After cancelling California rallies due to a health scare in October, presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will be coming to Fresno this week. Sanders’ campaign is hosting a “ Green New Deal Rally ” at Fresno City College Friday evening at 6 p.m. The free event at the …
Read More »Valley Air Is Dismal This Week – Why Don’t All Air Measurements Tell Us That?
On Monday, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District issued a warning of unhealthy air conditions due to wildfire smoke from Northern California , an alert it repeated on Wednesday. Why then, for days, were online air monitors showing relatively healthy air? It’s the result of the size of …
Read More »Can You Cover The News Fairly While Also Working On Jerry Dyer’s Campaign? This Journalist Says Yes
If you’re a news junkie, you may have noticed a new online media outlet called the San Joaquin Valley Sun. The editor in chief is Alex Tavlian. He used to be a reporter for the Fresno Bee and then he became an attorney and political consultant. Now, on top of …
Read More »Kern County Sheriff Shuts Down Gang Unit: ‘This Is Probably Just The Beginning Of More Cuts’
Kern County’s sheriff announced Wednesday the department’s gang unit is shutting down, and one of the driving factors is limited funds. “We’re running out of people and we’re unable to recruit and retain more than we’re losing,” Sheriff Donny Youngblood says. “So we’re getting smaller and smaller and this is …
Read More »Before Graduating This Week, Fresno State Humanics Students Pay It Forward
It’s clear that some non-profits, also called community benefit organizations, can really change a place through advocacy and education. However, keeping those organizations going is often dependent on gifts, grants, and fundraising. Fresno State’s Humanics Program teaches students about philanthropy, leadership and how to run a CBO. Yesterday was the …
Read More »This Man Is The Valley’s Preeminent “Murder Memorabilia” Entrepreneur
The frenetic energy of William Harder’s life is palpable before you even enter his home—with his dogs, their little heads crowding the front window to shout at visitors. Inside, Harder himself joins in, singing “Oh no!” in harmony with their excited cries. At the Ouija board welcome mat—I’ll learn later …
Read More »Her Husband Died By Suicide, So This Law Enforcement Wife Is Sharing His Story To Help Others
These days, Crystal Giles negotiates dinner options for her two kids alone. There’s Talon, her four-year-old son, and Riley, her eight-year-old daughter. Giles moves a plate of burritos out of the microwave for Talon, and eventually settles on pizza rolls for Riley. “That is way too many pizza rolls, little …
Read More »Too Much Stuff? This Thrifty Business Finds a Use for Almost Everything
Neighborhood Industries is a social enterprise. It takes a market-driven approach to business coupled with a non-profit mission to care for the environment and help people in need. It all starts with too much stuff. The company will pick up your used clothes, stained T-shirts, old rags, ripped jeans, electronics, …
Read More »To Sort Up To 35 Tons Of Recyclables A Day, This Bakersfield Facility Relies On A Unique Labor Force
On the campus of the Bakersfield ARC, employees can work in a number of places, but one of the noisiest is the material recovery facility. It’s where about half of the city’s recycling is sorted by material. “On a daily average, we do anywhere from 28 to 35 tons a …
Read More »“Can I Recycle This?” And Other Questions Addressed By Fresno’s Public Utilities Instagram
Do you know what can and can’t be recycled? Which bin do you use for your Starbucks cups, your wrapping paper or your greasy pizza box? We wondered, where does everyone go to find these answers? So we sat down with the expert behind Fresno’s Public Utilities Instagram , Xitlaly …
Read More »Healthcare Wastes Tons Of Usable Supplies—And This Clovis Organization Takes Them
In a loading dock in northeast Fresno, two men pull up to the warehouse at Saint Agnes Medical Center in a white moving van. They meet a contract coordinator with the hospital named Heather Ritter, who pulls out a clipboard and asks them to sign a form. “As is, no …
Read More »Fresno Has The State’s Largest Hmong Population. This Group Is Making Sure Their Voices Are Heard
To get the “I Voted” sticker, you have to understand how the voting process works. And for some refugees in the Valley, it can seem really complicated. Take the Hmong community: Many of the elders fought for the U.S. in the CIA’s secret war in Laos. When they resettled in …
Read More »This Summer Camp Brings West Africa To Fresno County
The San Joaquin Valley is a melting pot. It’s home to diaspora from dozens of countries, and we celebrate that diversity with traditional festivals and performances throughout the year. One celebration that flies under the radar, however, is a summer camp in the Sierra foothills that teaches some traditional arts …
Read More »