Top stories: Holding rape kits hostage? Yosemite ‘chaos,’ Clovis’ Italian restaurant

Thursday’s news across the central San Joaquin Valley and beyond covers a Clovis restaurant ownership shakeup, mounting pressure on federal officials over crowding at Yosemite National Park and a Fresno city attorney pushing back against what he calls political interference in sexual assault kit testing.

Here are the top stories of the day:

• A Clovis Italian restaurant has a new owner. It’s now part of the DiCicco empire: Pasquale “Pat” DiCicco has bought Andiamo Ristorane Italiano on Shaw Avenue in Clovis and has been running it since November. The former owners, Jennifer and Carlo Paolilli, retired and moved to Italy. Andiamo has operated under that name since 2005, and was previously known as Vitucci’s Italian Restaurant, also run by the DiCicco family. DiCicco says he doesn’t plan major changes and wants to keep the restaurant’s identity intact.
• ‘Pure chaos’ at crowded Yosemite. Senators call for return of reservation system: U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff have urged the Department of the Interior to reinstate Yosemite National Park’s visitor reservation system if the 2026 peak season becomes too burdensome. Yosemite saw a 45% increase in visitors in March and gridlock by May after the reservation system was eliminated in February. The senators cited overcrowding, staffing shortages and safety concerns, including multiple bears hit by vehicles and the recent death of a 22-year-old man at Nevada Fall.
• Are feds tying sex assault kit money to Fresno’s help with immigration enforcement?: Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz says the Trump Administration is conditioning $2 million in Sexual Assault Kit Initiative funding on the city’s compliance with federal immigration information-sharing requirements. The Bureau of Justice Assistance sent a June 16 email requesting confirmation that Fresno would comply with federal laws on immigration status information, citing California’s status as a sanctuary jurisdiction. Janz argues state law and Ninth Circuit case law do not require such sharing in most circumstances. He says he will not allow immigration enforcement conditions to interfere with testing of sexual assault kits.

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This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 7:46 AM.