Clovis voters will decide whether to raise the city's sales tax by a penny. Monday night, the Clovis City Council voted 5-0 to place the item on the Nov. 5 ballot. The city said the 1-cent sales tax hike would generate $28 million in annual revenue for the general fund....
State Center Trustees Put $698M Bond Measure on November Ballot
Update, 5:38 p.m.: The State Center Community College District Board of Directors voted 7-0 to put a $698 million bond measure on the November ballot. There was little discussion by the board before the vote, but the trustees heard from a number of audience members in person and online expressing...
LGBTQ Library Material Came Under Fire in Fresno. Now California May End Book Bans.
The presentation was unassuming, just a handful of picture books arrayed on the side of a bookcase — the ABCs of a Pride parade, biographies of the gay World War II codebreaker Alan Turing and 50 LGBTQ+ people who made history, the sex education manual "It's Perfectly Normal," a retelling...
Ownership Change at Summer Fox Brewing. What Does It Mean for Classic Tower District Space?
A behind-the-scenes ownership change at a popular Fresno brewery means two new labels for the company. Meanwhile, work is nearing completion for the former Audie's Olympic space in the Tower District. Summer Fox Brewing began as a project between two Fresno couples. But now one of those couples has stepped...
ArtHop: A Night of Resistance, Confusion, Emotion, and Scams
Despite directives from city officials banning their presence, street vendors turned out for Thursday night's ArtHop in downtown Fresno. It was difficult to tell if the vendor ban, the hot temperatures — or both — produced a smaller crowd. Suffice to say that ArtHop went on amid vendor resistance and...
Misty Her Chops 170 FUSD Goals to Two: Boosting Student Outcomes, Customer Service
Fresno Unified Interim Superintendent Misty Her has been busy this summer crafting her 100 Day Plan with goals designed to lift up students in the state’s third-largest school district. She’s been working in temporary quarters in an FUSD building at the corner of Fresno and Fulton streets while the Educational...
Fresno Wins Quarter-Billion Settlement Over Tainted Drinking Water
In the largest known settlement of its kind, the city of Fresno won $230 million from the Dow Chemical Co. and Shell Oil for contaminating wells with a chemical they hid inside of a pesticide. For decades, Dow and Shell put 1,2,3-Trichloropropane into nematocides, according to settlement terms acquired by...
Newsom Denouncing Trump’s Authoritarian Streak Is Pot Calling the Kettle Black
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been one of the loudest Democratic politicians in denouncing former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy. While endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign for the presidency this month, Newsom declared, "With our democracy at stake and our future on the line, no one...
Drake Bell Exposed Nickelodeon’s Sins Against Kids. He Plays His Music Friday in Fresno.
Actor and musician Drake Bell returns to Fresno at Strummer's in the Tower District on Friday. He performed an acoustic set with passion and soul here in 2018. He recently exhibited bravery by speaking out about the unspeakable behavior towards children at Nickelodeon on the documentary series "Quiet on Set"...
Fresno Needs More Nurses. Will This New Training Program Be the Answer?
A new nurse training program is opening in Fresno and is designed to help close the gap in the region's nursing corps. Samuel Merritt University, a private university based in Oakland, will operate the center in north Fresno, which has its grand opening on Thursday. The center will be home...