• Long Lines for Groceries: Residents, including homeowners and those with jobs, are lining up for hours (sometimes overnight) at places like the Fresno Mission's First Fruits Market to receive about $250 worth of free, high-quality groceries, including fresh meat and produce.
• High Poverty and Cost of Living: California has the nation's highest poverty rates despite having the world's fourth-largest economy. Residents face skyrocketing costs for gas, groceries, housing, and utilities.
• Demand is High: The Central California Food Bank is serving 320,000 individuals monthly, a demand level similar to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. One in three children and one in four adults in the Central Valley struggle with food insecurity.
• Housing Crisis: While the Central Valley has historically been a refuge for those seeking a middle-class life due to lower home prices, rising costs and complex regulations are now creating a divide. Median home prices have risen significantly more than incomes, and rising rents are hollowing out the middle class by eliminating market-rate "transition housing."
• "Devil's Choice" for Low-Income Workers: The structure of subsidized housing programs often creates a disincentive to work. If individuals on "extremely low" income housing (30% of Area Median Income) get a minimum-wage job, they may lose their housing because their new income exceeds the strict limit, preventing a stable path to self-sufficiency.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alleging that the agency implemented discriminatory hiring practices that rejected over 1,000 qualified air traffic controller applicants based on race, particularly targeting graduates of the Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) program who were predominantly white.

The lawsuit, known as Brigida v. Buttigieg, was initiated by Andrew Brigida, a CTI graduate who scored 100% on his training exam but was rejected after the FAA introduced a new biographical assessment in 2013.

Andrew Brigida, a white graduate of Arizona State University's CTI program, passed the AT-SAT exam with a perfect score of 100% in April 2013 but failed the newly implemented biographical questionnaire in 2014 Brigida v. Buttigieg (Brigida v. Buttigieg, 538 F.Supp.3d 12 (D. D.C. 2021)) - vLex United States - vLex. Matthew Douglas-Cook, a Native American who also scored perfectly on the AT-SAT, similarly failed the biographical questionnaire

The questionnaire included unusual questions for would-be air traffic controllers, such as how many sports they played in high school, how long they'd been unemployed recently, and whether their lowest grade in high school was in science

In February 2022, the court certified the class action on behalf of all non-African American CTI graduates who graduated between 2009-2013, passed the AT-SAT, applied through the 2014 vacancy announcement, but failed the biographical questionnaire

As late as 2024, the FAA was recruiting those with targeted disabilities, including "hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism"

Yes, exactly! Châteauneuf-du-Pape is very close to Avignon - only about 15-20 km (9-12 miles) to the north. It's basically a quick drive or bike ride away.

• The name "Châteauneuf-du-Pape" literally means "the Pope's new castle"
• In the 14th century, the papal court moved from Rome to Avignon (the "Avignon Papacy"), and the popes built a summer residence in this village
• They planted vineyards there, and that's how the region's wine reputation began!
• You can still see the ruins of the papal castle overlooking the vineyards

The region is in the Southern Rhône Valley in Provence. It's a beautiful area - lots of sun, those famous large rounded stones (galets) in the vineyards that retain heat, and gorgeous countryside.

If you ever visit Avignon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape makes an easy and worthwhile day trip for wine tasting. The village itself is charming and many wineries offer tours and tastings.