News

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders sat down for a brief interview with Valley Pubic Radio before he addressed a large crowd outdoors at Fresno City College Friday.  He  spoke with News Director Alice Daniel and FM89s Kathleen Schock about climate change and the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, which aims to transform public housing into energy efficient homes. He also addressed DACA, education reform, unsafe drinking water and air pollution in the Valley.

Juan Flores remembers sitting in a meeting in July when his phone started blowing up. He’s a community organizer with the non-profit advocacy group Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment. “A fellow colleague in environmental justice work, he literally called me three times,” he says.

Not wanting to disturb his meeting, Flores declined the calls at first. “By the third time, I said now this is something important and serious so let me actually step out and take the call,” he says.

In 2013 the state implemented the Local Control Funding Formula, a new method of funding K through 12 schools. The goals were to give districts more flexibility in how they spend funds, and to provide more resources for “high-needs” students. However, a recent state audit - which included Clovis Unified - found that billions of dollars earmarked for high-needs students are instead being used to support the general student population. FM89’s Kathleen Schock breaks down the audit with Clovis Unified Legislative Analyst Steve Ward and Fresno County Deputy Superintendent Dr. Kathryn Catania.

On this week's Valley Edition, we go up in the air for an aerial view of Kern County’s Cymric Oil Field. And on the ground in Tulare County, will a village of tiny homes help solve the homeless crisis? 

You may know McFarland for the Disney movie about an against-the-odds cross country track team winning the state championship. But now the town is in the spotlight for a different reason - two investigative reporters tell us about its “second chance” police department. 

California scientists want to know how much cannabis people are consuming on a daily basis. The information could help them set safer standards for the amount pesticide pot farmers should be using on crops.

Capital Public Radio’s Sammy Caiola got a sneak-peak at the research.

Outside Perfect Union dispensary in Sacramento, interviewers sat at a folding table and asked customers to talk about their weed habits.

“Did you smoke out of a joint, blunt, bowl? … It’s a Sunday? A bowl.”

About two dozen people rallied in downtown Fresno Tuesday in support of the nationwide #RiseForDACA and #HomeIsHere campaign. 

The rally was in response to the start of oral arguments the Supreme Court heard in the case brought by the Trump Administration to end DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The Obama-era program gives people brought to the U.S. as children work permits and protection from deportation. 

Governor Gavin Newsom highlighted the state’s economic wins today in his keynote address at the California Economic Summit in downtown Fresno, citing big investments in regional education. 

Economic growth, he said, tends to happen along the coast and is not shared statewide. 

University of California President Janet Napolitano addressed the Supreme Court’s upcoming arguments about the future of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Friday in Fresno at the Economic Summit. 

“The stakes are high if the Supreme Court were to accept the Trump Administration's opinion,” she told reporters. “That would mean that DACA could go away and DACA students then would be at risk and living with the fear of being subject to deportation at any time.”

The individual health care costs of a severe case of valley fever can be devastating. But with thousands of cases of the fungal disease each year in California, what’s the cost to society? A new study makes an astounding estimate.

Since 2014, Kern County sheriffs have been putting more inmates into isolating suicide watch cells. The effort is to reduce suicide risk, but it hasn’t helped.

Instead, deaths by suicide have risen, although these deaths did not happen to inmates who were in suicide watch jails. Those who have died by suicide were not identified as having a suicide risk.

On this week’s Valley Edition: The first African American park superintendent was instrumental in building a wagon road into Sequoia National Park back in 1903. Now for Veterans Day, a portion of Highway 198 will be renamed for this dynamic Colonel.

We also take you to Tulare County where a dynamic mother-daughter team advocates for infrastructure improvements and basic needs, like drinkable water, in unincorporated communities.

This Veterans Day a portion of Highway 198 next to Sequoia National Park is getting a new name in honor of Colonel Charles Young. He’s the first African American to serve as superintendent of a national park and achieve the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army.

And now for the Weekend, today marks the start of Fresno Filmworks' 15th annual Fresno Film Festival at The Tower Theater. The three-day event includes such films as the political documentary Raise Hell, The Life and Times of Molly Ivins about the Texas maverick and national political commentator known for her razor-sharp wit.

Madera City employees say they haven’t seen a cost of living increase in years, and tonight they’ll be picketing outside city hall, before the council’s meeting, in protest. 

Salary negotiations are not on the council’s agenda, but protesters hope their presence highlights the wage issue. Members of the Madera Affiliated Employees Association are working under a contract that expired at the end of June.