California legislators this week are discussing how to deal with a $78 billion deficit statewide. For educators already anticipating funding cuts, they are preparing to do cuts of their own — something they haven't needed to do in a decade. At Fresno Unified, officials are looking at how to prepare...
How California Legislators Got More Than $1.4 Million in Travel and Gifts in 2023
Last June, more than half of California’s lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats alike, with no particular ideological preference — attended a celebratory gala for new Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. They left with a gift: A personally engraved box worth $85.94. These gifts are documented in financial disclosures that elected officials...
‘Digital Democracy’ Project Penetrates California’s Opaque Political Processes
When I began covering California politics 49 years ago, digital technology was in its infancy and the Capitol ran on paper. If you wanted to know what was on the Legislature’s agenda, you visited the “bill room” in the Capitol basement and asked for the daily files of each legislative...
US Shoots Down Iran-Launched Attack Drones as Biden Team Pledges ‘Support’ for Israel
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and his national security team monitored Iran’s aerial attack against Israel on Saturday as U.S. forces joined efforts to down explosive-laden drones launched by Tehran. With tensions at their highest since the Israel-Hamas war began six months ago, Biden pledged that American support for Israel's...
Sacramento Gave Homeless Camp a Lease as an Experiment. Here’s What Happened.
When Sacramento changed its plan to demolish a homeless encampment on a vacant lot on Colfax Street, instead offering the homeless occupants a lease, activists and camp residents celebrated it as a win. The first-of-its-kind deal, which allows the camp to remain in place and govern itself without city interference,...
Merced Supervisors Accused of ‘Triple Crown Race’ of Failures Amid Talk of Closing Fire Stations
Two Merced County fire stations may face closure this year amid looming budget concerns and lingering inadequate firefighting staffing levels. The issue came to a head at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, where leaders reviewed a set of alternatives to address the county’s firefighting shortfalls. The board postponed making a...
Teacher Appreciation Week Surprises That Educators Will Love
Day after day, during school hours and after the bell rings, the schools only work because teachers do. If an educator has ever made a difference in your life, you'll know that teachers are more than deserving of our appreciation. But how do you choose a meaningful gift that won't...
A Mission of Mercy, Then a Fatal Strike: How an Aid Convoy in Gaza Became Israel’s Target
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — It was hours after sundown when the eight aid trucks drove from the makeshift jetty, cobbled together from tons of wreckage left across Gaza by months of war. The trucks were escorted by three vehicles carrying aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, the...
Walberg Era Begins With a Charge to ‘Revolutionize’ Bulldogs Basketball
A new era of Fresno State men's basketball is here. The Red Wave came out strong and welcomed Vance Walberg as coach with a Bulldog party billed as a news conference Friday morning at the Duncan Athletic Building. "This has been a big dream of mine for years having watched...
California Man Sentenced to 40 Years to Life for Fatal Freeway Shooting of 6-Year-Old Boy
SANTA ANA — A California man was sentenced Friday to 40 years to life for the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old boy who was riding in the back of his mother's car on the freeway, prosecutors said. Marcus Eriz, now 27, was sentenced in Orange County Superior Court in Santa...