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....
Valley Hospitals Get Mixed Scores From Feds. See How Your Hospital Fared
Three San Joaquin Valley hospitals – one in Fresno, one in Modesto and one in Bakersfield – received the lowest scores among 20 hospitals in the region in annual ratings issued this month by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Downtown Fresno’s 685-bed Community Regional Medical Center, the 394-bed...
Why Did Board Fail to Stop Deficits From Nearly Sinking Fresno EOC?
Steven R. Lewis starts work this month as the new chief executive officer of the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission. Lewis, who formerly headed the Community Partnership for Child Development in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will oversee an organization with a $130 million annual budget that started bleeding red ink as far...
Top Dem on Oversight Committee Demands Trump Administration Account for Wildland Firefighter Vacancies
This story was originally published by ProPublica. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The top Democrat on a House committee is demanding that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins account for discrepancies between her public statements about wildland firefighter staffing and a...
Yosemite Biologist Who Hung Trans Pride Flag From El Capitan Is Fired
The National Park Service has fired a wildlife biologist at Yosemite National Park who helped drape a large transgender pride flag from El Capitan in May, saying that the demonstration had taken place in a prohibited area and lacked the required permits. The former employee, Shannon Joslin, 35, who studies...