{"id":344899,"date":"2026-06-03T15:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/344899\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:26:19","slug":"california-high-speed-rail-oks-3-5b-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/344899\/","title":{"rendered":"California high-speed rail OKs $3.5B contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top stories from Monday included a major contract approval that moves California\u2019s high-speed rail project closer to laying its first tracks, a multi-agency gang sweep that resulted in dozens of arrests, the identification of a teen killed at a Visalia graduation party and a look at five active construction projects reshaping Fresno neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

We assemble this list each day, so you can get caught up on the top Fresno Bee stories \"A A rendering shows a train would look like traveling on high-speed rail tracks. COURTESY OF CA HIGH-SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY CA High-Speed Rail OKs $3.5B contract that puts laying first tracks on new timeline \u2014 The California High-Speed Rail Authority\u2019s board on Monday awarded a track and systems construction contract of up to $3.5 billion to a joint venture of Kiewit, Stacy Witbeck and Herzog. Work on the first 22 miles of track between the Shafter area and the Tulare-Kern County line is expected to begin by Nov. 30 and be completed by June of next year. The rail authority is focused on completing a 171-mile Merced-to-Bakersfield route by 2033 for $34.76 billion on the low end. Click here for full story.<\/a>69 gang members arrested, 73 guns seized after two-month Central California operation \u2014 A multi-agency investigation called Operation Hands Down yielded 69 gang-related arrests across five Central Valley counties, Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni announced Monday. Authorities seized 73 firearms, about $156,000 in cash, 55 pounds of methamphetamine, 3 pounds of cocaine and 10 grams of powdered fentanyl. Those arrested are accused of being Sure\u00f1o gang members with ties to the Mexican Mafia, including juveniles as young as 14 years old. Click here for full story.<\/a>Teen killed at Visalia graduation party identified. He was about to graduate \u2014 Antonio Monroe, 18, of Visalia, was identified Monday as the teen killed in a shooting at a graduation party over the weekend. The shooting happened around 10:45 p.m. Saturday in Visalia, where Monroe was shot multiple times and died at a nearby hospital shortly before his high school graduation. Three other victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and no arrests have been made. Click here for full story.<\/a>What\u2019s that new construction in Fresno? We have answers for 5 spots \u2014 Five active construction sites in downtown and southeast Fresno are taking shape, including a storage building replacement at 2950 Ventura Ave. next to Al\u2019s Ricos Tacos and a planned dentist office on Backer Avenue tied to Unique Orthodontics. Kuppa Joy is opening a drive-thru location at Belmont and Fowler avenues in about three months, while a Dutch Bros Coffee near the former Javier\u2019s restaurant is targeting a late summer or early fall opening. A new Bank of America full-service branch near Winery Avenue is scheduled to open between October and December, replacing two nearby locations slated to close. Click here for full story.<\/a><\/p>\n

Original stories by Erik Galicia, Nick Fenley and Bethany Clough<\/p>\n

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media\u2019s AI policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top stories from Monday included a major contract approval that moves California\u2019s high-speed rail project closer to laying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-344899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344899","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=344899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}