Fresno's interweb gossip network (i.e. MySpace) is buzzing with news that Dateline NBC will be in town this weekend doing one of its famous exposes. No, not the one about child molesters, so you can stop sweating, Fernando Bernal.
Rumor has is that Dateline is doing some kind of report about Fresno's DUI crackdown tactics, following last week's report in USA Today that Fresno Police's DUI stings could be a "model."
A word to the wise, kids: Don't drink and drive. Also -- if that sneaky Chris Hansen tries to buy you a Long Island Iced Tea, then directs you to a vehicle where a underage kid is waiting to be driven home, don't do that, either.
So I went to Club Fred (a bar in Fresno's Tower District) on Friday night and I ordered a glass of water. The bartender said it'll be $2. I clarified that I just wanted a glass of water, and she said they only sold water, as opposed to giving it away. It was explained that when it gets busy, they have to charge because otherwise they'd run out of glasses.
Whether it was a direct result of the Creative Economy Council's recommendations and/or the March on the Mall event is still up in the air, but apparently Fresno's Fulton Plaza now has wi-fi access.
That's according to Downtown Association board member Elliott Balch, who wrote in an e-mail: "It was a surprise to everyone I've talked to when the mayor announced a few weeks ago that this was coming. And as far as yesterday, I just mosied down there after work to see if the network was up, because I've seen the antenna on the clock tower, and it just happened to be working. A pretty low-key rollout if you ask me!"
A travel writer from The New York Times visited Fresno and remarked that it could be considered an actual destination rather than its usual label of "an isolated place to pass through." In 36 hours, tourist Evan Rail arguably hits more of the city's attractions than most residents do in their lifetimes.
How can Fresno's city council help our music scene?
I met city councilman Henry T. Perea this morning at Kern Street Coffee Company. Neither of us drink coffee, but we're both interested in the local music scene.
On the heels of the mayor's Creative Economic Council's report, -- which was released in January and talked about the importance of Fresno's arts -- Perea was especially curious about what the city could do to help Fresno's growing music scene thrive. "I just think we have a huge opportunity," Perea said. "I don't want to see it squandered."
We both agreed that Fresno, with some local bands getting signed, the Rogue Festival growing strong and the always-great ArtHop, is a city going through a creative revolution. So the question was, how can the city council help?
In a recent column I mentioned a conversation that I had at my favorite sushi restaurant, not realizing how much interest there is in sushi in this town. Several local sushi aficionados have asked for my Top-10 list. So here are a couple of my favorites in a city that has several great sushi places: Sushi' N Pop at Cedar and Barstow and Sakanaya at Fort Washington and Friant. Now it's your turn to complete the Top-10 list. What are your fave Fresno sushi restaurants?
Four months and 65 pages later, the Mayor's Crative Economy Council has made its "recommendations to retain, attract, develop and support knowledge workers" in Fresno. The report, "Making the Grass Greener," is designed to come up with solutions to the city's brain drain. You can view the entire report or just the first 13 pages for an overview. Both are PDF files and can be found here.
Fresno's retail revolution continues. In case you missed it, in Thursday's Business section, reporter Bethany Clough told us that Fresno is finally getting a Banana Republic, as well as a J.JillRumors of the Fig Banana have been around for a while, but now we've got a tentative date. Expect the store to open at Fig Garden Village in early June 2006. And if Banana Republic is too rich for your blood, a BR outlet store should be coming to Tulare in the first quarter of '06.
For years, Fresno has charged its developers less than other cities do to carry out construction projects. Throughout the '90s, while other cities were raising their development fees to keep up with growth and inflation, Fresno's fees stayed put. Now, those fees aren't enough to cover needed public improvements like parks and street lights and fire stations, say some City Council members.
In today's Life section, Bee reporter Mike Oz looks at Club Casa Blanca, the five-month-old nightclub downtown. Mike describes it this way:
Here, his approach is all about options. Casa Blanca is open Friday and Saturday nights, flipping between club nights and concerts.
When in nightclub mode, Casa Blanca has three different rooms, each catering to a different crowd. ... When in concert mode, the walls and seats can be moved to give the look of a big, open concert.
Last night Tyler hooked Amanda and me up with free concert tickets to see Chris Cagle at Club Casablanca in downtown Fresno. It was awesome, lots of fun. The cool thing was it was not a formal concert, so little kids were on the stage, Chris was talking to us and it was just laid back and cool.
Hoping to give the city an edge in this competitive recruitment game, Fresno Mayor Alan Autry on Wednesday introduced a 12-person task force to recommend how the city can lure more software designers, artists, engineers and others whose "sole economic function is to create a new idea."
"Creative people of any age are a critical component of any successful city," Autry said, announcing the effort during a news conference at City Hall. "We will have strategies and tactics to reach that vision."
The "Mayor's Creative Economy Council" will meet weekly for 90 days. A report will be issued to the City Council, with recommendations on how to change city policies to draw more creative talent.
Fresno Famous has issued a call for anyone who wants to send the committee a message to post on the Sour Grapes blog. Jarah Euston, Famous' editor, is one of the invitees. (Update: Frank Delgado is also posting about the council on Urban Tribe Six.) Click the infobox in our story to view the others.
OK, no, probably not. But we're not above a little sensationalism now and then. While it may not bring about any high-profile indictments, PunkStory.com takes us back to the days of mohawks, leather, and fishnets, with a collection of photos from Fresno's punk scene in the early '80s. The folks behind PunkStory are combining those photos with interviews of people involved in that scene to bring us a documentary called "I Was There! A Punx Story." Read more about it on the Fresno '80s Punk Rock forum. See also: Fresno Punk Scene History and Fresno City Hardcore.
When Rachel Howard was 10 years old, she awoke one night to find her father dying, clutching at a knife in his neck, surrounded by blood in their Merced home. Her family moved to Fresno soon after, where she kept the fact of her father's demise a secret, even from her boyfriends. Now, almost 20 years after the murder, she's published the details of the tragedy in a memoir, The Lost Night, which has drawn ecstatic reviews from The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.
Rachel will be reading from her book and signing copies at 6 p.m. today at Barnes & Noble, 7849 N. Blackstone Ave. For more about Rachel and The Lost Night, read her interview with Heather McLane (the voice of the Bee for anyone who calls our newsroom) from last week's Fresno Famous. Also see Bee reporter Don Mayhew's interview with Rachel from yesterday's Life section. You can also find Rachel's blog at RachelHoward.com.
Victoria and James recommend a Central Valley day trip that's not in the guide books:
Even though the California guidebooks said there was nothing to see there, I remembered from school that it is the major place where fruit is grown. It is particlarly famous for Sun Maid rasins and other dried fruits (about 200 different varities in the San Joaquin valley if I remember correctly). I thought that it was unlikely that we would be visiting that part of the world again so it would be good to see some of what goes on there. I phoned the Sun Maid raisin factory but was told that they did not do tours. Listed directly under them on on my internet search was a place called 'Sun Empire Foods.' So I phoned them. The man that answered the phone was wonderful and invited us for a tour of his factory where they process dried fruits into chocolates! (Candy here in the US). Much more exciting! But, we were to be there on a Sunday. Not a problem to him - he would open the factory especially for us!
P.F. Chang's fans, take note. Expect the restaurant to open in the River Park complex by the end of this year. Construction begins this month, says Rod Anaforian from developer Lance-Kashian & Co.
A few weeks ago, folkswereall abuzz about the prospect that the powers-that-be might snag a Bass Pro outdoor store to anchor the South of Stadium project in downtown Fresno. Turns out, Bass Pro is indeed coming to the Valley.
What does this mean for the possibility of a Fresno BP? It's unclear. City Council's showing a cheery face. From George Hostetter's story in today's Bee:
Dateline: To Catch a Drunk
Fresno's interweb gossip network (i.e. MySpace) is buzzing with news that Dateline NBC will be in town this weekend doing one of its famous exposes. No, not the one about child molesters, so you can stop sweating, Fernando Bernal. 
$2 for water?
March on the Mall event