Quote of the Week
“Is this really about broadening potential (for) the best candidate to represent the Fresno school district, or is this about how you don’t want a person of color representing your school district?”
– A question from Kimberly Vang, a student at Edison High School, during public comments at a Fresno Unified special board meeting Wednesday.
This Week in Fresnoland
More Fresno Unified drama – this time over the search for the superintendent
Kimberly Vang summed up the question on everyone’s minds during a tense Fresno Unified board meeting where trustees were supposed to interview internal candidates for the role of superintendent, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reported.
Those interviews ultimately got canceled as the board voted 5-2 to go back to the drawing board and rethink the superintendent search process after backlash from both the public and board members.
(The recruitment firm, Leadership Associates, informed the board of trustees of their resignation from the search process this week, according to district spokesperson Nikki Henry.)
Their main critique was over the board’s move to interview only internal candidates to begin with, as opposed to conducting a statewide or nationwide search for applicants. The district is seeking a replacement for Superintendent Bob Nelson after he announced his departure for a tenure-track job at Fresno State in January.
Around 30 people spoke out during public comment Wednesday, and over a hundred packed the board room. Some applauded the board’s move to conduct a more comprehensive search, while others questioned the timing of it – and whether it had to do with the fact that all the internal candidates up for interviews are people of color (which a district spokesperson confirmed is true).
Deputy Superintendent Misty Her, the top-ranking Hmong public school official in the country, is presumed to be one of the top internal candidates for Nelson’s replacement.
Surprising political coalitions formed around the issue, with Darius Assemi of Granville Homes, the Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla, multiple Fresno City Council members including Miguel Arias, Fresno activists including Gloria Hernandez, and others pushing for an expanded search.
Over a dozen people from Fresno’s Hmong community – including business leaders, veterans, students, and Fresno Unified staff – meanwhile criticized the timing of the board’s reversal and even accused Board President Susan Wittrup, who’s led the charge for the expanded search, of “inciting racism.”
Fresno bars and restaurants that sell alcohol on-site will now be required to carry Narcan
Restaurants and bars in Fresno will now be required to have two doses of Narcan on hand, thanks to an ordinance the Fresno City Council passed at a meeting Thursday, Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver reports.
The medication can reverse overdoses from opioids like fentanyl.
City Attorney Andrew Janz called the ordinance a “good samaritan law,” similar to laws protecting those who give CPR, allowing people to administer Narcan with legal protection against lawsuits.
The ordinance passed in a 5-2 vote, with councilmembers Garry Bredefeld and Miguel Arias voting against. Bredefeld criticized the ordinance as an unfunded mandate for businesses, while Arias said the city should instead focus on bringing Narcan to publicly-owned facilities where overdoses are common, including warming centers and homeless shelters.
Some of the largest school districts in the area, including Fresno Unified and Clovis Unified, also are stocked with Narcan on many campuses.
At the same meeting, the city council also approved a project to build the largest Starbucks slated for the southwest area of the city, as well as an ordinance to give Janz subpoena power.
It’s strawberry season – here’s where to find the closest stand
Springtime in the Central Valley also means strawberry time, and Fresnoland’s Ntsa lab Vang has you covered on where to find your neighborhood strawberry stand.
Vang also spoke with Kevin Yang, one of many Hmong and Mien farmers who cultivate these crops in the Fresno area.
Yang was the first in his family to move to the United States after living in the Ban Vinai Refugee camp in Thailand. He initially settled in Utah before moving to California to study agriculture at UC Davis. He ultimately settled in Fresno after finding community with fellow farmers and Hmong people.
At Yang’s Sunshine’s Farm at the edge of southeast Fresno, you can have a more hands-on experience with your strawberries. He told Fresnoland “you come and take the bucket, jump into the field, pick and certify [the fruit] yourself.”
Check out the story’s interactive map to find the strawberry stand nearest you.
Police call a Sanger poultry plant unsafe in report following worker’s death on the job
A police report indicates hazardous working conditions at Pitman Family Farms’ poultry facility in Sanger where two workers have died in less than a year, The Fresno Bee’s Melissa Montalvo reported.
The company is known for its humanely-raised brand of poultry called Mary’s Chicken.
A report from the Sanger Police Department detailed the scene following the death of 19-year-old Jose Abrego in February. The worker was run over by a truck being operated by another employee in what police called an area with “zero lighting” and few other precautions that could have prevented the incident.
Abrego died less than two weeks after The Bee published an investigation into the death of another worker who drowned in a chicken waste pit at Pitman’s facility last May.
Both workplace fatalities are currently under investigation by California health and safety regulators.
Fresno could start seeing tax revenue from AirBNB rentals
After the city council voted in March to approve a voluntary collection arrangement with Airbnb, the agreement kicked in April 1 for the company to start collecting and paying transient occupancy taxes and sales taxes to the city, The Business Journal’s Frank Lopez reported.
Mayor Jerry Dyer has estimated the agreement would generate $2 million annually in revenue.
Fresno had previously struggled to make this happen given that short-term rentals are only registered with the city on a voluntary basis, city officials said.
The city doesn’t currently have similar agreements with other popular short-term rental companies like Vrbo.
Outside the Lines
The Central Valley isn’t along the path of the total solar eclipse crossing North America April 8, but scientists say residents will still be able to enjoy a partial eclipse – and should still use protective eyewear like eclipse glasses or a homemade pinhole projector. KVPR
The Fresno arts community is mourning Chris Sorensen who passed away in early March at the age of 98. His studio warehouse not only housed his metal sculpture work but also doubled as a gathering place for artists in the city. The Fresno Bee
Block Beat
WEST FRESNO: City leaders broke ground on a new $8.7 million 10-acre park in southwest Fresno, near Church and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenues, behind the new Fresno City College, West Fresno Center campus. The project’s expected to take seven months to complete. Fresnoland
BLACKSTONE: Fasika, the once-beloved Ethiopian restaurant in Fresno on Blackstone Avenue, is closed for good, despite plans the family-owned eatery had previously announced to open a second location downtown. The Fresno Bee
FRESNO HIGH: Jim and Marsha Williams are the owners of “Palazzo del Sogni,” an eye-catching home on Palm and Princeton avenues that features an eclectic collection of relics from Fresno’s past – including anything from a castle from an old miniature golf course to gates that once stood in Fresno’s China Alley. Mr. Williams said he was once asked by a U.S. Secret Service agent to take down one of his treasures – a rooftop water tank – days before then-President Bill Clinton was scheduled to speak in town. The Fresno Bee
Also – Fresno High neighbors, don’t miss the Trolley Park social this Sunday at 6:00 p.m. on the corner of Van Ness and Weldon Avenues.
DOWNTOWN: The Broadway Block Party is coming back on Saturday, April 13 at 1755 Broadway Street from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., featuring food trucks, vendors, and more.
SUNNYSIDE: After 37 years, Margie’s Hallmark, on the corner of Clovis and Kings Canyon, is closing, citing a drop in sales over the past few months. FOX26
Department of New Construction
CHESTNUT DIAGONAL: Don Pickett & Associates filed a permit to construct a new 14,000 square-foot office for San Joaquin Veterinary and Synergy Physical Therapy, as well as a new 17,000 square foot warehouse shell building, at the corner of Chestnut and Ashlan avenues.
HIGHWAY CITY: Charles E Garabedian Engineering filed a permit to convert a vacant lot into a 68-truck parking facility on Cornelia Avenue, south of Shaw Avenue.
Around Town
A new dispensary is opening in the Tower District, and the rapper who founded the California chain of cannabis stores is coming to town to celebrate the grand opening. Dr. Greenthumb’s, founded by B-Real of hip hop group Cypress Hill, will attend the opening celebration with food trucks, live music, and other festivities for guests 21 and older from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 6 on Wishon Avenue across from Goldstein’s.
The San Joaquin River Parkway is hosting their first ‘Respite by the River’ of the season this Thursday, April 11 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., featuring a reading by Michael Meyerhofer and music by the Fresno Harp Circle.
The Fresno City College Speaker Series is hosting award-winning author, journalist, immigrant-rights activist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas this Wednesday, April 10 at 11:00 a.m. in the Old Administration Building. Admission is free.
Later this month, Valley Forward is hosting a workers rights resource fair in Calwa Park. The April 21 event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., called Tacos con Derechos, will offer resources related to wage theft, retaliation, health and safety, Cal/OSHA, and more, as well as free food, a PS5 raffle, and, of course, tacos.
