{"id":275971,"date":"2026-04-19T20:32:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T20:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/275971\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T20:32:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T20:32:40","slug":"top-stories-14-5m-in-fresno-farmland-clovis-vote-gets-testy-will-high-speed-rail-ever-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/275971\/","title":{"rendered":"Top stories: $14.5M in Fresno farmland. Clovis vote gets testy. Will high-speed rail ever launch?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a look at The Fresno Bee\u2019s top stories of the day, covering farmland sales, a contentious Clovis vote, high-speed rail construction and the latest Dutch Bros..<\/p>\n

We assemble this list each evening, so you can get caught up on the top Fresno Bee stories of the day. Enjoy!\"A<\/p>\n

A tractor plows a dusty field in the Westlands Water District west of Fresno.<\/p>\n

West Fresno County farmland parcels sell for $14.5M<\/p>\n

Five farmland properties in west Fresno County totaling slightly more than 1,000 acres recently sold for more than $14.5 million. The largest deal involved six parcels totaling 550 acres near Interstate 5, purchased by Coleman Land Co. LLC of Fresno for $5.2 million. All properties are part of the Williamson Act, which provides tax breaks to landowners who keep their land in farming or open space for 10 years. Click here for full story.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A proposal for a 2.45-acre storage facility site in the vacant field north of Shaw Avenue and west of Laverne Avenue in Clovis has been submitted to Clovis’s planning commission.<\/p>\n

Clovis OKs controversial plan for vacant Shaw Ave. lot<\/p>\n

The Clovis City Council voted 3-2 to approve a two-story, 750- to 800-unit self-storage facility on a 2.45-acre Shaw Avenue parcel that has sat vacant for nearly half a century. Residents raised concerns about noise and traffic, while the project applicant said the facility would generate 85% less traffic than an office building. Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck called the decision \u201ca betrayal\u201d to neighbors and likened it to \u201cchasing the bottom of land use.\u201d Click here for full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers continue construction on High Speed Rail infrastructure near Shaw Avenue, seen during a tour of HSR work Wednesday, April 15, 2026 in Fresno.<\/p>\n

When will high-speed-rail road construction end in Fresno?<\/p>\n

Shaw Avenue near Highway 99 is expected to reopen as an overpass by year\u2019s end if construction stays on schedule. Work on a Herndon Avenue underpass begins late next week, with the northbound Highway 99 exit at Herndon closing April 23-24 and the underpass expected to be done by winter 2027. Fresno Street will also close Monday from F Street to Broadway Street for high-speed rail bridge work expected to last until June 2027. Click here for full story.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers begin construction on a new Dutch Bros Coffee going up near the old Javier’s on Kings Canyon Road east of Clovis Avenue on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

Yet another Dutch Bros Coffee opening in Fresno<\/p>\n

Construction is underway on a new Dutch Bros on East Kings Canyon Road near Clovis Avenue, with a late summer or early fall opening planned. The location will have a drive-thru and a walk-up window. Twenty years ago there were two Dutch Bros in Fresno; today there are 13 in Fresno and Clovis and 33 between Madera and Porterville. Click here for full story.<\/a><\/p>\n

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.<\/p>\n

Original stories published by Fresno Bee reporters Bob Rodriguez, Leqi Zhong, Erik Galicia and Bethany Clough,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a look at The Fresno Bee\u2019s top stories of the day, covering farmland sales, a contentious Clovis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[10009,118126,112,3879,622,114,113,64123],"class_list":{"0":"post-275971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-clovis","9":"tag-farmland-properties","10":"tag-fresno","11":"tag-fresno-bee","12":"tag-fresno-county","13":"tag-fresno-headlines","14":"tag-fresno-news","15":"tag-fresno-street"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}