Fresnoland captured multiple honors at the 36th Annual George F. Gruner Awards competition on Tuesday, with a tie for the top prize for public service journalism among the top prizes. This was the first year that Fresnoland was eligible to compete in the Gruner Awards as a digital-only outlet. Among the award-winning entries: First place (tie) in the public service category, for Omar Shaikh Rashad’s investigation into the Fresno City Council’s secret budget committee, where legal experts laid out potential violations in California’s transparency laws. His reporting ultimately led to a lawsui ..read more

Some cash-strapped Fresnans lucky enough to receive federal assistance have had an easier time finding housing in recent months, but that luck might not last much longer. The redemption rate of the Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8, has improved with the introduction of new initiatives by the Fresno Housing Authority. The Housing Choice Voucher Program is a federal rental assistance policy that subsidizes the monthly payments for qualifying low-income residents. The program has been running since 1974, and is run by local housing authorities. Before the summer of 202 ..read more

Fresno real estate leaders are celebrating some industry wins in the county over the last year, including completed affordable housing projects and below-average vacancy rates in office and retail spaces. But they acknowledge many challenges lie ahead for the real estate sector in 2024 as ambitious projects like the Southeast Development Area face a feasibility check, aging buildings send insurance costs for homebuyers and landlords through the roof, and the value of agricultural land drops. Despite a mixed bag across different Fresno real estate sectors, Mayor Jerry Dyer said the city of Fre ..read more

Mayor Jerry Dyer shared big plans for downtown Fresno housing, parking, and clean-up at the annual State of Downtown event at the Warnors Theatre on Friday. The Dyer administration has its sights set on a “thriving” downtown Fresno, home to 10,000 residents, about 7,000 more than at current.  That would be supported in part by close to $300 million from the state, of which the city has received close to $50 million so far. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a one-year delay to the remainder of the funding in January. But before the city can make those housing dreams a reality, the mayor reitera ..read more

Last September, senior officials at the city of Fresno warned that if developer fees weren’t levied, they would have to fund suburban sprawl development from their general funds. One developer took on the challenge at a city council meeting and successfully had developer fees waived for 12,000 homes – burning a $2 million hole in Fresno’s general fund. Now, a recent U.S. Supreme Court case offers developers a new avenue to challenge the impact fees cities impose, often on far-reaching developments at the edges of suburban sprawl. The case, originating in El Dorado County, centered around the ..read more

Costco in northwest Fresno gets the green light to move north after reaching a new deal with the city Six weeks after delaying a vote to relocate the Costco Warehouse in west Fresno, the City Council unanimously approved plans allowing the Costco to relocate, following a nearly two-hour hearing Thursday fleshing out new traffic and parking requirements. Costco plans to relocate its current warehouse store on West Shaw Avenue to West Herndon Avenue and North Riverside Drive after the lease on its current location expires next year. The planned 219,000 square-foot Herndon facility will be outfi ..read more

A new analysis of the 100 largest cities and counties in the U.S. shows that when it comes to small business lending, Fresno comes in at almost dead-last. In an April report on investment patterns from the Urban Institute, researchers found that Fresno County and the city of Fresno ranked second and third from last, respectively, on loans to small businesses compared with other large cities and counties across the country. The report also noted racial and geographic disparities in small business lending, showing that investments were clustered in the northern and eastern parts of the city and ..read more

People usually pay less attention to elections during primaries, but with Fresno County’s results certified – is that really true for everyone? Fresno’s voter turnout was relatively low for the most recent March election, at 30.84% of registered voters sending in their ballots – but it wasn’t the record low that some experts were predicting. That level of turnout was seen in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential primaries in Fresno County, as well. Voter turnout nearly at record 20-year lows Experts, from the Public Policy Institute of California, to James Kus, Fresno County’s registrar of vot ..read more

For the first time in California history, state officials are poised to crack down on overpumping of groundwater in the agricultural heartland.  The State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday will weigh whether to put Kings County groundwater agencies on probation for failing to rein in growers’ overdrafting of the underground water supply. Probation — which would levy state fees that could total millions of dollars — is the first step that could allow California regulators to eventually take over management of the region’s groundwater.  State officials have issued multiple warn ..read more

A federal bankruptcy court judge confirmed a liquidation plan that allowed for American Advanced Management, Inc. to reopen the shuttered Madera Community Hospital, overruling an objection filed last month by a community advocacy organization. Federal Judge Rene Lastreto said concerns about AAMI reopening the Madera hospital outlined in an objection, filed by the Madera Coalition for Community Justice, “were real and not irrational” — but they are also speculative. He added that allowing intervention now would delay a bankruptcy case that’s already dragged on for more than a year.  Tuesd ..read more