Readers want to know why The Fresno Bee did not cover Hands Off protest | Opinion

Bee was hands off rally

“‘Hands Off!’ Protesters on Why They Are Rallying Against Trump and Musk” (fresnobee.com, April 5)

I recently attended the Hands Off (Veto Project 2025) rally outside of Fashion Fair mall on April 5. I was astounded at the lack of media coverage from the local news media, especially The Fresno Bee. Today I saw an article in The Fresno Bee about the Sacramento protest, and a couple days earlier I saw an article about Hands Off protests across the country.

The rally in Fresno on Saturday was a large protest, with a variety of impassioned Fresno participants (I heard there were at least 1,300 people) going up Fresno Street and all the way along Shaw Avenue between Fresno and First Street in front of Fashion Fair Mall. A variety of people came out, alarmed about issues of Social Security, VA services, LGBTQIA rights, reproductive rights, Medicaid, immigrant rights, due process, and so on.

Why did The Fresno Bee not report on such a large event that relates to our national crisis? Is The Bee even paying attention to what is really going on in Fresno?

Kathy Fuller, Fresno

Readers need an apology

My husband and I have been looking for coverage of the Hands-Off Fresno protest that occurred last Saturday morning. This was an important community event, and should have been front page news. Why was there a story about the Sacramento protest and nothing about the one in Fresno? This seems to me to be a dereliction of your journalistic duty.

I don’t really care about the top reason for traffic stops in Fresno (today’s edition), which seems to be more important than how community members feel about THE most pressing issue in the country, which is the current administration and its policies.

I think you owe your readers an apology and an explanation. WHOM are you serving?

Julie Taylor, Fresno

This was newsworthy

I am not interested in publishing this, but would certainly like a reply. Your digital assistant was no help, so here I am.

I am curious why there has been coverage of national and state capital Hands Off rallies, but none of the event with over 2,000 people that took place in Fresno on April 5. Were you aware of the event? Perhaps organizers fell down on notifying you. Or was it an editorial decision to refrain from reporting on this event. It was the largest such event I have seen in Fresno in 50 years! Certainly seems newsworthy.

Paul Pierce, Fresno

Missing coverage

On April 6 I looked through The Bee expecting to see a piece on the very well attended Hands Off rally at Fashion Fair Mall the day before. No such article. Instead, The Bee was covering a threat to Trump and apparently decided to carry an LA Times article about Hands Off rallies around the country (which by the way didn’t even mention Fresno among the cities involved).

I must say I wasn’t too surprised. This is The Bee after all, a paper that puts an article about Randy’s Donuts on the front page, yet doesn’t see the need to cover Fresno’s part in a national phenomenon.

Maybe a late piece will show up in the paper this week, but I’m not holding my breath.

Reilly Rix, Fresno

“More than 200 UFO sightings reported in Fresno County since 1950s. Is it a hotspot?” (fresnobee.com, March 29)

To determine fact from fiction is based on research and how far back it was conducted. There is film and photo evidence from as far back as 1945 in Germany as well as Roswell. There is evidence from 1985 of a UFO hovering over Fresno for approximately 10 minutes. The Bee published an article of the incident 8-10 years later.

Fresno, as well as the mountains to the east have been a hotspot as far back as the early 1960s. In 1992 MIT held a 5-day conference on the topic and was attended by scientists, astrophysicists, and victims (referred to as experiencers). A lot of evidence was gathered. In 2024, Washington D.C. held Senate hearings with current and former government officials who are or were involved with the retrieval of ET aircraft and non-biological beings.

The technology being dealt with was found to be thousands, if not millions, of years ahead of ours. The evidence is out there. It just depends on how much footwork is done.

Luis Garcia, Fresno

Change the Fresno sign

On the final approach while landing at Fresno International Airport sitting on the starboard side of the aircraft with a window seat, the first thing I see is a giant billboard advertising Budweiser beer. I think Fresno’s image would be better off promoting optimism instead of alcoholism. How about “Welcome to Fresno – Gateway to the Parks.” Something more attractive than beer. Fresno is a good place to live. There are a lot of good people here. Change the sign, Fresno.

Kim Filgas, Fresno

Sports menu lacking

I opened my Bee to the sports page on April 6. Page 1 featured stories about a new Raider quarterback, a story about the Dodger payroll, a story about a Duke basketball player and a story about a female basketball player at USC. Page 2 was a full page ad for a New York Future Festival. Pages 3 and 4 were about where the fish were biting. Page 6 showed me how to pack for an outing and a half-page dedicated to horoscopes. Then a whole page about hiking in Wales.

Interesting but not on my agenda. Then Olympic strategies and something about careers in diagnostic medical sonography. Nowhere in that sports section did I find the current Major League Baseball standings. OK, rant over, but I do feel better.

Don Hughes, Los Banos