Assemi breaks down the importance of this role and the huge impact it has on the community.

The interim superintendent, Misty Her, is favored to take on the full-time position. However, others are pushing back and saying that the candidate should come externally.

FUSD is expected to make an announcement Wednesday night.

Related Story: Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is

The post Wired Wednesday: What’s the Future of Fresno Unified and the Superintendent Position? appeared first on GV Wire.

The house is a “home away from home” for families of critical-care patients at Community Regional Medical Center. In other words, it’s a place where they can eat, sleep and recharge, helping them stay strong for their loved one in the hospital.

The amenities include full-sized rooms with bath and shower, community kitchen, washer and dryer, cleaning services, and around the clock staffing.

Terry’s House has provided comfort and support to more than 9,000 families from 34 countries and all 50 states, Community Health System officials said.

The donation is for an endowment hat will help with operational costs. The donation is the largest ever for a CHS endowment, said CEO/president Craig Wagoner.

Terry’s Legacy

The 20-room facility bears the name of Terry Richards, who was 5 years old when he was seriously injured in a car accident. For nearly five months, his mother traveled almost 80 miles a day to be at her son’s side while he recovered.

Gifts from Terry’s brother, Tom Richards, and many other donors made Terry’s House a reality in 2011 after Terry’s passing.

The post Anonymous Donor Gives $2.5 Million to Terry’s House at CRMC appeared first on GV Wire.

In a commentary aired Sunday on CNN, Zakaria highlighted historical parallels to the 1920s, noting a similar pattern of robust growth followed by protectionist trade policies.

He said agricultural decline back then fueled populist movements, and the tariffs worsened the Great Depression.

Zakaria argues that the U.S. is again favoring a nostalgic view of manufacturing by imposing broad tariffs that hurt the larger service-based economy.

The post Zakaria Draws Parallels Between Trump’s Tariffs, Failed 1930s Economic Policies appeared first on GV Wire.

Fresno partnered with Forefront Power, a private San Francisco-based company on the 34 megawatt project.

The facility helps to control operational energy costs including the regional wastewater treatment plant at the Cornelia address and two other city water treatment plants.

It was built using federal tax credits and through agreements with power purchase agreements or PPAs. Funding of the facility was at no cost to taxpayers.

“What really makes this project special is that, we’re able to, pull off or, separate ourselves from the electrical grid,” says Brock Buche, the city’s director of public utilities. “We are using the power generated by these solar panels to operate our large wastewater treatment plant. We don’t have to pull that from PG&E. It’s just all from these panels.”

The post Fresno ‘Powers Up’ the Nation’s Largest Combined Solar and Battery Storage Project appeared first on GV Wire.

Fresno political consultant Alex Tavlian is now listed as the principal officer for the independent expenditure group Fresno Future Forward. Earlier documents listed someone else.

City Attorney Andrew Janz previously fined Fresno Future Forward $1,000 for failure to complete its documents on time.

Vang wound up winning a special election for the southeast Fresno seat on the city council by capturing the majority needed to avoid a run-off.

Related Story: Fresno Political Consultant Now Listed in Documents Tied to Mailer Attacking ...

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The Fresno County Economic Development Corporation brought out a panel of experts to discuss housing construction and sales, major commercial real estate purchases, and upcoming development for its 20th annual Real Estate Forecast last week.

The event included a question-and-answer segment between Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and PG&E CEO Patti Poppe discussing rate increases and hookup delays.

Real estate experts said uncertainty would prevent recovery in 2025, but some highlights could mean positivity for 2026 and 2027.

The number of real estate sales last year paints a picture of the slowdown, said John Kourafas, commercial investment adviser with the Visintainer Group.

Sales volume dropped 31%  in 2024, marking the third consecutive year of declines and the lowest since 2011, Kourafas said. Property values have lost 10% to 20% since 2022.

First quarter data showed a slight uptick but that came before the tumult caused by President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements. That uncertainty will likely prevent any recovery at least for the next six months, Kourafas said.

But after consecutive years of decline, the market appears near the bottom and primed for recovery.

“There’s a lot of optimism that ’26 and ’27 will be bounce-back years,” Kourafas said.

Related Story: Other States Do Housing Better Than California; a New Study Shows How They Do

Cost of Money, Market Uncertainty to Delay Recovery: Kourafas

Most real estate activity came from essential sectors, Kourafas said. Investors looked to multi-family properties, medical offices, and quick-service restaurants.

Fresno County’s biggest real estate sale — not including apartments — came from Starpoint Towers, which sold for $10.6 million.

That was the only deal that sold above $10 million last year, whereas Fresno County would normally have five or six above that amount, Kourafas said.

In addition to the drop in big transactions, the number of sales in Fresno County dropped 13%.

To him, that means a disconnect between what buyers want for a property and what sellers will pay.

“Values haven’t come down enough to get buyers to justify the cost to purchase,” Kourafas said.

Lending Will Increase This Year and Next: Renney

Experts expect commercial real estate lending to increase in 2025 and 2026, but with challenges, said Matt Renney, principal with California Realty Capital, Inc.

Roughly $950 billion of U.S. commercial real estate mortgages matured in 2024, said Renney.

Many lenders are kicking the can down the road, however, extending loans and pretending everything is fine, he said. About $30 billion in loans were extended to 2025 and beyond.

Related Story: Fresno Mayor Praises a State Bill That Would Speed In-Fill Housing

The dollar amount of loans maturing will continue to rise through 2027, peaking at nearly $1.3 trillion before dropping slightly in 2028.

The cost of money is 2 percentage points higher than the ones that matured last year, Renney said.

Stubbornly high interest rates means builders and investors need to put up more equity or capital if they need loans to start construction, purchase a building, or refinance.

Rising property expenses and slower rent growth will make increase capitalization rates — what lenders look at to evaluate risk.

More and more, private credit is filling funding gaps in projects and sectors that traditional lenders, Renney said. But those lenders often want rates much higher, sometimes to the tune of 12%, adding 1% to 3% in fees.

“If interest rates can come down, real estate transactions can be more feasible,” Renney said.

Normalizing Rents, Vacancies Slowing Down Apartment Construction: Kane

The effects of a slowing economy can be seen in apartment construction, said Robin Kane, managing director for Northmarq.

From 2020 to 2023, builders added almost 3,300 units, driven in part by double-digit rent growth at that time. Rental growth has declined to 2% to 3% a year and vacancies around 4% to 5% — much more normal levels, said Kane.

But with those levels came a sharp decline in construction. Only 600 units came online in 2024.

“Now, all of a sudden what’s made sense makes no sense,” Kane said.

A Look at the Home Market

Home sales in 2025 started strong, but the buyer pool remains small, said Carmen Jimenez Phillips, president of the Fresno Association of Realtors. Available inventory increased in February, dropping slightly in March.

Despite sales declines, prices continue to rise. Median home price jumped from $427,000 in January to $442,000 in February.

In the world of new home construction, high interest rates coupled have kept many buyers on the sidelines, said Ryan De Young, president of De Young Properties.

But those same constraints affect the resale market. Limited inventory of existing homes will help drive new home sales growth to modest levels of around 3% to 5% in 2025.

Builders will have to use financing concessions to get potential deals to make financial sense for buyers. This comes as the California regulatory market already keeps margins low.

Whereas regulatory fees only make up .5% to 3% of the cost of the home, studies show California regulatory fees add 9% to new home costs, De Young said.

Some builders have begun dedicating entire neighborhoods to rentals. Investment companies will make deals with builders for rental properties. De Young said he began negotiations for a contract in Fresno. Build-to-rent neighborhoods still haven’t made significant headway in Fresno, but they’re becoming more popular.

But with limited land for development, it puts build-to-rent in direct competition with properties for home ownership.

Government Deficits Create Uncertainty in Affordable Housing: Williams

Fresno Housing has done a lot of construction in single-family workforce housing, said Tyrone Roderick Williams, CEO of Fresno Housing.

Heritage Estates will bring on 33 mixed-income homes, expected to come online in southwest Fresno in August. They also have five homes in Sanger available. The homes comes after Fresno Housing opened Avalon Commons in north Fresno, a 60-unit affordable housing apartment complex. They will soon demolish the former CVS in downtown Fresno to make way for the Fulton Forum — creating 300 to 400 mixed-income housing units.

Funding for affordable housing projects relies on federal, state, and local grants. 80% of Fresno Housing’s funding is federal. Rollbacks on federal sources cast uncertainty in many of those funds. State and local deficits have also put into question those funding sources.

Roderick Williams estimates it will require 15 years of construction at the current pace to meet the need for affordable housing.

“This is going to be a challenging year from a financial standpoint,” Roderick Williams said.

PG&E Bankruptcy Created Backlogs, Rate Increase Needed: Poppy

PG&E CEO Patti Poppe came to Fresno to discuss energy with Dyer. Taking an apologetic tone for issues around the utility giant, Poppe said many issues from the public stemmed from the company’s bankruptcy in 2019.

Dyer said he frequently received phone calls from business owners about long delays to hook businesses up to electricity and gas.

Poppe said inability to access capital created long wait times for service. She said coming out of bankruptcy, they’ve been addressing that backlog by doing 14,000 hookups.

“Post bankruptcy, we had sub-investment-grade ratings,” Poppe said. “We could not access the capital markets, and we ran out of cash and had to delay and created a backlog that we’ve been digging out of.”

Poppe was not available for follow-up questions from GV Wire.

Dyer asked about the utility’s $2.48 billion in profit in 2024 — a 9% increase from 2023 — despite a 56% increase in residential energy rates. The utility also requested a rate increase to pay investors.

Poppe said rates went down in 2025 and should go down in 2026. She also record profits followed the company’s bankruptcy, and it needs to look good to investors. She said the company pays the lowest dividends to investors.

“Let me tell you why it’s in your interest that PG&E is profitable,” Poppe said. “When we make that capital investment, we have to go to the capital markets, we have to attract capital to come to California. And if I am successful leading this company financially, then we can attract lower cost capital. We are still sub-investment grade as a company because of the bankruptcy. That means it costs more for us to borrow.”

Property Owners Face Potential Vacancy Tax, Commercial Rent Control

Talking commercial real estate with state legislators can be challenging, said Matthew Hargrove, president and CEO of the California Business Properties Association.

Most only want to talk housing, he said. Every year, the state creates between 400 and 500 bills that affect commercial property owners.

Senate Bill 758 would put a $5-per-square-foot tax on properties vacant longer than 180 days.

Assembly Bill 380 would limit price increases and commercial rent control during emergencies. It also affects multifamily properties.

Hargrove pointed out that California is currently under the type of emergency that would trigger the rent control rules.

The post What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond? appeared first on GV Wire.

Trump paused his sweeping tariffs for 90 days — except on China — despite previously refusing to ease trade penalties and attacking those who urged him to do so.

Zakaria, speaking on his CNN program, said the shift risks transforming the U.S. from a model of free-market principles into “the leading example of crony capitalism.” He pointed to studies from Trump’s first term that found companies with Republican ties were more likely to receive tariff exemptions.

“The American bazaar is now open,” Zakaria said, warning that foreign governments and businesses will flood Washington seeking special deals and exemptions.

The post Zakaria Warns of ‘Crony Capitalism’ in Trump’s Tariff Reversal appeared first on GV Wire.

Speaking at a news conference in the West Bank, Red Crescent officials said Israeli troops shot at the rescue workers in waves over a two-hour period before dawn March 23. They termed the killings “a full-fledged war crime” and called on the United Nations Security Council and the international community to demand accountability and an independent investigation.

The Israeli military, which has admitted to killing the 15 men, said Monday that a “preliminary inquiry indicated that the troops opened fire due to a perceived threat following a previous encounter in the area,” and it would continue investigating. It said that six of those killed “were identified as Hamas terrorists,” but cited no evidence.

The Red Crescent and the United Nations have said that the dead were unarmed aid workers who posed no threat. They said the men were wearing their uniforms and riding in clearly marked emergency vehicles, flashing their emergency lights.

An Israeli military official who briefed reporters on the incident Saturday declined to say whether the men were armed.

The killing of rescue workers followed an airstrike on a home in the al-Hashasheen area of southern Gaza. A Red Crescent ambulance responded and was hit by Israeli gunfire, according to the aid group.

When a convoy of emergency vehicles arrived to rescue the first ambulance, Israeli troops fired again, in a five-minute-long barrage.

The attack on the convoy was captured in a video the Red Crescent said was later discovered on the cellphone of one of the paramedics who was killed.

Red Crescent officials released a 19-minute version of the video Monday, showing worried paramedics, moments before they were shot, searching for their missing co-workers.

The men’s bodies were found a week later, when, after repeated requests, the United Nations and the Red Crescent secured permission from the Israeli military to search for them. On Monday, the Red Crescent said that all but one of the bodies were discovered piled together in a black mesh bag and buried “in a brutal and degrading manner that violates human dignity.”

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Vivian Yee and Fatima Abdulkarim
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

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Vang took his place on the dais representing southeast Fresno, bringing the city council to full strength on Thursday. The city council unanimously accepted the March 18 special election results. Vang delivered his opening remarks in both Hmong and English, talking about immigrating to America as a refugee from Laos in 1979.

His emotions flowed when talking about his parents, now both deceased, and his brother who died in the Secret War. Vang fought through tears, recalling how his brother sacrificed his life for his family.

“My parents instilled in me the value of perseverance, hard work, and that America is the greatest country in the world, and if you apply yourself, you will achieve your dream. And today, I am living my American dream,” Vang said.

The full house at City Hall gave Vang a standing ovation after he took the oath of office.

“When I graduated in 1990 from McLane High School, I would not have imagined that I would be sitting here,” Vang said.

Vang’s first order of business was issuing a proclamation for local Hmong leader Lue N. Yang, former executive director of the Fresno Center for New Americans.

Related Story: Brandon Vang Wins Fresno City Council Special Election Outright

Vang: ‘I Am Independent’

Only one city councilmember, Miguel Arias, publicly supported Vang during the campaign. Arias is holding a fundraiser for Vang on Thursday night.

“I’m not aligning myself to anybody, councilmembers or any stakeholders. I will try to do my very best to represent the constituents in District 5 and that’s what I have done. That’s why I am here today because I am independent during the campaign and I hope to be independent in the future,” Vang said in a brief chat with Politics 101.

There are several policy issues that will come before Vang — the tobacco shop ordinance, the future of growth in southeast Fresno, and what to name a new sports complex. Vang was not ready to talk.

“We’re doing 100 miles an hour, and I’m starting at 60, so wait until I get 200 miles an hour, and then I will have the conversation,” Vang said.

“District 5 has been historically neglected and I’ve lived there for 16 years and I know what the landscape is like. We cannot solve issues overnight. It’s going to take a lengthy period of time to solve issues in District 5. But right now I’m just happy to get started,” he said.

Tavlian Contract Canceled

During the campaign, Vang advocated for small businesses and public safety. He endured a negative attack ad mailer from an independent expenditure group called Fresno Future Forward. The mailer accused Vang of statutory rape in the 1990s.

Vang and his wife, in an interview with GV Wire, admitted he was 20 and she was 15 when they had their first child in 1993. They were married in 1995, continuing to raise a family. Vang was never criminally charged.

“My family, we faced adversity, we overcame challenges, we are stronger today because of you (Vang’s wife). This is vindication,” Vang said from the dais.

Despite a mystery surrounding Fresno Future Forward, GV Wire found links to local political consultant Alex Tavlian.

Before he left office, former District 5 representative Luis Chavez signed a contract with Tavlian’s public affairs firm, Local Government Strategic Consulting. Signed on Dec. 17, LGSSC would provide public outreach services.

Related Story: Is Fresno Political Consultant Alex Tavlian Behind Election Attack Mailer?

Vang canceled a $100,000 contract with Tavlian and LGSC within hours of taking office.

LGSC sent four invoices — on the first of each month, January through April — for a total of $33,333.32.

In an April 10 letter Vang sent to LGSC, he said his office is not paying on the invoice, as it was not authorized by Mike Karbassi, the city council president. Karbassi oversaw the District 5 office during the councilmember vacancy.

“Karbassi did not authorize rendering of these services or making these payments,” Vang wrote.

Vang added that the payments might exceed the $100,000 threshold requiring a city council vote, “as such, your request to process the invoice will be denied.”

“It’s been a pleasure serving the office of District 5 for these past years. I wish Councilman Vang and his staff the best in strengthening southeast Fresno,” Tavlian said by text.

About the Election

Vang won a special election on March 18, with 50.19% of the vote — nine votes above the majority to avoid a runoff. He defeated Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas (35.01%), Chavez’s wife, and three other candidates.

No one requested a recount, Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus said. That sealed Vang’s victory, allowing the city council to declare the election results without delay.

Vang is the second city councilmember of Hmong heritage. He acknowledged his predecessor, Blong Xiong, calling him a “trailblazer.”  Xiong, who attended the ceremony, served on the city council 2007-2015.

Vang officially resigned from his position as Sanger Unified board trustee on Tuesday, giving a farewell address to the school board. He said he will miss his every-other-Tuesday meetings, but looks forward to Thursday meetings in Fresno, as seen in this video captured by The Sanger Scene.

 

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A post shared by The Sanger Scene (@thesangerscene)

The post ‘Independent’ Vang Starts Work as New Fresno Councilmember. Cancels Tavlian Contract. appeared first on GV Wire.

Smittcamp warns the ordinance’s legality may conflict with state law, and without a clear interpretation from State Attorney General Rob Bonta, cases could be at risk of being overturned or appealed.

Several Fresno city councilmembers, aligning with the county, plan to introduce a similar ordinance.

Related Story: Smittcamp Warns Fresno Supervisors About New Copper Theft Law. Bredefeld Wants ...

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