This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. At CART High near Fresno, there is no gum stuck to the floor. The saffron-yellow walls are unmarred by graffiti. Toting laptops, students file calmly down spacious, light-filled hallways to classes like biotechnology and digital marketing. There’s no...
What Would Clovis and Fresno Look Like Under Proposition 50 Maps?
How would congressional representation for Fresno and Clovis change if voters approve Proposition 50? The special election — currently underway and concluding Nov. 4 — would split Clovis from one into three congressional districts. The Clovis City Council voted to oppose Prop. 50, concerned it would dilute its representation in...
Fowler Teachers Say District Is Shortchanging Them and Giving $$ to Admin
Fowler Unified teachers are up in arms over the district’s failure for two years in a row to allocate 55% of its budget for classroom teachers, as is required by state law. Longtime teachers tell GV Wire that the district has been putting dollars into beefing up the administration, adding...
Farming Giant Boswell Says It Plans to Sink Corcoran 6 More Feet
A wide-ranging letter from J.G. Boswell Company Vice President Jeof Wyrick accuses SJV Water of misrepresenting the farming giant’s plan to deal with subsidence, land sinking from excessive groundwater pumping, which has impacted huge swaths of the San Joaquin Valley, including around the small town of Corcoran. Wyrick is also the chair...
A Measure C Citizen Oversight Committee Without US Citizens?
The Measure C Citizen Oversight Committee may not include citizens if the proposed tax renewal follows one suggestion. At a meeting on Oct. 16, advisory committee member Veronica Garibay asked why it's a requirement to be a U.S. citizen to sit on the oversight committee. "I recommend removing that given...
Why Did Nearly All Central Valley Lawmakers Back Controversial Housing Bill?
Nearly the entire Central Valley delegation in Sacramento — Democrats and Republicans — voted for a housing measure that some experts say could drastically increase costs. Supporters, such as state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, said the bill will help increase housing stock. The bill, AB 130, builds on the state’s...
US Cattle Ranchers, Soybean Farmers Are Fed Up With Trump
American ranchers and farmers are increasingly voicing their frustration with President Donald Trump's tariffs and cozy deals with Argentina. Trump's policies, they say, are having a devastating effect on American ag production and the bottom line for farmers. Top of mind this week: Trump's proposal that the U.S. buy beef...
Fresno Housing Killer Buried in Newsom’s Latest Budget. What Can City Council Do?
California came up with a law 12 years ago aimed to lower greenhouse gas emissions by limiting urban sprawl. Complex formulas predicted how far people in new home developments would drive to work, school, or shop and used that to decide how much to tax people in new developments outside...
ABC’s Bob Woodruff to Share Lessons of Survival and Service in Fresno Talk
No one knows the danger of war reporting better than Bob Woodruff. Only a month after being named anchor of ABC World News Tonight in December 2005 — succeeding the late Peter Jennings — Woodruff suffered a traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb while reporting in Iraq. Woodruff recovered...
CA Releases Student Test Scores, Lowers Expectations. How Did Fresno Unified Do?
The California Department of Education released state assessment results Thursday — showing statewide improvements — alongside updates on what is considered “meeting expectations.” Before Thursday's change, the state considered level 3, standard met, and level 4, standard exceeded, as meeting expectations on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium student tests. The...