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Caltrans grants $203M for transit projects
- Details
- Published on 02/17/2012 - 4:53 pm
- Written by Business Journal Staff
The California Department of Transportation has awarded millions of dollars in grants to local transportation projects.Nearly $203 million in grants have been awarded by the California Department of Transportation to improve public transit across the state, including several in the San Joaquin Valley.
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Latest Events
| Tue, May 22nd, 2012 California Wage and Hour Law Seminar |
| Tue, May 22nd, 2012 FREE Shredding at Central Valley Community Bank - Sunnyside Branch |
| Tue, May 22nd, 2012 San Joaquin Affordable Housing Summit |
| Tue, May 22nd, 2012 “Dream It! Start It! Own It!” Regional Business Plan Competition |
| Wed, May 23rd, 2012 Explore Exporting Seminar |
| Wed, May 23rd, 2012 Farm Labor Contractor Class |
| Wed, May 23rd, 2012 State Labor Law and Payroll Tax Seminar |
| Wed, May 23rd, 2012 Small Business Awards Luncheon |
| Thu, May 24th, 2012 Business Advantage: Public Speaking in the Business Arena |
| Thu, May 24th, 2012 Hispanic Chamber Mixer |
Blogs
Gordon Webster - Publisher - 05/17/2012
Gabriel Dillard - Managing Editor - 04/24/2012
Latest Local News
Written on 05/18/2012, 2:37 pm by
(AP) — A woman's poem about being bullied in a California school 25 years ago has brought her former classmates to tears. Now, they're creating a...192
Written on 05/18/2012, 2:14 pm by
The San Joaquin Valley’s first regional affordable housing summit is set for 9 a.m. May 22 at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 2233 Ventura St., Fresno.
The San Joaquin Valley Housing Collaborative will bring together professionals from around the state to provide information and bolster advocacy for affordable housing in the San Joaquin Valley.
The Housing collaborative is a nonprofit organization formed as a regional body to specifically address housing issues in the eight county region of the Valley.
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Written on 05/18/2012, 1:49 pm by
Raw milk products produced by Organic Pastures of Fresno County have been released from a statewide quarantine that began May 10.
California Department of Food and Agriculture imposed the quarantine in response to the detection of campylobacter bacteria in raw cream, and notification from the California Department of Public Health of reported campylobacter food-borne illnesses in at least 10 persons consuming Organic Pastures raw milk.
California Department of Public Health isolated campylobacter jejuni from six samples of the dairy’s raw cream, one sample of raw butter and four samples of cow manure from the milking herd. Organic Pastures was required to meet all sanitation requirements and comply with food safety regulations under state law before the quarantine could be lifted. During the quarantine, the facility was prohibited from producing raw milk products for the retail market.
Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures, disputed the public health findings, insisting the bacteria were never found in his raw milk.
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Written on 05/18/2012, 1:41 pm by
Rep. Jim Costa is calling on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to take action in order to bring greater water security to the San Joaquin Valley, Costa’s office said in a statement.
In a letter, Costa stated that the status quo was not sustainable and expressed concerns that delays on decisions has created a cycle of planning with no end in sight.
“Instead of continuing to just fill reams of paper with plans, we have to make tough decisions,” Costa said in the statement. “Despite all the good faith efforts and processes, my constituents still have to fight tooth and nail for every drop of water. Our water challenges did not start over night, but we cannot continue to wait for action. Every delay, including the most recent on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, slows our Valley’s recovery and economic growth.”
Costa has long supported the completion of the BDCP in the hope that it would restore balance and health to California’s unpredictable water system, and he believes the plan would help meet the long-term water needs of the San Joaquin Valley.
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Written on 05/18/2012, 1:38 pm by
A new report shows Fresno falling in line with 10 cities with the most residents who don't keep their money in a bank or credit union.
The report by Scarborough Research provides an analysis on the ten percent of American adults that are atypical bankers—either superbanked with multiple asset accounts at financial institutions or unbanked with no financial accounts.
According to the report, roughly 5 percent (11.3 million) of adults in the U.S. are superbanked while another 5 percent (12.2 million) are unbanked.
Fresno came in second on the list of unbanked cities with 17 percent of its adult population without a bank or credit union. Fresno adults were 226 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to be unbanked.
Bakersfield residents, with 10 percent unbanked, were 94 percent more likely to go without a bank or credit union, while Los Angeles (9 percent unbanked) were 94 percent more likely.
Harlingen, Tex. topped the list at 237 percent more likely to go unbanked while New Orleans came in at number 10 with 48 percent more likely.
Fort Myers, Fla. headed up 10 cities most likely to be superbanked with adults 53 percent more likely to have multiple accounts. It was followed by San Francisco with 49 percent more likely to be superbanked.
Among those superbanked, 93 percent use credit cards, 49 percent use online banking and 44 percent use a credit union. They are also four times more likely than all adults to have money market funds and two times more likely to have stocks or stock options.
Among those unbanked, 55 percent have health insurance, 24 percent have life insurance and 23 percent use credit cards. As well, they are 31 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to look for a job in the next 12 months while 9 percent plan to go back to school in the next 12 months.
The reports also includes finding about the likely age, education, race, incomes, media choices and spending patterns of atypical bankers.
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Written on 05/18/2012, 1:26 pm by
(AP) — Officials have lifted quarantines on two Central Valley dairies linked to a case of mad cow disease, after investigators found the illness didn't come from cattle feed.
Tests performed by the World Organization for Animal Health confirmed what U.S. labs had found: The diseased cow had a form of the illness involving a spontaneous mutation of a protein gene that hasn't caused illness in humans.
The cases of mad cow reported across Great Britain in the 1990s were caused by cattle being fed protein supplements made from the spinal columns and brains of diseased cows. That practice has since been banned.
The case in Tulare County was discovered through random testing.
Officials have not released the names of the affected dairies, which had been shuttered since April 24.
Written on 05/18/2012, 12:14 pm by
The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board based in Dinuba will oversee the state's first mandatory food safety program by a commodity board.
The new food certification program was approved unanimously this week by the votes of 70 percent of cantaloupe handlers in the state.
With 100 percent of voters in support, the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board will now be amended to include the program that requires cantaloupe inspection tailored to a set of production and handling metrics while making it an unfair trade practice not to comply with the metrics.
The inspections will be performed by trained inspectors from the U.S Department of Agriculture, which also performs inspections for similar food safety programs like the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and California Tomato Farmers.
The program also expands the Board's scope to include all cantaloupes produced and marketed in California as opposed to the existing Board's organization affecting only those grown to the north and west of San Gorgonio Pass in Riverside County.
The Board is now in the process of filling additional seats created from the larger statewide focus for a total of 22 seats.
"California cantaloupes have never been associated with foodborne illness, yet the industry is unanimously in favor of a food safety program that will provide an additional layer of assurance for consumers that our product is safe," said Steve Patricio, chairman of the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board. "This program will formalize 20 years of food safety leadership by the California cantaloupe industry."
The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board was formed in 1988 as a marketing order to represent and market cantaloupe growers in the state and see to it that their products are inspected for quality and safety.
The Board now focuses primarily on research and food safety, representing 65 growers in the state that together produced 10.9 million cwt. of cantaloupes in 2010. Over 90 percent of the cantaloupes sold in the U.S. are from Central California.
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Written on 05/18/2012, 10:26 am by
Jake Belemijian, the manager of the newly opened Firing Line indoor shooting range in Clovis, wants to debunk common stereotypes of gun owners and insists firearms are for anyone.
“You would be amazed the people that have concealed weapons permits or are shooting enthusiasts that you don’t realize are,” Belemijian said. “... it’s just not something that people talk about.”
The indoor range features 25-yard shooting lanes for pistols and pistol-caliber rifles. It also offers gunsmith services such as custom work, full builds, trigger jobs, restorations and more.
It is located at 1173 Dayton Ave., near the intersection of Clovis and Shields avenues in Clovis. It is open Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The range welcomes family and group outings and offers classes on gun safety and training.
Belemijian said the environment is very safe but relaxed.
“We don’t have an agenda, we just want people to have access,” Belemijian said.
For more information call (559) 294-9400 or visit thefiringlineclovis.com.
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Written on 05/17/2012, 2:10 pm by
Thanks to robust sales of its community cookbook, K-Jewel 99.3 FM was able to raise $10,000 to help feed the Valley's hungry.
The Fresno radio station will present a $10,000 check to the Community Food Bank during a ceremony tomorrow at the nonprofit's headquarters at 3403 E. Central Ave. in Fresno.
The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. when K-Jewel morning radio hosts Bruce Campbell and Faleena Sutton will deliver the check that represents proceeds from the station's "K-Jewel Feeds Fresno" cookbook.
Published last fall, the cookbook features 134 recipes submitted by dozens of K-Jewel listeners. With a total of 1,000 copies sold at $10 each, 100 percent of the proceeds will go to provide meals for the needy.
Through the Community Food Bank's purchasing power, $10,000 is enough to provide $80,000 worth of food for the hungry.
The Community Food Bank distributes around 24 million pounds of food annually to people throughout Fresno, Madera and Kings counties. Recently, the organization received $47,500 from Walmart's Fighting Hunger Together initiative.
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