FRESNO — President Obama flew into the San Joaquin Valley on Friday to discuss California’s historic drought, open the federal government’s checkbook and make tens of millions of dollars in aid available to struggling farmers and communities. Obama, whose plane touched down at Fresno Yosemite International Airport at 2:40 p.m., came bearing a $183 million [...]

TULARE – World Ag Expo closed its 47th annual show last week after three days of big crowds, warm weather and new innovations. More than 50 countries were represented at this year’s Expo, which boasts 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space on 260 acres of show grounds.  With 1,500 exhibitors and 100,000 attendees, World [...]

PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Rentrak (NASDAQ: RENT), the leader in precisely measuring movies and TV everywhere, today announced the top ten digital movie purchases and rentals of the year based on consumer transaction rate. The report includes Internet Video on Demand (iVOD) and Electronic Sell-Through (EST), for both Standard-Definition and Digital HD movie purchases and [...]

President Obama heads to Fresno to view damaged caused by the California  more than $200 million in aid available to those affected by the dry conditions will be announced by the White House. The package includes up to $150 million in help for state livestock producers, $60 million for food banks and $5 million for [...]

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Mortgage rates broke a five-week long streak of declines, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate increasing 4.48 percent, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.33 discount and origination points. The average 15-year fixed mortgage notched higher to 3.53 percent, and the [...]

FRESNO — Fresno State senior Stephanie Gabriela Lopez was awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, a full-ride graduate scholarship to Cambridge University, making her the first Fresno State student to receive the prestigious academic honor. The scholarship is awarded to 95 students worldwide each year. Lopez was announced yesterday as one of 40 United States students representing 35 institutions.The other [...]

PASADENA –Majestic Mountain Loop was awarded the prestigious 2014 Poppy Award from Visit California for the “Best Regional Collaborative Marketing Campaign” on Thursday, Feb. 6.  A collaborative partnership between the Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau, Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau, Fresno Yosemite International Airport and Delaware North Parks and Resorts, Majestic Mountain Loop promotes visiting three [...]

SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Feb. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Travelocity released its annual spring break travel data, which indicates a 14.7% year-over-year increase in domestic airfare while international airfare for spring break is flat year-over-year (.1% decrease). The traditional spring break travel period in the United States falls between March 1 and April 15. From a top destinations standpoint, Travelocity data reveals [...]

VISALIA – Mike Cox, the membership and sales director at the Visalia Chamber of Commerce, was among the 28 chamber executives to graduate last Friday from Academy, a professional development program presented by the Western Association of Chamber Executives (W.A.C.E.). Academy is an interactive 3-day (three year) training program on chamber management essentials designed for today’s chamber [...]

MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Trends like big data and mobile media are translating into growing paychecks for some professionals, according to the recently released 2014 Salary Guides from Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group. Employers are prepared to offer increased compensation this year to skilled information technology (IT) and digital professionals who can help organizations meet [...]

CARSON, Calif., Feb. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — AutoMD.com today released its list of the Top Ten Auto Repair Jobs for 2013. Standard wear and tear jobs dominated, with Brake Pad replacement coming in at number one, and other cyclical repair jobs, such as Alternator, Water Pump, Timing Belt and Spark Plug replacement rounding out the list. The [...]

TULARE – World Ag Expo and E.M. Tharp, Inc. have teamed up for the eighth year to provide the “We Believe in Growing” scholarship which supports local high school students who will be attending four-year universities to major in an agricultural field. This year’s winners,Adrianna Santos and Garrison Fernandes, will each receive $2,500 scholarships to [...]

World Ag Expo will celebrate its 47th year on February 11-13, 2014 in Tulare, California. The largest annual agricultural exposition of its kind, World Ag Expo touts more than 1,500 exhibitors who display cutting-edge agricultural technology and equipment on 2.6 million square feet of show grounds. An estimated average of 100,000 individuals from 70 countries [...]

FRESNO – Dr. Joseph I. Castro will make his first visit to the World Ag Expo as Fresno State president when the largest annual agricultural exposition of its kind unfolds Feb. 11-13 in Tulare. An estimated 100,000 visitors from 70 countries visit the World Ag Expo each year to learn about agriculture and the latest technologies. [...]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2014  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Postal Service ended the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2013 – Dec. 31, 2013) with a net loss of $354 million. This marks the 19th of the last 21 quarters that it has sustained a loss. Though the Postal Service has been able to grow revenue by capitalizing [...]

VISALIA – Kaweah Delta Health Care District refinanced its 2004 general obligation bonds last week, saving District property owners approximately $6.3 million over the next 20 years. The move followed unanimous support of a resolution approved by the Kaweah Delta Health Care District board of directors during its Jan. 6 board meeting. By leveraging Kaweah [...]

CHICAGO, Feb. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – The U.S. has an estimated 10 million self-employed jobs as of 2013. That’s 6.6 percent of all reported jobs, but down from a high of 7.2 percent in 2006. This is according to a new report from CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI). Self-employment grew rapidly from 2001-2006, adding close to [...]

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — As buzz about Bitcoin, a five-year-old cryptocurrency, continues to build, the question is often asked – will consumers embrace this alternative currency? A new nationwide survey conducted for TheStreet (NASDAQ: TST) by GfK1 answers that question with a resounding “no,” showing that consumers do not understand Bitcoin and have little interest in [...]

TULARE – The Tulare County board of supervisors has unanimously proclaimed a local emergency due to the statewide drought, called for state legislators to place a water bond on a future ballot, and formed an ad hoc committee to address future water advocacy strategy. Chairman of the board of supervisors Phil Cox said the proclamation [...]

FRESNO – The board of directors of Central Valley Community Bancorp have announced that separate positions for chief executive officer and president have been established at the bank, and that veteran banker James M. Ford has been named president of the bank effective Feb. 1, 2014. Daniel J. Doyle will continue to serve as president [...]