Roberts, alongside 30 student volunteers from Hoover High School’s Science Enrichment club, celebrated Earth Day by planting trees.

The students worked together from 12:30p.m. to 3p.m., placing five trees on Hoover’s campus.

“It’s pretty awesome that we all got to work as a team to do something that will benefit us for a long time,” said John Banuelos, a member of the Science Enrichment club.

The club also celebrated Earth Day by guiding students through planting wildflowers to take home.

Five valley oaks, a species endemic to California, were planted on Wednesday, a number the group hopes will grow.

How the Effort Came Together

Robert worked with Fresno Unified for close to a year to get the project underway.

The University High student pitched presentations to trustees, the site principal, and maintenance managers.

His presentation detailed the benefits of planting valley oaks and spreading environmental education.

“Over 90% of these trees (valley oaks) have been chopped down since the city’s founding, and I believe that we shouldn’t accept that for what it is,” Roberts said.

Roberts is working to restore planting sites and integrate valley oaks back into the community, aiming to plant trees at Free State next, he said.

He hopes that students will take pride in their campus and their contribution, while also cultivating an understanding of the importance of trees.

This project is an opportunity to begin doing just that.

“I think today went really smoothly,” said Favour Amobi, a senior at Hoover. “Everybody was working very hard. It was nice to see everything come together”

Why Plant Valley Oaks?

Valley oaks are native and exclusive to California making them best suited for its ecosystem.

The trees’ size and lifespan allow for a massive intake of carbon, efficiently converting CO2 into oxygen, while needing less water than grass.

Additionally, these trees house native species, so their removal caused “native ecosystems to start to vanish,” Roberts said.

Roberts hopes that bringing valley oaks back into the community will prompt more native species to return.

Two weeks prior to planting, a drilling company pierced through the site’s hardpan.

Drilling through the hardpan, a dense layer that water and roots cannot permeate, allows the tree to reach subsoil. This provides crucial water retention and essential resources for the plant.

Also, the tree’s roots will be able to grow down instead of out, ensuring that roots will not interfere with infrastructure or cause tripping hazards.

Environmental Education

Climate anxiety is rising amongst youth, but a lack of knowledge and education regarding the environment is prevalent.

That fear was shared by the students, who also reiterated a sense of responsibility.

“I think us, as a generation, need to make sure that we care about it (the climate),” Amobi said. “If we don’t care about it more then we’re going to lose our chance of being able to solve this. And that’s what I’m scared about.”

Despite widespread worries about climate change, a 2021 survey indicated that students ages 14 to 18 had large gaps between their conceptualization of Earth’s systems and reality.

“Here at school is one way to learn it and get the correct education about climate change, because it’s real,” said Aaliyah Miles, a junior at Hoover.

There are environmental science courses offered at Fresno Unified high schools, but the classes are not mandatory, the Hoover students said.

“I think it’s very important to emphasize how climate change is going to affect us. And how we can prevent that, even little steps within the community we can take to help,” Roberts said.

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Detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium say the suspects — all residents of Mendota — were involved in four separate robberies that occurred over a two-week span in August.

Those arrested and booked into the Fresno County Jail include Anderson Vega Laya, 31; Helan Lopez Sanchez, 29; Aaron Sojo Moreno, 25; Yan Garcia-Heredia, 22; and Albert Hinegues, 19.

All five face felony charges that include robbery and illegal firearms possession. Detectives believe Vega Laya, Lopez Sanchez, Sojo Moreno and Garcia-Heredia may have ties to Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang.

August 2025 Crime Spree

The crime spree began around 10 p.m. on Aug. 4, when three masked men robbed a taco stand off Highway 33 near Mendota. They stole cash, a Jeep, and personal items from customers. Ten minutes later, they ambushed a man nearby, stealing his Honda Accord and abandoning the previously stolen Jeep. The Honda was later found abandoned.

On Aug. 9, three armed suspects robbed the Shasta Market west of Kerman, fleeing in a 2014 Ford C-Max. A week later, the same vehicle was used in a robbery at Buhler Country Store in Mendota, where four masked gunmen stole cash from the register.

Deputies found the C-Max torched in a rural area outside Mendota on Aug. 20. The discovery helped detectives identify individuals connected to the car, and in September, several search warrants yielded evidence linking the suspects to the crimes.

Arrests followed over several months. Hinegues and Vega Laya were taken into custody in early January. Later that month, SWAT officers arrested Lopez Sanchez at a Motel 6 in Fresno.

Investigators say he pointed an AR-15-style rifle toward the door and pulled the trigger multiple times, but the weapon malfunctioned and did not fire. He was taken into custody without further incident.

Sojo Moreno was arrested in Colorado and extradited to Fresno County, where he was booked on April 11. Garcia-Heredia was arrested during a separate search in Mendota.

Got a Tip?

Anyone with information about the suspects or related cases is urged to call the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111 or Valley Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867. Anonymous tips may be eligible for a cash reward. Reference case number 25-9390.

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Connect with Anthony W. Haddad on social media. Got a tip? Send an email. 

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Jose Enrique Martinez Flores was charged in a new indictment with conspiring to provide and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, according to a court filing.

“Today’s charges represent an inflection point in how this Department of Justice will prosecute and ultimately dismantle this evil organization, which has destroyed American families and poisoned our communities,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

In February, the U.S. designated Tren de Aragua and other transnational gangs as terrorist organizations. Under President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrant gangs, the administration has also sought to use wartime powers to deport alleged members of the gang, sparking court fights around the country.

Martinez Flores also faces international cocaine distribution charges, according to the indictment, filed in federal court in south Texas.

He was initially arrested in Colombia in March at the direction of the U.S. He remains in custody in Colombia pending further proceedings, according to a Justice Department statement.

Attorney information for Martinez Flores was not immediately available.

—

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by David Gregorio)

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The remarks, which he made in the Oval Office in front of reporters, were Trump’s latest broadside against the judiciary, which he has said is inhibiting his deportation powers. Trump falsely claimed that countries like Congo and Venezuela had emptied their prisons into the United States and that he therefore needed to bypass the constitutional demands of due process to expel the immigrants quickly.

Constitutional Concerns Raised

“I hope we get cooperation from the courts, because we have thousands of people that are ready to go out and you can’t have a trial for all of these people,” Trump said. “It wasn’t meant. The system wasn’t meant. And we don’t think there’s anything that says that.”

He claimed that the “very bad people” he was removing from the country included killers, drug dealers and the mentally ill.

“We’re getting them out, and a judge can’t say, ‘No, you have to have a trial,’” Trump said. “The trial is going to take two years. We’re going to have a very dangerous country if we’re not allowed to do what we’re entitled to do.”

Backlash and Criticism

He made similar statements in a social media post on Monday in which he wrote, “We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years.”

Trump’s remarks have drawn swift backlash.

Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson, D-Ill., wrote on social media: “‘We can’t give everyone a trial’ — excuse me, what?! That’s straight-up #dictator talk. Due process isn’t optional because it’s inconvenient. This is the United States, not a banana republic. If you want to shred the Constitution, just say so.”

Supreme Court Intervention

Trump’s comments came after the Supreme Court, early Saturday, temporarily blocked the administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members under the expansive powers of a rarely invoked wartime law.

Trump issued a proclamation last month invoking the Alien Enemies Act as a way to deport immigrants he alleged were members of Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan street gang. The law, which was passed in 1798, has been used only three times before in U.S. history, during periods of declared war.

The Supreme Court has ruled that those subject to the statute needed to be given the opportunity to challenge their removal.

The Trump administration has also been dogged by the case of a Salvadoran man living in Maryland who was deported because of an “administrative error.” The Supreme Court ordered the administration nearly two weeks ago to facilitate his return so he could go through the legal system in the United States, but the White House has so far not fulfilled that order.

The White House posted on social media that the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was “never coming back.”

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Luke Broadwater / Doug Mills
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

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The new $150 million terminal at the airport is set to fully open in November. Already, a new passenger screening area is in operation. Airport officials provided elected officials and media a sneak preview Wednesday.

“Fresno truly is a destination city and it’s time that we had an airport that reflected that,” said Councilmember Tyler Maxwell, whose District 4 includes the airport.

The project includes a new terminal, baggage handling area, an international arrival and screening area, and an already opened 900-space parking garage.

The security screening area now features five machines, with a sixth to be added — up from four — and more spacious lines.

Several new restaurants will open, including Los Amigos. Ike’s Love & Sandwiches also has a “coming soon” sign in the terminal.

Goal: Add Direct Flights to Cabo San Lucas, Other Beach Cities

Henry Thompson, Fresno’s airport director, is optimistic the airport expansion will lead to more flights.

The new international flight screening area will allow the airport to process three times more passengers per hour, Thompson said.

“We’re in ongoing conversations with the airlines, and so we’re talking with airlines about increasing international capacity out of here. That’s increasing service to existing destinations, increasing service or adding service to new destinations, and then new airlines that don’t currently serve,” Thompson said.

What is the top destination that passengers want to travel to?

“Any beach destination. We don’t have a direct flight to a beach destination, so that’s where we’re working hard to fill that gap,” Thompson said.

The wish list includes Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Hawaii.

Thompson said it is hard to pin down how many more flights the airport will see. Currently, FYI processes 2.6 million passengers a year. With expansion, he is hoping that could add another half-million.

First Mural Unveiled

The terminal will feature 15 new art projects, the first unveiled during a tour that airport officials gave media and elected officials on Wednesday.

The 47.5′-by-12.5′ foot mural greets passengers after security screening. It features such images as a jet from the 144th Fighter Wing next door; the Pacific Southwest Building; an agricultural field; and a scene depicting the national parks.

“The center is based on community and diversity. Everyone’s coming together to grow up their communities,” said Kelsey Gilles, who partnered with Colleen Mitchell-Veyna to paint the mural.

The Central Valley women said they spent three months on the project before transferring it piece by piece to the airport.

Gilles and Mitchell-Veyna have partnered on murals in Exeter, Hanford, and Madera.

The terminal will feature a terrazzo floor resembling a flowing river. A Polish-made sculpture is also scheduled.

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The company now expects annual comparable sales growth in the low single-digit range, compared with a prior forecast for a low- to mid-single-digit rise.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on trade partners including Mexico and Canada, as well as an escalating trade war with China, have raised fears of a recession in the U.S. and forced companies to pull back their annual expectations as consumers deal with higher costs of living.

While Chipotle has thus far benefited from menu innovation and optimizing kitchen operations, the company could face some impact from import tariffs on goods such as avocados and beef, analysts have noted.

“In February, we began to see that elevated level of uncertainty felt by consumers. Consumers were saving money because of concerns around the economy, and reducing restaurant visits. These trends continued into April,” CEO Scott Boatwright said on a post-earnings call.

Chipotle Sales Fell 0.4%

Chipotle’s comparable restaurant sales fell 0.4% in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a 5.4% rise in the preceding three-month period.

The company reported total revenue of $2.85 billion, falling short of analysts’ average estimates of $2.95 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Restaurant-level operating margin fell to 26.2% in the first quarter, compared with 27.5% a year ago

In January, Chipotle said Trump’s tariffs on Mexico would lead to a roughly 60-basis-point impact on its raw material costs for the year.

In an attempt to shield margins from higher input costs, the company has also invested in introducing technology such as produce slicers and three-tiered rice cookers that help optimize labor and time in the kitchen.

—

(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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“I just thought it was absurd,” the Austin, Texas, immigration attorney said.

It was an apparent glitch in the Trump administration’s dismantling of another Biden-era policy that allowed people to live and work in the country temporarily. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is quietly revoking two-year permits of people who used an online appointment app at U.S. border crossings with Mexico called CBP One, which brought in more than 900,000 people starting in January 2023.

The revocation of CBP One permits has lacked the fanfare and formality of canceling Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands whose homelands were previously deemed unsafe for return and humanitarian parole for others from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who came with financial sponsors. Those moves came with official notices in the Federal Register and press releases. Judges halted them from taking effect after advocacy groups sued.

CBP One cancellation notices began landing in inboxes in late March without warning, some telling recipients to leave immediately and others giving them seven days. Targets included U.S. citizens.

Timothy J. Brenner, a Connecticut-born lawyer in Houston, was told April 11 to leave the U.S. “I became concerned that the administration has a list of immigration attorneys or a database that they’re trying to target to harass,” he said.

Lack of Formal Notification

CBP confirmed in a statement that it issued notices terminating temporary legal status under CBP One. It did not say how many, just that they weren’t sent to all beneficiaries, which totaled 936,000 at the end of December.

CBP said notices may have been sent to unintended recipients, including attorneys, if beneficiaries provided contact information for U.S. citizens. It is addressing those situations case-by-case.

Online chat groups reflect fear and confusion, which, according to critics, is the administration’s intended effect. Brenner said three clients who received the notices chose to return to El Salvador after being told to leave.

“The fact that we don’t know how many people got this notice is part of the problem. We’re getting reports from attorneys and folks who don’t know what to make of the notice,” said Hillary Li, counsel for the Justice Action Center, an advocacy group.

Fear and Confusion Among Recipients

President Donald Trump suspended CBP One for new arrivals his first day in office but those already in the U.S. believed they could stay at least until their two-year permits expired. The cancellation notices that some received ended that sense of temporary stability. “It is time for you to leave the United States,” the letters began.

“It’s really confusing,” said Robyn Barnard, senior director for refugee advocacy at Human Rights First. “Imagine how people who entered through that process feel when they’re hearing through their different community chats, rumors or screenshots that some friends have received notice and others didn’t.”

Attorneys say some CBP One beneficiaries may still be within a one-year window to file an asylum claim or seek other relief.

Notices have been sent to others whose removal orders are on hold under other forms of temporary protection. A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily halted deportations for more than 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who came since late 2022 after applying online with a financial sponsor and flying to a U.S. airport at their own expense.

Maria, a 48-year-old Nicaraguan woman who cheered Trump’s election and arrived via that path, said the notice telling her to leave landed like “a bomb. It paralyzed me.”

Maria, who asked to be named only by her middle name for fear of being detained and deported, said in a telephone interview from Florida that she would continue cleaning houses to support herself and file for asylum.

Salomon reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana in Washington and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed.

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Newsom’s letter to California Energy Commission Vice Chair Siva Gunda, dated April 21 and seen by Reuters on Wednesday, came days after Valero Energy said it would permanently shut or restructure its refinery in Benicia, California by the end of April 2026. The Benicia refinery accounts for about 9% of the state’s crude oil refining capacity.

“I write to direct you to redouble the State’s efforts to work closely with refiners on short- and long-term planning, including through high-level, immediate engagement, to help ensure that Californians continue to have access to a safe, affordable, and reliable supply of transportation fuels,” Newsom wrote. He added that although gasoline demand in the state was in a gradual decline, it would exist for years to come.

Newsom Sets Deadline for July 1

The governor set a July 1 deadline for the CEC to recommend changes to the state’s approach to managing fuel supplies during the energy transition and asked the agency to reinforce the state’s belief that refiners can operate profitably.

Refiners have said they face growing regulatory and cost pressures in California, which has among the most aggressive climate change policies of any U.S. state and has a goal to ban new gasoline-powered cars starting in 2035.

Gasoline prices in California are among the highest in the United States due to the state’s reliance on imports from Latin America and the Middle East to offset declining state supplies.

In his letter, Newsom said the Trump administration was to blame for economic instability and market turmoil that was harming oil companies.

A refining trade group said that assertion was false, and instead blamed California.

“Governor Newsom’s letter to the California Energy Commission directing it to ‘redouble’ its efforts to work closely with refiners so ‘they see the value in serving the California market’ is laughable and a blatant effort to cover his backside,” Chet Thompson, CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, said in an emailed statement. “State policies, not the new administration in Washington, are why fuel manufacturers struggle to operate in California and why California drivers face the highest fuel prices in the country.”

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(Reporting by Nichola Groom/Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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The transmission plant supports production of light-duty trucks made in Fort Wayne, Indiana, along with other facilities. Reuters first reported that GM would increase production at the Indiana assembly plant in early April after U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on auto imports.

A spokesperson for the automaker said the production shift in Toledo is not related to tariffs.

“General Motors will revise production plans at Toledo Propulsion to support additional capacity of ICE (internal combustion engine) propulsion units in alignment with current market demand and manufacturing resiliency,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

GM Announced $760 Million Investment

When GM announced a $760 million investment to transform the Toledo facility into a drive unit production hub, it became its first U.S. powertrain factory repurposed for EVs. The automaker hasn’t yet produced retail drive units there.

“To align with current market demand and manufacturing needs, leadership has made the decision to add capacity to support propulsion units currently built at Toledo for ICE (internal combustion engines) products,” Rob Morris, the Toledo plant director, said in a memo shared with workers.

The memo said that one of the drive unit production lines in the facility would be transformed into a transmission line, but said there were no updates regarding the second drive unit production line.

GM has made other adjustments to its EV plans including pushing back the start of EV truck production at its Orion Assembly plant in Michigan. It fell short on its EV production goal of producing and wholesaling 200,000 EVs in North America in 2024, instead ending up at 189,000 units wholesale.

Separately, Trump’s tariffs have prompted automakers to change or expedite investment plans. Some suppliers and automakers are looking for opportunities to expand investment in the U.S. to avoid the steep levies, while others are waiting to see if the duties stick.

An analysis by the Center for Automotive Research found that Trump’s 25% auto tariffs imposed in early April will increase costs by about $108 billion for automakers in the U.S. in 2025.

The industry is still facing levies on automotive part imports, which are scheduled to begin no later than May 3.

—

(Reporting by Kalea Hall and Nora Eckert in Detroit; Editing by Diane Craft)

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A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment beyond the memo, which cited an executive order from President Donald Trump in January that halted federal funding to healthcare providers offering gender transition treatments. That order has been challenged in court.

Medical organizations including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics say that gender-affirming care, including surgical procedures for appropriate patients, represents medically necessary treatment. Healthcare providers who offer these services obtain informed consent, following established clinical guidelines.

In addition to pursuing criminal cases, Bondi also ordered the Justice Department’s Civil Division to pursue cases related to gender-affirming care. For instance, she told its Consumer Protection Branch it should investigate any violations by drug manufacturers or distributors who make false claims in connection with puberty blockers, sex hormones and other drugs.

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(Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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