This week on Valley Edition we venture into the topic of the future of downtown Fresno. Valley Edition host Juanita Stevenson explores the differing opinions on how Fresno should invest time, effort and funds into downtown, whether the Fulton Mall should be renovated and the vibe that could be cultivated in the region of the city. Joining Stevenson are Director of Downtown Community Revitalization for the City of Fresno Craig Scharton, Chair of the Downtown Fresno Coalition Kate McKnight and Fresno Brewing Company owner EphiramBosse.
As an example of what kind of business is taking off in downtown Fresno, Valley Public Radio’s Ezra Romero explores what locals call CartHop – a band of six food trucks that meet in three separate locales across Fresno weekly.
In the second segment of the show we continue our conversation about downtown Fresno with a view from outside the Fresno bubble. Juanita Stevenson engages in conversation with Charles Birnbaum, the Founder and President of The Cultural Landscape Foundation in Washington D.C. In 2010, Birnbaum alongside Fresno leaders analyzed the state of downtown in a summary that he wrote after visiting Fresno. Also joining the conversation are Kate Borders, President and CEO of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, and Keith Woodcock a Fresno State geography professor with over 20 years of experience in city planning in the Central Valley.
We close our discussion with a conversation with Nikiko Masumoto and her one-woman show “What We Could Carry.” In the show, Masumoto asks the audience to think about the lives and memories of Japanese American experiences before, during and after Internment and World War II. The show is based almost entirely off of individuals from the Los Angeles hearings of the 1981 Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. Masumoto explores the stories of 13 testimonials surrounding internment.
The Central California District Council JACL Annual Day of Remembrance Luncheon will feature Nikiko Masumoto performing her one-woman show, "What We Could Carry," on Sunday, February 17 at 1 p.m. at Pardini's Restaurant. Registration starts at noon. Tickets are $35.
To purchase tickets, mail checks payable to CCDC-JACL to Marcia Chung, 6522 North Gentry Avenue, Fresno, CA 93711. Details: (559) 439-9192 or r_mchung@yahoo.com.
