Christian De Jesus Betancourt / The Merced FOCUS

This is the final installment in a three-part series “50 Years in the Valley: The Hmong Journey from War to Home.” Part Three looks toward the future, following the people who are guiding the next chapter of Hmong life in the Valley.

This is the second installment in a three-part series called “50 Years in the Valley: The Hmong Journey from War to Home,” focusing on the first generation of Hmong Americans born and raised in the United States. It follows their struggles with poverty, gangs, and cultural pressure as they came of age between two worlds.

Part one of a three part special report “50 years in the Valley: The Hmong Journey from War to Home,” talking to people from all walks of life in the Valley’s Hmong community about the events that shaped their lives as refugees, and the path ahead 50 years later as leaders in California’s Central Valley and beyond.

The story of how the matron saint of Mexico came to be started almost 500 years ago. Legend says a man named Juan Diego in the year 1531 walked down a hill outside Mexico City with a message no one believed.

The new kitchen in downtown Merced offers a way to market imperfect produce through meals, salads, desserts, food boxes, and aguas frescas.

While Merced’s farming fields and packing plants appear to be operating as usual, advocates and workers say the more fragile, migrant cash-based economy of the region’s swap meets, colloquially known as “remates,” is showing signs of strain.

Two years after a flood ravaged the town, even a member of the California State Assembly says she’s unhappy with the slow pace of repairs promised to residents.

The flood was catastrophic for the town of 4,000 residents. Around 80% of Planada’s population was impacted and suffered some level of property damage.

Residents can apply in March and receive funding as soon as April. But not all are happy with $15,000 limit for direct assistance.

The city manager recently presented leaders with an update on the latest efforts.