Top stories: Yosemite car jam; Clovis ups fees; Man approaches 12YO girl, police say

The Fresno Bee covered a range of developments across the region Friday, including a child endangerment arrest, a school district fee hike and growing concerns about overcrowding at Yosemite National Park.

Below are the top stories of the day, drawn from reporting on public safety, education and the start of the busy summer travel season in the Sierra Nevada. Each recap includes the original headline and a link to the full story for readers who want more detail.

We assemble this list each evening, so you can get caught up on the top Fresno Bee stories of the day

• Man accused of approaching 12-year-old girl on way to school arrested in Fresno: A 27-year-old man, Elias Panzo Temoxtle, was arrested after police said he pulled up to a 12-year-old girl walking to school in a navy-blue van and tried to arrange to pick her up later that afternoon. The girl reported the encounter to school officials and police after Temoxtle entered his phone number into her phone and blew her a kiss. The Internet Crimes Against Children unit booked him into Fresno County Jail on felony charges, including distributing pornography to a minor, annoying a child under 18 and false imprisonment.

• Clovis Unified increased developer fees. Some worry homes are getting too expensive: Clovis Unified School District raised its development impact fee on new residential construction by 8.9%, increasing the rate to $6.38 per square foot effective July 1. District officials say projected enrollment growth will require more than $70 million in new school facilities over the next five years. Building industry leaders warned that compounding per-unit fees are making entry-level homes harder to build, while trustees defended the increase as necessary to maintain the district’s quality.

• Full parking lots, gridlock traffic fill Yosemite Valley after reservations waved: Yosemite National Park visitors faced hours-long wait times at entrance gates and overflowing parking lots ahead of Memorial Day Weekend after the Trump administration eliminated the park’s reservation system for 2026. The National Park Service said it will rely on real-time traffic management and additional seasonal staff instead of reservations. Park advocates warned the change would lead to traffic jams, damage to park resources and degraded visitor experiences.

Original stories by Anthony Galaviz, Leqi Zhong and Liliana Fannin

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media’s AI policy.