Latest news with #FresnoCounty
CBS News
4 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
California inmate sentenced in scheme to deliver drugs into prison by drone
An inmate at a California correctional facility has been sentenced for his role in a scheme where drugs, phones and other items were delivered to the prison by drones, federal prosecutors said. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Michele Beckwith announced that 48-year-old Michael Ray Costa received a five-year prison term. Acosta is an inmate at Pleasant Valley State Prison near Coalinga in Fresno County. Prosecutors said Acosta pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and posses with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. Acosta was one of five people charged in "Operation Night Drop", a multi-agency investigation targeting drone incursions over prisons. According to court documents, Acosta used a contraband cellphone to coordinate multiple drone deliveries into the prison between May and August 2021. Four co-conspirators, identified as Joshua Gonzlez, Jose Oropeza Rosendo, Rosendo Ramirez and David Ramirez Jr., flew drones over the prisons and dropped packages behind prison walls. Acosta and his associates would then recover the items for further distribution, prosecutors said. Items smuggled into the prison included methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, cellphones, phone accessories and other items. Prosecutors also announced that Oropeza is scheduled to be sentenced for his role in the scheme on July 28, while Ramirez is expected to plead guilty on the same day. Meanwhile, the next court appearance for Gonzalez and Ramirez is scheduled for June 11.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Wildfire in Yokuts Valley prompts evacuation warnings, Fresno deputies say
A wildfire flared up in the Yokuts Valley in Fresno County Monday afternoon. The Fresno County Sheriff's Office said Cal Fire and Fresno County Fire is battling the Rector Fire on Crane Lane, located north of Highway 180 and Elwood Road. The blaze, which started just after 4 p.m., has burned 15 acres. Deputies are going door-to-door issuing evacuation warnings to certain residents living in Zone K73 North, according to the sheriff's office map system. Access the map at: PG&E is working to deactivate electricity in the immediate area as firefighters try to contain the fire.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump, not trans athletes, is the greatest threat to girls sports
Never mind what you hear from grandstanding Fresno County politicians or read in the right-wing media. The greatest threat to the future of girls sports is not transgender athletes, including the section champion who qualified in three jumping events at this weekend's CIF State Track and Field Championships in Clovis. The greatest threat to girls sports is Donald Trump. And by extension, anyone who supports Trump policies that disemboweled the Department of Education. How can that be, some of you are undoubtedly asking yourselves. Didn't President Trump, the man who once declared he would 'protect' women 'whether women like or not,' threaten to withhold funding for California because the CIF allows trans athletes to compete? Yes, he did. Moreover, Trump's Department of Justice launched an investigation into the state for supposed violations of Title IX, the landmark law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funding. Trump's use of Title IX to fuel his crusade against trans athletes — parroted by local politicians as they jousted for airtime on the local news — is darkly ironic and deeply hypocritical. Because while Trump virtue signals with Title IX in one hand, the other moves to dismantle the branch of federal government responsible for ensuring that the rights of millions of females are protected. Not just young women athletes but young women of many cross-sections: LBGTQ students, student survivors of sexual assault, minority students and disabled students. Trump's March executive order to gut the Department of Education (and with it the Office of Civil Rights) is already having a massive impact on how Title IX is regulated and enforced at public institutions across the country. By laying off half of the DOE staff, a move carried out by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Trump's order increased the caseloads of the remaining OCR case workers by 200% and shuttered seven of the 12 regional OCR offices (including the one in California), according to the National Women's Law Center. Enforcing Title IX rules that guarantee female athletes don't get short shift falls under the OCR's purview. Investigators ensure K-12 school districts, colleges and universities support men's and women's sports programs at the same level through equitable budgets, scholarships, coaching salaries, equipment and travel. And that's just athletics. The OCR investigates the claims of sexual assault and harassment victims while also probing complaints of discrimination against students based on their race, gender identity, religion and disability status. The early returns under Trump aren't good. According to a recent Pro Publica investigation, the number of civil rights cases being resolved on college campuses has plummeted since the executive order was issued while cases closed by the office that were dismissed without being investigated have jumped. 'OCR is the most useless it's ever been, and it's the most dangerous it's ever been. And by useless, I mean unavailable. Unable to do the work,' former OCR attorney Michael Pillera told the nonprofit news organization. If the true aim of Trump administration policies were to protect the rights of females and ensure girls and women's sports thrive, it would make little sense to gut the federal agency largely responsible for achieving that goal. Yet here we are. The hypocrisy of using Title IX as a weapon against the rights of transgender athletes while ignoring Trump policies that render Title IX toothless was lost on several Fresno County politicians Thursday as they took turns blasting the CIF, Gov. Gavin Newsom, the State Legislature. The only fresh idea on a complex and thorny issue came from first-term Republican Assemblymember David Tangipa, who proposed creating an 'open division' for transgender athletes to compete against boys or anyone else at the CIF level but separate from biological females. 'That way anybody who wants to compete can compete, but we also guarantee that there is a space for our young women and our young athletes to compete just like what Title IX has already settled,' Tangipa said. Already settled? If only. Under Trump 2.0, the federal statute protecting the civil rights of millions of young female athletes has been unambiguously weakened. Which constitutes a far greater danger to the future of girls' sports than a few transgender athletes.
CBS News
5 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Fresno leaders criticize California's decision to let transgender athlete compete in state championship
With the track and field state championship meet coming to their area this weekend, politicians from Fresno County have used their moment in the spotlight to condemn California's decision to allow a 16-year-old transgender athlete to compete. "Remove biological boys from girls' sports and restore the integrity of our girls division," Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce said. The Jurupa Valley High School athlete, AB Hernandez, placed first at the Southern Section Masters Meet in both the girls' long and triple jump events. The wins ensured Hernandez a spot at the California Interscholastic Federation State (CIF) Track & Field Championships in Clovis on Saturday and Sunday. Her qualifying marks have angered many from conservative groups, who believe the teenager doesn't belong on the girls' team. "These attacks on girls and women in women's sports by boys parading as females must end immediately," Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld said. "Allowing biological males to compete in high school girls' track and field championships." The firestorm against the high school junior has intensified as the season concludes, with a Southern California politician running for state superintendent clashing with Hernandez's family during a recent track meet. Cell phone camera video shows President of Chino Valley Unified School District Sonja Shaw shouting at the teenager's mother. "I didn't go looking for a fight with her, but she sent cease and desist," Shaw said while speaking with CBS News Los Angeles. "It's common sense: boys are boys, girls are girls. ... They should be competing in their own divisions and using their own restrooms and that's all we've been fighting for." During Shaw's time at CVUSD, the district has been locked in a lawsuit with the California Attorney General's Office after she and her colleagues approved a policy forcing teachers to notify parents if their children want to transition to a different gender, despite a law barring such practice. Hernandez's supporters denounced Shaw's actions, describing her tirade as inexcusable and a horrible example in front of students. "To be taking this kind of heat, literally while you are competing, it's incredible," said Julie Stowers, who attended the same meet to support Hernandez. "I mean, she's incredibly strong emotionally to be able to do this." CIF athletic staff tried to tamp down on the controversy by announcing that if Hernandez should make it to the finals, "a biological female student/athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark will also be advanced to the finals." "This is not inclusion, this is insanity and it must stop," Bredefeld said. Hernandez has not commented publicly all week but she did speak about the criticism during a recent interview with Capital and Main reporter Cerise Castle. "There's nothing I can do about people's actions," Hernandez said. "Just focus on my own."
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fresno County rural areas to gain better internet access. Here's how
Internet access can be a challenge for underserved rural communities like Caruthers or Riverdale in Fresno County. That challenge became apparent during the pandemic when school districts in rural areas throughout the San Joaquin Valley had to provide education to their students virtually. Orin Hirschkorn, superintendent of Caruthers Unified School District, said the district learned during the pandemic that the community of about 2,500 people, located 15 miles south of downtown Fresno, faced all sorts of barriers. 'Number one was actually access. So that created several issues,' Hirschkorn said. Not only did the school district had to provide the education and instruction to the students, but students had to have a device to access the internet. 'And we were lacking in all of those areas,' Hirschkorn said. But, thanks to a partnership between Comcast, the state and Fresno County, reliable internet access is now available to Caruthers students and their families, decreasing the digital divide — the gap between those with access to digital devices and services to those without it — many rural areas have. 'Whenever we come into a community like Caruthers, it's important for us to not only bring high quality service, but to bring something that leaves a lasting impact,' said Nathan Ahle, government affairs director for Comcast California. Broadband access in rural areas is important for online learning, telehealth appointments, banking services, job and employment opportunities, Ahle said. Caruthers eighth grader Mia Perez Galindo was one of the 88 students in Caruthers Unified who received a brand-new laptop from Comcast earlier this month. Hirschkorn said Comcast's donation of laptops to students helps the district get over another obstacle — having devices to access the internet. This month, the partnership between the county and Comcast kicked off a new rural broadband expansion project expected to be completed by 2026. It would bring a reliable, high-speed broadband network to underserved households in the rural community of Riverdale, about 10 miles south of Caruthers. The expansion is made possible by a $1 million Federal Funding Account (FFA) grant from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and private funding by Comcast. The state established the $2 billion 'Last Mile' broadband program in 2021, after the pandemic exposed digital divide disparities in low income rural communities. 'They're making sure this last mile got done so people actually have good internet at home, not just at school,' said Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes, who represents the communities of Riverdale and Caruthers. 'The pandemic really exposed the fact that rural students had no access to internet,' Mendes said. 'We had to literally leave the lights on in the libraries, so they could park in the parking lot and use the internet.' Mendes said extending service to Riverdale will boost economic growth, support and attract new business and enhance residents quality of life.
