Many people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, but some have found assistance through a multi-million dollar state government program called Expanded Subsidized Employment, or ESE. However, Governor Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal cuts the funding to that program. If the latest budget goes through, it would affect …
Read More »Avenal State Prison Outbreak Second Largest Among State Correctional Facilities
The Avenal State Prison now has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases among the state’s correctional facilities. The prison reported 198 cases as of Tuesday. No visitors have been allowed at the prison for months, said Kings County Supervisor Doub Verboon. He said he thinks a staff member had …
Read More »How Fresno State Transitioned to Virtual Education After COVID-19 Campus Closure
Nearly two weeks after the coronavirus forced Fresno State to transition to virtual instruction, FM 89’s Kathleen Schock spoke to Bryan Berrett, Fresno State’s director of the Center for Faculty Excellence, about how students and faculty are adapting. https://www.kvpr.org/sites/kvpr/files/styles/big_story/public/202004/bryan_berrett.jpg
Read More »Fresno County Partners With Fresno State To Analyze COVID-19 Tests
The Fresno County Public Health lab was damaged in a flood back in 2019, so the county was sending its potential COVID-19 specimen to Tulare County’s Public Health Lab for analysis. But a partnership with Fresno State now means Fresno County will be able to process tests locally. Standing outside …
Read More »State Recruits Local Ag Advisors, Fresno State Students For Pesticide Videos In Hmong
Pesticide regulations can be tough to understand, especially among communities that don’t speak English. Recently, however, with the help of local ag advisors and video production students at Fresno State, California’s Department of Pesticide Regulations released a series of how-to videos about pesticides in Hmong . In this panel interview, …
Read More »Fresno Initiative Could Get $50 Million From Newsom’s State Budget
Governor Gavin Newsom released his proposed 2020-2021 budget on Friday , a $ 222 billion package encompassing homelessness, affordable health care and criminal justice reform. In an accompanying briefing, the governor gave a shout-out to a newly unveiled economic development plan known as Fresno DRIVE, a collaboration among 150 organizations …
Read More »After A Million Solar Roofs, Former State Governors Call For A Million Solar Batteries
Two former governors were in Clovis today to celebrate renewable energy milestones. At Clovis Unified’s Buchanan High School, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown were presented with the one-millionth solar panel to go on a roof in California. The panel in question was about the height of a door, and double …
Read More »‘Major Catastrophic Changes’ – Air Quality Leaders Decry Reversal Of State Emissions Authority
On Thursday, the Trump administration revoked California’s authority to set its own rules on tailpipe emissions. The reversal of California’s nearly-50-year-old waiver means the state won’t be able to push auto makers faster than the federal government can to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants that come out …
Read More »Tulare County Vaping Death Is Second In The State
A Tulare County resident is the second person to die in California from a vaping-related illness. Dr. Karen Haught, Tulare County’s Public Health Official, says the man who died Saturday had been in the hospital with respiratory problems. He had a history of vaping and smoking. “The CDC has suggested …
Read More »State Appoints Working Group To Help Growers Transition Away From Harmful Chlorpyrifos
Last week, the State of California took its first steps to fully ban the harmful pesticide chlorpyrifos that can cause neurological problems and developmental delays in children. The ban means, however, that growers have to find alternatives for managing insects. Finding those alternatives is the goal of a new statewide …
Read More »State Utilities Regulator Wants Customer Input About PG&E’s Proposed Rate Increase
The California Public Utilities Commission is holding forums around the state to get feedback from Pacific Gas & Electric customers about the company’s proposed rate hike. It’s a process most utilities undergo every three years. PG&E is asking its regulator, the CPUC, to approve a rate increase that would add …
Read More »By Forgiving Doctors’ Student Loans, State To Improve Access To Care For Valley Residents
Earlier this month, the state of California announced it’ll forgive student loans for hundreds of medical providers. The move should benefit underserved patients in the San Joaquin Valley. Michael Galvez is a pediatric hand surgeon and plastic surgeon at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera. Between a bachelor’s degree, medical school, …
Read More »County Taking Applications Again For Foster Parents; Still A Backlog Due To New State Rules
Earlier this year, Fresno County stopped taking new applications for foster parents, citing a lack of resources to process them. While the county resumed taking applications this month, there’s still a backlog. The state established new rules for all caretakers of foster kids in 2015 to eliminate the separate processes …
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