Rebecca Plevin

The quest for the perfect pinot noir lured Todd and Tammy Schaefer from Malibu to Paso Robles in 2001. But a different fate awaited them and their business, called Pacific Coast Vineyards.

“My wife and I had just come up here, to set up shop and continue our practice of winemaking, and, ‘Welcome to Paso Robles, here’s valley fever,’” Todd recounts.

In October of 2003, Todd was running a bulldozer through a vineyard, and kicking up lots of dust. They had no idea that dust would make him ill.

This week on Valley Edition we discuss the future of one of Central California’s educational centers. A search committee is on the lookout for a new Fresno State President, but not all are happy about the way the committee is handling the search.

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.

This week on Valley Edition we explore the region through reports and interviews on valley fever, restorative justice in schools, health care, taxes and a Jazz festival in the area.

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court yesterday, the state Attorney General raised questions about the federal order to exclude inmates especially vulnerable to valley fever from two Central Valley prisons.

On Monday afternoon, the federal receiver in charge of health care in California’s prisons ordered the state prison to remove inmates from two Central Valley prisons who are especially at risk of contracting valley fever.  A day later, the state and experts are digesting that directive. Valley Public Radio's Rebecca Plevin reports, as part of the Reporting on Health Collaborative’s investigation into the disease.

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This week on Valley Edition we explore issues that may impact the region as a whole. Our reporting team tackles regional issues that include advocacy for potable water in rural communities, hydraulic fracking and restorative justice in Valley schools. As well as a festival celebrating honey in the region.

For the past 35 years, Sandra Garcia has picked grapes, plums and peppers on San Joaquin Valley farms. But when she returns to her home in the small, Tulare County community of Poplar, she’s reminded of agriculture’s impact on her drinking water.

She can’t drink it because it contains unhealthy levels of nitrates. And she can’t cook with it, because boiling water can concentrate the nitrate level. It’s a serious health issue for infants and pregnant women.

If you’re expecting clean air in the San Joaquin Valley, don’t hold your breath.

The American Lung Association released this week its annual State of the Air report. It shows that Valley cities continue to top the lists for the most polluted areas in the nation for ozone, short-term particle pollution, and annual particle pollution.