Howdy! Today is Monday, April 20. Omar, here!
☀️ Warm today, rain tomorrow: Sunny with a high of 83. A storm system is expected to roll through tonight and drop some showers tomorrow. NWS
🔥 Turney Fire at 80% containment: the 1,200 acre fire, west of I-5 near Panoche Road, started on Sunday afternoon. ABC30
🚧 Fresno Street closed: For about a year starting today, a portion of Fresno Street in downtown will be closed for High Speed Rail construction. And it’ll likely hurt the businesses near the road closure trying to stay afloat. KMPH
1. The many factors that could impact Latino voter turnout
Local civic engagement advocates are pushing hard to encourage Latino voters to turn out during the June 2026 primary, but a number of notably discouraging factors are abound, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reports.
Between violent immigration enforcement sparking fear across the country, and the Trump Administration’s efforts to get rid of mail-in-ballots, Fresno is one of many community across the country grappling with whether that could impact who feels safe enough to go to a polling place to vote.
Additionally, people whose basic needs aren’t met are unlikely to think showing up to the polls will materially change their day-to-day.
Ivette Villarreal of Valley Voices: “As somebody who, myself, is an immigrant, and who hasn’t always had the right to vote, I know how overwhelming it can be to wrap your head around all the information during an election cycle. And sometimes you can read things that are on the ballot 10 times, and it does not make sense, especially propositions.”
2. Ex-Fresno Arts Council employee to be arraigned
The former bookkeeper for the Fresno Arts Council is expected to plead guilty today to a single count of federal wire fraud, following a police investigation into missing funds at the arts nonprofit.
Defendant Suliana Caldwell of Fresno will be arraigned at a 9 a.m. hearing in federal court, where a judge will examine the plea deal she’s expected to formally accept. While the agreement between federal prosecutors and Caldwell does not specify a specific prison term, it says a term of federal incarceration will be determined by a judge.
According to charging documents, Caldwell siphoned $1.8 million from the Fresno Arts Council through hundreds of unauthorized transactions to her PayPal account for over three years.
Caldwell also misrepresented sums in the Fresno Arts Council’s bank account in financial reports to her superiors and local governments.
3. Fresno State Foundation didn’t play by rules
Did board officers at the Fresno State Foundation follow rules regarding one-year terms, as required by its own bylaws?
A new Fresno Bee report examined 10 years of monthly board meeting minutes. Between 2020 and 2025, they contained no mention of replacing officers with new ones, or extending current officers’ terms.
The Fresno State Foundation, which is in charge of more than $300 million, was recently exposed by a CSU audit for having an increased risk of financial fraud — a conclusion reached after reviewing the nonprofit’s internal practices.
The audit found that the foundation didn’t have a proper system to oversee 22 operating and investment accounts.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
