Quote of the Week
“While we don’t have a lot of control over the changing climate at the moment, what we do have control over is the hyper local area of how you can mitigate it and how you could adapt.”
– Jake Dialesandro, a postdoctoral researcher with UCLA Luskin Center and contributor to the California Healthy Places Index: Extreme Heat Edition.
This Week in Fresnoland
The heat waves are only going to get worse.
Climate change will prolong Fresno’s heat waves by at least 10 days within 15 years, Fresnoland reported in association with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2022 California fellowship.
Ten probably doesn’t sound like a huge number, but it’s almost two more weeks of triple-digit heat. In 2021, 69 days of such heat was record-breaking – and we’ve already experienced 50 of those days in 2023, with most of the summer still ahead of us.
But excessive temperatures aren’t just uncomfortable, exhausting, and inconvenient – they’re dangerous. Extreme heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer in the nation.
Heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and dehydration are all heat-related illnesses, and heat stroke, a condition where the body fails to regulate its internal temperature, is potentially fatal, according to Dr. Rais Vohra, interim Fresno County Health Officer.
The poorest Fresnans lack reliable access to water and AC. Cooling centers are few and far between.
All of this adds up to an annual average of 182 emergency room visits per year on high-heat days (between 2009 – 2018). Children and older adults are particularly vulnerable. Fresnoland
Further reading: June was the warmest month on record for the planet, Axios reports.
Urgent reminder that Fresno has free cooling centers.
About 45 million people faced dangerous temperatures over the weekend and it’s only going to get worse as we descend into the time of year that I can only describe as hellish and wrong.
But Fresnoland has a helpful cooling center guide penned by Gregory Weaver.
These cooling centers remain open as long as temperatures have reached at least 100 degrees with operating hours from noon to 8 p.m. and drinking water provided. Additionally, FAX buses will carry you to the centers for free as long as you indicate that that is your destination.
Also, don’t forget Jackie Schuster’s public pool guide from last week’s Toplines.
I guess it’s not surprising since, as Omar Shaikh Rashad pointed out in his article for Fresnoland, the multiple council members are landlords. Housing advocates pushed hard for rent control, which would have limited landlords’ ability to raise rent each year. The council and the mayor remained unmoved.
Dyer said that he’s seen proposals like these fail in other cities. To him, rent control would only discourage landlords from spending to maintain their properties, turning low-income housing into low-income slums – if only we had some regulatory body in the city that could empower tenants to combat landlord neglect … oh well. He also believes that the burden of rent control could drive developers out of the city.
City Councilmember Miguel Arias said the mayor’s logic assumes “landlords were investing in the property in the first place,” according to this Fresno Bee story. Notably, a 2019 report from the Urban Institute found that rent control is successful at promoting stability and affordability while having some negative effects on maintenance. However, its impact on construction remains speculative.
Tyler Maxwell, one of the few council members who is also a renter, pointed to the council’s efforts to help tenants, like the Eviction Protection Program – which he co-authored and fought to include in this year’s budget – or his Tenant Relocation Assistance Program, which requires landlords to assist with the expense of relocating tenants during renovations on penalty of fines.
Still, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, a popular COVID-era policy to assist with rent and utility bills, will soon end.
The Valley Air District is giving away more filters.
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the air here is toxic.
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is giving away 25,000 free air purifiers as part of its Clean Airs Rooms program – and you can learn about your eligibility in another guide by Gregory Weaver.
The purifiers are Medify Air MA-25s, which retail for $160 a piece; it’s hospital grade and can purify air spaces as large as a living room by trapping tiny, dangerous particles called PM2.5 pollution.
If you live in the San Joaquin Valley in an area designated as Disadvantaged or as a Low-Income Community, you probably qualify – as long as you haven’t already received a filter.
The restored Tulare Lake has a special fringe benefit – it can lower the average temperature in the immediate area.
As you know, a heat wave rolled in over the weekend, bringing in temperatures as high as 110, and yet the area immediately around the lake was more like 95-100, Jesse Vad at SJV Water reports.
It’s a fascinating scenario that speaks to the scientific complexities of the natural world, complexities that render a sort of cosmic balance, a cost and benefit: large amounts of water can hold heat and also cause a cooling effect nearby as it evaporates, and the differences in pressure create the cooling winds characteristic of large lakes, or the oft-mentioned “sea breeze.”
This evaporation can also introduce unusual humidity to the typically dry San Joaquin Valley.
More than 100 years ago, before it was drained, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. Its return is sudden and unexpected – like a cool gust of wind.
Outside the Lines: I was charmed by this audio story about a book checked out of the Fresno County Public Library in 1940 that was only recently returned.
Block Beat
ROEDING PARK: The Chaffee Zoo is opening its new $38 million Kingdoms of Asia exhibit, funded by Measure Z. The exhibit is inspired by Angkor Wat, a Cambodian temple. KVPR
CLOVIS: Rotary Park is closed following a coyote sighting on Saturday. KMPH
REEDLEY: The Reedley Library hosts an actual dog who is trained to be around children during their “Read to a Dog” hour on Saturdays at 10 a.m. The event is meant to offer children a relaxing environment to practice their reading skills. KFSN
WOODWARD PARK: After 16 years of service, Vino Spirits and Grille located on Champlain and Hickory Hill Drive, has closed for good. The Fresno Bee
Jane Addams: In a closed session, the Fresno Housing Authority Commission negotiated 4.68 acres for mixed use near Highway 99 and Olive Avenue at 1823 W. Hedges Ave. for $1.17 million. Fresno Documenters
Department of New Construction
HERNDON-BARSTOW: A development permit was filed for the installation of a mini-storage facility on 10 parcels that would be merged. The facility will be located on North Grantland Ave, north of West Bullard Ave.
WEST: A plan amendment – rezone was filed for a proposed development on the site of an orchard farm on West Olive Ave, west of North Cornelia Ave. The 92 acre development would require annexation into the City of Fresno. It would provide a density of 5.38 dwelling units per net acre and would include the construction of a park and trail.
CENTRAL: An environmental assessment was filed for the City of Fresno’s proposed senior center and housing project on North Blackstone Ave, north of Ashlan Ave. The applicant is requesting authorization to process an addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration.
Around Town
Tioga Beer Garden presents Hella Beats with DJs @divinexfemme and @hippe_rach, this Saturday. Downtown Fresno
July Art Hop kicks off tomorrow. I’m linking a brochure with all of the locations and dates for the rest of the year. Fresno Arts Council
Next Week in Public Meetings
- Wednesday, July 5 at 6 p.m. | Fresno Planning Commission
- Monday, July 10 at 6 p.m. | Clovis City Council
- Tuesday, July 11 at 9 a.m. | Tulare County Board of Supervisors
- Tuesday, July 11 at 9 a.m. | Kings County Board of Supervisors
- Tuesday, July 11 at 10 a.m. | Madera County Board of Supervisors
- Tuesday, July 11 at 6 p.m. | Lindsay City Council
