Even before the Fresno City Council discussed the police budget Monday, more than three dozen comments arrived opposed to more spending or calling for reduced funding. Those commenting live during the meeting echoed similar sentiments. Fresno Police Chief Andrew Hall listened in as commenters advocated for defunding — and even...
Fresno Reform Commission Will Focus on Community Policing: Baines
In the wake of calls for police reform, Fresno Black Lives Matter supporters and police leaders agree that the formation of a Commission on Police Reform is a good idea. After the Fresno State chapter of the NAACP presented a workshop at Thursday's city council meeting, council president Miguel Arias...
After NAACP Workshop, Fresno Agrees to Police Commission
The Fresno City Council will form a Commission on Police Reform. That announcement by council president Miguel Arias came after the Fresno State chapter of the NAACP presented a new and updated list of demands to City Hall and the police department. The campus group — which came to the...
No River Park Riot. Just Quincy Pondexter and the Community.
The most dangerous thing at River Park on Tuesday afternoon was a skateboarder rolling along the sidewalk. As 4 p.m. came and passed, a threatened riot at the shopping center in northeast Fresno never materialized. Instead, nearly 100 members of the community joined Fresno police to keep the shopping center...
River Park Stores Brace for Riot, Hoax or Not
Sierra Glass Co. was placing boards at the Nordstrom Rack at the Villagio Shopping Center — the first stop on a busy Tuesday. "They've been blowing us up," David Turner said of the calls his company received. He said he had four jobs in total for the day. After social...
Outcry Over Racial Data Grows as Virus Slams Black Americans
As the coronavirus tightens its grip across the country, it is cutting a particularly devastating swath through an already vulnerable population — black Americans. Democratic lawmakers and community leaders in cities hard-hit by the pandemic have been sounding the alarm over what they see as a disturbing trend of the...
Black Voters Say They Won't Forget Trump's Racist Tweets
DETROIT — Robin D. Stephens lived through Jim Crow and thought the worst days of racism were behind her. Then President Donald Trump told four American congresswomen of color to "go back" to where they came from. "It was very hurtful to see the person who is the leader of the...
Sephora Closes US Stores Briefly for Diversity Training
NEW YORK — Sephora closed all of its U.S. stores for an hour Wednesday to host "inclusion workshops" for its 16,000 employees, just over a month after R&B star SZA said she had security called on her while shopping at a store in California. The beauty retailer said the training...