Editor’s note: So sorry for the second email today! The earlier version of today’s Toplines edition contained outdated stories. It’s been corrected now AND there’s still a chance to win free tickets to the Taco Truck Throwdown!

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Winners will be announced on Friday at 10:00am!

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This Week in Fresnoland

Kaiser makes a deal. 

As the largest ever health care worker strike in US history ended, and a second was right around the corner, Kaiser elected to play ball, Julianna Morano reported for Fresnoland. The new contract grants a $25 per hour minimum wage in California (just $1 short of SEIU’s demand) and $23 in other states. Wages will continue to rise by 21% over four years to combat the staffing crisis, along with what the union called: “a wide variety of initiatives to invest in the workforce and address the staffing crisis.”

It was the latest in a string of labor union victories this summer, CalMatters reports.
But Hot Labor Summer is far from over in Fresno …

Because right now Fresno Unified teachers are voting on strike plans.

FUSD Trustee Susan Wittrup called the district’s latest offer “a historic proposal.” The teacher’s union didn’t agree, Julianna Morano writes. The new contract offers a 19% salary increase for teachers through a combination of ongoing and one-time payments over the next three years, lifetime health insurance for employees who work in the district for 20 years, decreased class size ratios based on grade level, and new stipends for teachers whose classes exceed the ratios.

But the teachers’ union wants caps on class sizes, not ratios. For instance, in kindergarten, under the proposed contract, the ratio would be 24 kindergartners to one educator with the patience of a saint, a saint who would receive a stipend if the class had more than 27 students. The union wants a hard maximum on class sizes that would discourage overburdening teachers. They also want reductions in special education caseloads and salary increases that actually offset inflation.

The strike vote is today.

Contaminated water proves difficult to organize around. 

In a story from Aya Hashi and Jesse Morris from CalMatters, advocates for cleaner water in the Central Valley are trying to mobilize residents around water quality. In East Orosi, a small slice of Tulare County, nitrate-contaminated water poses a serious risk. Plus – and this is disgusting – but the extreme weather events this past year caused stormwater tainted with fertilizer, manure, and nitrates to flow into valley aquifers.

While the water boards exist as a body for residents to engage with, there is significant distrust. An arsenic plant installed in Alpaugh in 2020 was meant to remedy years of water contamination. Residents still don’t trust it, buying bottled water instead. In a world of environmental woes, folks find themselves pinched from both ends: contaminated groundwater from the tap or a vast sea of plastic bottles in landfills across the country.

Plus, development often builds homes atop agricultural land, failing to check the wells for contamination. Recharge projects – meant to refill depleted wells – seem promising, but a 2021 report raised concerns about, you guessed it, contamination. After all, the source of the refill is farmland, which has all the pesticides and fertilizers you might expect. 

Tobacco retail is thriving in Fresno. The City Council is intent on regulating it.

According to this story from Soreath Hoak/KVPR, California granted 30,000 tobacco retail licenses in 2022, and almost 600 of those were in Fresno. Miguel Arias believes the smoke shops have gone unchecked, allowing for various unscrupulous activities: online gambling, EBT card transactions, and the sale of cannabis.

It is unclear if there is any direct evidence for these activities besides the fact that smoke shops also sell various smoking paraphernalia: you got your bongs, glass pipes, and vape pens. Regardless of whether the shops are taking advantage of a gap in the market for supplies or secretly selling cannabis products, the council is weighing a new ordinance that would drive the vast majority of shops out of business.

If passed, the ordinance would force owners to shut down immediately pending approval for a conditional use permit in addition to an operating permit – a process that takes six months. 

The folks operating that illegal Reedley lab want $50 million?

“We are baffled,” Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba told The Fresno Bee. She said the city was criticized for acting too slowly in response to the lab. They had a court order, but the company behind the lab doesn’t seem to care. A Fresno County spokesperson said there’s no merit to the claim.

Regardless of the suit, the city wants $310,000 from Prestige BioTech Inc. and Universal Meditech to reimburse the city for the cost of clearing out biological materials.

Outside the Lines

Lowrider cruising will be legal in California come 2024, thanks to Assembly Bill 436. Also, most California taxpayers have until Nov. 16 to file their taxes: see if you qualify.

Block Beat

MENDOTA: A new community center to be built in Mendota thanks to an eight million dollar grant from the State of California. X

TOWER DISTRICT: A grassroots effort to restore a library to the heart of the Tower District – which hasn’t had a location since the 1970s – is gaining steam. USpark

FOOTHILLS: Tina Willis is battling stage 4 cancer and badly needs roof repairs before winter arrives. She has a GoFundMe. KMPH

Department of New Construction

HIGHWAY CITY: Malhi Truck Lines has applied for a development permit to build a commercial truck parking lot with other local companies in the 4700 block of West Jacquelyn Avenue. Plans include installing a new security fence and improvements to the ground to allow trucks to enter and exit the property.

Around Town

Full Circle is hosting Come and be Killed by the band Dying Wish on Oct. 21. And honestly, looking at my account balance, my prospects in both this economy and this dating scene – I just might take them up on their offer. EventBrite

And on Friday, check out Fresnoween with @deorro, which promises to be the city’s largest annual costume party at Chukchansi Park. Instagram

Next Week in Public Meetings

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Tommy is the author of Toplines, the Fresnoland newsletter curating the top stories in the Central Valley. He thinks he's very funny.