Community

Tamejavi Event To Celebrate Valley's Diverse Cultures

Rebecca Plevin — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:34:22 +0000

The first Tamejavi Fellowship Cultural Organizing Program will present ‘No Longer Strangers,’ the grand finale of the Tamejavi Culture and Arts Series, at the Tower Theater in Fresno on Saturday (May 18) at 6 p.m. Myrna Martinez, with the American Friends Service Committee, and fellow Pov Xyooj, join Valley Edition to discuss the event.

'Maker' Re-Creates Victorian Era Downtown Fresno With Cardboard

Ezra Romero and Joe Moore — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:12:26 +0000

John Rupe doesn't have a time machine. But he does have laminated cardboard, glue and thin sheets of copper - just enough to take a trip back in time to a Fresno that hasn't existed for over nearly a century. That year is 1900.

Rupe has always loved Downtown Fresno.

"I explored," Rupe said. "I was in Hotel Fresno in the 80's and it was vacant back then... I was in the Sun-Maid Raisin plant before it was demolished and the Republican Newspaper building, which has been demolished too."

Fresno Runner Recounts Experience at Boston Marathon

Rebecca Plevin — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:44:48 +0000

For 17 years, Fresno resident Brad Castillo had strived to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

On Monday, he was less than half a mile away from the finish line – or, at his pace, about four minutes away from realizing his dream – when the mass of runners stopped. At that point, Castillo didn’t know there had been two explosions at the finish line.

How Jackie Robinson Almost Became A Fresno State Bulldog

Joe Moore — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:12:43 +0000

Before he broke baseball's color barrier in 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson nearly wound up as multi-sport star for the Fresno State Bulldogs.

In a move that would likely run afoul of today's NCAA recruiting regulations, the school offered the star a number of incentives in an attempt to lure Robinson to the campus, including a new set of tires for his aging 1931 Plymouth.

Young Couple Calls For 'No More Slumlords'

Rebecca Plevin — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:37:24 +0000

Sergio and Ashley Cortes knock on a door in a run-down apartment building near downtown Fresno.

Sergio Cortes greets the young woman that cautiously cracks open the door. Ashley Cortes stands behind her husband, clasping a clipboard, ready to take notes.

“We’re basically doing canvassing of apartment complexes owned by JD Homes, and we want to talk to the tenants to see if they have any problems with JD Homes, like any stuff that’s not being fixed, anything that’s broken,” Sergio Cortes says.

California National Guard Troops Preparing for Deployment to Afghanistan

Bob Moffitt — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:51:01 +0000

The California Army National Guard is deploying about 50 soldiers as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

About a hundred medics, pilots and mechanics from California, Nevada, and Washington are flying out today. This is the third such deployment for Sylvester Wilson. He’s from Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento.

Coalinga 'Deportee' Plane Crash Sparks Search, 65 Years Later

Rebecca Plevin — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:07:32 +0000

Author Tim Z. Hernandez was digging through old newspapers at the Fresno County library when a dramatic headline from the late 1940s captured his attention.

CartHop: Fresno's Moveable Feast

Ezra Romero — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:55:23 +0000

The food truck, once known for dreaded boring prepackaged sandwiches or carne asada tacos, has taken a turn for the better. The trucks have gone gourmet.

They no longer do boring. In fact, many food trucks across the nation have created infusions of local produce with a unique and somewhat international flare.

Fresno to Explore Possibility of Downtown 'Public Market' in Former Gottschalks Building

Joe Moore — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 01:53:31 +0000

A national expert on public markets toured Fresno today to explore the potential of creating a year-round indoor market for the valley’s agricultural and prepared food products.

The bottom two floors of a downtown parking garage, once home to the Gottschalks department store, could become the home of a new indoor public market for produce, baked goods and other food items, according to officials with the city of Fresno.

New Report Gives A Snapshot of California

Marianne Russ — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 23:42:58 +0000

California has the ninth largest economy in the world, its workers are staying unemployed longer and home prices are rising. These are a few of the tidbits in a new report by the state’s non-partisan Legislative Analyst.

The Legislative Analyst gives us California in a snapshot. The state’s economy is number nine, right between Italy and Russia.