Central Valley Daily

March 10: A Unique Program Trains Valley High Schoolers To Answer 911 Calls

By Elizabeth Arakelian,

Published March 10, 2026 at 4:45 AM PDT

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Emergency dispatchers are commonly the first voices people hear in an emergency. But across the country, it’s getting harder to find people trained to answer those calls. KVPR’s Samantha Rangel brings us inside a student program training future dispatchers.

Plus, the latest news headlines: A Fresno area Assemblymember responds to reports of rehab treatment, and a restaurant manager is released from ICE custody after nine months.

Central Valley Daily

Elizabeth Arakelian

A Valley native, Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree in English Language Literatures from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's degree in journalism from New York University. She has covered a range of beats. Her agriculture reporting for the Turlock Journal earned her a first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Samantha Rangel

Samantha Rangel reports on stories for KVPR in the Fresno and Clovis areas. After growing up in the town of Firebaugh, Samantha is now enrolled at California State University, Fresno. There, she is studying to earn her B.A. in Media, Communications, and Journalism. Before joining the KVPR news team, she was a reporter for The Westside Express, where she covered education and other local news in Firebaugh.

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Jonathan Linden

Jonathan Linden is a podcast producer at KVPR. Born and raised in Riverside, he's a Southern California native. Jonathan's passion for public radio began at a young age when his brother would play NPR while driving him home from middle school. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Biola University in 2019.

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