Employment Attorney in Fresno, CA

Fresno drivers may want to plan for longer commute times.

Parts of Highway 41 are closing in both directions due to roadwork, according to the California Department of Transportation.

Caltrans crews will shut down sections of select lanes due to pavement repairs and sealing, the state roads agency said via Facebook.

“Motorists should plan accordingly,” Caltrans said.

Here’s what to know:

When is Highway 41 closing in Fresno?

Caltrans closed the No. 2 lane of southbound Highway 41 from just south of Laguna Avenue to Excelsior Avenue for pavement repairs starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 3.

That lane will remain closed to traffic until 2:15pm. Tuesday, Caltrans said in a Monday, March 2, Facebook post.

Motorists should “expect delays” during this time, the state roads agency said.

Where can I expect roadwork in Fresno?

Caltrans is also planning to close parts of the No. 2 lane of northbound Highway 41.

The No. 2 lane of the highway will close from Rose Avenue to Floral Avenue on Wednesday, March 4, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for “asphalt sealing operations,” Caltrans said in a Tuesday, March 3, Facebook post.

Caltrans will close the No. 2 lane from Nebraska Avenue to Rose Avenue from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, for the same reason.

The No. 2 lane of Highway 41 will close from Saginaw Avenue to Nebraska Avenue on Friday, March 6, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for asphalt sealing, the state roads agency said.

Which Highway 99 ramp is closing? When?

Also on Tuesday, Caltrans closed the southbound Highway 99 on-ramp at Olive Avenue due to “landscaping operations.”

The ramp was expected to reopen at 3 p.m., the agency said in a Tuesday Facebook post.

“Alternate routes are advised” during the close, Caltrans said.

How long will freeway construction last?

Highway closures could last for longer periods of time each day “due to delays caused by weather or uncontrollable events that may occur during maintenance,” Caltrans said.

Roadwork is “weather permitting,” the state road agency said.

Caltrans reminded motorists to “drive with extra care and allow additional travel time while travelling in the maintenance area.”

Smaller stations, and building in the correct order.

That’s what the California High-Speed Rail Authority says is key to shaving another $2 billion off the cost of its initial Central Valley route, which it hopes to complete by 2032. The savings would bring the segment’s cost down to $34.76 billion, down from the $36.75 billion cost the rail authority projected last August and from the $51 billion it says the route would cost without its savings plan.

In a statement to The Fresno Bee late Monday evening, the rail authority said it’s going to change design plans for its four Central Valley stations — slated for Fresno, Merced, Hanford and Bakersfield — so that their sizes align with ridership demand expected when passenger service begins.

“We’re not overbuilding or over-maintaining, while delivering infrastructure in the correct sequence, so every available dollar goes further,” the agency said in a written response to emailed questions from The Bee.

The rail authority revealed its cost-saving hopes over the weekend in a draft of its 2026 business plan, which this year is required by a 2025 state law to show how the agency is going to clear previously identified financing gaps for the Central Valley segment.

The report says the agency has $39.3 billion available through 2045, enough to clear the $34.76 billion cost of the Central Valley segment even if $2 billion in borrowing costs were added to the total. To realize those cost savings, the rail authority will need a lot of support from the state.

The agency will need California’s Legislature to approve various laws that will grant it more power over land it needs and give it access to money faster, not just on an annual basis from the state. That would help reduce the type of construction delays and subsequent cost increases that have plagued the project’s past, the agency said.

But the list of requests may be too long, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office said in a report released Monday.

“The implications for these (cost and schedule) estimates if the Legislature were not to approve the proposed statutory changes are unclear,” the LAO report says.

After feds pulled $4 billion, CA High-Speed Rail looked for new options

The project has grown controversial since California voters in 2008 approved $9.95 billion in bonds for a train that would connect the state’s major metro areas at a total cost of about $45 billion.

Today, state law requires that the rail authority focus on first completing the 171-mile Central Valley segment from Merced to Bakersfield, a line that is expected to lose money with low ridership. Historically critical of the project’s Central Valley focus, the Trump administration decided to pull $4 billion of the train’s federal money last summer.

The rail authority says that’s when it began to pitch more changes to design plans as it met with local governments. The agency had already announced last April it planned to reduce the size of its Central Valley stations with designs that would allow them to grow as ridership levels increase.

More recently the agency pitched changing the way the train will travel through Shafter to cut costs and two years of construction time, though that city rejected the proposal. It also has proposed a new station location in Merced, which the agency says will save $1 billion.

“We will be reaching out also to Bakersfield,” rail authority CEO Ian Choudri said during last month during a visit to the Central Valley. “We’ll just sit down and discuss through the planning process.”

The agency told The Bee its savings projection also accounts for a Central Valley construction cost increase of up to $573 million recently authorized by its board.

Though it has pitched delaying construction to Merced and building toward the Bay area first, the agency said Monday “there are no plans to defer the Merced station.” Doing so would require changes to the state law that mandates the rail authority build a Central Valley segment first, which Choudri told The Bee last fall he does plan to ask from the Legislature.

“The Authority’s strategy is clear: completion of the Merced – Bakerfield segment, expand service to major population centers, and early asset commercialization to generate additional revenue to support continued system build out,” the agency said Monday in its response to questions.

When Fresno Diocese Bishop Joseph Brennan celebrated Mass for about 70 detainees at the gym of California City’s ICE detention facility, his message for detainees was simple: Someone is with you.

“To those in detention, I want to say clearly: You are not alone,” Brennan recounted in a short statement to The Fresno Bee about his recent visit to California City Immigration Processing Center in Kern County.

“The Church walks with you, prays with you, and cares about your spiritual and human needs,” Brennan said during the Mass.

Brennan, who visited the largest ICE detention facility in the state on Feb. 16 as part of a delegation of the California Conference of Catholic Bishops, walked through the detention center, talked to detainees and celebrated Mass. The Diocese of Fresno covers eight counties, including Kern.

“This was very special; it was a very different Mass,” said Chandler Marquez, Fresno Dioceses spokesperson who also went with Brennan to the facility. “It was very touching, and it was very impactful.”

The 2,650-bed California City facility, operated by Tennessee-based private prison company CoreCivic, had 847 people detained as of early December, according to

The visit was part of raising awareness and promoting “human dignity, accompaniment, and restorative justice” across the state, an initiative by the Catholic Bishops of California, according to Marquez.

In December, a team of inspectors from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office toured the facility that resulted in a seven-page letter sent to Department of Homeland Security officials. and living conditions. U.S. Sens Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff also toured the facility in mid-January and .

The bilingual Mass, in English and Spanish, was attended by about 70 men, ranging from 20 to 50, who spoke about 90 languages in total, Marquez said.

Marquez said prior to the service, Brennan and Bishop Brian Nunes, from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, talked to the men and were told that a majority either spoke or understood Spanish, with the bishops deciding the Mass would be mostly in Spanish.

A quarter of the men were Catholic and received the sacrament of confession before Mass and then communion during Mass, Marquez said.

While it was Brennan’s first visit to an ICE detention facility, Marquez said the diocese hopes to get into more ICE detention centers in the next couple of months.

Marquez said seeing the “frustration and fear in their eyes” in those who were detained at California City’s ICE detention center made it more urgent for the Fresno diocese to figure out what more the bishop’s office can do.

The dioceses have an ongoing ministry for the needs of migrants throughout the Central Valley, Marquez said, adding that through Catholic Charities, its immigration department helps people with legal needs such as becoming U.S. citizens.

“So, our efforts are ongoing,” Marquez said. “After the detention facility visit, it’s just again, more advocacy and more communication to the Catholics here in our Central Valley about how important and urgent this need is.”

A new ban on blackjack is set to start April 1 in California because of recently-approved state regulations that stand to benefit Native American casinos but could hurt licensed card rooms, including Fresno’s Club One Casino and Clovis’ 500 Club Casino.

Club One owner Kyle Kirkland told The Fresno Bee on Wednesday that the ban could mean a drop in revenue that dramatically reduces his business’ tax contributions to the city of Fresno’s General Fund that average about $1 million annually. It could also eventually mean fewer jobs at Club One and 500 Club, he said.

“You’re talking about 500-600 working families in the county of Fresno immediately impacted by this,” said Kirkland, who is also president of the California Gaming Association.

California law since 2000 has allowed Native American casinos the exclusive right to offer blackjack games in which players compete against the house, though card rooms have instead used player-dealers employed by a third party for blackjack-style games.

The new regulations, proposed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Bureau of Gambling Control, essentially ban card room blackjack and place stricter rules on player-dealers. They were approved Friday by the state’s Office of Administrative law, and California card rooms have until May 31 to submit plans for compliance.

The controversial approval comes after years of tribal casinos arguing card rooms were skirting the law by offering modified styles of blackjack. The rules received 1,764 public comments — including opposition from Fresno-area elected officials and support from the tribal gaming community — but were approved without “any substantive changes to the proposed regulations,” according to a Monday news release from Bonta’s office.

Kirkland said he believes the new rules are a result of the Native American gaming industry’s financial influence and political campaign contributions.

The California Nations Indian Gaming Association, a main supporter of the new rules, did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment Monday.

Legal action is plan A, says Fresno’s Club One

Kirkland said blackjack is about 25% of Club One’s revenue base, and player-dealer games are about 60% of its revenue base.

He estimates a drop in business from the new regulations would cause a 75% decrease in the tax revenue Club One contributes to the city of Fresno’s General Fund.

While Club One contributes $1 million annually in Fresno, Kirkland said there are smaller Southern California cities that heavily depend on card room tax revenue.

“It’s obviously super critical to us (in Fresno),” Kirkland said, “but there are some cities in Southern California that will be filing for bankruptcy if this goes through.”

Though Bonta’s Monday news release says the state followed the law by responding to each public comment and providing the final regulations publicly, Kirkland said he believes the state’s process was flawed.

“Plan A is we have to initiate legal action to push back against this,” he said. “Plan B is, ‘What’s this mean for Club One? What parts of our business can be saved.’ ”

Kirkland added that he’s never heard complaints about Club One’s games causing public harm, except from tribal casinos.

CA Native groups support stricter rules

In a public comment about the regulations last May, the California Nations Indian Gaming Association said the then-proposed rules were “a good first step.”

“For nearly a decade, we and many tribal governments throughout California have been seeking relief from what we believe to be unlawful games at card rooms,” wrote James Siva, the association’s chairman.

But the association at the time asked for further tightening of the proposed rules, arguing they contained ambiguities that card rooms could use to circumvent the rules.

The association also wanted mandatory penalties for violations of the new blackjack and player-dealer regulations, adding that there are often “wink and nod” approaches to these games in card rooms.

“While both (regulations) should be improved significantly, we commend the effort to finally address the lack of clarity about the games permitted at California card rooms, which has resulted in widespread illegal gaming,” Siva wrote.

He added that voter-approved gaming rights have been “vital to California tribal governments” and the services they provide their communities, including housing, education, healthcare and more. Tribal gaming itself generates $3.4 billion in taxes for federal, state and local governments, Siva wrote.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Action News has obtained a letter that went out to Fresno City employees.

It notified them that starting this month, they will be without in-network care at various Community Medical Center locations. Now, employees are calling for answers.

More than 1,500 workers were notified that their healthcare contract was terminated as of February 1 due to ongoing contract negotiations between Community Medical Center and Blue Shield of California.

"The city employees are frankly stuck in the middle, and as a result of the contract expiring, these city employees are going to be forced to pay out-of-network premiums, which is going to cost them more money," says Georgeanne White, Fresno City Manager.

The Community Health providers normally offered to the insured employees are no longer available in the network.

Those who are regularly seen at Community Regional or Clovis Community must now find care elsewhere, like St. Agnes or Valley Children's.

In a statement to Action News, Blue Shield claimed CMC, "request(ed) to terminate the existing contract, with intent to renegotiate."

But CMC's statement accused Blue Shield of "electing not to grant another extension and let it expire January 31, 2026."

Blue Shield went on to say, "We have provided CMC a series of offers withfair and reasonable rate increases while protecting our members' access to care. This includes offering additional payments when they deliverhigh-quality and good healthcareoutcomes for our members. CMC is not willing to tie any portion of their pay increases to performance, which is not in the best interest of our members."

CMC says they're actively working with Blue Shield to "reach an equitable agreement as soon as possible so we can continue providing quality healthcare to those who rely on us."

This comes on the heels of Community Health System reaching an agreement with Aetna, restoring coverage for over 6,000 retirees from the Fresno Unified School District.

Sharon Hart worked as a teacher and administrator for over 20 years. She was among the former educators who were put in a crisis situation.

"It was really shocking in many ways. It just shows how broken our healthcare system is nationally. This is not a problem unique to Fresno or to Fresno Unified retirees," says Hart.

Community Health System is the fifth-largest healthcare system in the state. Their footprint is critical in the Valley.

We asked CMC about its bottom line and if cuts to the federal government have impacted these negotiations.

They responded saying, "Our ability to provide high-quality, accessible care for our patients depends on contracts that fairly reimburse our care teams for the services they deliver. We look at each contract individually, however stagnant and declining government payments obviously impact our overall financial picture leaving us no wiggle room to accept a contract that doesn't adequately cover the cost of providing care," says Aldo De La Torre, Division President, Insurance Services & Managed Care for Community Health System.

The City of Fresno says its health and welfare board will hold a special meeting in March if the two parties do not come to an agreement by then to try and find alternate solutions.

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