Local News

FRESNO - Around 10:00 pm on Saturday, dispatchers at the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office received a report that gunshots had been fired and a person was hit. Deputies responded to a home on the 2600 block of S. Marks Ave in Fresno. There they found an outdoor wedding reception taking place.

As deputies pulled up, guests made up of both adults and children, began leaving in vehicles. A small number of guests stayed at the scene. Deputies were directed to the gunshot victim, who was a Hispanic man in his 30s. Deputies and EMS personnel provided medical treatment to the man, but he died at the scene.

FRESNO - William Lee, 41, of Fresno, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, the defendant conspired with other members of the Dog Pound Gangsters (“DPG”) enterprise to kill a rival gang member for the purpose of gaining or maintaining status within the DPG organization.

DPG is a criminal street gang based in southwest Fresno.  DPG engaged in criminal activities, including conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, prostitution, drug trafficking, and access device fraud. After DPG member and co-defendant Kenneth Wharry was shot by rival gang members, Lee and others conspired to conduct a retaliatory shooting against rival gang members. The conspiracy culminated in an April l7, 2018, shooting at Fink White Park in Fresno, where a DPG member opened fire in the park.

MADERA – Over the last month the city of Madera has been in negotiations with a home grown city manager with over 16 years of urban and community planning experience with the city of Fresno and Yuba City. The city of Madera announced this morning that they have come to an agreement with Arnoldo Rodriguez on his salarey and bennifit package. Following a vote at the next city council meeting, Rodriguez will take the reins of the city.

Rodriguez comes back to Madera after two years in Yuba City as their Development Services Director. Prior to that Rodriguez served the City of Fresno as a professional City Planner with over 13 years of experience.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology, Law, and Society from the University of California at Irvine and a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly’s Urban Planning Program.  Concurrent with his graduate studies, Mr. Rodriguez also worked for several non-profit organizations in and around the central coast.