The Trump administration will shed about 317,000 employees this year, its human resources chief said in a statement late Friday. That figure is higher than the estimate of 300,000 that Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor gave earlier this year. Kupor provided the new figure in a blog post....
Fresno Unified Restructures Black Student Achievement Dept. to Protect Fed Funds
The Trump administration’s threat to cut federal funds to schools with race-based programs and a discrimination lawsuit prompted the Fresno Unified School District to restructure its academic support department for Black students. Starting with a name change in October, the African American Academic Acceleration department — still known as A4...
Israeli Military Commanders Face Ouster Over Oct. 7 Failures
The Israeli military’s chief of staff on Sunday summoned about a dozen senior commanders to let them know they would be ousted or disciplined for failures related to the Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. It was the most sweeping and punitive action against members of...
Justice Department Defends Trump Ban on Associated Press Oval Office Access
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Justice Department lawyer told a federal appeals court on Monday that President Donald Trump acted lawfully when he barred Associated Press journalists from the White House Oval Office and other spaces, arguing that constitutional protections for press freedom are not at issue. The U.S. Court of...
X Displays Users’ Locations, Fueling Scrutiny Over Political Accounts
The social site X launched a feature over the weekend that displays users’ locations, renewing scrutiny of the provenance of many accounts, including those that post frequently about American politics. The new feature displays the country or region an account is based in, as well as when it was created...
Meta Buried ‘Causal’ Evidence of Social Media Harm, US Court Filings Allege
Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health, according to unredacted filings in a lawsuit by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms. In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook, according...
Visalia Police Find Man Dead During Welfare Check
Visalia police are investigating the death of a 71-year-old man found Sunday morning on the 1600 block of East Laura Avenue. Officers responding to a welfare check at 10:47 a.m. discovered Robert Costanzo deceased, and the cause of death remains unknown. Got a Tip? The department’s Violent Crimes Unit has...
Visalia Police Investigate Early Morning Armed Robbery at Griffin Food Mart
Visalia police are investigating an early morning armed robbery after two masked suspects held up a convenience store Monday, authorities said. Officers responded around 5:08 a.m. to Griffin Food Mart on West Walnut Avenue, where they learned one suspect pointed a handgun at the cashier while demanding money, the Visalia...
Could Fresno’s Southeast Plan Cost Current Residents $100,000?
If the Fresno City Council approves its plan to further develop southeast Fresno, it could cost $100,000 dollars if and when city services arrive for the rural residents now living in the area. To turn the 9,000 acres of the Southeast Development Area into Fresno's newest segment of town, the...
Economists See Slightly Faster US Growth, Sticky Inflation in 2026
U.S. economic growth will increase slightly next year but employment gains will remain sluggish and the Federal Reserve will slow any further rate cuts, economists polled by the National Association for Business Economics said in the group's year-end forecast survey. The survey of 42 professional forecasters, conducted from November 3...