Fresno is becoming the foremost violator of human rights in California, even after losing a federal court battle in July 2008 at the cost of $2.35 million because of violating the constitutional [...] Continue Reading
Economy
Satan’s Heat Is on Its Way
I can feel it in wisps, in the breaks of the breeze, on my collar and shoulders when I walk into the sunlight beating down on the areas that were formerly streets before the Fresno Mall was born. But [...] Continue Reading
Video Remix Festival in January
“Oil and War” will be the theme of a first-of-its-kind Critical Remix Festival. The festival and gallery opening will take place January 6, 2011, at 5 p.m. at Gallery 25 (660 Van Ness Ave.) in [...] Continue Reading
From the Communications Side
There are foreboding winds stirring in the electronic media world: A virtual battle of titans approaches as the major telecommunications, data and video providers determine the future flow and [...] Continue Reading
George “Elfie” Ballis: A Personal Recollection
Few residents of Fresno County earn freestanding obituaries in the Washington Post, as did George Ballis when he died last month. That obit recounted an interesting but odd career, with moments of [...] Continue Reading
Smiling Seriously: Creative Genius at Work
[Editor: This article was originally printed in the October 2004 Community Alliance newspaper.] If you are a progressive political activist in Fresno, you have seen him with his video camera at your [...] Continue Reading
Linking Popular Democracy and Economic Development in Africa
[Richard Stone writes that Aaron Tesfaye has lived in the United States for about 30 years, including many in Fresno. He attended Fresno State and, after getting his Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate [...] Continue Reading
How Many Scholars Does It Take to Make an Omelet?
If it is true that one must crack some eggs to make an omelet, and I suppose it is, then the times we live in must be the egg industry’s biggest boom to date. When I look around, all I can see are [...] Continue Reading
Opinion and Analysis from the Grassroots
Defunding Public Education: An Arresting Development By Tim Young Americans are facing the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression. States like California have responded by pulling the [...] Continue Reading
A War Veteran and Homeless
“I’m thankful to be alive,” answered Wilson, a homeless veteran with his homeless wife, “and I’m thankful to be in Fresno.” “Huh, thankful to be in Fresno?” I ask back. Before he answered, I [...] Continue Reading
On Hold at the Housing Authority
My husband, Tom, and I are reluctant landlords. We have just been told by Preston Prince, the new director of the Fresno Housing Authority, that we have a “small portfolio” of rental properties. What [...] Continue Reading
The ACLU Goes Back to School
The Golden Westside Planning Committee and others in southwest Fresno asked the Fresno Area American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Board to support community efforts to build a new neighborhood middle [...] Continue Reading












