Quote of the Week
“The beginning of the end for the operation of the city’s shelters has commenced.”
— Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias on the closure of two city shelters coming at the end of this year
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This Week in Fresnoland
Fresno’s law enforcement fight heads to appeals court
The nakedly political fight over law enforcement elections in Fresno County isn’t quite over and the clock is ticking for local Republicans to score a win in court, Rob Parsons reports for Fresnoland this morning.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors agreed to continue the legal battle over the election cycles of the sheriff and district attorney. The move to take the fight to the state appeals court came after a Fresno judge sided with the state justice department and tossed out voter-backed changes to local law enforcement elections.
Arguments in the case essentially boil down to whether the state constitution allows charter counties like Fresno to set the timing of law enforcement election cycles.
Fresno County says “yes” and California says “no.”
In its appeals court filing, Fresno County attorneys argue that the trial court judge got it wrong, applying the wrong legal standards for the wrong reasons.
Two Fresno shelters closing by the end of this year
Two shelters near Parkway Drive expect to close permanently by the end of this year, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reported.
The news from the Fresno Housing Authority caught some people off guard. One person Pablo spoke with finally got a spot at the shelter just one day after its end-of-year closure was announced.
But some city officials weren’t surprised, as the temporary state pandemic funds that financed the expansion of shelter beds in Fresno were never guaranteed to last.
The state funding also came with the expectation that the shelters would one day be converted into permanent affordable housing, though that requires even more state and federal funding.
A bill to combat ‘transnational repression’
Three central San Joaquin Valley legislators want law enforcement trained on “transnational repression”: when a foreign state targets members of diaspora communities beyond its borders with intimidation or violence, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reported.
Members of the Punjabi Sikh community in Fresno are cheering a bill proposing such training after claiming they were secretly targeted following a meeting between Fresno’s mayor, the city’s former police chief and a large group of Hindu leaders. (The former chief denied Fresno PD trailed Sikh leaders after that meeting.)
The bill cleared the state Senate’s initial chamber hearings on June 3 and is now moving through Assembly committees.
High-speed rail still on track in the Central Valley?
The California High-Speed Rail Authority says it’s still on track to complete the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment of the state’s bullet train project, despite recent criticism from the Trump administration.
But that’s partly contingent on a funding source that didn’t make it into the new state budget and still has to be negotiated in California’s legislature, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reported.
The updates from high-speed rail officials come in response to a compliance review from the Trump administration that concluded the rail authority defaulted on the terms of two federal grants totaling $4 billion and is at risk of losing them.
Fresno County’s new anti-woke ‘obligation’?
Last month, county health officials passed out condoms during the Fresno Pride Parade.
Garry Bredefeld was devastated.
“We have an obligation that our departments don’t go woke,” the Fresno County supervisor said during Tuesday’s regular board meeting.
Two other supervisors joined Bredefeld in adding a fresh layer of red tape to county department’s “discretionary” funding, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reported this week.
Supervisor Luis Chavez and Brian Pacheco opposed the proposal.
“When we use the phrase ‘taxpayers,’ they’re all taxpayers,” Chavez said later. “Our LGBTQ+ folks are taxpayers, too.”
Outside the Lines
Fresno celebrated its cleanest Fourth of July in years, with pollution dropping to just levels barely above EPA standards. Fresnoland
A June suicide at a Hanford meatpacking plant has workers and advocates raising concerns over safety. The Fresno Bee
The life and service of the longtime pastor of Fresno’s CrossCity Christian Church was celebrated this week. KSEE
Evacuation orders were downgraded Wednesday after a pickup truck fire sparked a blaze near Coarsegold. ABC30
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins emphasized that amnesty is not on the table for immigrant farmworkers, although she claims mass deportations will be “strategic” to avoid disruptions to the food supply. She also suggested that worker demand in food systems, due to a lack of immigrant workers, could be addressed by automation and millions of Americans subject to new Medicaid work requirements. PBS News Hour
Block Beat
CHINATOWN: One of Fresno’s most beloved taco shops recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The Fresno Bee
DOWNTOWN: The Pie Mamas’ (950 Fulton St.) Pie, Coffee & Music series on Saturday continue this weekend on July 12 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can enjoy freshly baked pies and pastries, coffee from Morena Mia and Hapa California Coffee, plus a live DJ set. Downtown Fresno
NORTHEAST FRESNO: Another Fresno grocery store is moving north — this time, it’s Grocery Outlet, which shuttered its Blackstone and Ashlan Avenue location and has plans to open in a former Rite Aid at Willow and Nees Avenue in northeast Fresno. A grand opening is planned for next week. Fresno Business Journal
MADERA: Madera Street Eats presents: “Cumbia in the Park,” a night of cumbia, food and community. Turn out to Madera’s Courthouse Park (210 W Yosemite Ave.) Friday, July 18, from 5 to 9 p.m. Madera Street Eats
FRESNO STATE: The editorial board at Fresno State’s student newspaper wasn’t feeling a recent effort by university brass to encourage — but not incentivize — struggling students to buy more tickets to the upcoming Shakira concert in Fresno next month, after initially ticket sales were apparently softer than expected for the first-ever concert at Valley Children’s Stadium. The Collegian
