WASHINGTON — The top official in charge of carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportations agenda has been reassigned amid concerns that the deportation effort isn't moving fast enough. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Friday that Caleb Vitello, the acting director of Immigration and...
Pentagon Says It Will Cut 5,400 Probationary Workers Starting Next Week
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department said Friday that it's cutting 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place. It comes after staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, were at the Pentagon earlier in the week and received lists of such employees,...
Federal Order to End DEI Policies Has Fresno Schools Scrambling for Answers
The California Department of Education tells education leadership and residences that federal law remains unchanged. The California DOE released a statement Friday, Feb. 21, in response to the federal Department of Education’s new anti-discrimination policy, released a week prior. “… executive orders and memos cannot modify or override statutory requirements or...
Bannon Denies Nazi Salute Accusation at CPAC, Calls It ‘a Wave’
OXON HILL, Md. — Steve Bannon was accused of making a Nazi salute as he concluded a speech at a conservative gathering where President Donald Trump is slated to speak this weekend, but Bannon said Friday the gesture was merely a "wave." Bannon, who once served as Trump's chief strategist...
Misty Her Calls for ‘Huge Mindset Shift’ at Fresno Unified as She Campaigns for Top Job
Misty Her became Interim Superintendent in early May of last year, and she's leading Fresno Unified with blunt words and an urgency that her mentor, retired superintendent Bob Nelson, rarely exhibited. She's also a candidate for the permanent position as the School Board begins a national search for Nelson's successor....
AP Sues 3 Trump Administration Officials, Citing Freedom of Speech
The Associated Press sued three Trump administration officials Friday over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the 10-day blocking of its journalists. The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The AP says its case is...
Bullard Teacher Arrested for 10 Sex Felonies Involving Student
Police arrested 37-year-old Bullard High teacher Ray Waller Thursday on suspicion of having sex with a minor and making or selling pornography, according to a news release from the Fresno Police Department. The victim was a juvenile student at the high school. The teacher has been put on administrative leave...
Protester Hurls Tomato at Tulare Assemblywoman During High-Speed Rail Conference
While Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare. spoke about the investigation into high-speed rail on Thursday in Los Angeles, a protester threw a tomato that appeared to hit her. Protesters gathered in support of California's high-speed rail at Union Station, where Macedo joined U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to discuss the...
LA Mayor Bass Removes Fire Chief Kristin Crowley After Wildfire Response Criticism
LOS ANGELES — Six weeks after the most destructive wildfire in city history, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ousted the city’s fire chief Friday amid a public rift over preparations for a potential fire and finger-pointing between the chief and City Hall over responsibility for the devastation. Bass said in...
Salman Rushdie’s Attacker Found Guilty of Attempted Murder in New York
MAYVILLE, N.Y. — A New Jersey man was convicted Friday of attempted murder for stabbing author Salman Rushdie multiple times on a New York lecture stage in 2022. Jurors, who deliberated for less than two hours, also found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of assault for wounding a man who was...