Quote of the Week

“Our medicine man always talked about it [Pa’Ashi/Tulare Lake] all the time, that it would come back one day.”

– Daniel Ramos, a member of the Tachi Yokut Tribe. Tulare Lake, known by the tribe as Pa’Ashi (“big water”), has recently been restored by flood rains. The lake was first drained in the 1900s.

This Week in Fresnoland

Here’s why Jerry Dyer’s crime numbers keep changing.

Omar Shaikh Rashad (Fresnoland) reports that Jerry Dyer’s frequently cited decrease in violent crime varies from 16% in one speech to 20% in a budget document and back down to 17% in another speech because the statistics are year-to-date. These kinds of stats vary from moment to moment. Data up to May 10 was offered up in a May 18 budget document, and data current on May 23 is spoken of on May 24. Fresnoland’s analysis finds a 52% drop in compared to the same time last year. This number is consistent with some but not all of Dyer’s numbers because of the varying dates. The difference between 60% and 52% is notable, but fixating on that difference misses the forest for the trees. According to Magnus Lofstrom, a senior fellow, and director of criminal justice at the Public Policy Institute of California, comparing a handful of months between two years is only an indicator of crime trends if it is contextualized by the trends that came before it. Dyer attributes these dropping crime rates to the bevy of new police officers his administration has hired. But this becomes less plausible – or at least more arguable – when we consider pre-pandemic crime. During the first year of the COVID-19 lockdowns, crime spiked nationwide as people were often cut off from their daily routines, support networks, and employment. Those numbers have leveled off everywhere. Fresnoland

Why does Gavin Newsom want to invest $250 million in downtown Fresno?

It’s easy to forget our place in the world. When we’re on our way home from work, packed like sardines on the 41, staring out into a blue sky obscured by pollution, going out to the same two or three bars, looking at a downtown that is kinda cool but could be bigger – it’s easy to forget how important this is in California. This CalMatters story by Nicole Foy explores why Newsom’s budget includes investments in a downtown nearly three hours away from Sacramento and San Francisco and almost four hours from Los Angeles. Fresno is the central San Joaquin Valley’s economic anchor. Our foot traffic has bounced back well beyond pre-pandemic levels compared to California’s other cities, suggesting that investment could represent an untapped resource of new taxable income and industry. The money would go towards infrastructure, parking, and other developments meant to lure developers. Plus, local leaders have plans to Rebuild Fresno. CalMatters

Aeromexico is suspending international flights between Fresno and Mexico for two months. The reasons remain unclear.

Aeromexico has flown between Fresno and Guadalajara since 2011, but come Aug. 28, there will be no nonstop flights available until Nov. 2, according to this report by Tim Sheehan. Without these nonstop flights, which take about four hours, the only Aeromexico flight routes to Guadalajara will be multiple connecting flights in partnership with Delta Airlines – for 9 ½ hours.Volaris, a second Mexico-based airline, has no scheduled interruptions. Aeromexico representatives didn’t provide an explanation for the gap in their nonstop flight schedule.  The Fresno Bee

The San Joaquin River is threatening to spill over while flood waters pierce weakened levees – destroying crops and endangering the city of Firebaugh.

Firebaugh is a small city, Jesse Vad reports for SJV Water, small enough that seeping waters pose a very real risk to its citizens and farmlands. Firebaugh is just a little too small to afford disaster prevention; it would cost $140 million to repair the levee, and the city’s entire budget is just $3 to $4 million annually. In the meantime, the police station has a flooded basement, and hundreds of acres in both Madera and Fresno County are being inundated with seeping waters. The ground is not plantable this year, and the crops that were already there have been ruined. For now, the cooler weather has prevented greater snowmelt, preventing what could be a very dire forecast.  SJV Water.

The Yokuts and Tulare Lake have reunited.

The tribe would have called it Pa’ashi (big water). Today, it’s known as Tulare Lake, and thanks to the recent heavy rains, it has been renewed and restored, Soreath Hok reports for KVPR. The Tachis, the largest of the Yokut tribes, relied on the lake for food and considered it sacred. It was emptied, its water diverted, in the 1900s. Spiritually and culturally significant, the descendants of that tribe have come together to celebrate Pa’ashi’s return. In the audio story, you can hear the chanting and hear about the seeds gifted to the water and the deeply held belief that its return heralds also the return of ancestral spirits. I like the story. It suggests that even the emptiest, most ruined spaces can be restored. KVPR

Block Beat

KINGS CANYON: The street signs for the newly renamed Cesar Chavez Boulevard were unveiled over the weekend. The Fresno City Council voted to rename the 10.25-mile stretch of Kings Canyon Road, Ventura Street and California Avenue back in March. Fresno Bee

KINGSBURG: A strip mall caught fire, and its roof caved in on Sunday. KMPH

AVOCADO LAKE: Business owners near the lake say their businesses have been greatly harmed by the waterway closures that began in April. KMPH 

DRY CREEK CANAL: A body was retrieved from the canal by the automatic machinery designed to remove debris on Monday, June 12. Fresno Bee

RIVER PARK: Einstein Bros Bagels, a popular bagel chain, is coming to Fresno. There will be two locations, and one of them is replacing the BurgerIM in that shopping center with the Dave and Busters. I didn’t even know the tiny burger shop had closed! My heart breaks. Fresno Bee

Department of New Construction

SOUTHWEST: A planned development permit was filed for the construction of a multi-tenant shell building and a drive-through for a Starbucks within the West Creek Village boundaries. It will be located on the southwest corner of East Church Ave and South M.L.K Jr. Blvd.

NORTHEAST: Uprise Hospitality filed a conditional use permit to request a type 47 alcohol license. It is for a restaurant located in The Row shopping center, also home to Ampersand Ice Cream, which is on the northwest corner of North Willow Ave and East Shepherd Ave. 

EL PASEO: A plan amendment – rezone was filed for the West Herndon Ave and North Hayes Ave area to allow commercial development on an area zoned for residential and residential development on an area zoned for commercial.

Around Town

The South of Shaw Beer Company is hosting a Vinyl swap meet on Thursday at 6 p.m. Facebook

Fresnoland and CalMatters are working together to host a panel concerned with housing in Fresno: the problems, the solutions, and the coverage. The event is on Thursday at the Fresno Art Museum and starts at 6 p.m. FresnolandCarlos Rivera, a multi-platinum selling musician, has a concert at the Saroyan Theatre on Friday at 8 p.m. Downtown Fresno

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.