Quote of the Week
“What we have is actually an opportunity to bring communities that have been traditionally shut out to actually come together and make sure that we’re raising our voices as a united Madera.”
– Naindeep Singh, executive director of the Jakara Movement, speaking at a May 11 press conference about the impacts of Madera Community Hospital’s closure on Punjabi and indigenous residents.
This Week in Fresnoland
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors scrapped a plan to remodel state-provided trailers into long-term housing: so where’s the money going?
That $1 million from Gov. Gav Newsom will go instead to remodeling the commercial kitchen at the Poverello House, writes Omar Shaikh Rashad for Fresnoland. The ARPA funds were originally meant to upgrade 20 trailers – acquired to alleviate homelessness – into long-term housing, but RH Community Builders informed the board back in February that not one of their three proposed sites for the project could work without approval from the City of Fresno, whose zoning laws proved insurmountable, according to the city.
A new community survey provides a glimpse into the impact Madera Hospital’s closure is having on Punjabi and indigenous communities.
As Omar Shaikh Rashad reports for Fresnoland, a survey of 300 Madera residents found that 91% of people asked said the hospital closure directly impacted them and 75% said that they’ve experienced longer wait times or limited access to care.
At a press conference, leaders from organizations that work with Punjabi Sikh and indigenous farmworker communities called upon Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign AB/SB 112.
The legislation could provide millions in interest-free loans to struggling nonprofit or public hospitals, Omar Shaikh Rashad (Fresnoland) writes. The bill is pending Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature, but AB 112 presents a very real beacon of hope for the beleaguered Madera Hospital, which closed earlier this year and left its patients scrambling.
The bill creates the Distressed Hospital Loan Program, run by California’s Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), which would provide a process for nonprofit/public hospitals to apply for interest-free loans. Hospitals would need to pay the loan back in three years, though extensions or even forgiveness options are available.
Still, things aren’t all sunshine and rainbows and money in the bank. You can read a long list of Madera Community Hospital’s outstanding debts near the end of this story. It’s hard to imagine that this solution (yet another loan) could prove permanent. Yesenia Amaro reported for the Fresno Bee about the hospital’s newest hurdle to overcome, with their license set to expire on May 26.
Fresno State’s ambitious plan to invest $250 million into its athletic programs and facilities could mean great things for the football stadium.
This wouldn’t be the first time they’ve tried, but after a definitive flop in 2018, Fresno State is back at it again, Robert Kuwada writes for the Fresno Bee. This time, the initial phase has already been paid for by private donations and a $1.5 million buyout of former football coach Kalen DeBoer’s five-year contract.
Fresno State hoped to use a new Fresno County tax measure, solely funded by Fresno contractor/developer Richard Spencer, as a funding mechanism, but it failed at the ballot box last election season. A new version of the initiative will be up for a vote in 2024. Still, the upgrading effort, dubbed Elevate, is a moving target with a wobbly, ephemeral timeline, with no concrete deadline for completion and a decidedly incremental approach.
The first increment will be a renovation of the suites on the east side of the football stadium this summer.
Corcoran keeps raising their levee, even as the earth sinks beneath their feet.
Dramatic, right? It’s called subsidence: the farmers have pumped the groundwater so much that they’ve destabilized the ground part, leading to sinkage over a wide area, Lois Henry writes for SJV Water.
The pressure is mounting, given that high water is already pinching the western and southern sections of the levee, and heavy runoff is expected from the Sierra Nevadas in the near future. At the same time, the sinking land is merging three flood zones into one, further lowering levee segments, according to a report by Amec Foster Wheeler Environment and Infrastructure Inc, which dovetails exactly with a prediction from a 2017 High Speed Rail engineering report.
It would cost anywhere from $17 to $21 million to raise the levee again. The district has just $1 million in the bank. Assistance from Kings County is uncertain.
Another report from SJV Water details the potential evacuation of two state prisons near Corcoran. Together, they confine about 8,000 inmates. The prisons say they’ll be fine — so long as the levee holds.
Legislators in the Central Valley want $20 million to repair post-flood Planada.
The unincorporated town in Merced County flooded back in January, Melissa Montalvo (Fresno Bee/Fresnoland) writes. State Sen. Anna Caballero and Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria have submitted a request for state funding meant to repair damages and support residents with rental and vehicle assistance.
When the Biden administration approved Merced County for a Major Disaster Declaration, they became eligible for federal disaster assistance. Some received aid, but residents and legislators say that many were left out and left behind. A UC Merced Community and Labor Center report said that 83% of Planada households have experienced economic loss due to the flood.
Outside the lines. KVPR’s new weekly segment Water Whiplash will document the San Joaquin Valley’s historic drought-to-flood catastrophe – and the ensuing aftermath. You can read the first story here. Further, I’m saddened to write that new data from the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission indicates a 31.1% increase in the suicide rate for Black Californians between 2010 and 2019. The increase is high compared to other ethnic groups, according to the LA Sentinel. And, as Juliana Morano reports for the Fresno Bee, student homelessness is up by 30% in Fresno Unified.
Block Beat
CALWA: The county has secured $7 million to invest in Calwa, a poor and crumbling unincorporated area of Fresno County. The mixture of Measure C and Active transportation program dollars will restore three miles of streets and sidewalks. ABC30
CLOVIS: Four businesses have gone dark thanks to circuit breaker thieves. KMPH
DOWNTOWN FRESNO: After 40 years, Mecca Billiards is closing its doors for good. Fresno Bee – and, Full Circle Brewing is now the largest Black-owned brewery in the U.S. KVPR
MADERA: Caltrans and Cal Valley Construction are working in tandem to pave three miles of Highway 41. KMPH
HUNTINGTON: Huntington Boulevard, from First to Third, will be closed to cars this Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for the first PlayStreets, where neighbors can play together. Twitter
Department of New Construction
CAROZZA PARK: The Fresno Planning Commission allowed a car wash on East McKinley and North Fine Avenues to move forward despite an appeal from neighboring organizations and businesses. Documenters
JANE ADDAMS: A development permit was filed for a proposed warehouse with an office building located south of West Clinton Ave and east of North Marks Ave.
WOODWARD PARK: A development permit was filed for the construction of a new 50,000 square foot Fresno Heart Hospital medical office building. It will be located on E Audubon Drive, west of North Friant Road.
WEST CENTRAL: Conditional use permits were filed for a Dutch Brothers and McDonald’s on North Polk Ave, north of West Ashlan Ave.
Tioga Sequoia has some live music this Friday. They’re hosting Descendents, The Bomb Pops and Plasma Canvas starting at 7 p.m. Downtown Fresno
Resonant Valley, Arte Americas’ current exhibition, is “an intimate retrospective of José Montoya’s visual art and poetry … featuring a collection of over 700 works on paper and personal items reflecting his connections to the Central Valley,” per their website. It starts May 12 and will continue until November 26. Arte Americas
If you’re like me, you know that there are two things on this earth that you love unconditionally: coffee and your mom. So how lucky for all of us that local artists Ella @ellafresno and Madeline @tigersbl00d are hosting a mug making workshop called Mugs with Mom at the Sun Stereo Warehouse this Sunday, starting at 10:30 a.m. Instagram
Next Week in Public Meetings
- Thursday, May 11 at 9 a.m. | Fresno City Council
- Monday, May 15 at 5:30 p.m. | Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission
- Tuesday, May 16 at 9 a.m. | Tulare County Board of Supervisors
- Tuesday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. | Porterville City Council
