We’re Back. And Congress? Coulda Been Clapped.
A group of right-wing extremists storm congress and an embarrassing number of Fresnans are among them. Dyer is our new mayor & Tower Theater about to become Tower Cathedral.
☀️Good morning, Fresno! It’s Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021.
Hey girls, it’s Tommy.
I hope everybody had a good holiday season, I know Ram and I did. You probably noticed that for more than a month, Fiveby has been totally absent from your inbox and the airwaves. Sad!
But don’t worry, we weren’t goofing off. Well, we weren’t JUST goofing off. We’ve been at the drawing board, baby, scheming out how we’re going to make Fiveby the smartest and sexiest media organization in Fresno. For one, we’re starting the Patreon, launching the merch store, and expanding our original content. Also, our pod is back this Wednesday. More about all that at the end.
But for now, let’s look at Something Completely Different. You may have heard that the Tower Theater is being purchased by Adventure Church. We sifted through every piece of major reporting about this deal so you don’t have to. Here’s the story, and after that...let’s look back on the last week in Fresno.
—Love, Tommy 💙
🎭Tower Theater to be Bought Out by Church
The Tower Theater, the cornerstone of the historic Tower District, is being sold to a local church. Community fears it could jeopardize the culture—and the liquor licences—of the Tower District.
Adventure Church, whose main office sits on North Palm, has secured a deal to purchase the Tower Theater. According to Councilmember Miguel Arias, that deal is currently in escrow.
The Tower Theater has stood since 1939, and was later restored in 1990. It’s unknown how much money is exchanging hands, but an October listing on quantumlisting.com had the theater valued at $6.5 million.
Long rumored, the news was met with almost unanimous unenthusiasm from the business and art community in Tower. Terry Story, who owns Fab, a popular gay nightclub, called the deal “devastating.”
Churches have very particular zoning restrictions. Were Tower Theater to become a place of worship in the eyes of the city, it would endanger the liquor licenses of places like Fab, as well as the other bars near the theater. At least two applications for Commercial Cannabis licenses have been filed near the theater’s address, which would also be complicated by the presence of a new church.
“It would handicap a whole block of the entertainment district,” Arias told the Bee.
Fresno by Five
🗳️Dyer is Officially Your Mayor, and Tyler Maxwell Joins the City Council
Jerry Dyer officially became the mayor of Fresno on Tuesday. He takes office even as the coronavirus runs rampant through Fresno, violence is up and morale is super, super down. Dyer says he’s focused on homelessness and improving Fresno’s “curb appeal” for business interests.
“We are going to be relocating those [homeless] individuals from the freeway into housing beginning this month. I am anticipating within the next 45 days to 60 days, our freeways will not have homeless people on them,” Dyer said.
He pledged his support for Project Homekey, which repurposes underutilized hotels and motels into housing for the homeless.
He will also launch the Beautify Fresno office, an initiative that will fuse the beautifying functions of the city into one department. Dyer hopes increasing Fresno’s curb appeals will make it a better place to live, and a place that businesses want to be.
“That’s really going to be the answer for us—not only keeping people safe, getting our economy back open—but returning to some form of normalcy,” he said.
🏙️Tyler Maxwell Joins the City Council, Which Affirms Measure P
Speaking of swearing in, Tyler Maxwell has joined the City Council. In his first act, he pushed for the city to recognize Measure P.
Measure P, a sales tax increase meant to fund parks that was thought to have failed, Passed Actually, at least according to the Fresno-based Court of Appeal.
“[It is an] embarrassing and shameful history when it comes to our parks and green space. The judicial system has already spoken,” Maxwell said.
Mike Karbassi and noted Fiveby stan Garry Bredefeld were the only two councilmembers to vote against recognizing the passage of Measure P.
🗽Jim Costa Recounts the Moment When Domestic Terrorists Stormed the Capitol
Jim Costa wrote a gripping opinion for the Fresno Bee, in which he recounts his experience trapped inside the US House of Representatives while domestic terrorists ran rampant just outside the locked doors.
Dympna Ugwu-Oju, Fresnoland editor and Friend of the Pod, also wrote about the storming of the Capitol. Ugwu-Oju survived the Nigerian civil war, and the scene from Washington seemed straight from her past rather than her present.
“I am an immigrant, born in Nigeria, a country which is classified as a Third World nation. I lived through the country’s civil war. I know fear, horror and hopelessness that result from a group of thugs overthrowing an officially elected government and throwing the country into chaos and civil war.
I am shocked at how easily this country — supposedly the last bastion of hope for those of us who come here seeking stability and peace and the right to raise families without fear of government upheaval or takeover, or coup d’etat — could disintegrate,” she wrote.
🙄All The Embarrassing Ass Locals Storming the Capitol and Protesting Democracy
Sigh. So. More than a handful of Fresnans were at the protest that would eventually breach congress.
Here’s a bunch of protesters mobbing Lindsey Graham. Among them? A Clovis real estate agent. Ben Martin was there to diffuse tensions, or at least that’s what he says. He did enter the buildings, but he says it wasn’t on purpose or anything. Hey, at least the left and the right can agree on one thing (Lindsey Graham sucks).
He’d like you to know he doesn’t support all that icky anti-Semitic stuff. He literally said there’s only one race. The human race. K.
James Hoak, a goddamn Sierra Unified School District trustee was there. You can see screenshots and accounts of his now-deleted videos on Uspark.
“This is what it looks like when you storm the capitol and it is not burning down yet,” he said. He’d like you to know he was there as a private citizen rather than a representative of Sierra Unified. I don’t think it works that way, luv!
And hey, there’s Jason Phillips, who is most famous for harassing Miguel Arias at his home and also being Cringe.
You might recognize some of these people from the anti-mask protest that shut down Trader Joes. No, really. And if all this wasn’t enough there were pro-Trump anti-democracy protests all up and down Fresno and Clovis.
😱Ray Appleton Suggests That News Editors Should Be ‘Hanged,’ Sponsors Clap Back
KMJ radio host and Person With Very Good Judgement Ray Appleton found himself suspended from his talkshow after he said, “Certain news editors should be hanged maybe.”
He apologized, but like, in the way where you say it was just a joke. It was clearly tongue in cheek. Or should I say check? He couldn’t even edit the apology. But I guess it doesn’t matter because the post was deleted anyway.
Miguel Arias said on Friday that he will pursue pulling any marketing dollars the city spends on KMJ following the comments.
🐝And Now...a Fresno Bee Story About Stolen Bees
A Sacramento man was sentenced to four years probation and fined $13,000 for stealing 1200 beehives.
The hives, stolen over a two year period starting in 2017, are estimated to be worth $200,000. Pollination is a big deal for the almond industry, which is booming. As a result, the beehive has become very attractive to thieves.
🎧Next Week on the Pod
Simple and Clean and Checkin’ for the Vaccine feat. Dr. Rais Vohra
In our first episode of 2021, the pandemic pals sat down with Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno’s interim health officer to talk all things COVID-19. When can you expect to get the vaccine? How can Fresno make sure it’s distributing vaccine sites in a fair and equitable way? Tune in on Wednesday and find out.
Listen to the episode on these other podcasting platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anchor | Google Podcasts
💳Patreon
Thanks for reading this week’s letter. We took a long break from summarizing the last week in Fresno and interviewing the hottest locals so we could set up our Patreon. Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that allows you to pledge money to Fiveby every month and get cool perks in exchange.
Our first tier, which costs $5.59 will get you a cool sticker and access to patron-only posts and the new Fiveby Discord.
Second tier, for $10, will make you a member of our community advisory board, who we’ll chat with regularly to help guide the future of Fiveby. You’ll also get a cool poster and all previous perks.
The $20 tier will earn you 15% off all current and future merchandise. Check out our merch store here.
Lastly, for $100 a month, I, Tommy Tribble, will literally call you and read you that week’s edition of our newsletter. This is an insane tier. If you pick it you’re probably as deranged as we are.
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This newsletter was written by Tommy Tribble (@tomiiwrites) and edited by Ram Reyes (@vibesradiator)| Follow Five By Five Nine on Instagram & Twitter