Good morning! It’s Tuesday, March 10. Omar and Danielle here!
More March sun: Clear skies, and as warm as 74 degrees today! NOAA
Tendernism coming to Fresno: The man behind the viral fall-off-the-bone BBQ “tendernism” tiktok is visiting Fresno on Sunday. Walter Johnson will be at Chop Cheese Bodega on Blackstone between 3 and 5 p.m. on March 15, trying a new sandwich. The Business Journal
Fresnoland is hiring: That’s right, we’re hiring for our first-ever Senior Revenue Officer to help lead and execute our fundraising strategy with local donors and sponsors. Share with your fundraising friends! Fresnoland
1. Most impacted by Fresno Unified layoffs will still have a job?
A top Fresno Unified official told Fresnoland’s Diego Vargas that under a current proposal, “close to zero” Fresno Unified employees would be without a job after the district lays off more than 200 positions.
The district’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Jensen said staff will have the option to either “bump” down to a less senior position or move to an alternative position in a different department.
It’s unclear whether those alternative positions will be enough to keep people whose jobs are on the line.
Employees who will be impacted by the layoffs will be notified by Sunday, according to part five of Fresno Unified’s video series on the precarity of its finances.
Chief Financial Officer Patrick Jensen: “The number of people, I think, who will actually not have a job with Fresno Unified when this is all over, I think is honestly going to be close to zero.”
2. Pismo’s manager released from ICE detention
After nine months in ICE detention, Psalm Behpoor, a manager at Pismo’s Coastal Grill, was released on bond Monday, The Fresno Bee reports.
In June, Behpoor was taken by ICE in connection to a burglary he committed more than 20 years ago. He had already served three years and four months in prison for it.
But since he’s an immigrant with a criminal record, he became part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. After Behpoor’s ICE detention became publicized, Gov. Gavin Newsom pardoned Behpoor in November for his past crime.
Behpoor first came to the United States at three years old with his family, fleeing Iran in the 1980s. His attorney said U.S. law does not allow for Behpoor to be deported back to Iran.
Behpoor’s immigration case is still pending. He and his attorneys have argued he isn’t a flight risk because he has no memory of Iran, his birthplace, and has a family in Fresno.
Psalm Behpoor: “This has been one of the hardest experiences my family has ever faced. Seeing my wife and my child again was everything. I’m grateful to finally be back with them.”
3. Fresno workers say goodbye to the Teamsters
Over a dozen workers at Fresno’s CalPortland Ready-mix facility voted to end their two-decade-long representation with the Teamsters last month, The Business Journal reported.
The cement truck drivers voted in a narrow 9-7 vote on Jan. 29 to decertify Teamsters Local 431, after filing an initial petition with the National Labor Relations Board in October.
Employee Darrell Dunlap Sr: “As our majority-backed petition shows, based on our extensive experience with the Teamsters, we are confident we’ll be better off without a union.”
