I urge you to vote NO on Measure H, the 40-year, $500 million Fresno Unified construction bond on the Nov. 5 ballot. As a school board trustee, I don’t make the recommendation lightly because I recognize that our schools are aging and dilapidated, and we will need a bond measure passed...
Presidential Debate Made Clear Harris Will Help Californians Reach the Middle Class
Hours before last week's presidential debate, new data from the U.S. Census confirmed what many of us had suspected: California's poverty rate remained the highest of any state, increasing in 2023 to 18.9% from 16.4% in 2022. In an election cycle that has seen issues surrounding economic mobility too often...
FDIC’s Proposed Changes Would Undermine Farms, Businesses, and Nation’s Food Supply
When most people think of California, images of sun-soaked beaches, bustling cities, and tech giants in Silicon Valley often come to mind. However, California is much more than that. It’s a pillar of the nation’s agriculture industry and a vital force that supplies over a third of the country’s vegetables...
Fresno Unified Must Address Glaring Achievement Gaps Among Latino Students
Fresno faces a critical challenge in its educational landscape. As part of a community research project for the HOPE Leadership Institute, our team of Central Valley residents delved into the academic performance of Latino K-12 students in Fresno, revealing troubling disparities in mathematics achievement. What we found were significant achievement...
Fresno Unified’s Credit Recovery Tool Is Roadbock to Real Learning
When students get their high school diplomas, you assume that they’ve all met key standards in all requisite areas. You suppose that they’ve all made the grade. Unfortunately, that hasn’t always been the case during the past decade or so in Fresno Unified. It all ties in with a program...
California Needs Autonomous Trucks. Tell the Legislature Not to Ban Them.
California’s Central Valley fuels the engine that is America’s agricultural sector. Without our farmers’ output, the industry would be driving ahead on half a tank in the U.S. Why? Because our region grows more than 250 different crops, and more importantly, we produce 25% of the nation’s food supply. To...
California Gender Transition Law Shoves Parents Out of the New School Year
As the school year begins, AB 1955 goes into effect. It's a measure supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom that requires public schools to keep a child’s gender transition confidential from parents at the child’s request. The new law has prompted backlash from surprising quarters, most notably Tesla magnate Elon Musk,...
Need Pre-Natal Care? Obria Medical Is Here to Serve Valley Women
One of the key public health problems facing our community is the lack of available prenatal care for lower-income persons. The Obria Medical Clinics of Central California has been addressing this problem, with newfound support from local and national partners, and making a profound difference in our community. In the...
Rebuilding Fresno Unified Aquatics Programs Will Help Students, Promote Water Safety
Fresno’s lack of aquatic sports opportunities, low aquatic participation numbers in Fresno Unified, and the uptick in local drownings should concern everyone. This has become a visual representation of some of the bigger issues that need to be addressed for Fresno to thrive. This visual representation may seem small on...
The Benefits, Concerns, and Pathways for Hydrogen Fuel in the Central Valley
Recent publicity on SoCalGas’s Orange Cove project, covered by Edward Smith of GV Wire in his article "Stoves to Big Rigs: Hydrogen Aggressively Powers into the Valley's Energy Profile," highlights the ambitious efforts to integrate hydrogen into the Central Valley’s energy landscape. As a proponent of hydrogen technology and a...
