LOS ANGELES — California eclipsed Japan in 2024 to become the fourth-largest economy in the world. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced earlier this month that the state’s population increased for the second year in a row. Tourism has hit record levels, as Los Angeles prepares to step onto the world stage...
Young People Drive Fresno to CA’s Top Job Growth: Wells Fargo Study
California suffered the biggest job losses in the U.S. for the first part of the year, a new study from Wells Fargo shows. High interest rates impacted debt-heavy sectors, causing employers to shed jobs at a rate of more than 18,000 a month in the first quarter. Fresno, however, managed...
Special Report: At Social Security, These Are the Days of the Living Dead
Rennie Glasgow, who has served 15 years at the Social Security Administration, is seeing something new on the job: dead people. They're not really dead, of course. In four instances over the past few weeks, he told KFF Health News, his Schenectady, New York, office has seen people come in...
Housing Component Halted, but Fresno’s Senior Center Is Moving Forward
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer's landmark senior center is moving forward even though the nearby housing portion has halted. The state recently passed over the application for $15 million in essential tax credits to help build senior housing near Ashlan and Blackstone avenues at the highly anticipated Fresno Senior Activity Center,...
Clash Over Teen Sex Solicitation Reveals the Rift Within CA Democratic Party
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A reliable political axiom — at least in California — is that when one party achieves dominance in some arena, it fragments into factions defined by ideology, gender, economics, ethnicity, geography or even personality. The axiom has been...
Can Steve Brandau Help Rescue the Fresno County Transportation Tax Renewal?
Measure C, the Fresno County half-cent sales tax for transportation projects, expires in 2027. Voters will need to approve a renewal next year, or billions could be lost. Although there are no formal proposals, two groups are working to place items on the ballot. The official Measure C committee is...
Trump Is a Revolutionary. Will He Succeed or Fail?
The hyperactive first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term have been the most consequential of any president this century, and perhaps since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Before the inauguration Americans wondered what sort of government they were getting. That debate is now over. Mr. Trump is leading...
What’s Next for Fresno Smoke Shop Ordinance: Lawsuit, Veto, Override?
The city of Fresno is bracing for a lawsuit after passing tighter regulations on smoke shops and vape stores. The 4-1 vote — with one abstention and one absence — by the city council on Thursday means only 49 of the approximate 170 tobacco shops will be legally allowed to...
Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production
I’m not here to talk about the superintendent pick negatively. This isn’t about the qualifications or the contract. This is about the theatrics. Because when you reserve front-row seats, pack the room with family members of the yet-to-be-officially-named appointee, and then ask the public to believe the decision wasn't already...
Newsom Commutes Sentence in 2009 Tulare County Gang Killing
Gov. Gavin Newsom has commuted the sentence of a man convicted in a 2009 gang-related murder in Orosi, granting clemency to Richard Miguel Garcia, 39, the Tulare County District Attorney's Office said in a statement Wednesday. Garcia was convicted in 2011 for his role in the shooting death of 18-year-old...