High school teacher and Fresno-based podcaster Jordan Mattox recently founded The California Prison Poetry Contest. He’s currently collecting short poems from incarcerated men and women throughout the state. Entrants have a chance to win cash prizes and be published in a literary magazine. Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke to …
Read More »Medical Care At Corcoran State Prison Receives Poor Rating From State Watchdog
Medical care at California State Prison, Corcoran received a poor rating in a recently published state watchdog review. Now, prison advocates worry that doesn’t bode well for the quality of care during the pandemic. Corcoran’s medical care received a rating of “Inadequate,” the lowest rating possible, in a report published …
Read More »Lessons From Kings County Prison Where COVID-19 ‘Spread Like Wildfire’
When news of the pandemic first reached the men incarcerated at Avenal State Prison in central California, inmate Ed Welker said the prevailing mood was panic. “We were like, ‘Yeah, it’s going to come in here and it’s going to spread like wildfire and we’re all going to get it,’” …
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 »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 »Valley’s New Cases Drop, But Not Within Avenal State Prison – COVID-19 Update For Sept. 25
As the COVID-19 caseload continues to fall in San Joaquin Valley communities, the opposite trend has been happening inside Avenal State Prison: With more than 2,500 cumulative cases, the facility now has the dubious honor of being the state prison with the highest cumulative case count. More than 250 men …
Read More »Valley’s New Cases Drop, But Not Within Avenal State Prison – COVID-19 Update For Sept. 25
As the COVID-19 caseload continues to fall in San Joaquin Valley communities, the opposite trend has been happening inside Avenal State Prison: With more than 2,500 cumulative cases, the facility now has the dubious honor of being the state prison with the highest cumulative case count. More than 250 men …
Read More »Rising Valley Cases, Outbreak At Avenal State Prison: COVID-19 Update For June 15-19
Although businesses are reopening, reports of new cases of COVID-19 are still on the rise throughout the San Joaquin Valley. You can find up-to-date information for your county here . Below is an update for the week of June 15-19, 2020. T he outlook As of June 18: 250 deaths …
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 »‘Essential Employees’ At Fresno County Federal Prison Say Shutdown Affects Employee Safety
As of this week, the partial government shutdown means many federal employees are going without a paycheck, some of whom are right here in the San Joaquin Valley. Reporter Alexandra Jaffe with VICE News Tonight on HBO came out to Fresno to hold a roundtable discussion with workers from the …
Read More »Two injured during ‘incidents’ at federal prison in Atwater
An inmate at U.S. Penitentiary, Atwater, suffered “non-life-threatening” injuries early Thursday and a staff member also suffered a minor injury during an incident, prison officials reported. Few details were available. … Click to Continue »
Read More »Merced County store manager sentenced to prison in food-stamp fraud case
A 41-year-old former Merced woman was sentenced Monday to nearly two years in prison for defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally known as the Food Stamp program. Suzy Vang … Click to Continue »
Read More »Man who plotted Christmas Day terror attack on Pier 39 faces 15 years in prison
Everitt Aaron Jameson, accused of plotting to launch a Christmas Day attack on Pier 39 in San Francisco, pleaded guilty Monday in Fresno federal court to attempting to provide support … Click to Continue »
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