MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Fresno, CA

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Friday was a slow day at the coffee and deli shop in Shaver Lake. Even selling the world-famous chunky bread isn't helping.

"It's been tough on all of the businesses up here because there's been so much snow. And just trying to dig out. It's impacted our business dramatically because of the amount of snow." said Norman Kato.

He has owned this business for about 17 years. Kato is hopeful the summer season will help pick up after a slow winter season.

"We'll get a big influx of business, everyone from the valley. As soon as it gets 104 degrees down in the valley, everyone will be at the lake. That's kind of the tradition over the years." said Kato.

Kato said he is ready to welcome the flood of visitors in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the China Peak Mountain Resort is ready to prepare for the summer season. But only after one last weekend of skiing and snowboarding on the slopes.

Management said the area received a record amount of snow, with over 700 inches falling on the mountains.

"It was an amazing season with the record snowfall. We were able to be open for seven months, longer than we've been open before in the season,"

Morris said with so much snowfall came an abundance of challenges.

"Lots of shoveling. Lots of weight on top of our buildings. We had a couple of buildings collapse and or have some damage happen to them and then, of course, lots and lots of exploding water pipes,"

He said that because of the huge snow piles, they haven't been able to make any improvements or repairs.

For example, only a few lifts will be open this weekend because of power issues. The lifts running are hooked up to portable generators. So, while there's still plenty of snow on the ground, Morris said they're ready for it to melt so work can begin, and guests can move on to summer activities.

"We have mountain biking on July 4th. We have the marina that will open Labor Day weekend, which is literally three weeks away from now, so we just gotta start getting going on the newer stuff."

For more information on what you can expect this weekend, click here.

published on May 5, 2023 - 1:49 PM

A public notice filed by the City of Fresno May 3 by the property’s owner could convert the last permanent indoor ice rink in the Central Valley to a self-storage facility.

It could be a cold end to a once-popular sport and pastime, which comes as demand for storage space has never been greater.

Gateway Ice Center near Marks and Clinton avenues in Fresno has been in operation since the mid-1990s, but has had a clouded future in recent years. The property changed hands and now the current owner — San Francisco-based Baco Properties — has proposed converting the facility into storage, expanding its existing facility located next door.

Gateway offers public ice skating, lessons, birthday parties, youth hockey, adult hockey, figure skating, private rentals and more. The rink is used by USA Hockey, US Figure Skating and STAR (Serving The American Rinks). It has been the home to the Fresno Monsters, a junior hockey team.

If the rink closes, it would leave only seasonal outdoor rinks that pop up at the holidays around the Valley, such as in Hanford.

A conditional use permit application was filed with the City of Fresno by Ariel Valli of Valli Architectural Group in Aliso Viejo on behalf of Baco Properties, pertaining to about 8.5 acres of property. This architectural group specializes in storage facility design.

The public notice says the applicant proposes an expansion of the existing adjacent storage facility. This includes converting the existing ice-skating facility to a single-floor storage facility, constructing two single-level storage buildings totaling nearly 44,000 square feet and building a 103,000 square-foot RV/boat storage area. The final review approvals would be complete next month.

Baco Properties is the operator of Security Public Storage, with 51 self-storage facilities throughout California, Oregon, Nevada, Maryland and Virginia. Since the opening of the first Security Public Storage in 1983 in Modesto, it has built three locations in Fresno, including the one next to the ice rink.

Sources with the company say if the approvals go through, they could be operational by summer 2024.

The storage industry as been on a meteoric path, growing to more than 1.7 billion square feet of space in 2023, according to industry reports. About 15% of total inventory was built within the last five years.

Roughly 53 million square feet of new self-storage space is expected to be built this year.

By contrast, research shows a declining sport in ice skating. Statista reports that the number of ice-skating participants in the U.S. aged six years and older amounted to approximately 9.5 million in 2021, down from around 9.9 million the previous year.

This figure peaked in 2011 with over 11.6 million ice skating participants, gradually decreasing in subsequent years.

OPINION AND COMMENTARY

Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters.

Fresno County’s new $750 million courthouse, still in the early planning stages, won’t be built far from the current one.

Despite whispers to the contrary — that certain developers are trying to lure the facility to north Fresno or Clovis — the Judicial Council of California squelched any such talk when I inquired about the site selection process.

“Only sites in downtown Fresno within a ½-mile of the existing courthouse are being considered for this project,” came the reply from a Judicial Council representative.

I took that as excellent news. If only because losing the Fresno County Courthouse, and all the ancillary traffic it produces, would be a crippling blow to downtown.

Especially now that enthusiasm over the economic benefits of high-speed rail surely must be tempered.

Opinion

The Judicial Council’s broad description for the new home of Fresno County Superior Court envisions a 413,000-square-foot building with 36 courtrooms occupying about 2.1 acres of land that still need to be acquired. The project has an authorized budget of $749,369,000 and an estimated opening of January 2031.

The site selection and acquisition process for new judicial branch facilities in California is outlined in a 13-page report authored by the Judicial Council’s administrative office.

During the acquisition phase, a local advisory group made up of county judges, court officers and others affected by the court facility does most of the heavy lifting. Its role at this stage is to identify potential sites and evaluate them against a specific set of criteria.

The site selection checklist includes 52 evaluations in 16 different categories. These range from required acreage and location preferences (i.e. near pre-trial holding facilities, district attorneys, public defenders, social services and public transit) to sustainability, neighborhood character, visibility, environmental concerns and budget.

More than 20 potential downtown Fresno sites have been identified, according to the Judicial Council spokesperson.

Fresno’s Project Advisory Group consists of Fresno County Superior Court Presiding Judge David Kalemkarian, Judge Houry Sanderson, Judge Gabriel Brickey, Judge Leanne LeMon, Judge Jeff Hamilton, court CEO Dawn Annino, court facilities director Fenix Batista, Fresno County assistant administrative officer Greg Reinke and Fresno city manager Georgeanne White.

The group’s regular, approximately monthly meetings are not open to the public.

Once all the site evaluations are completed, Judicial Council staff prepares a report and presents a summary of the options at a future public meeting (in San Francisco) of the council’s Court Facilities Advisory Committee. The committee typically selects a primary site and a backup for further evaluation.

Judge Brad Hill, presiding justice of the state’s 5th District Court of Appeal and chair of the Court Facilities Advisory Committee, said his body accepts the local advisory group’s recommendations “if everything looks good.”

“We look for a site that best serves the community as a whole and makes all the court operations run efficiently,” Hill said.

Once the desired site is chosen, the Judicial Council still needs the State Public Works Board’s approval. That decision officially triggers the site acquisition phase, a process that includes further site analysis, real estate due diligence and purchase negotiations. The sale’s final terms and conditions must then return to the public works board for its purchase approval.

As soon as that happens — July 2024 is the estimated timeline — the project shifts to a 12-month performance criteria phase after which about five additional years will be required for design and construction.

It is difficult to imagine the new courthouse being located anywhere besides Courthouse Park. As I’ve previously written, there appears to be enough space along Van Ness Avenue directly in front of the existing courthouse to erect a new building — then demolish the nine-story cheesegrater to reclaim some open space.

Since Club One moved and the Radisson Hotel closed, the number of unoccupied buildings and vacant lots along Van Ness has grown. If certain adjacent parcels were combined, maybe one of those would be suitable. Perhaps a location north of Fresno Street on the opposite side of the county jail. Or even Old Armenian Town.

At this point, the possibilities are numerous. Thankfully, they don’t extend beyond downtown.

How many flags are too many at official government buildings?

For Fresno County District 2 Supervisor Steve Brandau, the lack of a formal policy for county buildings provides the potential for things to get out of hand. That’s why he’s bringing a proposal to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to limit flag-flying on county properties to just two.

Brandau is offering an amendment to Fresno County’s ordinance code to allow only the American flag — the familiar Stars and Stripes — and the official California state bear flag to be flown on flagpoles at all county facilities, both those owned by Fresno County and those that the county leases.

Brandau, who served on the Fresno City Council before he was elected to the county board in a 2019 special election, said he wanted to head off potential controversy that could result from Fresno County having no formal flag policy. The city of Fresno frequently flies a variety of flags on the poles in front of City Hall to commemorate special dates, events, cultures and nations, including the recent raising of the Armenian flag to recognize the Armenian genocide.

Other flags that have been flown on flagpoles at City Hall at various times have included Mexico’s flag to commemorate that nation’s independence day in September; the rainbow Pride flag to recognize the LGBTQ+ community; the Juneteenth flag commemorating the freedom of African American slaves in Texas in 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation; and the POW/MIA flag to remember military prisoners of war and service members who remain missing in action.

Some of those banners, however, are not without controversy.

“I have seen the contentiousness that comes from picking and choosing winners and losers in flag-raising and related ceremonies, both locally and across the country,” Brandau told The Fresno Bee. “The county currently has no guiding ordinance or direction on this issue.”

“I have had many conversations about this in recent years,” he added. “Almost everybody I have spoken to feels that the American flag and the state of California flag are enough on government buildings.”

If the ordinance introduction is approved on Tuesday, it would return for a final vote at a later meeting, most likely on May 23. The policy would officially take effect 30 days after final approval. The ordinance would apply to any county offices, yards, landmarks or parks.

“There have been increasing numbers of controversies over specialty flags being flown at government buildings at … the local, state and national level,” Brandau wrote in a memo to his board colleagues. “Some agencies have been accused of promoting divisive and ideologically motivated speech on public property. Other agencies have been input in the unenviable role of picking and choosing winners among potential flag raising events.”

“An incident has yet to occur at a Fresno County facility,” he added, “but the county does not have a formal flag policy in place.”

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – H Spees, former Fresno city official and candidate for mayor was injured following a fall in Florida last month.

According to a GoFundMe page set up for him, the family of Harold “H” Spees says he sustained a fall on Wednesday, April 26 that caused a subdural hematoma. He is said to be in a Level 1 trauma hospital in Florida.

Mayor Jerry Dyer says he was shocked when he heard the news of H’s injury.

“H has been a friend of mine for more than 30 years. He’s been a prayer partner of mine, he’s been the guy that I’ve gone to the most over the years when I’m through difficult times,” said Dyer.

Mayor Dyer recounted fond memories of H and says that he has played a huge role in the impact on the city.

When I became the mayor, I retained him as the person overseeing our homeless efforts and H is the guy that is largely responsible for the success that I was able to enjoy during my first year as a mayor during Project Off-Ramp, in fact that project came from H.

Mayor Jerry Dyer, City of Fresno

Mayor Dyer says the city needs to come together as a community for Spees and his family as he says H has been there for a lot of people for many years, helping anyone in need, as a pastor, and as a friend to many.

“He’s been much more than a friend, he’s been a confidant, he’s been somebody that I trust, but he’s also been somebody that was a very loyal employee to the city of Fresno, not only during my time as mayor but also during Lee Brand,” says Dyer.

The Spees family has also set up a CaringBride page to keep the community updated on H’s condition.