blossom Wyatt, was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university. ABC30

Department of New Construction

PINEDALE: A conditional use permit was filed for the construction of an eight-stack fueling station in the Walmart Supercenter parking lot located on North Ingram Ave. 

NORTHEAST: Batter Up Pancakes filed a conditional use permit for a beer and wine license at its location on North Cedar Ave, north of East Nees Ave. 

ROOSEVELT: A development permit was filed for the construction of a fourplex on East Butler Ave, west of South Orange Ave. 

SUNNYSIDE: A development permit was filed for phase two of a multi-family unit project consisting of sixty homes located on North Clovis Ave, south of Belmont Ave. 

Around Town

OK, so the logical way of introducing Twilight Night at Tioga Sequoia is to say “Where the hell have you been, loca?” but the description of the event already does that, and I don’t want to be a hack so, Team Jacob? Team Taylor Lautner’s abs. Downtown Fresno 

Queers and Beers, the DJ Day Party & Drag Brunch is sort of a soft launch of Pride Month. Enjoy the sets from KG559, Project Lo and Divine Femme with host Maximus Orgazmo this Sunday at 12. Facebook

The Dopamine Tour comes to Strummers this Saturday, featuring Weathers and In Her Own Words. Instagram

Next Week in Public Meetings

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Tommy is the author of Toplines, the Fresnoland newsletter curating the top stories in the Central Valley. He thinks he's very funny.