The Independent Police Reviewer Needs Reviewing
Why did John Gliatta withhold his report? Are schools gonna hold in-person classes in October? There's a sale at Penny's? Some of these questions answered in this week's newsletter.
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☀️Good morning, Fresno! It is Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020.
Hello, hello! Seems like our COVID-19 rates are going down and businesses are getting antsy to open back up. But I went to River Park the other day and it was packed af. Like there was a line to get into Yard House. People just be living like there isn’t a pandemic. That’s crazy. Maybe I’ve been doing it all wrong by just staying inside all day. Lol just kidding.
Stay safe y’all!
-Ram 🧡
Fresno By Five
🏥 Coronavirus Updates
As of Sept. 25, the most recent data available at the time of writing, there have been a total of 27,717 total confirmed (+546) cases and 382 (+23) deaths in Fresno County. Currently, there are 80 (-16) hospitalized. A total of 18,204 people have recovered.
Under the new color-coded system to reopen California, Fresno County is still Purple. We would need to have fewer than seven new cases per day per 100,000 people and have a testing positivity rate of 8% per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks.
If rates continue, we can go from Purple (Widespread) to Red (Substantial) on Sept. 29. This tier would allow for indoor dining at 25% capacity.
Testing is available around Fresno. Visit lhi.care to set up an appointment. It’s free even without insurance. If you have insurance, you can also try these other testing sites here.
🚒 Creek Fire Updates
As of Sept. 26, the fire is now 39% contained.
It has burned 292,172 acres and is now the 10th-largest wildfire in California history. The cause is still under investigation.
The date for full containment is still Oct. 15.
⚖️ The Police OIR Situation, in brief
Fresno’s independent police reviewer John Gliatta told a subcommittee of Fresno’s Commission on Police Reform on Sept. 16 that in an effort to avoid a potential backlash, he purposefully refused to publish his report on the case of 17-year-old London Wallace, who sued Fresno Police for police brutality and excessive force in 2019.
Gliatta finished his report in May, which was set to be included in the quarterly July audit of the police. But he decided not to. At his own discretion. Without any advice from the community, police, or city officials. He said “emotions were running rampant” during May after the killing of George and he wanted to avoid protests.
“I did not want to print my results at that time because I thought it would cause some issues within the community. So I waited. I just didn’t think it was prudent to put that out at that time. I wasn’t concerned how it would make the PD look”
Independent Police Reviewer John Gliatta to the Commission on Police ReformDuring a Fresno City Council meeting on Thursday, many folks from our community (some of y’all might be reading this!) called in during public comment to express their disappointment. They called for the report to be released immediately, and for Gliatta’s resignation.
On Friday, City Manager Wilma Quan announced that Gliatta’s report will be released next week. The council will also have a meeting with the city on the independent reviewer’s role and the auditor process. Great job to all that called in.
🏫 Back 2 School 4 Real This Time?
Declining positivity rates in the Central Valley means more advocates for reopening. 25 elementary schools around the Valley applied for a waiver to hold in-person classes and those 25 elementary schools got it. 7 of those are from Fresno County and they’re mostly charter and Christian schools. The full list is here.
Fresno and Clovis Unified are also set to apply for waivers to also allow in-person classes and according to Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer, the continued lowering rates might have all schools open for in-person classes by Oct. 13.
🟢 Restaurants and Businesses Rally to Reopen
Another protest by restaurants and business owners was held in front of Fresno City Hall on Monday. And this time they said they’re gonna reopen on Oct. 1 with our without permission from Gov. Gavin Newsom. Like we said earlier though, restaurants are gonna reopen with indoor dining at 25% on Sept. 26 but go off, I guess.
🏨 Converting a Motel for the Homeless
$7.6 million dollars has been given to the Fresno Housing Authority to purchase and rehabilitate a motel to aid people experiencing homelessness. Gov. Gavin Newsom granted the $7.6 million and that money is part of Project Homekey, a $600 million state initiative that sets out to rehabilitate underutilized hotels and motels across the state for housing. The first location will be Motel 99, located at 1240 N Crystal Ave.
🍺 Less Booze in California’s (Former) Drunkest City
Did you know that Men’s Health in 2015 crowned Fresno as the drunkest city in America? Yeah, me neither. But we’re not the drunkest anymore but we do have a lot of liquor licenses. Some areas have one license per every 300 residents. Yikes! Is that an L or a W?
The Fresno City Council is set to change that through the Responsible Neighborhood Market Act. The act would increase the distance between businesses that sell liquor from 500 to 1000 feet and put in place stricter rules for obtaining permission to sell alcohol. The council is set to vote on it during their next regular meeting mid-October.
👨🏻🦲 Dyer talks with Fresnoland about Latinx Issues
Fresnoland’s Dayana Jiselle and Latinx Communities reporter Nadia Lopez sat down with Fresno’s Mayor-Elect Jerry Dyer and discussed his plans to address Latinx residents’ concerns about immigration, COVID-19, housing and more. Give it a read or watch.
If you would like something added to the Community Board, email us at contact@fivebyfivenine.com or DM us on social media @fivebyfivenine
📌Community Board
Fundraiser for vandalized Black-owned business in Old Town Clovis
Just My Essentials was broken into Friday night and the inside was trashed and vandalized with racist words. To help, a GoFundMe has been set up to restore the shop. You can also order something from their online store.
Keep Fresno Beautiful Clean-Up Event
A clean-up event will happen in downtown Fresno on Saturday, September 26, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Check-in begins at 9:30 a.m. in front of the Shepherd's Inn (935 Santa Fe Ave) in downtown Fresno. Register here.
🎧 On the pod this week
This week we sat down with Central Unified Trustee Area 6 candidate Stacy Williams to discuss racial and economic justice in K-12 education. Tommy went to Central West and he wants to know why it’s like...That. Plus, Ram says AP classes are a scam and reveals he does, in fact, live in Clovis.
Follow Stacy Williams @williamsCUSD6 on Twitter and check out the campaign at votestacy.com.
Listen to the episode on these other podcasting platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anchor | Google Podcasts
Also pls give us 5 Stars on Apple Podcasts 🥺 👉 👈
This newsletter was written by Ram Reyes (@vibesradiator) and edited by Tommy Tribble (@tomiiwrites) | Follow Five By Five Nine on Instagram & Twitter