SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday the state would keep in place a planned jump in the state's minimum wage to $14 an hour next year for larger businesses, saying it would help hard hit lower-income workers even as many companies struggle to survive amid the coronavirus crisis. The...
Man Convicted in Notorious 1991 Fresno Murders Dies at San Quentin
Johnny Avila Jr. — condemned to death in one of Fresno's most notorious murder cases of the 1990s — died at San Quentin State Prison on Sunday from suspected coronavirus complications. Avila, a member of the Parkside Bulldogs gang, was among three men convicted in 1994 of two counts of...
Valley Will Get $52M More to Squelch COVID-19, Governor Says
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday he is deploying multi-agency "strike teams" into Fresno and other Central Valley counties to help local officials get COVID-19 infections under control. Newsom made the announcement in a live briefing held at an agricultural processing plant in Stockton. He also said the state is allocating...
State Withholds COVID-19 Relief Funds for ‘Sanctuary City’ Atwater
The state is cracking down on Atwater, which attracted national attention when it declared itself a "sanctuary city" for businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-May. On Thursday night, the state notified Atwater officials that the city is ineligible for $389,000 in state assistance to deal with the coronavirus. Atwater's...
Poll: 3 in 4 Americans Back Requiring Wearing Masks
LOS ANGELES — Three out of four Americans, including a majority of Republicans, favor requiring people to wear face coverings while outside their homes, a new poll finds, reflecting fresh alarm over spiking coronavirus cases and a growing embrace of government advice intended to safeguard public health. The survey from The...
California Using Virus-Closed Classrooms for Child Care
While most California school districts are planning only virtual instruction to start the academic year, some are offering child care programs that will bring students into the same buildings that are off-limits for classroom instruction. In Glendale, education officials opted last week to move to online instruction due to a...
California Universities, Legislature Spar Over Ethnic Studies Requirement
SACRAMENTO — Trustees of California State University are expected to vote Wednesday on making ethnic studies a graduation requirement. If approved, it would be the first change to the school’s general education curriculum in over 40 years and would come amid the national uproar over racism and police brutality. The...
Federal Lawsuit Seeks to Overturn California’s School Closing Mandate
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks to overturn the mandate issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom to keep schools closed in counties like Fresno that are on the state's COVID-19 watchlist. Distance learning failed to educate children of all races, ethnicities, income levels, and education needs when it took effect last...
How COVID Is Deepening California’s Income Inequality in 5 Charts
The decade dawned on a California that was both “the richest and poorest” state in the nation, in the words of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Wages for the top 10% of California’s earners had grown three times as fast as those of the bottom 10% of earners since 1980 — all as the...
Valley Children’s Head Doctor Warned of COVID-19 Risk in Reopening Schools
Valley Children's Healthcare chief medical officer Dr. David Christensen was blunt during a recent Zoom meeting with Fresno County school district officials and county health officials about reopening: Based on the current COVID-19 infection and hospitalization conditions, "now is not the time to risk it." Central Unified School District administrators...