Traver
Traver, CA · Events
USA TODAY
Sam's Club prepares for its final opening of 2026. See where
Retailers around the United States are preparing for their final openings of the year, and members-only retailer Sam’s Club is no exception. The wholesale club confirmed in early December that it is opening its last location of 2026 for customers in central California. The location will open on Dec. 10 in Visalia, California, Katelynn Gorton, a Sam’s Club spokesperson, told USA TODAY. The store's fuel station opened on Oct. 26, Gorton added. The 164,000-square-foot location will be the company’s first in Visalia, joining other San Joaquin Valley locations in Bakersfield, Fresno and Lathrop. Looking ahead, the company declined to say what’s in store for 2027. Sam’s Club opened four locations altogether in California, Tennessee and Texas this year. Here’s what's coming up for Sam’s Club. Where is Sam’s Club Visalia located? The newest location will be located at 4545 S. Mooney Blvd. in Visalia, about 42 to 45 miles from Fresno. The store will open its doors at 8 a.m. for Plus members and 9 a.m. for club members on Thursday, Dec. 10, the location said in a Facebook announcement. The company is offering deals to celebrate its recent openings. Customers who sign up by April 1, 2027, can get
midvalleytimes.com
Reedley writer shares tales of Valley farmworkers
REEDLEY – A local creative has reached a new audience thanks to a recent feature by the UFW Foundation. Rene Vera — artist, writer and Reedley resident of more than 20 years — has become the most recent addition to the UFW Foundation’s “Stories” page with his autobiographical short story, “At First Light.” Published to the foundation’s website in early October, the story vividly recounts Vera’s first time working in grape fields at 8 years old and, in Vera’s own words, the pain of that experience.
YourCentralValley.com
The Fresno Bee
Kim Stephens' son joins KMPH's Great Day + other changes at Fresno TV newsrooms
Finnley Pendergast may be new to KMPH’s TV newsroom , but he has some history with the station and its Great Day morning show. His mother, Kim Stephens, has co-hosted the newscast since its inception in 2003, playing counterpart to its well-known weatherman Kopi Sotiropulous. Pendergast grew up visiting her on set. “It was kind of boring then,” says the 22-year-old Fresno State graduate, who just last week joined the station as morning reporter and multimedia journalist. “I was just a kid.” But looking across the newsroom and seeing his mother behind the anchor desk, it hits different now that the pair are working together, he says. “It’s a really cool experience for both of us.” This is Pendergast’s first gig since graduating from Fresno State, where he helped produced a weekly newscast and anchor weather segments for the school’s student newscast. He also worked on the university’s newspaper as sports editor and as a staff reporter. Getting that practice in, especially in front the camera, was helpful, he says, for a guy who is mostly pretty reserved. But there was a big learning curve going into his first live remote from outside city hall, reporting on updates to the
YourCentralValley.com
Gourmetory
A major frozen Mexican food manufacturer is preparing to eliminate more than 100 jobs at its California facility
Ruiz Foods is preparing to cut 176 jobs at its Dinuba, California, facility. The company said the plant will stay open as it adjusts production to match expected customer demand. What Ruiz Foods said about the Dinuba cuts – Manouar/Pexels Ruiz Foods, the maker of El Monterey frozen burritos and Tornados snacks, announced plans to…
midvalleytimes.com
Fowler weighs in on the future of local parks
FOWLER – As the city prepares to throw its hat in the ring for a chance at state funding, residents have taken the opportunity to share their two cents. On Nov. 10, Community and Economic Development Director Matthew Flood joined the Fowler Recreation Commission to give a presentation on an upcoming Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program grant application. In his presentation, Flood shared that staff have been hosting a handful of meetings for community members to weigh in on what they’d like to see from their local parks, and provided an opportunity for the commissioners themselves to give some additional input.
The Fresno Bee
Guadalajara ‘coming soon' to this Fresno corner. What it means for restaurant's fans
Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant’s “coming soon” sign at Olive and Fowler avenues has some people in Fresno buzzing. What is the popular restaurant planning? A permanent food truck. The restaurant, with its longtime location on Weber Avenue, plans to park a food truck on the property of Fresno Roofing Co., near the southwest corner. It will be open from about 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Tuesday, said Richard Garcia, part of the family that owns the restaurant. Garcia’s brother-in-law is manager at Fresno Roofing. “The owners always come to the restaurant and eats, and they’re always like, ‘Why don’t you set up your trailer there?’” So they made it happen. The food truck will have the same menu as the 38-year-old restaurant, including Guadalajara’s popular chile verde plate with rice and beans. Tacos, fajitas and the camarones a la diabla, a spicy shrimp dish, will be on the menu. All the dishes will have homemade tortillas too. Breakfast burritos will be available for morning commuters, along with family dinners for the after-work crowd. Exactly when the truck will open is still up in the air. The family has had the truck for a while, but haven’t used it
The Fresno Bee
Fresno State football team takes off before FAA ground stop; flight diverted in air
The Fresno State football team avoided the Federal Aviation Administration’s ground stop Friday afternoon, departing Fresno before the order halted flights nationwide. The Bulldogs departed Fresno Yosemite International Airport at 12:25 p.m. aboard a Sun Country Airlines flight, about an hour before the FAA ordered the ground stop, according to a Fresno State spokesperson. The team was scheduled to arrive in Austin, Texas, but the flight diverted to San Antonio. The team will board a bus to travel to Austin, where they are staying. Fresno State is scheduled to face Texas State at 1 p.m. Saturday in a Pac-12 matchup in San Marcos. Before takeoff, the Bulldogs posted a video showing coach Matt Entz greeting players as they boarded the plane. Wheels up to the Lone Star State https://t.co/0yz01LX07n — Fresno State Football (@FresnoStateFB) November 13, 2026 The FAA announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that a temporary telecommunications outage had prompted the ground stop. “Out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted,” the FAA posted. “Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.”