News

This week on Valley Edition, we talk about President Obama's new immigration policy, including an interview with Adriana Sanchez, a recent graduate of Fresno State who has been an advocate for the DREAM Act. We also talk with a young Fresno resident and former foster youth who will be one of 30 people participating in an international conference on foster care. And we close the program with a preview of this year's Stone Fruit Jubilee taking place this weekend in Clovis.

Valley Edition for June 19, 2012

Early this summer, a plan to expand and re-pave a parking lot at Fresno State erupted into a community wide controversy, after over 150 mature trees were cut down in one day. University administrators claimed the project was necessary to make space for more cars, while faculty and community residents cried foul. In today’s edition of the commentary series The Moral Is, Fresno State Biology professor Madhusudan Katti talks about how this latest incident highlights the conflict between what a university teaches, and what it actually does.

President Obama's announcement today on immigration reform is receiving a warm welcome from local immigrant rights advocates.

Pedro Ramirez, the former student body president of Fresno State who gained national notoriety in 2010 because of his status as an undocumented immigrant, says this is a step in the right direction that will make a profound difference for hispanic students in the valley.

Earlier this Spring, the Fresno Unified School District established a community task force to provide the district with recommendations to help solve the district's dropout problems. FM89's Juanita Stevenson reports on how residents offered their input to the task force at a recent meeting.

It used to be a rite of passage for teens, getting a summer job at a fast food restaurant or the mall. But with an economy that continues to struggle, the state's teen unemployment rate is around 36 percent. But there are several new programs that aim to help teens get a taste of life in the workforce, and local companies that are working with non-profits and the government on this issue. Juanita Stevenson reports on how a summer job changed one teen's life.

This week on Valley Edition, we talk about the work being done by Fresno Unified's Graduation Task Force, which is working to slow the dropout rate in the district. We also talk about the challenges kids today face in getting a summer job, and learn more about a health conference in west Fresno.

Valley Edition for June 12, 2012:

As the nation waits for the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a historic ruling on the constitutionality of President Obama’s overhaul of federal health care, California is not waiting to make changes. As Pauline Bartolone reports, state health planners say even if the high court overturns the federal mandate to buy insurance, their effort will move forward.

A new survey sheds light on what small businesses in California want out of the new health insurance market starting in 2014. 

Only a little more than a third of California small businesses currently provide some health benefits in their workplace. But that number could go up to 44 percent when a new health marketplace is up and running.

That’s according to a poll commissioned by the Small Business Majority and Kaiser Permanente.

John Arensmeyer of the Small Business Majority says the poll shows small companies want the same health options big ones have.

Earlier this week, the National Trust for Historic Preservation issued its annual list of the nation's most endangered historic sites, and for the second year in a row, Central California is in the spotlight. And this year, the preservation group is focusing attention on efforts to save several historic stone bridges in Yosemite National Park. FM89's Joe Moore has this report.