SACRAMENTO — The state's reworked plan for high-speed rail now estimates a $20.4 billion price tag to complete 171 miles of track from Merced to Bakersfield by 2028, nearly a decade later than the initial estimate for a much longer Los Angeles-to-San Francisco line. Rail officials issued an update to...
2 Killed, 3 Wounded in Fresno Assault Rifle Shooting
FRESNO — Police say a man and a woman were shot and killed over the weekend in Fresno after two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun opened fire on their car. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Sunday five people, including three adult siblings and two teens,...
Chabad Fresno Gathers to Remember Poway Shooting Victims
Rabbi Levy Zirkind took the shooting Saturday (April 27) in Poway personally. He knows Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein. The two attended Yeshiva (seminary) together in Brooklyn during the 1980s. Zirkind’s son, Rabbi Mendel Zirkind, is friends with Goldstein’s son. Their wives went to school together as well. Both...
Feds Accuse Fresno Group Home CEO of Insurance Fraud
The founder and CEO of a Fresno group home has been indicted for allegedly defrauding insurance companies. A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment earlier this month against Orlando Gillam, 45, of Fresno. He faces mail fraud charges, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced Wednesday in a news release....
Fresno Liquor License Reform Plan Delayed a Week
A proposal to cap liquor licenses in Fresno will be delayed a week. The city is well above the number recommended by state Alcohol Beverage Control, and some parts of Fresno are saturated with stores selling booze. Councilman Miguel Arias had intended to introduce a resolution Thursday restricting new alcohol...
Armenian Genocide Recognized in Fresno, But Not at White House
Almost universally, Armenians are dedicated to ensuring that the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks from 1915 through 1918 is acknowledged and never forgotten. But, for many Americans, it's not a case of forgetting. They are completely unaware of the 20th century's first genocide. According to a...
What Does Fresno Want in Next Police Chief? Everything.
Retired judge Robert Oliver summed up the 90-minute community conversation Tuesday night about picking Fresno's next police chief this way: "What I heard was, people are looking for a strong communicator, who pays attention to detail, can improve the sensitivities of patrol officers, and understands the city or can learn...
The Days of Rubber-Stamping Liquor Licenses Are Over
The shameful City Hall ritual of rubber-stamping liquor licenses finally faces its deserved demise. For decades, residents, school officials, and ministers have sought to convince city officials the last thing Fresno needed was another place selling booze. But their pleas invariably fell on death ears. Don't think of these places...
What Do Top Fresno Attorneys Say About Arambula Trial?
Joaquin Arambula goes on trial next week. His freedom and his political career hang in the balance. The Fresno assemblyman faces one misdemeanor count of child cruelty stemming from an incident involving his young daughter. Arambula said he disciplined the then 7-year old with a spanking. Investigators say there is...
It's Not OK to Shoot a Dog and Leave It to Die
Fresno resident Josh Conder was sickened by what he saw Wednesday morning. While driving his truck on the old section of Highway 41 at the San Joaquin River, Conder saw a dog lying on the side of the road. "This being rather unusual I turned around only to find a...