Good morning! It’s Tuesday, Sept. 1. This is Rob.
Valley fracking: The Bureau of Land Management has identified 44 potential sites for oil and gas drilling across the San Joaquin Valley, including 140 acres in Coalinga. The Fresno Bee
Listen up: California’s powwow season recently kicked off in Central California, bringing together tribes from as far as New York and Canada. KVPR
‘Plain and simple.’ Several elderly residents and tenants with disabilities at The Link at Blackstone apartments have been stuck at home too much this summer with the complex’s only two elevators going in and out of service this summer. KMPH
Hello, baby! Fresno Chaffee Zoo has welcomed a female Masai giraffe calf. GV Wire
Let it slide: Slick City, which describes itself as the world’s first indoor slide park, is coming soon to Fresno. Here’s the latest. The Fresno Bee
1. Fresno’s transportation tax fight moves to the ballot box
The grueling two-plus month fight over placing Fresno County’s transportation tax measure on the November ballot ended Monday with a clear victory for one side.
Judge Jonathan Skiles sided with the State of California on Monday, ruling that the new Fresno County-only state law requiring Measure S appear on the upcoming November ballot was legally binding.
But perhaps the more surprising move came shortly after the judge’s ruling was announced and Fresno County Board Chair Garry Bredefeld said the board of supervisors would not appeal the superior court ruling.
The legal battle is over,” Bredefeld said. “The November election battle begins today.”
Measure S will appear on the ballot alongside a Fresno city-only general tax measure that the mayor and others have suggested could be used to back-fill transportation funding in the city. Mayor Jerry Dyer has stressed that the city’s tax would be voided and not collected if voters pass Measure S.
Critics have long worried that the appearance of multiple transportation tax measures could tank the chances of either measure winning voter approval.
Read the full story from Fresnoland here.
2. Finding Flock in Fresno
One of the most persistent questions surrounding the Flock camera debate in Fresno is where exactly are those 70-some cameras actually located.
Fresno City Hall has remained tip-lipped, arguing that divulging camera locations would compromise the technology, opening traffic lights to more theft and potential vandalism.
But a recently discovered email from 2024 obtained by YourCentralValley sheds some light on where the cameras were initially placed. The email, from former Police Chief Paco Balderramma specifically says the former chief wouldn’t disclose exact locations, but gave general descriptions of the areas police focused on at the time.
Per YourCentralValley, those locations include:
- Businesses affected by organized retail theft along Blackstone Avenue
- Businesses affected by organized retail theft in other parts of the city
- Tower District
- Downtown Fresno
- Major intersections
- Locations in/around high-crime areas
Despite the camera’s unpopularity and criticism of its surveillance-state potential, Fresno police have long defended use of the cameras, crediting them with reducing gun and violence in recent years.
The City of Fresno’s Flock camera contract is set to expire later this year.
3. ‘A festival for everyone’
Dubbed the “festival of lights,” Diwali is a major South Asian holiday celebrated in Fresno and around the world, but has struggled to capture formal recognition in California.
The festival is celebrated with family gatherings, prayers, food, gift-giving, colorful decorations and the lighting of diyas.
Anyone is welcome to celebrate Diwali, Fresno State student Armaan Arora says, regardless of whether the festival is part of your formal religion.
“Aside from the prayer and the story of the festival, it’s really about using colors on your floor to make designs, lighting everything up and gift-giving.”
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 268 into law, making Diwali eligible to become California’s 12th state-recognized holiday.
But the law establishing the state holiday was quickly struck down by a Sacramento County judge who sided with a conservative taxpayers group that the law, as written, favored particular religions.
Puneet Kaur, senior state policy manager at the Sikh Coalition, said then court took a narrow view of the legislation, which Kaur included multiple faith communities that celebrate Diwali.
Kaur: “Moreover, it does not require anyone to participate in a religious observance or mandate statewide school closures—it simply provides recognition and accommodation for communities whose traditions have long been underrepresented in the public calendar.”
Read the full Fresnoland story here.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
