By Stan Santos A conservative cabal of Fresno City Council members and city executives, including Mayor Ashley Swearengin and City Manager Mark Scott, are determined to privatize traditional city [...] Continue Reading
Economy
Students Support Campaign to Refuse Payment on Loans
By Montse Reyes In a time when education has become a contentious topic of political debate, the subject of rising tuition costs and student loan debt has found itself at the heart of the [...] Continue Reading
Letters to the Editor – Oct. 2012
The Importance of Voting Yes on Measure B As voters peruse their ballots for the Nov. 6 election, it is really important to scan to the end of the ballot and vote Yes to renew Measure B. This measure [...] Continue Reading
Atwater’s Financial Crisis
By Montse Reyes Atwater maybe well on its way to bankruptcy, according to some City Council officials, placing among the ranks of other Californian cities such as Stockton and San Bernardino. With [...] Continue Reading
The Lessons of History and Privatization of Public Services
By Matthew Ari Jendian The Fresno City Council voted 4-3 to hire a Walnut Creek firm to investigate outsourcing residential trash service on Aug. 16. The majority of the City Council was led by Lee [...] Continue Reading
Fresno City Council Takes Next Step Toward Privatizing Residential Garbage Collection
By Stan Santos On Aug. 16, the Fresno City Council approved a motion to hire a consultant, identified as Robert Hilton, to prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP) that would open residential garbage [...] Continue Reading
McKinney-Vento Turns 25 and Homelessness Continues to Grow
By Paul Boden Passed in 1987, the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act was intended to address the emergency needs of homeless people while the federal government worked to restore the funding that [...] Continue Reading
SaveFTA Seeks Justice in Union Election
By Jerome Rice On May 29, the ballots were counted in the runoff election for president of the Fresno Teachers Association (FTA). Mai Summer Vue defeated Eva Ruiz by 51 votes (more than 5% of the [...] Continue Reading
Listening to the Ghosts of Fresno
By Paul Gilmore “Every city is full of ghosts, and learning to see some of them is one of the arts of becoming a true local.”—Rebecca Solnit Why in the last couple of months have thousands of people [...] Continue Reading
Two Tales of a City
By Richard Stone A visit to Fresno’s homeless encampments, like the ones being dismantled by the City this week as I write, is eye-opening. It is a world of its own. The structures are ramshackle, [...] Continue Reading
Postal Service Budget Crisis
Postal Service Budget Crisis Caused by 2006 Bush Law: “Pre-Pay the Post Office Pensions 50 Years Ahead” By Donna Macris The U.S. Postal Service is under attack and fighting for its life, but it isn’t [...] Continue Reading
The Occupy Movement Comes to Fresno
By Jesse Franz Since its beginning on Sept. 17, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to more than 100 cities around the country, from New York to California and Seattle to Miami. On Oct. 9, [...] Continue Reading