A Kingsburg man was killed in a suspected DUI crash Friday night near Orange Cove, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner's Office identified the victim as Eli Lopez, 27, of Kingsburg, on Monday. Lopez died after a vehicle collision near the intersection of Manning and...
Some CA Legislators Miss Hundreds of Votes, but Even ‘Excused’ Absences Count as a ‘No’
Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Corona who is running for state Senate, missed about two-thirds of her votes this year — 1,647 of 2,510 voting opportunities she had based on her committee assignments and floor sessions. In most cases, the missed votes came from two "excused" absences during busy...
Voting in Fresno County: How Secure Is Your Ballot? How Accurate Is the Final Tally?
From registration to tabulation, election officials track the voting process electronically and with human eyes. Fresno County Election Clerk James Kus and his staff are busy at work at the office's warehouse at 4525 E. Hamilton Avenue. Ballots are coming in, verified, and eventually tabulated. However, Kus will not press...
Quincy Institute Examines Israel’s Gaza Operations, Regional Escalation
The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft hosted a webinar on Oct. 13, 2023, addressing Israel's ground operations in the Gaza Strip, which began less than a week after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. A year later, Gaza has been devastated: 90% of the population is displaced, and over 42,000 people...
Harris Sets Record for Biggest Fundraising Quarter Ever
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign set a record for the biggest fundraising quarter ever this fall, raising $1 billion in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30. Harris’ campaign and its allied party committees said they raised $378 million in September alone, compared with the $160 million reported by former...
State of the Race: A Slight Shift Toward Trump but Still No Clear Favorite
With two weeks to go, the polls of the presidential election are starting to run out of room to get any closer. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are essentially tied — with neither candidate ahead by even a single point — in The New York Times’...
Did Fresno-Area School Districts Spend All Their Federal COVID Recovery Money?
The three largest Fresno-area school districts received more than $750 million in federal pandemic recovery funding and faced a deadline of Sept. 30 to spend or commit funds from the third round of funding. According to the Edunonics Lab database maintained by Georgetown University, as of Aug. 28 two of...
The House Race Where Democrats Desperately Want the ‘Democrat’ to Lose
WOODSTOCK, Ga. — In a congressional race in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, Democrats have been spending the precious final days of the campaign making an urgent appeal: Do not vote for the “Democrat.” After a dizzying sequence of events, the party has disavowed the candidate listed as its nominee...
‘I’m With Elon,’ Says Newsom About SpaceX Controversy
Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed support for Elon Musk following the California Coastal Commission's rejection of a SpaceX launch expansion plan. In an interview with POLITICO, Newsom stated, "I'm with Elon" on this issue, despite criticizing Musk's political donations to former President Trump. The commission's 6-4 vote against the Air Force's...
Merced County’s Sees a High Volume of Early Votes. How Many Have Been Cast?
Election Day is a little more than two weeks away, but thousands of Merced County residents have already cast their ballots. Melvin Levey, Merced County's registrar of voters, told The Merced FOCUS that roughly 7,600 ballots had been counted as of Thursday evening, out of about 132,000 registered voters in...