Central Valley Daily

March 31: How The Home Of The UFW Is Processing Allegations Against Cesar Chavez

By Kerry Klein,

Published March 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM PDT

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For years, March 31st has been known as “Cesar Chavez Day.” But earlier in March, the New York Times published a bombshell investigation alleging the late civil rights leader sexually abused and assaulted women and girls in the 1960s and 70s. Some states have scrambled to rename the day. And farmworker communities are reeling – especially in Kern County. KVPR’s Kerry Klein has the view from the town of Delano, where the labor movement was born.

Plus, the latest news headlines: Kings County and Avenal tussle over fire services; and Merced College claims KVPR is costing them money amid reporting investigation.

Central Valley Daily

Kerry Klein

Kerry Klein is an award-winning reporter whose coverage of public health, air pollution, drinking water access and wildfires in the San Joaquin Valley has been featured on NPR, KQED, Science Friday and Kaiser Health News. Her work has earned numerous regional Edward R. Murrow and Golden Mike Awards and has been recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists and Society of Environmental Journalists. Her podcast Escape From Mammoth Pool was named a podcast “listeners couldn’t get enough of in 2021” by the radio aggregator NPR One.

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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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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.

See stories by Jonathan Linden