Latest KVPR News Headlines

A pregnant woman is among three who were shot at a Tulare County park.

The shooting happened Thursday night in Orosi. Video captured the harrowing encounter at the Orosi Sports Complex, with the trio panicking before realizing they had been hit.

All were transported to the hospital and are expected to survive. The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help with the case.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday touted the success of a partnership between the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement to curb crime in Kern County.

The operation has resulted in more than 1,600 arrests, with a focus on violent crime as well as organized retail and auto theft.

The partnership between the CHP, Bakersfield Police Department, and Kern County Sheriff's Office began earlier this year.

Newsom has frequently called out Kern County for its crime and homicide rates, which sit well above the state average.

Sikh American activists started marching from the Valley to Sacramento on Wednesday to demand recognition and protection from intimidation by foreign governments.

The "Fearless for Justice March" is also highlighting the massacres that killed Sikhs in India in 1984 after the Prime Minister was assassinated.

The statewide march is expected to last 24 days, with several stops along Valley counties.

Joe Moore

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KVPR File Photo

A nationwide search for the next Fresno police chief went underway Thursday after the city hired a firm to oversee the process.

Officials say the search will begin immediately and input will be sought from the community along the way.

The search comes after the former Fresno Police Chief, Paco Balderrama, resigned in July following reports he engaged in an affair with an officer’s wife.

Local News

Fresno police officer tied to Balderrama probe appears to pressure city to force chief to resign

Kerry Klein

Listen • 1:10

The Source LGBT+ Center

If you live in Visalia, you might notice a large rainbow themed laser in the sky Friday night.

The light installation is called "The Gleam" and will be spotted from The Source LGBT+ Center. Officials say it jumpstarts the city’s pride celebration this weekend.

The light fixture is inspired by a beam used by the Sacramento Kings and is meant to symbolize love, acceptance and belonging for all, according to the organization.

Jae C. Hong

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AP

An oil company accused of contaminating water lines in Bakersfield this summer has filed for bankruptcy.

According to local news outlet KGET, Griffin Resources filed for bankruptcy last week.

This comes after the city sued the company in August for the backflow of oil that contaminated water for many businesses in June.

The city attorney told the news outlet that the bankruptcy will slow recovery for the businesses impacted.

The men’s basketball team at CSU Bakersfield is taking steps to monetize itself.

The team will operate under the banner of The Blue Court Runners Collective. It was the idea of four Bakersfield businessmen.

The collective will give the college team the right to profit from their brand and image and it’s the first college team in the city to do so.

The team’s coach told local TV outlet ABC23 that before this, athletes didn’t receive anything for competing.

The collective hopes to draw sponsorship from local companies and more athletes to the court. They already landed a $70,000 sponsorship deal from Bakersfield Hyundai.

Rachel Livinal

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KVPR

California Senate candidate Adam Schiff made a stop in Merced Wednesday to stump with Adam Gray, who is in a tight race for House District 13.

Schiff told supporters Gray would find compromise with republicans in the house if elected, but that also, "Two Adams are definitely better than one," as laughter erupted.

Gray is running against Republican incumbent John Duarte, who won the seat in 2022 by less than 600 votes.

Schiff said he is confident Gray will win this time because of the high stakes presidential election.

"Increased turnout is going to really be the added margin for his victory," he said.

Meanwhile, with a slim majority, House Republicans want to keep as many seats as they can.

The race to establish a human vaccine to treat valley fever is receiving renewed support in Congress.

Rep. John Duarte, a Republican, introduced a bill Wednesday to support the development of a vaccine to treat the disease that sickens thousands of Central Valley residents each year.

The bill has bipartisan support. Valley fever is caused by a fungus that grows in the soil and dirt and can lead to serious complications.

The National Institutes of Health previously announced the development of a human vaccine after successfully testing a vaccine for dogs — which is currently under review.

Jacquelyn Martin

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AP

Republican leaders made a stop in the southern San Joaquin Valley Tuesday to help raise funds for a vulnerable House seat.

Republican David Valadao is trying to fend off a Democratic challenger for House District 22.

Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise joined Valadao at a private club in Bakersfield, where The Bakersfield Californian reports the leaders called Valadao “one of the strongest leaders in Washington.”

Meanwhile, Democrats are raising millions to oust Republican incumbents in the Valley.

Rep. Adam Schiff was also in Merced Wednesday supporting Adam Gray in House District 13.

A woman is being hailed as a hero after safely landing a small, private airplane last week in Bakersfield when her husband — who was the pilot — suffered a heart attack mid-air.

An air traffic controller communicated with the woman last Friday as she managed to land the plane at Meadows Field Airport without any trouble — or experience.

"We're going to set you up so that as you level off from your turn, you're going to be straight in for Bakersfield airport ... is that alright," a traffic controller asked the woman.

"OK," the woman responded.

Airport officials told media outlets they had not seen anything like that before.

The couple was headed from Henderson, Nevada, to Monterey. The man died a short time after landing. This was the second aircraft incident in Bakersfield in recent days.

Aramark – who is in charge of concessions at Yosemite National Park – is responding to online criticism about its services.

A letter posted to the Reddit that went viral accused Aramark of mismanagement and failing to look after staff.

The company defended itself in a statement to local news outlets, saying it was taking steps to improve park infrastructure and prioritizes the well-being of its employees.

Earlier this summer, reporting by Bloomberg also found concerns at the park.

Business & Economy

How a reporter uncovered a concerning management track record at Yosemite National Park

Elizabeth Arakelian

Listen • 7:47

Joe Moore

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KVPR

Bird flu has officially infected three people in the Central Valley, and health officials are investigating two more potential cases.

This brings the number of confirmed or suspected cases of bird flu on humans in the Valley to five.

The positive cases are all from individuals who had direct contact with infected dairy cattle.

State health officials say the cases are all from different farms, and don’t suspect human to human transmission.

Even so, the state’s health department expects the number of human bird flu cases to increase. But they say the risk to the public from bird flu remains low, and that dairy products are safe as long as they’re pasteurized.

For $2.5 million dollars, a Hanford institution could be yours. The owner of Superior Dairy is retiring and has put the ice cream shop, known for gargantuan portions of small-batch flavors, up for sale.

The real estate agent selling the store, Ryan Portugal, told KSEE24 that he hopes the shop can live on under new management.

“The outcome that everyone wants—not just myself, the owners, but I think all of the Valley—is someone to come in, give it the love that it needs, and take it to the next level,” Portugal said to the news station.

According to Portugal, the shop has stayed in the same family for all of its 95 years in operation.

California’s Supreme Court justices will make an appearance in Fresno tomorrow for the first time in 14 years.

As part of an outreach session, the state’s highest court will first meet with local high school students for a question-and-answer session. Later, the justices will hear oral arguments as part of their normal calendar.

All sessions will take place in the Fifth District Court of Appeals building in downtown Fresno.

A former leader of the Kern County Young Republicans is facing federal fraud charges.

According to the Justice Department, 41-year-old Bryan M. Williams of Atascadero pleaded guilty yesterday to bank fraud. Over a period of six years, court documents allege he wrote checks to himself from the political organization totaling more than $230,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for January. He could face up to 30 years in prison and a million dollar fine.

This November, 252 school districts across the state are putting education bonds on the ballot.

One of those is Wasco Union High School District, in Kern County, which is seeking $35 million dollars. Officials there told the nonprofit newsroom EdSource they need a new, bigger gym with air conditioning and a roof that doesn’t leak.

Other districts with school bonds include Fresno Unified and Clovis Unified, which are together seeking nearly a billion dollars.

Joe Moore

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KVPR

The search is on for a new president to lead Fresno City College. State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith wants to have a new hire ready to start by next July.

The search follows the departure of former President Robert Pimentel earlier this year, who took a new role as Chancellor of West Hills Community College District.

Fresno City College is the state’s oldest community college.

The Fresno County City of Kingsburg is the latest to adopt an anti-camping ordinance that makes homeless encampments in public places illegal.

The Kingsburg City Council voted unanimously for the ordinance, which punishes violators with a $500 dollar fine or up to 6 months in jail.

The vote follows a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that allowed cities to evict the unhoused, regardless of whether shelter beds are available.

Other entities with similar ordinances include both the City and County of Fresno.

The Clovis City Council last night voted to change how it elects city council members.

In two years, the city will transition into district-based elections, rather than electing candidates at-large.

The decision follows a legal threat earlier this year from a law firm alleging that the at-large system potentially violated voting rights laws.

Record temperatures continue to stick around early into October.

The National Weather Service Office in Hanford says Monday marked seven straight days of record highs in several San Joaquin Valley cities.

That includes Hanford, Madera and Merced. Fresno has seen six straight days of record temperatures.

Most of the heat records broken on Monday were set recently, in 2023.

Joe Moore

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KVPR

As dairy farmers across the state take measures to protect their workers and cattle from bird flu, a Tulare County farmer is saying "don't panic."

Pixley dairyman Joey Airoso told KVPR taking precautions is important, but overreacting to a health threat can also be harmful.

"You have to practice common sense because everything can’t just stop," Airoso said.

Employees are getting eye protection and gloves. And veterinarians traveling from farm to farm are following stricter rules.

"They're changing their clothes before they go from site to site and they're spraying tires and things like that," Airoso added.

Airoso says none of his cattle or employees have tested positive for bird flu. In Tulare County, at least two dairy workers have contracted the virus, and statewide, it’s been found in 56 dairy herds.

Lance Cheung

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USDA

The Central Valley grows the majority of the world’s almonds, walnuts and pistachios. But as California’s wildfires become more severe, a new study from UC Davis warns the crop yield may be shrinking as a result.

Between 2018 and 2022, researchers looked at various nut orchards in the Valley to study how the trees stored energy in periods of heat and prolonged drought. But after a dire wildfire season in 2020, the researchers shifted to examine how the smoke affected the orchards, too.

The study found the trees produced a significantly smaller crop following the fires. In some cases, orchards saw a 15% to 50% decrease in production.

The study suggests a combination of low light due to heavy smoke and higher than normal ozone levels may have impacted the trees’ photosynthesis process.

Researchers are hoping to continue studying these impacts.

The city of Fresno is starting its one-day-a-week outdoor water use schedule next month.

The schedule is an effort to conserve water during the cooler months of the year.

Residents will need to be more cautious when they water lawns, gardens, pools and any other activities that need irrigation.

The program starts Nov. 1 and will be in effect until the spring.

Esther Quintanilla

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KVPR

Monday marked one year since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that left over 1,000 dead.

The attack sparked a war in the Middle East, with tens of thousands of deaths in the Gaza Strip in the following months.

As the holy day known as Yom Kippur approaches, the Jewish people are remembering the deaths on the Israel side, as Pro-Palestine advocates also remembered the lives lost in Gaza.

A candlelight vigil in remembrance was scheduled in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Fresno Monday night.

This report was updated Tuesday, Oct. 8.

City of Clovis

Residents in a historic neighborhood in Clovis celebrated the opening of a new and improved trail this weekend.

The Gould Canal Trail, which runs through southwest Clovis, has several new features to enhance the trail’s accessibility and safety —that includes a gateway monument, sidewalks, and updated fencing.

The project was funded by the city of Clovis and the Fresno Irrigation District.

The Fresno area broke a heat record this week two days in a row.

The National Weather Service Office in Hanford says on Wednesday the region broke a record set in 1980.

And that record was quickly topped the next day, when the region reached 105 degrees on Thursday.

It’s been a hot October, with temperatures expected to remain high for the next few days. Seasonal temperatures should set in by the end of next week.

After being threatened with a lawsuit, the city of Clovis plans to consider changing how it elects its council members.

The city council will meet on Monday to vote on switching from at-large elections to district elections. The changes would start in 2026.

Last month, a voting rights attorney threatened legal action against the city for its at-large elections.

The attorney argued votes from minority residents were being diluted in the process.

Another teenager in the San Joaquin Valley was arrested this week, for allegedly threatening to shoot up her school.

According to news reports, an alleged threat to the Wonderful College Prep Academy in Delano was posted to the social media app Snapchat.

A girl believed to be behind the threat was arrested at her home, but police did not find any firearms.

Law enforcement officials are encouraging parents to talk to their kids about the consequences of online threats.

Kerry Klein

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KVPR

Health officials are investigating two human cases of bird flu in California. The state’s Department of Public Health said Thursday the cases have both been confirmed in the Central Valley, and both people had contact with infected cattle.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that the risk for humans from bird flu remains low. But specialists like Abraar Karan, who studies infectious diseases at Stanford University, say it’s still something to watch closely.

“There’s many reasons why it’s concerning,” he told KQED. We know with influenza viruses there’s a risk of what’s called viral re-assortment, which is essentially when a host gets infected with multiple different strains at once.”

Those strains, Karan says, can share genetic material and “potentially become more deadly, more transmissible.”

“It’s hard to predict what changes could occur,” he adds.

Dairy farms are the perfect spot for viral re-assortment to happen since workers can have lots of exposure to cattle carrying the virus.

If those workers are also infected with human, seasonal flus, a new strain could emerge.

So far, there are 14 confirmed human cases of bird flu nationwide, according to the CDC.

A biohazard incident in Fresno County last year is sparking new legislation from Valley representatives.

The new bill, sponsored by Reps. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) and David Valadao (R-Hanford), would offer grants and training for local code enforcement officers, to help them identify and manage potential public health threats.

The legislation was prompted by an incident in Reedley last year, when a local code enforcement officer discovered an illegal lab operating out of a warehouse.

Officials discovered dead mice, unlicensed COVID tests and vials of improperly stored blood infected with HIV and hepatitis.

The family of a fallen Selma police officer is outraged over a recent campaign advertisement from the city’s mayor.

The ad shows Mayor Scott Robinson standing beside the slain officer’s memorial, along with the officer’s father, Gonzalo Carrasco Sr.

The ad claims Carrasco endorsed the mayor in his reelection campaign, but Carrasco and other family members say this is false.

In a letter, the family implored Robinson to remove the ad. The mayor has agreed, but said the ad was meant to convey his respect or the officer and his family.

Officer Carrasco was gunned down while exiting his patrol vehicle last year.

A fall heat wave is melting records across the San Joaquin Valley, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

The mercury climbed as high as 103 degrees on Wednesday, toppling daily heat records stretching back as far as the 1950s in Fresno, Hanford, Merced and Madera.

David Spector, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Hanford, said the Valley expected more records to be broken Thursday.

Encroaching marine winds could bring slightly cooler temperatures this weekend, but “there’s some uncertainty,” Spector says. “If the marine air burns off, we’re gonna have near records again. But if it hangs tough we’ll probably be in the upper-nineties for highs.”

By next Friday, he says temperatures should return to seasonal norms, with highs in the mid 80s.

A historic landmark in downtown Fresno is finding new life as affordable housing.

The century-old "Hotel Fresno" reopened Thursday as an 80-unit affordable housing complex.

The building had sat vacant for four decades until renovations and construction began on the $40 million project five years ago.

It’s the first of about a dozen housing projects coming to downtown Fresno in an attempt to revitalize the struggling district.

The Big Fresno Fair

Fresno Fair officials are defending their safety protocols following the deaths of two racehorses — which are the first the fair has seen in years.

Larry Swartzlander, with the California Authority of Racing Fairs, says racehorses already undergo thorough health and safety checks before making it to the tracks.

"And in this case, when people ask me, What are you going to change? Well, there's really nothing that can change. We have a very thorough program, very safe program," he told KVPR.

Swartzlander is also the fair’s director of racing. He said the competitions didn’t contribute to the horse deaths. According to reports, one horse died last Friday following pneumonia, and another on Sunday while on the race track.

The Big Fresno Fair has doubled the length of its racing period this year, and is expecting nearly 700 horses to compete.

Temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley Wednesday afternoon have the potential to set new record highs for October during the final stretch of a heat wave.

According to the National Weather Service, Fresno, Merced and Hanford all have a chance of breaking their heat records, with temperatures forecasted to reach up to 102 degrees.

On Tuesday, the weather service reported Madera, Hanford and Merced broke their previous record highs, reaching up to 100 degrees.

A heat advisory is in place until Thursday.

The University of California is being sued for refusing to hire undocumented students for on-campus jobs.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, a coalition of immigrant rights groups argues the university system has the authority to employ undocumented students as a state agency.

The UC Board of Regents has said in the past that employing undocumented students would put the university at risk of losing billions of dollars in federal contracts.

A spokesperson for the university system said it’ll “respond as appropriate” when it is formally served.

The lawsuit comes after Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have made such employment possible.

Lance Johnson

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Creative Commons via Flickr

Two Central Valley universities have been recognized for advancing the Latino community.

The "Seal of Excelencia" was recertified for University of California at Merced and Fresno State this week. The universities were first awarded the seal in 2021.

The seal is a national certification for institutions that intentionally serve Latino students and demonstrate positive outcomes. The universities were honored during an event in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

A new poll by Emerson College and Nexstar shows Republican David Valadao and Democrat Rudy Salas are neck and neck as the election approaches.

The two are challenging each other for House District 22 in November.

The poll found 45% of voters would vote for the incumbent Valadao, while 45.4% would vote for his opponent, Salas. About 10% of voters were undecided.

Valadao was favored in handling the issue of water and agriculture by voters.

Joe Moore

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KVPR File Photo

The Fresno Police Department will receive a new helicopter — costing nearly $7 million.

The Fresno Bee reports the department was approved for a $4.7 million lease for a new H125 jet turbine helicopter. The city is also purchasing a separate 10 year contract for $2.2 million that will go toward an array of police equipment for the helicopter.

A memo from the Fresno city council says having two separate contracts will save the city more than $800,000 rather than purchasing a fully-equipped helicopter.

Ezra David Romero

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KVPR

Fresno poet Juan Felipe Herrera is among 25 others who have been picked for the prestigious “Genius" grant.

The award is handed out by the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation. Herrera, 75, is an educator and writer in the community.

He has produced bilingual work on Mexican-American communities that crosses genres.

All of those chosen will receive an $800,000 grant over the next five years.

Soreath Hok

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KVPR

Yosemite National Park will soon become a sister park to a national park in Ireland.

The National Park Service announced it is signing a diplomatic agreement with the Wild Nephin National Park in Mayo, Ireland.

The five year agreement is intended to help the parks collaborate on best practices and approaches for those entering and maintaining the parks.

A ceremony will be held Thursday morning.

A Fresno school is considered one of the best in the nation.

Design Science Middle College High School is one of 30 schools in California selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School.

Blue Ribbon schools are awarded for being high-performing and working to close educational achievement gaps.

The school has more than 200 students and is located on Fresno City College’s campus.

A new center opened Tuesday in Merced that focuses on what’s known as “generational healing.”

The Healing Generation Center is touted as the first of its kind and was created by the nonprofit Youth Leadership Institute and Merced County’s Behavioral Health Recovery Services office.

Jesse Ornelas, a Merced city council member and director of programming for Merced’s chapter of the Youth Leadership Institute says the idea came from youth several years ago.

"They had laid out everything that they wanted, the types of resources that they wanted in this space and so I used those conversations to lay out the framework of this wellness center," Ornelas said.

The center will have resources like suicide prevention, housing and food assistance and referrals for substance abuse.

It will also seek feedback from youth on what works and doesn’t.

San Joaquin Valley Democrats eager to avoid a repeat of the 2022 House midterms are going on the offensive.

On Saturday, the Dolores Huerta Action Fund was among groups who met at California State University Bakersfield to ramp up enthusiasm in two critical House districts — the 22nd and 13th.

Dolores Huerta, the 94-year-old civil rights leader, says the changes in the presidential race could give Democrats the edge.

"We know some of the things that have changed is that we have different candidates for the presidency, with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, it sets a whole new light on the elections," Huerta said.

Republicans won Valley House races by just a few thousand votes last time around. Groups are especially focused on Latinos and the youth.

Joe Moore

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KVPR File Photo

Fresno’s deputy police chief is reportedly being considered for a new job in the Bay Area.

According to Open Vallejo, Mark Salazar is among three finalists being looked at for the police chief position in the city of Vallejo.

The other candidates include Vallejo’s current interim chief, and a former deputy police chief in San Francisco.

Salazar has been with the Fresno police department since 1996. Open Vallejo reported it was asked by the Vallejo city manager not to publish the names of the police chief finalists out of concern it could jeopardize their current positions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill limiting where warehouses can expand across the state.

Assembly Bill 98 got opposition from unlikely groups, but supporters say the bill is needed to curb pollution near communities.

The law will put warehouses between 300 to 500 feet of residential properties, depending on a neighborhood’s zoning.

Areas of the state that have seen the largest increases in warehouse expansions are the Inland Empire, Southern California and the Central Valley.

A drug-trafficking ring revealed in 2022 in Fresno has now led to multiple guilty verdicts. Federal prosecutors said a 23-year-old Fresno woman pleaded guilty on Friday to several drug charges.

She’s among 19 others who have either pleaded guilty or have been found guilty by a jury as part of a wide-ranging investigation.

It was sparked by a surge of fentanyl-related overdoses in the county and led to the arrest of a man at the center of it, known as the “M-30 King of Fresno.”

The name references counterfeit oxycodone pills that were laced with fentanyl and had been distributed from Mexico into California and other states.

Investigators tracked the drug ring to the San Joaquin Valley as far back as 2021, and intercepted packages that were then mailed out of state.

The CDC says synthetic opioids like fentanyl are the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. right now.

California Department of Water Resources

California’s new water year starts on Tuesday, and state water officials are looking ahead with caution.

Forecasters are taking a closer look at weather models to make more accurate predictions, and investing in flood protection.

With the extreme high temperatures the state saw this summer, officials are considering that heat may also play a factor in the upcoming rainy season.

In a preview of the water year, forecasters say they see higher than average temperatures — and no rain in the immediate future.

But when rain does come, state officials worry the temperatures will mean it won’t produce snow — which is critical to building a healthy water supply.

Instead, if much of the rain stays as rain, the concern is around flood risks.

Officials say just in the last year, California has experienced the full range of climate challenges. And that will most likely continue to be the case.

Tulare County Farm Bureau

The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates major disasters last year led to more than $21 billion in crop losses nationwide.

Now, proposed legislation in Congress is seeking to recoup some of those losses. And it has support from bi-partisan San Joaquin Valley legislators, as well as the California Farm Bureau.

The Agricultural Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act would provide 14-billion dollars to the USDA for assistance programs.

The legislation would also make livestock relocation and feed crop losses eligible for funding. The bill was just introduced into the House on Friday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared Friday as “Native American Day,” as he signed several new bills that relate to the indigenous communities.

The new laws include support for youth and their families and rules around cultural burning. The governor also signed a bill requiring K-12 schools to strengthen their Native American history curriculum.

The governor previously also signed a bill to develop more tribal housing.

Shannon Grove

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law Thursday that increases the penalty for those who solicit or purchase a child for sex.

It raises the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony. The bill was authored by Senator Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield.

The bill also requires children 16 or 17 years to prove they were victims of human trafficking.

Officials say the bill was shaped by survivors of human and sex trafficking, who shared their experiences in the hopes of creating change.

Kings county crop values decreased by nearly 20% last year according to a new report released Tuesday.

The county’s total crop value reached more than $2 billion, much lower than nearby counties.

Kern County, by comparison, reported an $8 billion crop yield from last year.

In Kings County, losses were reported from poultry and livestock, due to the decrease in cow milk prices and production.

A federal judge has approved a receiver to oversee a multi-million dollar agricultural operation owned by the Assemi brothers.

The reciever will manage more than 50,000 acres of pistachios and almonds.

The Assemis are known as one of the largest pistachio growers in the Valley, but have reportedly fallen into debt and financial hardship in their ag business.

The receiver will also get $32 million in funding from Prudential Insurance to cover the cost of harvesting the Assemis’ crops.

A small Bakersfield school district is celebrating access to clean water, thanks to a state project.

The Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School District has struggled with clean water for years, but state grants have helped it secure a new water treatment plant.

The district was cited twice in the past because its water system contained nitrates and chemicals like 1,2,3-TCP.

The district serves roughly 1,200 students and staff, and serves an elementary school, middle school, district office and employee housing.

But despite the state’s help, it doesn’t mean the tiny district’s problems are over. Officials said it will still require financial assistance to operate and manage the water treatment facility.

Joe Moore

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Valley Public Radio

The Fresno County Department of Public Health is investigating a potential exposure to Tuberculosis at Fresno State and Fresno City College.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually affects the lungs, but can affect other areas of the body like the brain or spine.

Students and staff who may have been exposed have been notified and have been asked to complete a survey or test for the infection.

Cases of the infection in California have increased by 24% over the last three years.

Andrew Harnik

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AP

Former U.S. Congressman TJ Cox is still awaiting his fate from charges that accuse him of financial crimes.

In federal court today in Fresno, Cox was widely expected to accept a plea deal, but instead requested a trial date.

Speaking to reporters, attorney Mark Coleman said Cox is considering all his options, and is not ready to accept a plea deal offered by federal prosecutors.

“We just want to make sure the agreement that we enter into is a fair agreement,” Coleman said after the hearing.

In 2022, the one-term congressman was charged with 28 counts of wire fraud and money laundering. His plea hearing has been postponed multiple times this year.

The next hearing is scheduled for mid-December.

Esther Quintanilla

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KVPR

Although voter turnout in the Central Valley is consistently the lowest in the state, the region’s voting habits appear to largely mirror national trends.

Speaking in a webinar on nationwide voter turnout trends, Fresno state political science professor Lisa Bryant says the root of the Valley’s low voter turnout may lie in the region’s immigrant background and a lack of awareness about voting for those who are eligible.

“’I'll talk to my students about voting and they'll say my parents don't vote. I didn't really ever grow up talking about voting or thinking about voting,’ and so I think that that really affects our region,” she said.

Nationwide, trends show the less educated and the younger the voter is, the less likely they are to reach a ballot box.

In counties like Kern and Merced, less than one in five people hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

California’s Attorney General has ruled that there was no criminal wrongdoing in an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of a Bakersfield man in 2023.

Guillermo Huerta, 35, was shot and killed after police mistook a screwdriver he was holding for a knife.

Following an investigation, Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office concluded the officer acted in self-defense when shooting Huerta.

Businesses in Fresno’s Tower District are coming together to support others damaged by a fire last month.

Three businesses on North Van Ness Ave. are all closed indefinitely after a fire on Sept. 16th.

A fundraiser for the Spokeasy Public House bar will take place Thursday at Goldstein’s Mortuary and Delicatessen on North Wishon Ave.

Other fundraisers are being held over the weekend.

The Kern County Fair is wrapping up this week, and attendees tomorrow will get a treat: a performance from an award-winning, 7-year-old mariachi singer.

Alessandra Gutierrez of Bakersfield won the elementary school division of the National Mariachi Youth Vocalist Competition in Texas earlier this year.

The girl’s parents told news outlets that she discovered her voice on a trip to Guadalajara at the age of 6, when she stood on a chair and sang with the mariachi band performing at a local restaurant.

Gutierrez is set to perform alongside the group Mariachi Aguilas at 6:30pm on Thursday.

A historic festival is returning to Hanford this weekend after a long hiatus.

The Moon Festival this Saturday at Hanford’s Carnegie Museum celebrates Asian history and culture.

It was on hold for many years due to the pandemic and a fire at the city’s Taoist Temple Museum.

Sponsored by the China Alley Preservation Society, the free festival will feature lion dancers, Taiko drummers, an origami demonstration and other attractions.

California State University Bakersfield officially has a new president.

Today, the CSU Board of Trustees voted to appoint Vernon B. Harper to the position. Harper is no stranger to the role – he has been serving as interim president since the start of the year.

Harper is the university’s sixth leader. He succeeds former president Lynette Zelezny, who retired late last year.

Kern County is back on top as the nation’s most valuable ag-producer.

Kern County farmers generated $8.6 billion, edging out nearby Tulare and Fresno counties — which rounded out the top three.

The data covers last year and is included in the county’s annual crop report, which was just published.

Ag officials say abundance of water helped propel Kern County’s 12% growth in farm revenues, which included the largest pistachio harvest in California history.

In a bizarre incident, two women were recovered from a fuel tank in Merced County on Monday.

One of the women was declared dead at the scene, while the other was taken to the hospital. Her condition is unknown.

Also unknown is how the women ended up in the large fuel tank near the small rural community of Delhi in the first place.

CalFire along with Merced County sheriff’s deputies and animal control officers responded to the scene.

A coalition of Fresno leaders and business groups are calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto a warehouse regulation bill.

Opponents of AB-98 say it would limit local government’s ability to update zoning laws and may prevent the expansion of industrial zones.

That could hamper Fresno’s ambitions to become a hotspot for the growing warehouse industry, argues City Council President Annalisa Perea.

"We will feel the brunt of this, and that’ll come in the form of a loss of jobs for our residents. It’ll be a loss of new income for our general fund, and this is the fund that pays for our police, our firefighters," she said.

Others argue the bill is necessary to protect neighborhoods from industrial pollution and truck emissions.

Screenshot from Adam Gray for Congress website; John Duarte press photo

Some of the nation’s tightest congressional races are happening right here in the San Joaquin Valley. And a new poll says Democratic candidates have a slight edge over their Republican opponents.

The polls, conducted by California universities, looked at two toss-up districts in the San Joaquin Valley, among others in the state.

In California’s 13th District, Democrat Adam Gray is up two points over Republican incumbent John Duarte. He beat Gray in 2022 by just under 600 votes.

And in District 22, the poll shows Democrat Rudy Salas winning his rematch against David Valadao by four points. Valadao, a dairy farmer in the redrawn district, has represented the region four out of the last five terms.

Congressional Democrats have flooded both districts with money in the form of political advertisements and mailers, as the party looks to pick up two more seats with Kamala Harris leading the presidential ticket.

As a new ordinance to tackle homeless camping goes into effect in the City of Fresno, officials unveiled a new policy to help those who may still fall behind.

The city on Monday unveiled its “treatment first program” aimed at putting the focus of dealing with unhoused people on treating, rather than jailing them.

City council member Tyler Maxwell says roughly half a billion dollars have been spent in responding to homelessness in the last four years — a problem he says affects about 1% of the city’s overall population.

"I would reckon that’s a bigger investment than we’ve made into any other local population…and understandably so, given how difficult homelessness can be to overcome," Maxwell said at a press conference.

The new city policy instructs police to provide treatment options for repeat offenders and withhold a police record as an incentive, unless that person opts out of treatment.

Larry Valenzuela

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CalMatters and CatchLight Local

Retired Fresno Superior Court Judge Adolfo Corona is being accused of sexual assault involving alleged force and battery. He was indicted by a grand jury on Monday.

Details of the incident that led up to the charges were not revealed, but the charges were unsealed in a courtroom overseen by a retired Tulare County judge.

It’s a rare indictment of a judge in Fresno County, either retired or sitting. Corona is 65 years old. He was appointed judge in 2003 and retired in April.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a trial date is tentatively set for January. If found guilty, he faces a max sentence of eight years in prison.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a host of new bills into law.

Four of those were authored by State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, who oversees portions of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Hurtado introduced legislation around insurance, groundwater, health and agricultural causes.

Assembly member Joaquin Arambula, also from the Valley, had a small business bill also approved by the governor.

Former Congressman TJ Cox is set to appear in court on Wednesday, more than two years after facing federal charges of fraud and money laundering.

Reports suggest Cox plans to change his plea during his appearance.

Cox served one term in Congress, beating out current Republican Representative David Valadao in a race that dragged on for weeks. Valadao is now in a tight race again to keep his seat against Democrat Rudy Salas.

Tammy Webber

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AP

A trio of men think they have found the largest pine tree in the world — standing right here in Yosemite National Park.

In a news report from the Tahoe Daily Tribune, the men, who call themselves “big tree hunters,” recount how they came to find the tree on a trip to Yosemite in August.

They say they estimated the volume of a particular sugar pine tree to be 5,761 cubic feet. That’s slightly larger than the current record-holder, a ponderosa pine with a volume of 5,450 cubic feet. That one can be found in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon.

It’s unclear what the process will be to officially declare the tree in Yosemite as the largest.

A new hunger strike has been launched by detainees at two Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in the state.

At least 80 people joined in the strike at the Golden State Annex facility in McFarland and at the ICE facility in Adelanto, advocates said Monday.

Detainees are protesting alleged abuse against ICE officials and prison operators. This is at least the third hunger strike in recent years by detainees.

Advocates have pushed for their release and the closure of the centers through lawsuits and civil rights complaints.

Screenshot from Adam Gray for Congress website; John Duarte press photo

With Election Day fast approaching, voters are taking to swing districts to get out as many votes as possible.

Over the weekend, young Republicans like Ariana Assenmacher from West Los Angeles fanned out to canvass for Republican Rep. John Duarte in Merced County.

“The common saying is the road to the majority runs through California and relation to Congress. this is not a party line issue. Conservative values are transcending across party lines," Assenmacher told KVPR.

Duarte represents House District 13 — one of two very close districts that could determine control of Congress.

Duarte won the seat two years ago by a little more than 500 votes. He’s facing off against Democrat Adam Gray.

Young Republicans are also getting out support for Republican Rep. David Valadao in the 22nd congressional district.

UFW

The United Farm Workers union says it has seen an 80 percent increase in members in the last two years — thanks in part to laws making it easier to unionize.

The union held its first in person convention since 2020 over the weekend in Bakersfield. Teresa Romero is the union’s president, and the first woman to lead the organization.

“Together, we will grow our union and raise standards for farm workers across the country," Romero said in remarks.

The three-day convention featured speakers like UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, Senator Alex Padilla and Representative Adam Schiff.

A Fresno County ordinance targeting homeless encampments took effect on Friday.

Under the new ordinance, people camping in public places can be fined up to $500 or face up to six months in jail.

County leaders say the law is intended only for “extreme cases” where campers are negatively impacting businesses or people.

They add that campers will be warned to clear the area before a citation is issued.

Similar ordinances have passed or are under consideration in cities across the Valley, including Visalia and the city of Fresno.

Fresno Chaffee Zoo

Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s newest resident officially has a name: Welcome, Davu!

That’s what the community has decided to call one of the baby elephant who was delivered earlier this month.

The name is Somalian and means “the beginning” or “starting of a new age.”

Residents can visit Davu – and his half-brother, Thando – at the zoo starting Friday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have extended a deadline for California hospitals to meet earthquake safety standards.

That means local hospitals only have about five years to complete costly seismic retrofits.

Community Regional Medical Center is among those out of compliance. It’s also the only Level 1 trauma center between Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Meanwhile, Fresnoland reports, the hospital faces scrutiny after completing a one-billion-dollar expansion at Clovis Community Medical Center while neglecting seismic updates, which are estimated to cost double that amount.

The state’s original 2008 deadline has been extended many times.

Courtesy Kaweah Health

A Visalia OB-GYN office will soon drop the “OB” part of its services.

That could leave expectant mothers and pregnant people in the region without access to care.

In a statement, Kaweah Health sought to reassure the community.

CEO Gary Herbst said the Visalia hospital recently expanded its OB-GYN department while pointing to the challenges the region faces in recruiting medical specialists.

With the November election less than two months away, a new statewide survey from the Public Policy Institute of California is tracking the mood of voters right now.

The survey found most Californians are satisfied with their choice for candidates in the upcoming election.

Vice president Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz are currently leading former president Donald Trump and JD Vance by more than 30 points statewide.

However, there are some negative feelings about the future. Nearly half of those surveyed think the state and the country are headed in the wrong direction and are expecting financial hardships over the next year.

California voters are also divided on statewide propositions – namely on Prop 5 which would allow local bonds for affordable housing and public infrastructure and Prop 32 which would raise the minimum wage.

A member of the prominent Assemi family in Fresno has issued a public statement over recent news about their financial shortcomings.

Darius Assemi said in a statement to GV Wire, which Assemi publishes, that current financial troubles in its agriculture businesses come from lack of agreement over financial restructuring with lenders.

Assemi said he’s “hopeful a resolution can be achieved.”

According to court records, the Assemis have defaulted on more than $700 million in loans this year and are at risk of not meeting payroll for employees.

A historic property formerly belonging to the Central Valley Cheese factory in Fresno will soon be home to a Spanish radio news station.

Producers Dairy is donating its south Tower District building to Radio Bilingüe, intending it as the new headquarters for the radio station. The company is also making a monetary donation toward the station.

Radio Bilingüe is one of the leading nonprofit public radio networks in the country and primarily serves Spanish and Mixtec speaking communities.

Last year, station leaders received a $2 million state grant to upgrade or relocate its facilities.

A Fresno agency that helps welcome refugees celebrated a new welcome center this week.

The Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries – also known as FIRM – says the new center will offer support for newly arrived refugees and immigrants in the Central Valley.

The staff will offer help with navigating healthcare services, community resources and school enrollment.

Since 2022, FIRM has welcomed 350 immigrants and refugees into the region.

A Kingsburg student was arrested earlier this week after a rumored social media threat to a junior high school.

According to the Kingsburg Police Department, the 14-year-old also allegedly made threats toward a staff member at the school, separately from the social media post.

The student was booked into the Juvenile Justice Center and is facing felony charges for the threat.

Police have kept an increased presence on the campus as classes resume.

The incident comes as Fresno and Madera counties have seen an uptick in threats which have turned out to be hoaxes.

A woman in Merced turned into a millionaire earlier this year after playing a scratcher at a grocery store.

During Mother’s Day Weekend, Anette Lopez visited a Save Mart in Merced and decided to play a Power 10 Scratchers game which, to her surprise, was a jackpot worth $1 million.

The California Lottery only recently revealed names of winners from this summer. Lopez joins 6 others across the state who have also won big.

The top prize of a $20 million Super Lotto went to a resident in Los Angeles in February.

Gregory Weaver

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Fresnoland

According to new court filings, there is growing financial pressure for one of Fresno’s most prominent families.

The Assemis — who run agricultural operations — reportedly have defaulted on loans worth $700 million.

Fresnoland went through the court filings and reports a major lender has asked a judge to appoint a receiver for thousands of acres of distressed land owned by the family.

The lender was worries the Assemis are unable to harvest their crops or maintain their workforce.

Crowds gathered across California Tuesday night to get a glimpse at an astronomical triple whammy: the super blood moon eclipse.

In Bakersfield, Mercedes Flores performed a “ritual," which included "writing down during the lunar eclipse what I no longer want within me, what no longer serves me and then I’ll go home and burn it," she said, laughing.

Patrick Nassar, on the other hand, was simply pleased to see the rare event from Panorama Park.

"We were expecting maybe a little bit more, but anything up in space that we can see that’s out of the ordinary? Hell, why not. Come check it out," he said.

The earth’s shadow appeared to take a nibble out of the very top of the moon until shortly after 8pm.

Unlike the solar eclipse earlier this year, no special equipment was needed to see this phenomenon.

Kerry Klein

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KVPR

A new study by UC Davis Health found adults and children in the Valley continue to be exposed to sometimes-harmful pesticides.

The study from UC Davis was small, and followed roughly 40 adults and children across the Valley for a total of three months. Each participant wore a backpack equipped with an air collection tube as they went about their day.

In that time, seven adults and one child encountered detectable levels of at least one pesticide.

Among those was the carcinogen 1,3-dichloropropene and chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos is known to affect the nervous system, and was banned in California at the time it was detected.

Despite the small sampling, researchers say their findings point to continued exposure to pesticides that are harmful or have unknown effects.

In 2022, five of the top six California counties with the most pesticide use were in the Valley.

The California State Water Resources Control Board has placed the Tule Subbasin in southern Tulare County on probation over land sinking known as “subsidence.”

The sinking land is largely due to heavy groundwater use, and the state alleges water managers there have not adequately addressed the problem.

Probation includes some pumping requirements and fees, though the news website SJV Water reports that state officials exempted two groundwater agencies.

In April, the Tulare Lake Subbasin was also placed on probation. But earlier this month, a Kings County judge sided with growers who sued the state over the penalties.

Fresno State President Saul Jimenez-Sandoval is set to serve on an advisory council for the Environmental Protection Agency.

The university said Wednesday Jimenez-Sandoval is among 20 university leaders serving on the council. It’s made up of leaders from historically Black and minority-serving institutions.

The EPA established the council to help boost representation in its workforce.

Valley Congressman Jim Costa was recognized by the Ukrainian government for his ongoing support of the country in its war against Russia.

Congressman Jim Costa's office

On a recent trip to Ukraine, Costa was awarded an honorary degree from the Ukrainian Parliament.

He also met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders, and toured sites that had been damaged by Russian missiles.

State water leaders this week are celebrating the 10^th anniversary of California’s landmark groundwater legislation known as SGMA.

Since it was signed into law by former Governor Jerry Brown, according to the Department of Water Resources, more than $1 billion have been invested in groundwater management, millions of acre-feet of water have recharged aquifers, and California is collecting more groundwater data than ever before.

The law is also the subject of multiple lawsuits, including one from the Kings County Farm Bureau alleging government overreach.

In the last few days, police in Fresno and Madera counties have responded to multiple school shooting threats that turned out to be hoaxes.

The Madera County Sheriff’s Office noted local schools were targeted in a nationwide trend in hoaxes that occurred last Friday the 13^th.

The Fresno Police Department noted multiple hoaxes on Monday were simply old threats that had been recirculated. Nonetheless, Fresno police said they would beef up school security today.

A grant program to shepherd locally grown foods into school cafeterias appears to be paying off.

Introduced in 2020, the California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program aims to increase schools’ access to minimally processed, California-produced foods, all while supporting the state’s growers.

A preliminary evaluation of the program was published a group of researchers from UC Berkeley, the UC cooperative extension, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They found that through this program, schools have been able to expand their local food offerings, and that grants have reached schools with a majority of students of color.

And although supply chain challenges remain, funding for the program allowed growers to expand their operations, and even kept some from going out of business.

More than $100 million have been distributed around the state, including to school districts and growers throughout the San Joaquin Valley.

The state labor commissioner’s office announced a $1.7-million dollar settlement this week with the owner of five Wing Stop locations in Bakersfield.

The settlement follows a state investigation that uncovered the franchisee was disguising the Wing Stop locations as separate entities in order to avoid paying wages, providing overtime and allowing meal breaks.

The settlement impacts at least 550 employees. State regulators were first tipped off about the scheme in 2020, when complaints were made about workers being denied payments.

Joe Moore

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KVPR

Colleagues and friends paid tributes Monday during a memorial service for Kathy Bonilla — the public information officer at Fresno City College.

Bonilla died earlier this month after 32 years with the campus.

Sean Henderson, the dean of student services, said his favorite memory of Bonilla is working with her on the college’s centennial celebration.

"This is where you truly saw her love for the college," Henderson said. "We will miss you sister. May the force be with you always."

Bonilla was a passionate Star Wars fan.

Poet Lee Herrick recited a piece he wrote about Bonilla, and Representative Jim Costa earlier in the day made remarks in Congress about her contributions.

A Fresno jury ruled Monday that the former Parlier police chief was wrongfully terminated.

Chief Jose Garza was fired reportedly for refusing to end an embezzlement investigation brought on by a city employee.

According to GV Wire, who was in court for the ruling, the civil trial was part of several actions taken against the city by Garza following his termination in 2021.

Garza sought $1.1 million in damages. The jury mostly voted unanimously on the complaints.

More than a year ago, a production worker at a poultry plant in Sanger drowned in an open chicken-waste pit, but an investigation found the death could have been prevented.

A report by a work safety branch of the CDC said Jesus Salazar Castillo became incapacitated by toxic fumes emanating from the open pit. It contained a mixture of water and chicken organs, blood, feathers, and other waste products.

After losing consciousness, Castillo fell in and drowned at Pitman Family Farms last May.

The CDC report said the plant lacked training on chemical safety, and had damaged or missing equipment at the facility.

An investigation by The Fresno Bee revealed at least four deaths have happened at the facility in the last eight years.

Kerry Klein

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KVPR

Health officials have confirmed a Fresno County resident has died of West Nile Virus.

Across California, of 38 people known to have contracted the mosquito-borne virus, four have died, including another person in Merced County earlier this month.

Symptoms of the virus include fever, headaches, and body aches.

Health officials urge people to wear mosquito repellent, and remove standing water on their property.

Downtown Fresno will be hosting a celebration of Latin American cultures this coming Sunday.

The “Fiestas Patrias” will include a parade at 11 a.m., followed by traditional music and dance, crafts and food until 6 p.m. The celebration on September 15 is free and takes place on Fulton Street from Fresno to Inyo Streets.

Sunday is also the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.

A prominent Mexican sculptor is being showcased at Fresno State.

The exhibit by artist Jorge Marín called “Wings of the City” features five bronze sculptures of mythical figures. They’ll be placed for the next year on the campus’s Maple Mall, near the Speech Arts building and the Armenian Genocide Monument.

Earlier this week, the campus also unveiled a new statue of South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela.

A new community garden will soon be open in Reedley.

On Monday afternoon, the public health non-profit Cultiva La Salud will unveil its new Community Life Garden on Manning Avenue near Crawford Avenue.

Community members will have access to plots of land for free. Those interested can apply using a form posted to the Cultiva La Salad website.

Ezra David Romero

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KVPR

A judge has sided with the Kings County Farm Bureau in a lawsuit against the state. on Thursday, a county judge issued a preliminary injunction against the State Water Resources Control Board.

The ruling prevents the state agency from collecting fees after it put much of the county’s water users under probation earlier this year.

The injunction follows a temporary restraining order put into effect last month.

Local News

A legal battle could determine fate of groundwater regulation in rural San Joaquin Valley

Joshua Yeager

Listen • 4:25

San Joaquin valley Air Pollution Control District

New research shows climate change not only poses risks to agriculture, it can also amplify the industry’s environmental impacts. The study was published earlier this month by researchers in China, the U.S. and Europe, in the renowned, peer-reviewed journal Science.

The authors found that as climate change threatens agricultural productivity and yield, it could also result in higher concentrations of crop pests. Both of those could require increased use of pesticides and other agrochemicals.

A generally warming climate could also increase greenhouse gas emissions, water use and soil erosion related to the industry.

The authors suggest accelerating investment into climate-friendly agriculture and new technologies like precision farming and on-farm solar energy development.

The Kern County Planning Commission approved California’s first carbon storage project late Thursday night.

The 3-0 vote followed a four-hour meeting that was standing-room only. Many attendees wore stickers reading “I support Carbon TerraVault.”

That’s the name of the proposal to store up to 50 million tons of carbon dioxide underneath the Elk Hills Oil Field.

Dozens of residents from nearby communities, meanwhile, held signs that, in Spanish, said "Stop Dangerous Carbon Capture."

The project goes to the Board of Supervisors next month for final approval. Two planning commissioners were absent for Thursday’s vote. They had previously recused themselves due to conflicts of interest.

Environment

Proposals to build California’s first carbon storage facilities face a key test

Joshua Yeager

Listen • 5:01

Gary Kazanjian

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AP Photo

Fresno State announced Thursday it will leave the Mountain West Conference in 2026 and join the prestigious PAC-12 conference. While not much is known about the specifics of the transition, the university has high hopes.

The announcement comes more than a year after a mass exodus of teams from the PAC-12. UCLA, USC,CAL and others departed primarily over broadcast-rights disputes.

But the Bulldog’s new athletics director Garrett Klassy says Fresno State is up for the challenge in the new conference.

"I know some of the teams have left, but those that are coming in, it’s our goal to be as strong as the brands that are leaving," Klassy said.

Three other Mountain West teams — Boise State University, Colorado State University and San Diego State University — are joining the PAC-12.

In his announcement, Klassy hinted at the potential benefits for Fresno State, including new media rights and corporate partnerships.

"We’re not going there for a participation trophy. We’re going to win championships," he said.

The PAC-12 conference currently has just two schools — Oregon and Washington State — in its ranks.

The Kern River has gone dry in recent days, and now water advocates are asking why more isn’t being done to get water flowing.

Residents attended a Bakersfield City Council meeting Wednesday to question officials, but got no clear answers.

The news website SJV Water recently reported many fish were found dead in the river bed when flows decreased last week.

The fight to keep water in the river has led to several lawsuits, which are currently making their way through the courts.

Joshua Yeager

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KVPR

State officials announced a small Kern County town devastated by wildfire qualifies for additional aid.

The community of Havilah will get assistance cleaning up piles of debris and burned-up rubble later this fall. State crews are already completing phase one of the cleanup which involves clearing out toxic and hazardous materials from properties.

The Borel Fire tore through Havilah and razed hundreds of structures in the southern Sierra Nevada earlier this year.

Meanwhile, evacuation orders and warnings around the Boone Fire burning in Fresno County have been lifted. CalFire reports the Boone Fire is 95 percent contained and has held steady at just 17,600 acres as of Friday morning.

The fire was burning west of Coalinga and had produced heavy smoke when it first erupted early last week. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

KVPR's Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado and Joshua Yeager contributed to this report.

Fresno Chaffee Zoo

The time has come for the public to finally get a glimpse of the new baby elephants at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

Zoo officials announced Thursday the calves have been introduced to the zoo’s savannah. Starting Friday, the public will be able to view the elephants in their habitat between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Zoo officials warn that viewing opportunities will be dependent upon the animals and they may be removed occasionally for animal care.

The birth of the elephants made a big splash last month as it was the first time elephant calves have been born at the Zoo in its 95 year history.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is facing criticism after the department’s search-and-rescue team refused to fetch a submerged vehicle from the Kern River, citing safety concerns.

The vehicle is believed to be connected to the case of a missing Ridgecrest nurse. Family say the woman’s cell phone last pinged at a location near the river, along Highway 178.

The same family enlisted the help of a diver who identifies himself as Jared. He’s from a volunteer group called “Adventures with Purpose."

He recently criticized the sheriff’s response in a YouTube video with more than 140,000 views.

"I dove on the vehicle. It took me a whole 8 minutes to go down to the vehicle, in that water, swim over to it in the eddy right there, to the back of the vehicle. Identify every window’s blown out, the hood is up," he said, standing next to the river.

In a news release, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office says it is waiting for water levels to decrease before retrieving the vehicle. The department says its investigation into the missing woman is ongoing and that they had recovered the sunken car’s license plate.

Joe Moore

In Santa Cruz, city officials this week passed a new ordinance sparked by an incident involving Hanford police.

The ordinance makes it a crime for out-of-town officials to drop off an unhoused person without first coordinating with the city.

In June, two Hanford officers drove a disabled homeless woman 180 miles and dropped her off outside a shelter in Santa Cruz.

The city referred to these actions as forced displacement, while the city of Hanford said the woman had requested to go to Santa Cruz.

A historic hotel in Yosemite National Park will be closing indefinitely.

The National Park Service announced the Wawona Hotel will close in early December because the complex where the hotel is located needs extensive repairs.

The Wawona Hotel is a Victorian-era building that features a little over 100 hotel rooms. It was originally established in 1856.

A Madera man found guilty of participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has a new conviction.

According to federal prosecutors, 46-year-old Benjamin Martin was convicted for illegally possessing firearms against court orders.

Martin was prohibited from owning weapons due to a previous conviction of domestic violence.

He recently went to trial for the Capitol breach case, where evidence showed he held a door open for rioters to enter the Capitol building.

Martin was convicted of two felonies from the riots, and is scheduled to undergo a sentencing for the firearms case in November.

Joe Moore

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Valley Public Radio

A new statue is going up at Fresno State.

The Nelson Mandela Monument will stand in the university’s Peace Garden, and will be unveiled during a special ceremony Thursday.

Mandela was the first democratically elected president in South Africa. His lifelong commitment to peace and nonviolence inspired leaders to commit to democracy.

The Peace Garden at Fresno state is dedicated to leaders across the world who devoted their lives to peace and activism.

The statue is the first new monument in the garden since 2006.

Joe Moore

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KVPR File Photo

Fresno’s Interim Police Chief Mindy Casto says the number of shootings and gunshot victims this year is down by 40 percent from last year.

“That means many more families that don’t have to deal with the victimization, and all the trauma and trouble that comes with that and the family, the worry, the sadness,” Casto said.

In an interview with KVPR, Casto said the department has focused on working with community groups as well as school resource officers.

She also said the city has experienced the nationwide trend of Kia and Hyundai vehicle thefts.

Casto was named interim chief after former Chief Paco Balderrama resigned following an investigation into an affair.

A new analysis from CalMatters finds more than 700,000 residents in California aren’t being provided clean water.

Unsafe drinking water is a chronic issue in the state, and many of the failing systems are clustered in rural farm areas. The analysis found that about three-quarters of the state’s failing water systems have violated state or federal standards.

Earlier this week, the City of Lindsay, in Tulare County won a $9.5 million settlement to clean up its water system after a 13-year battle against a chemical and mining company.

Joshua Yeager

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KVPR

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux was in Washington D.C. Tuesday testifying on crime and immigration.

The hearing was called by the House Judiciary Committee to examine what it calls “open border” policies of the Biden-Harris administration.

It featured alleged victims of crime from undocumented immigrants.

Sheriff Boudreaux, who is the president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, told congressional officials he has seen increases in drug and human trafficking in Tulare County.

"I must say that I have a front row seat," he said.

But Boudreaux said migrant families also fall victim to the crimes.

"We have migrant communities of farm workers who were now infiltrated and terrorized by those that they had fled other countries," he said.

Boudreaux was part of a panel of speakers around the country that included the mother of a fentanyl poisoning victim and a crime victims’ advocate.

"These stories are not unfamiliar to law enforcement up and down the state of California," Boudreaux said

Earlier this year, the sheriff dropped a bid to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Congress. Instead, he endorsed former Assembly member Vince Fong for the seat.

The Fresno Bee reports Valley Children’s Healthcare is seeking to settle a wage theft lawsuit filed in 2022.

The hospital seeks to pay out roughly $400,000 to nurses who are owed wages, the newspaper reports. The unpaid wages are from overtime, rest breaks and reimbursements.

The hospital is facing at least two similar lawsuits. Valley Children's Healthcare is a current business sponsor of KVPR, but we cover them like we would anyone else.

Memorials are taking place Wednesday to remember the attacks of 9/11.

The largest annual remembrance event on the West Coast is happening in Clovis, near the Fresno airport.

Law enforcement and dignitaries will pay tribute to those lost in the attacks that hit the U.S. 23 years ago.

Schools are also taking part — a Blackhawk helicopter will land on the football field at Clovis Elementary. Moments of silence and flag planting will also be observed throughout the region.

The U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team became the first to earn gold medals in three different Paralympics.

Their latest win was against Great Britain this past Saturday during the Paris 2024 Paralympics. And, a Valley native is part of this team, which is now the most successful wheelchair basketball team in history.

It was the first Paralympics for 34-year-old Jorge Salazar of Delano, and his first gold. Salazar is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Corporal.

A bill currently on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk aims to regulate the state’s fast-growing warehouse industry, but has garnered strong reactions on both sides.

Assembly Bill 98 proposes new standards that must be met by warehouse developers who want to build near communities. It would force developers to replace homes that are demolished; build warehouses away from residential areas; and keep them on major roadways.

Legislators like Democrat Sen. Anna Caballero who spoke at a recent hearing say the bill is needed to supervise the growth of the industry.

“As we move to a society where people don't shop in a store anymore, but they buy online, these facilities are going to continue to proliferate," Caballero said.

Others, like Republican Sen. Shannon Grove, say the bill is rushed – and too aggressive.

“If you have an agriculture farm and you have a warehouse on it … you'll be bound by this legislation," Grove said.

The governor has until the end of the month to sign or veto.

Marie Alvarado-Gil Senate Website

Weeks after she switched party affiliation, State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil is now being sued by a former staffer for alleged sexual harassments, Politico reports.

Alvarado-Gil’s former chief of staff Chad Condit alleges in a lawsuit filed last Thursday the state senator created a hostile work environment, that he was allegedly forced to perform sex acts on the senator, and later allegedly fired when he resisted.

Condit joined Alvarado-Gil’s office after a failed bid for the Assembly in 2022. He was terminated in December.

Alvarado-Gil recently made headlines by switching from a Democrat to a Republican, saying she no longer recognized her party. Since the switch, KVPR has made multiple requests to interview the senator but has not been successful.

Alvarado-Gil represents much of eastern California, including the Sierra, Modesto and parts of Madera County.

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

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KVPR

Fresno State football is officially back in town. The Bulldogs met with the Sacramento State Hornets at Valley Children’s Stadium this Saturday — playing for a sold out crowd.

Fresno State earned its first win of the season, 46-30, and wasted no time by getting its first touchdown by wide receiver Mac Dalena in the very first play.

During the game, fans also got to welcome Fresno State’s new athletic director Garrett Klassey, who comes from Houston. The Dogs go up against New Mexico State this Saturday also at home, at 7 p.m.

Rich Pedroncelli

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AP

Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill championed by Fresno area Assembly member Joaquin Arambula.

It would’ve expanded the state’s first-time homebuyer assistance program to undocumented California residents.

In his veto message, Newsom sidestepped thorny immigration issues that have proved controversial with Republicans. Instead, he said the program already lacked funding, so expanding eligibility was a non-starter.

Arambula called Newsom’s decision “disappointing” and said the legislation was intended to level the playing field for all Californians.

Rachel Livinal

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KVPR

Fresno State plans to build student housing for the first time in more than 50 years.

The university announced Friday that the project will bring 228 apartment-style units near existing residence halls, with a projected move-in date of fall 2026.

The $59 million project, which university leaders called “long overdue,” will be funded through a state grant and education bond.

Once complete, the Fresno campus will have about 1,500 beds across 10 buildings.

Soreath Hok

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KVPR

The USDA announced a hundred-thousand-dollar grant to support the Allensworth School District and the town’s historic cemetery.

Officials say gravesites in the rural Tulare County town have been desecrated in recent years with no fencing or barriers to protect them.

Founded by Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth in 1908, the community was the first in California to be financed and governed by African-Americans.

USDA’s Rural Development Director Gallegos Herrera says the federal funding will help the area preserve its legacy.

Local News

At Juneteenth celebration in Allensworth, many see an unfinished story

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

Listen • 4:32

In an incident Visalia police officials called “heartbreaking,” a 4-year-old girl was killed by her family dog late Wednesday.

Investigators say the child had just returned from swimming when the dog, a pit bull, attacked her.

She was taken to the hospital where she died from her injuries. Police say neglect or criminal wrongdoing are not suspected.

Joshua Yeager

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KVPR

Bakersfield leaders approved a $27 million contract to expand the Centennial Corridor freeway project. During a special meeting Thursday, the city council unanimously selected a local contractor to oversee the construction.

Once complete, it’ll connect eastbound Highway 58 to northbound Highway 99 near Wible Road.

Construction isn’t slated to start for another three years. This will be the final phase of the project that began all the way back in 2006.

Earlier this year, the city celebrated the completion of the project’s latest phase, which connected northbound 99 to westbound 58.

More than two dozen employees of an oil services company in Kern County will be laid off next month.

The Texas-based Schlumberger Technology Corporation, known as SLB, announced this week it was going to lay off 29 people at its Bakersfield operation.

According to the Bakersfield Californian, the announcement comes amid a slowdown of crude oil production in the county.

The Bakersfield Californian newspaper announced Thursday it will transition into a five-day-per-week operation next month.

That’s because the Californian’s distributor is no longer providing home delivery.

Starting October, the paper will be delivered by mail Tuesday through Saturday – with no edition on Sunday or Monday.

The announcement was made after there were no home deliveries of the Californian anywhere in Kern on Wednesday.

Death Valley National Park experienced its hottest summer on record this year.

Between June and August, the park averaged a daily temperature of 104.5 degrees. That beats out ever so slightly the previous record set in 2021.

This summer, the park saw over a week of 125 degrees or higher. But the hottest daily temperature recorded was in early July, when the park hit 129 degrees.

Park officials expect the triple digit heat to linger on until October.

Joshua Yeager

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KVPR

After two wet winters, Gov. Gavin Newsom has lifted the drought emergency declaration for most Californians. But the Central Valley remains under close watch.

The order rolled back the emergency declaration in 19 counties — primarily for those along the coastline, such as Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, where drought conditions have steadily improved.

But for the other 39 counties — including those in the Central Valley — the severe effects of years-long drought have continued on, with depleted groundwater supplies and extreme heat waves.

In his order, Newsom stated the drought measures will stay in place in those regions to mitigate boosted recovery efforts in the new water year.

That includes building up drought and flood resilience, repairing and expanding reservoirs, and modernizing water infrastructure.

Heavy wildfire smoke is impacting communities across the Valley.

Officials are warning residents in western Fresno County and in eastern Tulare County and the Sierra Nevada foothills to protect themselves against poor air quality.

The Boone Fire is burning in Fresno County and the Coffee Pot Fire is burning in Tulare County.

Public health officials urge residents in those areas to stay indoors, use portable air cleaners, or visit a clear air center for respite against the smoke.

Cases of Valley fever in the state have quadrupled over the last month after it was announced a handful of people caught the infection in late July.

Those infected attended the Lightning in a Bottle music festival in Kern County in May. Five people tested positive initially, and three were hospitalized.

But last week, the California department of public health said that number has grown to at least 19 positive cases. State health officials say the number could be larger due to the disease’s commonalities with other illnesses like COVID-19.

More than 20,000 people from all over the world traveled to attend the music festival.

Health

State is investigating cases of valley fever that originated from Bakersfield area music festival

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

Esther Quintanilla

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KVPR

After months of speculation, the Visalia Rawhide’s baseball field is getting an upgrade. The improvements are meant to bring the Valley Strong Ballpark stadium up to standards with major league baseball.

Who would pay for the upgrades was a point of contention for months and led to a lawsuit between the Visalia Rawhide and the city.

City officials said upgrades will be made to the fence, lighting and batting cages – and it will keep the team playing for the following seasons.

For the last 18 years, the Rawhide has associated with a single-A team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Visalia ballpark is one of the oldest minor league parks in the country. Without improvements, the city was looking at losing the baseball team.

This story was updated Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 5:15 p.m.

A new wildfire is growing in Fresno County.

According to Cal Fire, the Boone Fire burned around 8,500 acres, with only 5% containment as of Wednesday afternoon at 3:57 p.m. Officials say the fire is located to the west and north west of Coalinga.

Evacuation orders were issued to about three dozen homes in the fire’s path Wednesday morning.

A new casino is coming to the San Joaquin Valley.

The North Fork Rancheria Tribal Council announced its groundbreaking for the North Fork Mono Casino & Resort which will be located in Madera County.

The casino will include 2,000 slot machines, 40 table games and a 200-room hotel. The project has been in the works for nearly 20 years.

A groundbreaking event will be held this Saturday.

A high school student in the Tulare County city of Lindsey was arrested Tuesday after allegedly faking a school shooting threat.

According to local news reports, the teen posted on social media threatening to “shoot up the school.” Now police are saying the alleged threat was made by the student in order to extend the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The student was booked into the Tulare County Juvenile Detention Facility.

A Fresno man is $1 million richer. Lionel H. struck it big at the Chuckchansi Gold Resort and Casino Monday, winning the Millionare Cash Vault Giveaway.

Other winners took smaller prizes. The casino, located in the foothills near Oakhurst, has 2,000 slot machines and 40 table games.

The City of Bakersfield

Fresno and Bakersfield are among the worst places to retire.

That’s according to a new study done by the financial management app WalletHub that looked at almost 200 cities in the country. In the findings, Bakersfield ranked fourth while Fresno ranked the seventh worst place to retire.

The study used four factors to determine each city’s readiness for retirement: affordability, number of activities available, quality of life, and access to healthcare.

Environmental leaders are gathering Wednesday in Fresno to highlight ongoing efforts to conserve local ecosystems.

Officials from the state’s Natural Resources Agency as well as the San Joaquin River Conservancy will meet at the San Joaquin River just north of Woodward Park from noon to 4 p.m.

They’ll discuss a state project that aims to conserve 30 percent of land and coastal waters by the year 20-30. Projects include restoring biodiversity, and expanding access to nature.

A man known as the “M30 King of Fresno” is facing a minimum of ten years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to distributing deadly counterfeit pills.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District says the man was arrested during an operation following a spike in fentanyl overdoses in the Fresno area.

The overdoses were caused by counterfeit oxycodone tablets that contained fentanyl–and were labeled M-30.

During their investigation, law enforcement agents recovered more than 55,000 pills in addition to a host of other drugs and firearms. The pills mostly came from Mexico, and 17 others have also pleaded guilty to charges.

Kerry Klein

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KVPR

A new analysis says California holds the largest number of unionized university faculty members – followed by New York, New Jersey and Florida.

The findings were reported by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and Professions, a labor-management research center.

Earlier this year, unionized faculty in the California State University system secured new contracts and raises following a one-day strike and months of negotiations.

Courtesy of the California High-Speed Rail Authority

California’s High Speed Rail authority has cleared a hurdle as it seeks to eventually connect the Bay Area to the Central Valley.

The route from San Jose to Merced will need to cross through an ecological area. On Tuesday, the rail authority announced it reached an agreement with a Merced County water district and will take steps to reduce the route’s wildlife and environmental impact.

Current work on the project has mostly been focused from Merced to Bakersfield, where the rail has slowly been rising.

Water flows along the Kern River have been temporarily reduced by the Bakersfield water department to allow for maintenance and construction work.

The city of Bakersfield says it has diminished flows from the Stockdale Highway River Bridge to the east, where crews will get to work on removing sediment that has built up along the river.

The extra material can block water flows and aquifer recharge. The work will begin next month but it’s unclear how long it will last.

A proposal to build a new University of California medical school in Kern County is heading to the governor’s desk.

Bakersfield Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains is behind the bill. She says it’s necessary to bring desperately needed healthcare professionals to the underserved San Joaquin Valley.

With the state strapped for cash, however, it’s unclear whether Governor Gavin Newsom would approve the new campus.

The U.S. open kicked off this week, and the official cocktail of the annual tennis tournament includes fruit grown in the Central Valley.

The wildly popular Honey Deuce cocktail is made from vodka, lemonade, and raspberry liquor – with a garnish of little scoops of honeydew melons from Turlock.

According to Good Morning America, the stadium served nearly half a million cocktails last year, making use of 150,000 melons.

A Fresno barbecue joint has been recognized as one of the nation’s best.

The magazine Texas Monthly named Mega Texas Barbecue in Fresno one of the nation’s 50 top barbecue restaurants outside of the Lone Star State.

Reporters for the magazine ate their way through hundreds of restaurants across the country to come up with the list.

Inciweb

New evacuation orders have been issued near Three Rivers due to the Coffee Pot Fire, which continues to grow in Sequoia National Park.

Rangers are urging visitors this Labor Day weekend to come prepared. That means purchasing your entrance tickets online, if possible, and viewing the park’s website for smoke and air quality updates.

As of Friday, the blaze was nearly 7,000 acres and is an estimated 3% contained. The Mineral King are is also closed to visitors as a result of the fire.

A highly contagious strain of avian influenza may have infiltrated three Central Valley dairies—specifically, their cattle.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is now investigating the herds for signs of the virus, which has wreaked havoc across many of California’s poultry farms. The agency has not disclosed the dairies’ locations.

Milk products from infected livestock are considered safe to consume so long as the milk is pasteurized.

As Valley Fever Awareness Month comes to a close, state health officials are warning Central Californians to be cautious in dry and dusty areas.

Valley fever symptoms include lingering cough and fatigue, and in rare cases, the fungal infection can be fatal.

More than 5,000 cases have been reported so far this year statewide, with more expected through fall.

The disease is spread through fungal spores found in dirt and carried in the air.

A new 40-house subdivision in Corcoran is complete—but empty.

That’s after a dispute between the developer and utility company PG&E. According to ABC30, the homes in the Fox Run Development, which families had already paid money to secure, remain without electricity.

PG&E says it’s because they’ve yet to get permission to build power poles around the development. But elected officials argue more could be done to serve the Kings County city, which has struggled with a decline in growth.

Valley Children’s unveiled plans Thursday to build a mixed use development on its main campus in Madera.

The community, titled “The Hill,” will span more than 400 acres and is slated to include retail, housing, recreation opportunities and office space.

Officials say this development will sustain Valley Children’s financial future.

Insurance company Allstate is set to increase California home insurance rates by 34% this November.

The change comes as many insurers refrain from insuring homeowners due to the increasing risks of wildfires. In the Valley, most homeowners could see an average of a 25% increase, while those in the Sierra foothills could see their rates double.

Allstate officials told other news outlets they are increasing rates to better reflect the rising costs of protecting homes.