“This is an important and very good day for our Tribe,” Tribal Chairwoman Claudia Gonzales said. “Our new Tribal Council promised our members we would act swiftly to reopen the casino, get our employees back to work and start to rebuild our Tribe’s financial and cultural strength, and this agreement is an important step towards those goals. We appreciate the efforts of Madera County, state and local agencies and the National Indian Gaming Commission in securing the agreements to reopen our casino. We are confident we will meet all conditions of the NIGC agreement.”

“The casino reopening shows what our Tribe can do when we put aside our differences, and work with accountability and transparency,” Tribal Councilmember Morris Reid said.  “As we have said since the election, the job of the new council is to bring peace and prosperity back to our people.”

“One of our initial pledges as a new council was to establish strong relationships with the county, state and federal government,” Councilmember Thomas Walker said. “This agreement demonstrates our work in this area and bodes well for our future government-to-government activities.”

The reopening date of the casino will be announce in the coming days, but work is already underway to prepare for the re-opening.

“We are pleased to be able to put more than 1,000 members of our community back to work,” Tribal Councilmember Nakomis Hernandez said. “The financial impacts of the re-opening will benefit Madera County, the region and our tribal members significantly.”

“This has been many months in the making, we want to thank the NIGC for working diligently with our new team to finalize the agreement that allows Chukchansi Gold to reopen,” said Christian Goode Chief Operating Officer of Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino. “It’s a new day here at the casino and we are busy with the work of returning it to the world-class destination it once was.”

In the year since the NIGC ordered the casino closed, the tribe has worked tirelessly to reverse course, right its internal management, install a seasoned casino operations and oversight team, develop a security protocol with Madera County and the State of California, and worked with the NIGC to reach a settlement that was satisfactory to all parties. Once open, the casino will once again begin to drive revenue into the tribe and become the economic engine the region has been lacking since the casino was closed.

Previously, the tribe had announced that they struck a deal with Unite Here! Local 19 to restore the jobs and benefits to the hundreds of employees who lost their jobs when the casino closed in October 2014. Later, the tribe announced the addition of Phil Hogen, former Chairman of the NIGC during the Bush Administration, and Joseph Smith, former audit Director for the NIGC to the tribe’s gaming commission.

These appointments, along with the new casino management, will ensure timely audits and transparency, both crucial factors in the NIGC settlement agreement.

When it reopens, CRGC will reopen its doors with more than 56,000 square feet of gaming space featuring more than 1,700 reel and video slot machines and 36 table games. The casino will also boast seven world-class restaurants.

Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino features live table games, reel and video slot machines, a 300-seat award winning buffet, a world-class steakhouse, more than 400 luxurious hotel rooms and suites, a full service spa and various other amenities. 

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In addition to its regularly scheduled daily service from Fresno to Guadalajara, Volaris has added a second flight to its Saturday operation and Aeromexico has increased its regular four day a week schedule to daily service through January 20, 2016. The additional flight frequencies offered by both airlines provide a combined seat capacity accommodating over 360 passengers from Fresno to Guadalajara on a daily basis expect for Saturday when capacity reaches over 540 passengers.

“We applaud Aeromexico and Volaris for being consistently responsive to the Central Valley’s demand for air access to Mexico during peak travel periods,” said Director of Aviation Kevin Meikle. “Adjustments to an existing operating network require significant advance planning from coordinating extra flight crew and Customs and Border Protection support to bringing in an aircraft from another market to Fresno.”

The seasonal flight adjustments in December are expected to contribute to record performance for international passenger traffic in 2015. International carriers Aeromexico and Volaris have experienced strong passenger growth this year contributing to a 14 percent increase in passenger traffic from January through November compared to the same period in 2014. Since January 2015, over 150,000 passengers have traveled between Fresno and Guadalajara, Mexico and beyond.

Flight information and reservations for Aeromexico can be accessed at www.aeromexico.com or by calling 800-237-6639. Volaris flight information and reservations can be accessed at www.volaris.com or by calling 866-988-3527.

Fresno Yosemite International Airport currently offers Valley passengers daily nonstop flights to Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Guadalajara, Mexico on domestic and international carriers. Fresno Yosemite International Airport is a municipally owned entity operating as a self-supporting enterprise. No City of Fresno general funds are used to operate Fresno Yosemite International Airport or Fresno Chandler Executive Airport.

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• Water Management and Efficiency - A focus on accelerating almond farmer transition to more efficient irrigation scheduling and management practices to get the most crop per drop of water. This initiative, which builds on the 33 percent reduction in water used per pound of almonds achieved by the industry over the last 20 years2, includes a range of activities from working with farmers to fine tune irrigation techniques to adopting more advanced water management technologies.
• Sustainable1 Water Resources - An exploration of how to best leverage a unique strength of the California Almond industry, its acreage, for accelerating natural flood-year groundwater recharge of aquifers. California’s aquifers are collectively the state’s largest water storage system and water recharged through this program would benefit all Californians, not just farmers. A second part of this initiative will look for opportunities to recycle water from multiple sources, such as municipal wastewater, as a way of increasing overall water availability for farmers and all Californians.
• Air Quality - Investigating various ways the almond industry can help meet the Central Valley’s exacting air quality standards.  This will delve into the various ways almond production impacts air quality and evaluate opportunities to decrease emissions. From analyzing industry fossil fuel use to small- and large-particle pollutants, all components of almond farming that impact air quality are under scrutiny. This initiative will identify alternatives that will result in cleaner air for all those who live in California’s Central Valley – farmers, their families, and surrounding communities.
• 22nd Century Agronomics - A recognition that we need to better understand and then adopt the technologies that will leadCalifornia farming into the 22nd century. Almond Board of California will lead a comprehensive exploration of almond farming techniques, bringing an exploratory mindset to consider all options as to what innovations and technical “leap frogs” will be needed to sustainably1 farm in the future. Each component of almond farming will be considered, from land preparation and varietal development, to equipment and processing.

Waycott noted significant progress already on two of the initiatives – Sustainable1 Water Resources and Air Quality — and said that the industry will keep consumers and customers apprised of major research projects in these and the other initiative areas in the months and years ahead.

“Our recent partnership with Sustainable Conservation is exploring the potential of using California almond orchards for accelerated recharge of Central Valley groundwater. Research this winter will channel excess winter flood water into almond orchards in several test sites, including Merced, Stanislaus, and Fresno counties where a UC Davis study will track soil moisture and water movement, tree response, detailed root development and growth response,” Waycott said.

“On air quality, the Almond Board, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and others are carrying out a new USDA-funded pilot projectdesigned to give both almond and corn growers greater access to greenhouse gas markets like those under California’s cap-and-trade program,” Waycott said.  The project builds on nearly ten years of funding by the Almond Board of California to improve nitrogen management and better understand greenhouse gas emissions, particularly nitrous oxide (N2O), from almond orchards.

The EDF project also dovetails with Almond Board-funded research to understand better the energy flows and the associated greenhouse gases over the average 25 years of an almond orchard’s life.  Life Cycle Analysis research on growing almonds by UC Davis showed that the industry could become carbon neutral, or even negative, if policy changes and production advancements work hand-in-hand.3

“Farmers are innovators. Since almonds were first planted in California, over 150 years ago, almond growers have adapted, changed, and pushed ahead to improve best practices and develop new technologies. The Almond Board’s research programs have driven this innovation since their inception in 1973 and through this new program, we carry on and accelerate that important tradition,” Waycott said.

“We will make investments today that will put the entire industry in a stronger position 10, 20, or 30 years from now. Already a leader in the size and value of our crop to California, the AIM initiatives will take our industry’s leadership to the next level with innovation responsive to the changing California business and agricultural environment. Above all, we want Californians to know almonds are a desirable and high-value use of precious resources entrusted and allocated to growing food in California,” Waycott added.

AIM will complement the California almond industry’s legacy of continuous improvement through over 40 years of research. With a more nimble and adaptive program, AIM will implement commonsense guidelines, develop innovative practices and cultivate advanced technologies that will lead to continued improvement in efficient and sustainable1 farming.

“For decades, the Almond Board has invested millions of dollars in critical research leading to important advancements which continue to support almond growers as good stewards of the land,” Waycott said. “In fact, over the last two decades, industry-funded research overseen by the Almond Board has allowed farmers to reduce the amount of water used to grow a pound of almonds by 33 percent. Our research has also helped develop orchard practices that better promote healthy environments for honey bees and ensure the safety of workers, local communities and ecosystems. The California almond community understands the value of critical research, and we’re doubling down on this important work.”

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With the launch of our ultra-fast Internet service in parts of 2 of these metros today – Los Angeles and West Palm Beach – AT&T GigaPower is now available in 20 of the nation’s largest metro areas.

Internet speeds up to 1 gigabit per second over the AT&T GigaPower network let you instantly access the latest online movies, music, games and more.3 AT&T GigaPower can also improve your experience when connecting to the cloud and videoconferencing, and gives you the speed to power all of your devices.

“Bringing AT&T GigaPower to the greater Fresno area is big for residents and businesses throughout the region, and is yet another example of the continued investment and innovation AT&T brings to our customers in California,” said Ken McNeely, President of AT&T California. “Demand for high speed data grows with each new app and web-based service, and AT&T is delivering to meet that demand.”

“We appreciate AT&T’s commitment to Fresno as a hub for innovation and commerce,” said Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin. “AT&T GigaPower will help drive Fresno’s economic growth because it gives our residents and businesses the tools they need to thrive and compete in the global marketplace.”

“AT&T Gigapower will provide our local businesses with the modern technology needed to succeed in our 21st Century economy,” said Fresno County Economic Development Corporation President/CEO Lee Ann Eager. “High-speed internet is essential to business expansion, attraction, and retention for the Central Valley and we are grateful that AT&T will be bringing AT&T Gigapower to Fresno County.”

Nearly 2 years ago, we successfully launched the first AT&T GigaPower metro in Austin, Texas. This launch led to a major expansion in multiple metros beginning in 2014. We recently marked a major milestone deploying the AT&T GigaPower network to more than 1 million locations, and we expect to more than double availability by the end of 2016.

We’ll continue to roll out our fastest Internet services over a 100% fiber network to reach more than 14 million residential and commercial locations.

AT&T GigaPower gives customers some of the fastest online speeds available anywhere. You  can download 25 songs in less than a second, a TV show in three seconds or your favorite HD movie in less than 36 seconds.4

AT&T GigaPower customers also have access to the latest Wi-Fi technology, making it possible to enjoy our best in-home Wi-Fi experience. You get faster Wi-Fi speeds, expanded coverage and support for all your devices.

With DIRECTV now a part of the AT&T family, customers on the AT&T GigaPower network in the Fresno area will be able to subscribe to our award-winning DIRECTV service.

When you sign up for qualified DIRECTV programming, you get immediate access to a broad range of TV content on your compatible mobile device through our DIRECTV application, even before we install your TV service, through our “Walk out Watching” program.5

In the home DIRECTV customers with qualified programming have access to more than 315 channels, more than 200 in full-time HD, and the most comprehensive selection of sports programming. You can watch the programming you love, live or On Demand and experience it on almost any screen. DIRECTV On Demand offers access to more than 10,000 movies and shows to high-speed Internet customers with connected set-top boxes, including the hottest new Pay Per View releases.

We’re continuing to work with local leaders within the 21 state service area who are interested in expanding the availability of the 100% fiber-optic AT&T GigaPower network to consumers and small businesses.

Frost & Sullivan recently recognized AT&T for its leadership in high-speed Internet services. It awarded AT&T the 2015 North American Competitive Strategy and Innovation Leadership of the Year Award for Broadband. The analyst firm praised AT&T for its “aggressive pursuit of higher bandwidth access” for customers through its AT&T GigaPower network initiative.

AT&T has invested nearly $7.4 billion in its wireless and wired networks in California between 2012 through 2014, driving a wide range of upgrades to reliability, coverage, speed and performance for residents and business customers.

For more information on where the AT&T GigaPower network is and will become available, visit att.com/gigapowermap.

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