Fresno City Council hopeful Mike Karbassi wants District 2 to know he is the law and order candidate. At a fundraiser Tuesday night at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club, having police chief Jerry Dyer and district attorney Lisa Smittcamp in attendance was a good start. Dyer himself is running...
Candidate with Strong Ties to Swearengin Joins Race for Fresno Mayor
The 2020 Fresno mayoral election has a new entrant. Elliott Balch, chief operating officer of the Central Valley Community Foundation, filed paperwork with the city clerk Wednesday. Balch also spearheaded the Measure P campaign to raise the city's sales tax for parks improvements. That effort fell short in 2018. Former Mayor...
Congressmen Deride 'No Match' Letters. Does Farm Bureau Leader Agree?
Last week, Congressmen Jim Costa (D-Fresno) and TJ Cox (D-Fresno) sounded the alarm about the Social Security Administration reinstating the practice of sending “no match” letters to employers. The letters notify employers that an employee’s name and social security number don't match. SSA encourages corrective action, such as filling out...
Trump Tried to Seize Control of Mueller Probe, Report Says
WASHINGTON — Public at last, special counsel Robert Mueller's report revealed to a waiting nation Thursday that President Donald Trump had tried to seize control of the Russia probe and force Mueller's removal to stop him from investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president. The report said that in June 2017,...
Arias Explains Switcheroo on Anti-Panhandling Signs
On Wednesday, three city councilmembers — Miguel Arias, Garry Bredefeld, Paul Caprioglio — publicly supported the “Help Us, Help Fresno” proposal. Their idea? Place signs discouraging motorists from giving to panhandlers at busy intersections and instead ask for donations to charities helping the homeless. Arias strongly endorsed the signs at...
Questions Remain About Granite Park, Repayments to Cox
For the first time since a city audit questioned Granite Park's bookkeeping practices, a City Hall official says the nonprofit overseeing the sports park is in good standing. “Our legal opinion is that the nonprofit is in substantial compliance with its contract obligations,” city attorney Douglas Sloan said. The verdict...
The Congressman, the Sheriff, and an Out-of-Context Viral Tweet
How did a since-deleted viral tweet involve two Valley elected leaders? The head of a New York City-based philanthropic foundation tweeted a video of President Donald Trump talking about immigrants. “.@realDonaldTrump on people asking for asylum "These aren't people. These are animals,” Mark Elliott, the president of Economic Mobility Corporation,...
Valley House Delegation Joins in Omar-less Anti-Hate Vote
The Central Valley congressional delegation all supported a House resolution Thursday (March 7) condemning hate — anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and just about all other forms. That put the likes of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and TJ Cox (D-Fresno) in step with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota). Approval came strongly on...
Cox Chairs First Capitol Hill Meeting. It Lasted Just 12 Minutes.
Rep. TJ Cox chaired his first meeting of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday (Feb. 26). The official portion didn’t last long. The topic was how industries manipulate science and climate change information, but much of Twitter’s reaction was about the brevity...
City Audit Uncovers Problems With Granite Park Bookkeeping
A public-private partnership that helped turn a city eyesore into its fulfilled vision of beautiful sports fields may have hit a snag. A city audit says the non-profit company hired to run embattled Granite Park had a number of accounting irregularities. The audit stopped short of stating it found anything...