SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday took an extra $1.8 billion from the state's dwindling coffers to pay for more protective gear and extra hospital beds to aid the state's response to the new coronavirus. Newsom expects the federal government will reimburse the state for 75% of that spending....
Clovis Unified Keeps Schools Closed, Vows They Will Reopen Aug. 17
The Clovis Unified School District board voted unanimously Wednesday night to extend the school closures through the end of the school year on June 5. But they vowed that campuses will be open again for the first day of school on Aug. 17. Other area school boards decided much earlier...
Restaurants Can Reopen Now in Fresno County as State OKs Local Plan
All Fresno County restaurants can fully reopen now. The state Department of Public Health gave the green light to Fresno County's application to move further into reopening businesses under the state's Stage 2 economic roadmap. Hours earlier, the city of Fresno announced its plan to rescind its shelter-in-place ordinance —...
Heads Up, Fans of Fresno State’s Famous Sweet Corn — It’s Almost Here
Fans of Fresno State's luscious sweet corn who are eagerly anticipating sinking their teeth into the first ears of the season won't have much longer to wait — yellow corn will go on sale starting at 8 a.m. Monday at the Rue and Gwen Gibson Farm Market on Chestnut Avenue....
Virus Cases Spike in California County on Mexican Border
EL CENTRO — As much of California begins reopening businesses amid improved coronavirus conditions, a farming region on the state's border with Mexico is experiencing a spike in hospitalizations that some believe is driven by American citizens who live in Mexico coming to the U.S. for care. How quickly different...
Fresno Unified Projects Big Budget Cuts but No Layoffs
Dire financial times are ahead, not only for the next school year but likely several more as well, but no staff layoffs or pay cuts are being considered at this time, Fresno Unified deputy superintendent Ruthie Quinto said Wednesday night. Quinto provided an overview to trustees of the latest version...
1,200 California Pastors Say They’ll Reopen Churches May 31
SACRAMENTO — More than 1,200 California pastors say they will resume in-person services on May 31 in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. Newsom has gradually allowed some businesses to reopen as the state's number of virus-related hospitalizations has flattened. But...
Lockdown Delays Cost at Least 36,000 Lives, Data Show
[aggregation-styles] The New York Times Subscription If the United States had begun imposing social distancing measures one week earlier than it did in March, about 36,000 fewer people would have died in the coronavirus outbreak, according to new estimates from Columbia University disease modelers. And if the country had begun...
Researchers: Nearly Half Of Accounts Tweeting About Coronavirus Are Likely Bots
[aggregation-styles] NPR Nearly half of the Twitter accounts spreading messages on the social media platform about the coronavirus pandemic are likely bots, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University said Wednesday. Researchers culled through more than 200 million tweets discussing the virus since January and found that about 45% were sent by...
Apple, Google Release Technology for Pandemic Apps
Apple and Google on Wednesday released long-awaited smartphone technology to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus. The companies said 22 countries and several U.S. states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software. It relies on Bluetooth wireless technology to detect...