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On Valley Edition: The Affordable Care Act; College Of The Sequoias; Rogue Festival

Dan Wong

This week on Valley Edition: The Affordable Care Act is expected to expand health insurance coverage to millions of Californians. But with those newly insured patients will come a dire need for more primary doctors. FM 89.3’s Rebecca Plevin reports on a new type of medical residency program that’s intended to train primary doctors who will remain in the Central Valley and work in local community health centers.

Joining Valley Edition host Juanita Stevenson in a conversation over how the Affordable Care Act will affect the Central Valley is Carmela Castellano-Garcia, the CEO of the California Primary Care Association.

In other Valley news, 89.3’s Joe Moore interviews Fresno State political science professor Thomas Holyoke about last week’s surprise resignation by State Senator Michael Rubio. Holyoke answers the questions about what Rubio’s resignation means politically and which candidates might be looking to fill his seat in the 16th District. Rubio, whose daughter has Down syndrome, said in a statement that his resignation was prompted by a desire to spend more time with his family. The Shafter Democrat also used the occasion to announce his new job, as a lobbyist for the Chevron Corporation.

In the second segment of this week’s Valley Edition we speak with College of the Sequoias President Stan Carrizosa about the college possibly losing its accreditation. The news comes after a commission from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges found that COS was in “substantial non-compliance” with the organization’s standards. The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges has given the junior college until mid-October to address issues in areas including institutional planning, student learning and achievement. 

We close our program with a segment on the 12th Annual Rogue Festival in Fresno.  The fringe festival celebrates the independent performer and artist by providing the opportunity to showcase works in friendly, affordable and creative setting. Amy Querin, co-producer of the Rogue Festival and head of NOCO Fresno Dance Collective, explains the concept behind the festival and what is to be expected from the nine-day event.

Rogue Festival Information: Feb. 28 to Mar. 9, Fresno’s Tower District, $75 per weekend pass, will get one person per pass into any show for the dates on the pass. They can be purchased at any of the 3 Bucks booths during the festival: Landmark, Livingstone’s & Tower Theater Box Office.
Website: www.roguefestival.com.

Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).
Juanita Stevenson has lived and worked in Fresno for the past 24 years. She is perhaps best known to Valley residents as a longtime reporter and news anchor with local television station ABC30, and has also worked at stations KJWL, KYNO and ValleyPBS. She is the recipient of the 2001 Associated Press Award for Best Reporting, and the 1997 Radio & Television News Directors Association Regional Edward R. Murrow award for Best Reporting.
Rebecca Plevin was a reporter for Valley Public Radio from 2013-2014. Before joining the station, she was the community health reporter for Vida en el Valle, the McClatchy Company's bilingual newspaper in California's San Joaquin Valley. She earned the George F. Gruner Award for Meritorious Public Service in Journalism and the McClatchy President's Award for her work at Vida, as well as honors from the National Association of Hispanic Publications and the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Plevin grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She is also a fluent Spanish speaker, a certified yoga teacher, and an avid rock-climber.
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