Good morning! It’s Friday, Dec. 12. This is Rob.
😶🌫️Ugh: More dense, patchy fog over Fresno today with highs in the 40s. NOAA
🚈Rail fight: A federal judge rejected a bid by the Trump administration’s justice department to throw out a lawsuit filed by a California agency challenging the cancellation of more than $4 billion in federal grants for the state’s beleaguered high-speed rail project. Reuters
🤷Switching races: Fresno councilmember Mike Karbassi plans to run for county supervisor now — and not the county clerk’s office — after Brian Pacheco’s announcement shakes up the Hall of Records. KMJ
👋Meet the new boss: The Fresno County Transit Authority tapped Moses Stites to lead the organization that distributes Measure C transportation tax funds. GV Wire
🤔Sweetheart deal? Federal prosecutors seek three-year prison sentence in TJ Cox corruption probe. CBS47
👮RIP: Hundreds gathered Wednesday to honor the life of fallen Parlier Police officer Jesus Dario Corona as he was laid to rest in Porterville. ABC30
🛎️Such a lovely place: A new Hyatt House is open for business at Campus Pointe near Fresno State. ABC30
🎁A gift machine: The Fresno community is invited to celebrate the official opening of the first-ever Giving Machine in Fresno, a holiday-giving opportunity that allows visitors to “vend” items supporting various charities, at 11 .m. Friday, Dec. 12 at the River Park Shopping Center. KSEE24
1. HSR planned to demolish Chinatown building gutted by fire
The California High-Speed Rail Authority planned to demolish the vacant building that burned down Sunday in Fresno’s Chinatown, The Fresno Bee reports.
Authority officials refused to answer detailed questions about security at and plans for the roughly 130-year-old building, but confirmed demolition plans were already in the works prior to Sunday’s blaze.
The rail authority plans to construct a station nearby and an underpass connecting downtown and Chinatown.
In recent years, the Chinatown neighborhood has seen multiple destructive fires at vacant and unsecured buildings in Fresno. The building that burned Sunday had three other fires this year and had already sustained structural damage.
Jan Minami, executive director of the Chinatown Fresno Foundation, said the on-going work “probably made it easier to access” the building in recent weeks.
2. Work begins on Fulton Forum in downtown Fresno
Work kicked off this week on plans to vacate and transfer two undeveloped right-of-ways on Fulton Street and Van Ness Avenue to make way for work associated with the future Fulton Forum development in downtown Fresno, the Business Journal reports.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer has pledged to increase downtown Fresno’s residential population from 3,000 to 10,000.
Fulton Forum is expected to have at least 300 mixed-income units, including a five-story building, consisting primarily of residential, retail and parking.
The city will also break ground on the 600-car North Fulton Parking Structure on Dec. 15, just down the street from Fulton Forum’s future location near Broadway Plaza.
Fresno Housing Authority: “At this stage, the project remains an important component of our broader commitment to investing in Downtown Fresno and expanding quality affordable housing opportunities across the county.”
3. English-learner scores climbs in Central Unified schools
Fresno’s Central Unified School District reported big improvements among their English learners, the highest marks in the district in five years, the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative reports.
Scores at Central Unified schools have been steadily climbing since 2020. Last year, Harvest Elementary reported a 20% jump in ELPAC scores.
While district leaders credit the overall success to a variety of factors, interventions and opportunities, most agreed the biggest factor in the turnaround has been the district’s so-called EL bootcamps — afterschool program aimed at helping students learn English as a second language.
Heather Martinez, El Capitan vice principal: “With these camps, we’re able to build on the strengths they have in their primary language. I think that a lot of these kids feel that being bilingual is not a strength, and one of our goals is to help them realize how much of a strength it actually is.”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Omar S. Rashad.
