SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The California Legislature has passed a bill to make sure state laws don’t refer to elected public officials as men. Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan’s bill specifically updates laws governing California’s statewide elected officials. Bauer-Kahan says she authored the bill after discovering state law often assumes elected officials are men. Lawmakers also passed…… MORE
Fresno City Council Approves $1.4 Billion Dollar Balanced Budget
FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – The 2022 City of Fresno budget season has concluded as the largest budget adopted in Fresno’s history. The budget passed on Thursday, June 24 with a majority vote of 5-2. The Budget season concluded after 115 motions, according to City Manager Thomas Esqueda, an unusually large amount as seen in the…… MORE
Convicted Child Molester Could Get 340 Years to Life
TULARE, CA (KMJ) — The Tulare County Superior Court convicted a Visalia man who now faces 340 years to life in state prison for child molestation. According to the Superior Court, 37-year-old Oracio Reyes was convicted by a jury on three counts of oral sex on a child 10-years or younger. He was also…… MORE
400 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks Recovered by Fresno Police
FRESNO, CA (KMJ) — The Fresno Police Department says they have taken 400 pounds of illegal fireworks off the street during a recent undercover investigation. Police say they got help from both undercover detectives and social media, which led them to detaining and citing two adults for firework violations. The fine was set at…… MORE
3 Arrested in Connection to Shooting of 15-year-old Girl in Kingsburg
KINGSBURG, CA (KMJ) — Three people were arrested on Wednesday in connection to a June 8th shooting in Kingsburg. The 15-year-old girl was playing at Athwal Park in Kingsburg around 7:00 p.m. when she was hit by a stray bullet in the chest. She was taken to the hospital where she was treated for…… MORE
Senators Introduce the Define WOTUS Act
Senate Republicans from Iowa, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Indiana’s Mike Braun introduced the Define WOTUS Act this week. The bill legislatively defines “waters of the United States,” and makes a definition of the term permanent. Grassley and Ernst recently sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to express concerns over the…… MORE
Britney Spears Asks Judge to Free Her from Conservatorship
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Britney Spears asked a judge Wednesday to end the court conservatorship that has controlled her life and money since 2008. The dramatic request at a Los Angeles hearing came with her first words in open court in the conservatorship in its 13-year existence. Judge Brenda Penny now must decide in the…… MORE
Drought Impacts City Farmers
According to the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, extreme drought is changing agriculture across California including urban farmers. UC ANR says many community farms and gardens cultivate land owned by city or county departments, schools and private landowners. Lucy Diekmann, a UC Cooperative Extension urban agriculture and food systems advisor in Santa…… MORE
Help Wanted: Labor Crisis Shocks Calif. Restaurants
LOS ANGELES (AP) – California restaurants that managed to survive the pandemic are facing a new crisis: finding workers. With the economy officially reopened, owners are eager to fill dining rooms to full capacity but can’t find enough cooks, food servers or kitchen staffers to do the job. As a result, restaurants are being forced…… MORE
National Pollinator Week
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Monday proclaimed this week as National Pollinator Week. Vilsack states of the proclamation, “The health of these agricultural contributors is critical to the vitality and sustainability of U.S. agriculture, food security, and our nation’s overall economy.” Pollinator species play an important role in producing more than 100 crops grown in…… MORE
