Chimes and happy children are back at a popular Clovis park. Volunteers fixed The Music Park installation this week at Dry Creek Park nine months after vandals struck. "When the instruments were taken, we were just totally in shock. Why? Why, would someone do this?" asked Lori Reed, a board...
California Needs to Treat Homelessness Like the Disaster It Is. Let’s Provide Housing First
For the past 23 years, I have led a statewide homeless services and housing development agency. In Los Angeles, I have interacted with four mayors, three cycles of county supervisors, and dozens of city council members. During this period, the approach to the growing issue of homelessness has been predictable....
Santa, Soldiers Bring Joy to Alaska Town Facing Crisis
NAPAKIAK, Alaska — A school employee wearing a traditional pink Alaska Native smock called a kuspuk breezed through the hubbub in the cafeteria adorned with murals of purely Alaska scenes, zigzagging through children clutching presents and past uniformed soldiers wearing Santa caps. “Napakiak is happy today,” she proclaimed to principal...
Deadly Attack Leaves Fresno Hmong Community in Shock
FRESNO — A close-knit Hmong community was in shock after gunmen burst into a Fresno backyard gathering and shot 10 men, killing four. “We are right now just trying to figure out what to do, what are the next steps. How do we heal, how do we know what's going...
Residents of Mexican Town Struggle With Fear After Massacre
LA MORA, Mexico — After holding funerals for and burying some of the nine American women and children slain in a cartel ambush, residents of this town of about 300 are coming to grips with the fear the attacks inspired among the tightly knit community. "I do not feel safe...
State Center College District Adds $10 Million to 2019-20 Budget
The State Center Community College District board will consider a $10 million boost to the proposed final budget for the 2019-20 school year, raising the unrestricted general fund budget to $224.9 million and the total budget to $366.5 million. District staff are recommending using $5.5 million from reserves funds for...
Candidate: Michigan City Should Be as White "As Possible"
MARYSVILLE, Mich. — A city council candidate in Michigan shocked a public forum when she said she wants to keep her community white "as much as possible." Jean Cramer made the comment Thursday in response to a question about diversity in Marysville, a city in St. Clair County, 55 miles...
Cowboys Donating $50,000 to Victims in El Paso Shooting
OXNARD — The Dallas Cowboys are donating $50,000 to a fund for victims of the mass shooting that killed 22 people and left about two dozen others injured in El Paso, Texas. The team said Wednesday the NFL Foundation was planning a matching donation to the El Paso Community Foundation...
Community Programs for California Inmates Bring More Escapes
SACRAMENTO — California's attempt to ease inmates back into the community is coming at a price: more prisoners, some with violent convictions, walking away before their time is up. Fifty of the state's more than 126,000 prisoners absconded last year, almost half of them from a program that allows male...
Bay Area School District Changing Name Tied to Confederacy
SAN RAFAEL — The Dixie School District board voted Tuesday night to change the name of the 150-year-old district after critics linked it to the Confederacy and slavery. Trustees voted 3-1, with one abstention, to change both the name of the San Francisco Bay Area district and the name of...