With two proposals to fund road repair in Fresno County cleared to begin collecting signatures, voters will soon see petitions to put the competing half-cent sales tax measures on the November ballot. In a presentation before the Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, former Fresno County Transportation Authority executive...
Measure C Renewal Passes Key Checkpoint. Will Competing Versions Emerge?
A panel of mayors approved how to implement Measure C, setting the next stage in getting the Fresno County transportation sales tax renewal on the ballot. The Fresno Council of Governments Policy Board voted 10-4 on Thursday to approve most of what an advisory panel recommended. The policy board includes...
Exclusive-Chinese Business Hired Lobbying Firm with Ties to Don Jr, Then Scored a Win in Washington
A lobbying firm led by one of Donald Trump Jr.'s hunting buddies helped a Chinese company make its case to a U.S. national security watchdog, public filings show. The case involved a U.S. startup that was seeking to have the Chinese firm removed as one of its investors. The watchdog...
War in Iran Impacts Fertilizer, Diesel Prices for Fresno County Ag
While the world waits to see if an uneasy peace through the Strait of Hormuz holds, the impacts of diesel and fertilizer prices have already hit Fresno County ag. Normalizing fuel prices following the three-way ceasefire between Iran, Israel, and the U.S. is yet to materialize. On Thursday, oil rose...
Judge Rejects Environmental Challenge to South Fresno Highway 99 Project
A Fresno judge dealt an environmental group a blow in its attempt to block a Highway 99 project. Fresno County Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Wilson ruled that Friends of Calwa and Fresno Building Healthy Communities filed their lawsuit too late to invoke the state's environmental review law. Wilson issued his...
A Newspaper Is Raided and a Rights Group Outlawed Amid Kremlin Crackdown
Russia’s security services on Thursday searched the Moscow offices of a leading independent news outlet, Novaya Gazeta, whose co-founder was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, and detained its executive editor for questioning. Hours earlier, Russia’s Supreme Court declared the country’s oldest and most respected civil society group, Memorial,...
Trump Weighs Pulling Some US Troops From Europe Amid NATO Strains, Official Says
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump, upset at NATO allies' failure to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and angry that his plans to acquire Greenland have not moved forward, has discussed with advisers the option of removing some U.S. troops from Europe, a senior White House official told Reuters...
Melania Trump Says She Never Had a Relationship With Epstein
WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump on Thursday denied ever having a connection to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and said claims about it are defaming her. "The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today," President Donald Trump's wife said in a rare...
UN Envoy Meets Iran Deputy Minister and Visits Bombed Sites in Tehran
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' personal envoy Jean Arnault met Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi in Tehran on Thursday as part of U.N. efforts to bring about an end to the Iran war, the U.N. said. Arnault also met representatives of the Iranian Red Crescent and visited some civilian sites...
Sean Combs’ Lawyer Urges Appeals Court to Overturn Conviction, Sentence
A lawyer for Sean "Diddy" Combs said on Thursday judges should not be allowed to consider conduct relating to charges for which a defendant has been acquitted in determining a sentence, urging an appeals court to overturn the hip-hop mogul's conviction on prostitution charges and his prison sentence. "This case presents...
Why Prosecutors Dropped Charges Against Fresno Man Who Escorted Students to ICE Protest
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A central California police department this week filed criminal charges against a man who helped escort student protesters during a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, but the case quickly dissipated when local prosecutors said they would...
Don’t Listen to False Prophets. Mayor Dyer’s SEDA Plan Deserves Your Support
At 96, I have seen many cycles of growth, debate, and change in our community. Today, as discussions continue over the future of Fresno’s Southeast Development Area, I feel compelled to offer a perspective shaped by more than six decades of experience in development. Let me begin by addressing some...