How much should Clovis residents pay to maintain the "Clovis Way of Life?" That is a question Clovis City Councilman Vong Mouanoutoua posed at Monday's respectful, but slogging debate over how to increase development impact fees. "How much are you willing to keep it?" Mouanoutoua asked. The council delayed any...
Fresno State Unveils ‘Elevate’ Campaign to Raise $250M for Sports Facilities
Fresno State announced Tuesday a new plan to raise more than $250 million to modernize the university's athletic facilities, including Valley Children's Stadium. These upgrades, university officials say, are needed for the Bulldogs to compete and win at the national level. "The time is now," Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval...
State Prisons in Corcoran Dry for Now, but Flood Water Is Creeping Up
As Tulare Lake flood water creeps ever closer to the small city of Corcoran, officials at the two state prisons there have stopped accepting inmate transfers while they develop larger evacuation plans. Together, the prisons house 8,000 people, many with severe mental health and substance abuse issues as well as...
More Skilled Migration Can Solve a Global Problem
If politicians were truly serious about ending global inequality, many economists would say there is one obvious policy: allow greater global migration. A nurse is paid $1,900 annually in poor countries and $32,000 in rich countries. A McDonald’s worker in India earns 16 times less than their counterpart doing the...
California Politicians on Verge of Next ‘Bullet Train’ Boondoggle
Decisions by governors, legislators and bureaucrats have consequences, some intended and some not. Were politics a rational exercise, decision-makers would fully explore potential effects before acting, thereby minimizing chances that what they have wrought would backfire. However, politics and politicians tend to act in the here and now, rather than...
H Spees, Fresno Pastor, Former Mayoral Candidate, Dies From Injuries
H Spees, a Fresno pastor, former City Hall official and one-time mayoral candidate, died on Friday — succumbing to injuries after a fall, his family said. Spees, 70 of Clovis, was in Florida when a cardiac event apparently caused a fall and a head injury, several media outlets reported. He...
Tulare Lake, Flooding, Sinking Land, and Raising the Corcoran Levee
The Corcoran levee is being raised — again. The fear is it won’t be high enough as runoff from record-breaking snowpack above several rivers that feed into the old Tulare Lake gets underway. Before work got underway the levee stood at 188 feet. That’s four feet shorter than when it was...
Manchester Center Housing Project Bears Dyer’s ‘One Fresno’ Branding
An application to transform part of Manchester Center into housing offers a view into the project Mayor Jerry Dyer talked about last November while also revealing that it bears his political mantra. The One Fresno at Manchester Center project filed with the city shows the transformation planned for what was...
Will CA’s $150M Life Raft Keep Distressed Hospitals From Sinking?
A bill to provide a $150 million lifeline to struggling hospitals is headed to Gov. Newsom’s office, but one legislator says medical facilities need at least $1.5 billion to stay afloat through the end of the year. The Distressed Hospital Loan Program from state Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Merced), Assemblymember Esmeralda...
Cemetery’s Condition Is Latest Flashpoint in Brandau-Bredefeld Race
Two candidates for Fresno County supervisor have found a new wedge issue — maintenance of the county-run Veterans Liberty Cemetery — courtesy of a Fresno County Grand Jury report criticizing the conditions there. Garry Bredefeld, the Fresno city councilman challenging incumbent Steve Brandau for the District 2 seat, pounced. "Complete...