The First Amendment guarantees the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." However, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer says he will block a constituent's emails, and the city attorney is backing him. First Amendment experts say Dyer may have that right. AJ Rassamni, president of the Blackstone Merchants...
Fresno’s Blackstone Avenue Plan Is Here. Will Fewer Vehicle Lanes Entice Cyclists?
The city of Fresno will begin work in 2026 to transform southern Blackstone Avenue. Heading south from Dakota Avenue to Highway 180, City Hall will shrink the vehicle lanes to make room for wider sidewalks and protected bike lanes. Eventually, the city wants to also slow the street down to...
Watch: Legislator Warns California Gas Could Reach $8 to $10 a Gallon
California needs to produce more oil to keep gas prices from hitting $8 to $10 a gallon, a Republican assemblymember said during a virtual news conference Monday. Ten years ago, California produced 468,000 barrels of crude oil a day throughout the state, said Assemblymember Stan Ellis, R-Bakersfield. His city is...
How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart
A group of Navy SEALs emerged from the ink-black ocean on a winter night in early 2019 and crept to a rocky shore in North Korea. They were on a top secret mission so complex and consequential that everything had to go exactly right. By Dave Philipps and Matthew Cole...
How Pickleball Took Over Thousands of US Tennis Courts
n 2022, the Santa Monica Tennis Center in Southern California had a lone tennis court. Today, that court is gone. In its place are four pickleball courts, attached to what is now called the Santa Monica Pickleball Center. In 2019, Cincinnati’s Sawyer Point Park had eight worn-down tennis courts. Today,...
Secrecy, Cost Overruns Plague California’s Billion-Dollar Capitol Annex Project
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. For more than half a decade, advocates of the state Capitol have sounded the alarm about the $1.1 billion Capitol annex project. This venture is a textbook example of how not to run a public works project. All...
With Drones and IEDs, Mexico’s Cartels Adopt Arms of Modern War
EL GUAYABO, Mexico — The explosions began before dawn, shaking the ground and rattling windows in the darkness. With them, residents said, came the telltale buzz of drones. “We knew the devil was coming,” said Ana, a mother of six who grabbed her children and ran as gunmen moved in...
AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?
When the internet first became publicly available, it took seven years to reach 50 million users, said Blake Konzcal, executive director of the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board. It took Facebook a little more than three years to get 50 million people, and Instagram had that size following in just...
U.S. News Releases Best High School Rankings. How Did Fresno Schools Do?
A Fresno charter school is getting bouquets for ranking among the top 100 U.S. high schools. U.S. News & World Report released its annual Best High Schools Ranking last week. University High School, a charter school authorized by Fresno Unified, ranked No. 63 nationally. Clovis North Joins UHS in California's...
Feds Add Third Charge for Bobby Salazar. Restaurant Owner Denies Them All in Court.
Accused arsonist Bobby Salazar denied the federal charges against him in a Fresno court appearance on Thursday. In addition to the two felony arson counts previously filed against the Fresno restaurateur, Salazar now faces a third charge of having a firearm with an obliterated serial number, which is a felony....