Coronavirus updates: Salon owner strikes back at Pelosi; Restaurant owners hold rally

Seven more people died of the coronavirus across the central San Joaquin Valley on Thursday.

Three fatalities were reported in Tulare County, two in Madera County and one each was reported in Merced and Kings counties. Fresno County updates its death count on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The region averaged 10 deaths per day for the month of August. Through the first three days of September, the six-county region has reported an average of 7 per day.

Coronavirus has caused a total of 788 deaths since late February. The majority have been split between Fresno (290) and Tulare (243) counties.

The number of new positive cases reported in the Valley is now just shy of 59,000 and continues to climb by an average of just over 530 each day. There were 484 cases reported Thursday, including 243 in Fresno County, which continues to lead the region in total cases. The county has 25,785 cases with a positive test rate of nearly 12%.

Tulare County has had 14,552 total infections. Merced County has 8,202; Kings County 6,442; and Madera County 3,889. Mariposa County has reported 74 positive cases.

Free COVID testing for union workers on Labor Day

Most years, the Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings Central Labor Council celebrates Labor day with a pancake breakfast for the area’s union workers. This year, the group is hosting a free COVID-19 testing event.

“Union workers have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis in almost every industry from food processing to healthcare and in all public sectors. We are fighting to keep them physically and financially healthy so they can continue to be the backbone of our economy,” said Dillon Savory, said the council’s executive director.

“On Labor Day we can celebrate their work and offer them a fun event that includes no-cost testing.”

The socially-distanced, drive-thru event will take place 8 a.m. to noon Monday at Fresno City College, in collaboration with UCSF Fresno Medical Center, the Office of Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria and Fresno City College. The event will be open to the general public after 10 a.m.

Tests are limited o the first 400 people and pre-registration is required by going to myunionworks.com.

Fresno salon owner says she was not involved in ‘setup’ of Nancy Pelosi

Erica Kious, the Fresno native who got caught up in a national political scandal involving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting a salon in San Francisco, said she was not involved in a setup to embarrass the congresswoman.

At a new conference on Thursday, Kious described the sequence of events that led to Pelosi visiting her salon, despite local orders that prohibit such services.

Kious did not plan any of the events and only thought to release video to Fox News after Pelosi’s visit, she said.

“If a woman in a high-risk age group who spends much of her time on TV warning against the dangers of COVID-19 feels safe and comfortable in a San Francisco salon and can be responsible, cautious and mindful, why can’t the rest of San Francisco and the rest of America do that, too?,” Kious said.

The stylist who did Pelosi’s hair, Jonathan DeNardo, defended Pelosi and criticized the salon owner.

Fresno restaurant owner hosts rally for small businesses

A Fresno restaurant owner hosted a rally on Thursday to express his frustration over the state’s coronavirus policies, which forced him to close one of his businesses permanently.

Manny Perales closed High Sierra Grill & Bar this week after five months of not being able to be open to diners because of the coronavirus. The restaurant, at Bullard and West avenues, doesn’t have a patio, and Perales couldn’t afford to put tents and tables in the parking lot. The permanent closure will “stop the bleeding” or rent payments and PG&E bills that continued to come in, despite there being no income to cover them.

Perales’ other restaurants, four Yosemite Falls Cafes in Fresno and Clovis, remain open.

Fresno parents, kids demand campuses reopen

Nearly 100 people attended a rally on Thursday at the corner of Palm and Herndon avenues to demand the reopening of Fresno schools. The rally was organized by Fresno Unified School District parents who said they want to choose between distance learning and sending their children to campus.

“The quality of education is nothing like what we get in the classroom,” said Catherine Peters, a protest organizer. Although classes last a full hour most of the time, she said, sometimes, her children are only in class for 45 minutes. Her children, who attend Bullard High School and Baird Middle School, have struggled with technical issues and interruptions during virtual lessons, causing stress and anxiety, Peters said.

Most educators agree that in-person classes are more effective, but the coronavirus pandemic puts teachers in a tough spot.

Fresno County school districts, including Fresno, Central, and Clovis Unified, planned to reopen campuses for the fall semester. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom shut those plans down in mid-July when he ordered all campuses in counties with surging COVID-19 cases to remain closed.

Peters said she wants Fresno Unified to fight for their children’s right to go back to school. She said she was “disappointed” that Superintendent Bob Nelson didn’t attend the protest and said, “it proves our suspicion that he is not fighting for our kids.”

Some schools have received waivers

In Kings County, two private schools were approved to reopen campuses.

Hanford Christian School and St. Rose-McCarthy Catholic School will open their doors for transitional kindergarten through sixth-grade students after the department of public health granted them waivers on Friday. The waivers are available to certain elementary schools under state regulations.

No elementary school reopening waivers have been granted in Fresno, Madera, Tulare or Mariposa counties yet, according to the state’s list, which was last updated on Tuesday. At least two schools in Fresno County have submitted waivers, but the county health department has not yet granted them. Hume Lake Charter School and Big Creek Elementary School are in rural mountain regions in eastern Fresno County that have not seen high infection rates.