The people's house of local government is closed for the time being, the latest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. All governmental meetings for the city of Fresno will be conducted online until the health crisis abates. Fresno City Council President Miguel Arias said meetings will take place on Zoom. There...
Fresno Offers 0% Loans for Small Businesses Affected by COVID-19
The Fresno City Council voted to provide COVID-19 financial relief for small businesses at an emergency meeting Wednesday. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees will be eligible for 0% loans. If the business remains open for one year, the loan will be forgiven. In a separate vote, the council allocated...
Council Approves Residential and Commercial Eviction Moratorium
As an emergency measure in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Fresno City Council approved a 30-day moratorium on evictions for residential and commercial tenants Thursday. The 7-0 vote requires renters affected to show in writing that their rent cannot be paid because of the coronavirus. The measure allows renters...
Fresno Shelter-in-Place Ordinance Takes Effect at 12:01 AM Thursday
Citing a need to save lives and stay ahead of the curve on the worst-case COVID-19 scenarios, the city of Fresno imposed a shelter-in-place emergency ordinance Wednesday that goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Under the extraordinary measure, Fresno residents will join at least eight million other Californians who...
Fresno Approves Emergency Declaration in City; Will Enforce Bar Closures.
The city of Fresno has declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Measures include the closure of bars in the city and prohibiting gatherings and events of 50 or more people. The Fresno City Council voted on the emergency measure in a special meeting Monday...
Price Gouging Ordinance on Tap for Emergency Fresno Council Meeting Today
The Fresno City Council has a tentative emergency meeting today at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a news release from Council President Miguel Arias, the council will discuss declaring a state of emergency and an anti-price gouging ordiance. As of time of publication, no agenda has...
Are Progressives Taking Over Fresno City Council?
What is the effect of Tyler Maxwell's almost-official election to the Fresno City Council? Those saying Maxwell brings a Democratic supermajority to the council are wrong. The board is already six Democrats and one Republican (District 6's Garry Bredefeld). That won't change, as Maxwell would replace fellow Dem Paul Caprioglio....
Specialty Drinks in a Vault: Inside Election Night Party
Progressives packed a party celebrating election night returns Tuesday for Andrew Janz for Fresno mayor and Tyler Maxwell for city council District 4. At The Vault inside the iconic Pacific Southwest building, hundreds partied for an apparent Election Night split decision — Maxwell was winning his race, while Janz was...
Maxwell in Strong Position, but District 4 Race Isn't Over
Tyler Maxwell took a 6 percentage point lead against Nathan Alonzo on Tuesday night and is well-positioned to become the new District 4 representative on the Fresno City Council. "We are feeling more optimistic than cautious. We'll celebrate for sure once every vote has been counted, but it worked out...
Smiles No More. Alonzo and Maxwell Sling Mud in D4 Race.
The Fresno City Council District 4 race has a week to go. After months of positive mailers from candidates Tyler Maxwell and Nathan Alonzo, things have turned nasty. The days of smiling faces and images with family and concerned citizens are over. Both are using less-than-flattering photos of each other,...