The Federal Emergency Management Agency should be eliminated in its current form and reconfigured to respond more effectively to natural disasters, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a meeting on reforming FEMA on Wednesday. Noem's comments were a restatement of her thinking on FEMA's future but notable given...
US Supreme Court Declines to Let Florida Enforce Immigration Crackdown
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court maintained on Wednesday a judicial block on a Republican-crafted Florida law that makes it a crime for immigrants in the United States illegally to enter the state. The justices denied a request by state officials to lift an order by Florida-based U.S. District Judge...
Military Veteran Rios Challenging Costa for Congress in 2026
A military veteran and veteran affairs advocate is challenging Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, for Congress in 2026. Lorenzo Rios announced his candidacy Wednesday. The Republican is a Marine Corps and Army veteran, and current CEO of the Clovis Veterans Memorial District. “Make America Great Again isn’t just a slogan, it’s a...
OpenAI to Release Web Browser in Challenge to Google Chrome
SAN FRANCISCO - OpenAI is close to releasing an AI-powered web browser that will challenge Alphabet's market-dominating Google Chrome, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The browser is slated to launch in the coming weeks, three of the people said, and aims to use artificial intelligence to fundamentally...
Fuel Shortage Threatens to Turn Gaza’s Biggest Hospital Into Graveyard, Doctors Say
GAZA - Overwhelmed doctors and patients at Gaza's largest medical center could soon be plunged into darkness because of dwindling fuel supplies, which doctors say threaten to paralyze Al Shifa hospital as Israel presses on with its military campaign. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the fate of Israeli hostages...
UN Chief Outlines Four Options for Embattled Palestinian Relief Agency UNRWA
UNITED NATIONS - A review of the embattled United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, ordered by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has identified four possible ways forward for the organization that has lost U.S. funding and been banned by Israel. The proposals, seen by Reuters, are: inaction that could see the potential...
Why Measure C Is Not Measured
Imagine Fresno County is like a big playground where everyone’s trying to get around — many kids are running, some are biking, and very few are riding the bus. Measure C is like the piggy bank we all chip into to keep the playground safe and fun. It’s a successful...
California Highway Patrol Makes 1,311 DUI Arrests During Independence Day Weekend
The California Highway Patrol issued 34,582 citations and made 1,311 DUI arrests during a statewide holiday enforcement period aimed at curbing dangerous driving over the Fourth of July weekend, the agency said in a statement. From 6 p.m. Wednesday to midnight on Sunday, officers carried out 46,582 enforcement actions targeting...
Death Toll Reaches at Least 119 in Texas Floods, With 173 Missing
SAN ANTONIO — Search crews spread through the Texas Hill Country on Wednesday morning with a grim mission, seeking signs of the scores of people missing from devastating floods that struck the region nearly a week ago, killing at least 119. Even as the search continued, officials from Kerr County...
Nathan Magsig: Why Our Second Amendment Resolution Matters to the People of the Central Valley
In the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, we take pride in our heritage of self-reliance and respect for constitutional freedoms. From farmers and ranchers to small business owners and families who have called this region home for generations, the right to keep and bear arms is more than an...