Fresno State

About 50 people across the San Joaquin Valley packed their bags and headed to a detention center in San Diego. 

The group represented Faith in the Valley, an organization that advocates for immigrants, low-wage workers and former inmates. Trena Turner,  the executive director, says they went to the Otay Mesa Detention Center, which has been open for three years, to protest the effects Trump’s policy has had on families.

Amid talk of fake news and alternative facts, Fresno State has launched a new Institute for Media and Public Trust. Led by former Fresno Bee executive editor Jim Boren, the institute aims to bring together media professionals, academics and the public to bridge understanding about the way journalists work. Boren joined us on Valley Edition to talk about the work of the new project, and how the public's relationship with the news media has changed over the years. 

A new novel from Fresno-based author Tanya Nichols tells the story of an attorney, her young client, and how they both must deal with tragedies in their lives. The Circle Game is Nichols' second novel, and is set here in the San Joaquin Valley. She recently joined us on Valley Edition to talk about the process of writing the book, teaching creative writing at Fresno State, and about the inspiration for the novel.

Last week protests clogged the streets of Armenia’s capital Yerevan, in what some are now calling the “April Revolution.” The demonstrations resulted in the resignation of the republic’s prime minister Serzh Sargsyan. The change in power marks a turning point in Armenian affairs, and the end of the 20-year-long streak in power for Armenia’s Republican Party. So what does this mean for Armenians in America, and for the rest of the world? And given the context of recent Russian involvement in Ukraine and Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, what role is Russia playing in the turmoil?

The Civil War ended over 150 years ago, but the battle over interpreting it has never really stopped. A new book by Fresno State history professors Ethan J. Kytle and Blain Roberts looks at the way attitudes and interpretations of the war and slavery have changed over the decades in Charleston, South Carolina.

Fresno audiences will get a special taste of the classical world of art songs this weekend at Fresno State. The university's music department will host its first "Art Song Festival" Friday and Saturday at the music building, featuring performances by students, faculty and guest artists. Poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera will also participate in the event. Professor Maria Briggs joined us on Valley Edition to talk about the event.  

Earlier this year, Kern High School District settled a lawsuit that alleged its schools were using discriminatory disciplinary practices to suspend and expel students of color at a higher rate than white students. As a provision of their settlement, they agreed to reduce suspensions and expulsions and incorporate more restorative justice into their discipline.

Earlier this year Fresno State students rejected a proposal that would have raised student fees $400 a year in order to build a new student union. While a scaled-back proposal is due to go back before students in early 2018, this year's vote has sent ripples across the CSU system. As EdSource senior correspondent Larry Gordon reports, students across the system are growing increasingly concerned with student fees.

Valley Public Radio hosted a special live broadcast performance and interview with clarinetist Mark Nuccio and pianist Wendy Chen on Friday November 3rd. Nuccio is one of America's most acclaimed clarinetists, and is principal clarinet of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He is in Fresno for a performance Saturday at Fresno State's Concert Hall Saturday at 7:30 PM, marking the 30th anniversary of the university's clarinet program. Host Joe Moore interview Chen and Nuccio as they played selections from their upcoming concert. 

For years, the California State University system has had a requirement that students be proficient in Algebra 2 as a pre-requisite for taking other general education math classes. That’s pushed many students into so-called remedial math classes, but it’s also led to criticism. Some say it’s a civil rights issue that blocks minority students from fields of study where Algebra 2 simply isn’t necessary. Others say it’s an important part of higher education.

After five years at Cal State Monterey Bay, CSU Summer Arts is back at Fresno State starting June 25. This month of lectures and performances draws people from around the country including the cinematographer who blew up the the Death Star in the original "Star Wars" movie. A Brooklyn-based group that uses dance to address social and political issues will also spend the month here. 

There’s a new set of public opinion polls out on the views of San Joaquin Valley residents on a variety of issues, from the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act to water and immigration.

Central California has a rich folk music tradition, which is being documented in a new book by Evo Bluestein. "The Road to Sweet’s Mill  -- Folk Music in the West during the 1960s and ’70s" comes out later this year and tells the story of the people and places behind the region's folk music sound, which flourished at Sierra music camp that gives the book its name, as well as other venues. Bluestein is also presenting a special concert to celebrate the new book taking place this Saturday at Fresno State's Whalberg Recital Hall.

Some big changes could soon transform the Fresno State campus, if university president Joseph Castro has his way. Students next month will vote on a plan to pay for a new $80 million student union facility to replace the existing one, which is nearly 50 years old. The university is also studying the feasibility of building a new performing arts center, which would hosts events that are too big for existing on-campus theaters, but too small for the massive Save Mart Center arena.

Fresno State President Joseph Castro says he wants to see any new effort to build a public medical school in the San Joaquin Valley be a collaboration between the UC and CSU systems.

Last month, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula introduced a bill in Sacramento that would authorize a new medical school at Fresno State. But the state’s master plan for higher education calls for medical schools to be the domain only of the University of California.

A new bill introduced in the California Legislature last week by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula calls for the authorization of a new medical school at California State University, Fresno. Arambula, who is a former emergency room physician from Fresno County, says training more doctors locally is one way to help solve the valley's chronic physician shortage. 

Fresno is known for poetry. Perhaps it's because of unique hardships encountered here, but it's also thanks to poets like Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Philip Levine and others like current U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.

The Fresno State Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing  is celebrating another noteworthy poet and alumnus of Fresno State with a screening of the new documentary “A Late Style of Fire: Larry Levis, American Poet." 

It was one of the biggest scandals the country had ever seen - the theft of U.S. government secrets about the atomic bomb that wound up in the hands of the Soviet Union. The federal government eventually tried and executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for conspiracy, sparking an international outcry. Now the story of the Rosenbergs is back in the news, as there is an effort underway to seek a presidential pardon in their case.