The Fresno City Council wants the Tower Rapist to stay in prison. Rudolph Martin Acosta has been in prison since 1992, serving 78 years after admitting to raping at least eight women in the Tower District. He is at Avenal State Prison. His next parole hearing is June 6 at...
Sanger Police Seek Public’s Help in Locating Missing At-Risk Teen
Update on April 11, 2025 The Sanger Police Department has reported that Mellissa Rocker has been found. Original Story The Sanger Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing, at-risk teen. Mellissa Rocker, 15, was last seen leaving her residence in Sanger during the early morning...
Fresno Police Shoot Suspect in Head After Hostage Situation Near Manchester Center
Update on April 14, 2025 The Fresno Police Department identified the suspect as Joanna Lopez, 39. Police said that she is still at the hospital in critical condition. Original Story An officer-involved shooting is under investigation following an incident Thursday morning at the Manchester Center, the Fresno Police Department said...
Valley Crime Stoppers Offers $25,000 Reward to Find Escaped Murderer
A convicted murderer who escaped custody during a court transport in Delano in early December and who now is believed to be in Mexico is the target of a Valley Crime Stoppers $25,000 reward. Cesar Moises Hernandez, sentenced in 2019 to 80 years to life for first-degree murder, evaded staff...
‘Independent’ Vang Starts Work as New Fresno Councilmember. Cancels Tavlian Contract.
Moments before her husband took his seat as Fresno's newest city councilmember, May Lee admitted she had nerves. After all, she endured just as much on the campaign trail as her husband, Brandon Vang. Vang took his place on the dais representing southeast Fresno, bringing the city council to full...
He Spent Decades Researching Dementia. Trump’s DEI Purge Killed His Grant, and Dozens More
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A California neurologist who’s among the nation’s top researchers on dementia has been swept up in President Donald Trump’s purging of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, adding to the growing cadre of research science terminated because of the...
Other States Do Housing Better Than California; a New Study Shows How They Do It
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.Overwhelmingly Californians rate the intertwined issues of housing supply, living costs and homelessness as the state’s most pressing issues, as a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California confirms. The terrible trio, as one might term it,...
Trump Administration Task Force to Consider Declassifying COVID-19 Origins Materials
WASHINGTON — A new government task force will consider big changes to America's intelligence community and examine whether material about the origins of COVID-19 and other topics of public interest should be declassified, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said. Known as the Director's Initiatives Group, the panel will study...
At the Supreme Court, the Trump Agenda Is Always an ‘Emergency’
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has in recent weeks asked the Supreme Court to allow it to end birthright citizenship, to freeze more than $1 billion in foreign aid and to permit the deportation of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador without due process. In each case, the administration...
Wing of Plane Carrying 6 Members of Congress Is Clipped at Reagan Airport
Two American Airlines jets, including one carrying at least six members of Congress from New York and New Jersey, clipped wings on a taxiway at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington on Thursday, officials said. There were no injuries, according to American Airlines, which said that the damage was limited...