California Governor Gavin Newsom has a plan to use $ 750 million dollars of federal coronavirus relief funds to purchase motels and other properties that will be converted into housing for those experiencing homelessness. But, there’s a catch. If the properties are not purchased by the end of the year, …
Read More »Fresno County Sheriff Won’t Enforce Stay-At-Home Order; First Round Of Vaccines Anticipated
In a press call on Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that regional stay-at-home orders are imminent . He explained that these orders would be triggered locally when intensive care units in a particular region’s hospitals become so crammed that they’re more than 85 percent full. The nine counties of the …
Read More »District By District, Some Valley Students Return To School – COVID-19 Update For Oct. 23
Now that most counties in the San Joaquin Valley have graduated out of the most restrictive “purple” tier of the governor’s reopening blueprint , many schools are preparing to bring students back to campus, and some already have. How are schools phasing in-person instruction back in, what’s the fate of …
Read More »What Politicians Get Wrong About Latinx Voters
With just days to go in this election season, one key group has been drawing a lot of attention – Latinx voters. And their impact on elections is particularly important here in California, given that they make up the state’s largest ethnic group. To learn more about efforts to appeal …
Read More »This Veteran And His Wife Have Been Married 70 Years – They Tackle Challenges With Love And Laughter
Wednesday was Veterans Day. In honor of the holiday, FM89’s news director Alice Daniel spoke with a couple who live at the Fresno Veterans Home and have been married for 70 years. They’ve had their share of challenges during the pandemic, including living apart for three months. But as you’ll …
Read More »Journalist Farai Chideya Puts Women Of Color Center Stage In The Podcast ‘Our Body Politic’
Journalist and author Farai Chideya spoke with Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock about her new podcast, “Our Body Politic,” which explores how women of color experience and shape politics. Chideya, who has covered every presidental election since 1996, also shares her thoughts on the 2020 election, political division in America, …
Read More »Avenal’s Prison Labor Contract Allows Actions The CDC—And Kings County—Warned Could Spread COVID-19
Ed Welker is relatively new to Avenal State Prison. He’s been incarcerated there only since March. But when he was recently moved to a new dorm in a different yard, he saw a familiar face. “One of the officers that are working right now in the building that I’m in, …
Read More »Armenians Flee Nagorno-Karabakh After Six-Week War With Azerbaijan
Last week, Russia negotiated a ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ending a six-week war that left thousands dead. The dispute was over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory within Azerbaijan’s border but inhabited nearly exclusively by ethnic Armenians, many of whom are now forced to flee their homes – some reportedly burning them …
Read More »Avenal Isn’t The Only Kings County Prison Facing Massive Outbreak – COVID-19 Update For Nov. 20
More than 3,300 inmates and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at Avenal, which is the highest total of any prison in California and possibly in the entire country . So far, the virus has killed eight of the prison’s incarcerated men. However, Avenal isn’t the only prison in the …
Read More »Newsom Pulls ‘Emergency Brake,’ Rolls Back Most Of California—Including Valley—Into Purple Tier
A rise in COVID-19 cases has prompted another round of business restrictions in most California counties, including those in the San Joaquin Valley. Governor Gavin Newsom announced today that 29 counties would be rolling back into the purple, most restrictive tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, including …
Read More »San Joaquin Valley Congressional District Election Results, So Far
You can check the results for congressional races in districts throughout the San Joaquin Valley in the tables below, courtesy of CalMatters . The tables are using data from the California Secretary of State’s website . They will refresh every five minutes. Congressional District 4 Congressional District 16 Congressional District …
Read More »What’s Next For Higher Education After Voters Reject Affirmative Action?
Forty-two states in the U.S. have affirmative action laws in place, but California voters recently rejected the idea for a second time with the defeat of Proposition 16. To find out what this means for public colleges and universities, Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke with Dania Matos, associate chancellor …
Read More »UC Merced Professor’s Documentary About Refugee Family Screens Internationally
A 2019 documentary that was directed and produced by UC Merced global arts professor Yehuda Sharim will be screened internationally over the next few weeks. The film, titled “Songs That Never End,” explores the displacement and struggle of new refugees through the eyes of two young siblings who immigrated to …
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