Valley News

The Navy is rolling out its latest plan to manage wildlife in its ocean training grounds from Southern California to Hawaii. But after years of legal battles, environmentalists worry the Navy is backsliding in its efforts to protect marine life. Homeported in San Diego, the Navy destroyer USS Higgins navigates …

In a small section of Kern County, outside the city of Bakersfield, a dirt ridge rises above the farmland. It’s home to a couple of cell towers, an orchard, and a creature that we didn’t know was there up until the last 25 years. In fact, it’s by chance that …

Last month the Carr Fire near Redding exploded overnight in what some people have called a “fire-nado” – with extreme rotating winds that toppled high tension power lines and wrapped metal posts around trees. It was the most extreme case of extreme fire behavior people have seen in California in …

Fresno readers likely know the name Diana Marcum from seeing her byline in the Fresno Bee. During her tenure there, her longform journalism brought insight into people’s lives with the narrative quality rarely found in newsprint. As her career took her to the LA Times, Marcum won a Pultizer for …

Here in North America, Switzerland may be known for snowy mountain tops, raclette cheese, and yodeling. But the landlocked, Central European country is also home to one of the biggest and most ambitious science endeavors ever undertaken. And though it’s nearly 6,000 miles away, the San Joaquin Valley is leaving …

Working 11 hours shifts in corn fields in Mendota is some of the hardest work to do. Add school and immigration court to the mix and you might start losing track of the days, like one teenager who recently moved to the Valley. “I would wake up at 11 at …

One perception of homeless individuals might be that they’re alone, dealing with substance abuse or mental illness. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes a homeless person has family nearby, and just a strained relationship. We reported on a Fresno County program that helps house parents and children, usually after …

On this week’s Valley Edition, we learn how Fresno State students are leaving their mark at one of the top scientific institutions in Europe. We also continue our look at the issue of homelessness with a profile of a Fresno mom who was living on the streets, and is now …

UPDATE: 6:00 PM 7/27/18 Yosemite Valley is going to remain closed for a little longer than initially planned due to the Ferguson Fire. The Park Service announced today that the valley will reopen on Friday August 3rd at 4:00 PM. The Wawona community and Mariposa Grove will remain closed due …

Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez was charged with two criminal misdemeanors last week over her 2017 vote against a ban on marijuana dispensaries. The DA’s public integrity unit investigated the case and found that Perez’s husband Fernando Jara had done business with marijuana industry groups before the vote, creating what …

A new bill in congress is aimed at preventing the fungal disease valley fever that’s endemic to Central and Southern California. The so-called FORWARD Act , introduced by Bakersfield Congressman and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, would establish a national valley fever working group and would award grants to entities …

Last week the Trump Administration proposed a set of major changes to the Endangered Species Act. It’s a big issue here in California, where protected species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and in the Sierra have set off new efforts to protect critical habitat. Of course those measures have …

Visitors are being ordered to evacuate some parts of Yosemite National Park by noon on Wednesday due to a nearby wildfire. The Ferguson Fire has consumed over 36,000 acres southwest of the park and is only 25 percent contained. Park officials have announced they’re evacuating Yosemite Valley as well as …