Fresno Bee

fresnobee.com — Sicilian immigrant Baldassare Forestiere carved himself an underground home out of the hardpan north of Fresno. Now, some of Forestiere's descendants fear that California's proposed high-speed train project could threaten his creation. Mainly, though, they're confused by the lack of information about how the project would affect them.

fresnobee.com — Justin Bieber will bring his "Believe" tour to Fresno's Save Mart Center on Oct. 5. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. June 2.

fresnobee.com — A dangerous bill that blew out of the state Assembly last week -- without a dissenting vote -- would create a costly public property record exemption for certain law enforcement officials. Los Angeles Assemblyman Mike Feuer introduced Assembly Bill 2299 after an anonymous Internet group publicized the home addresses of more than a dozen members of the Los Angeles Police Department's command staff.

fresnobee.com — On Sunday, Ma Ying-jeou began his second term as Taiwan's democratically elected president. It is an especially noteworthy occasion for both the island nation and, personally, for me. While visiting Taiwan in 1998, I met President Ma while he was campaigning for mayor of Taipei.

fresnobee.com — River riders, get your rafts ready. The Kings River may finally open again. Fresno County officials have hired a new contractor to clean up a bridge-construction site that has kept a popular six-mile stretch of water closed for nearly a year.

fresnobee.com — I would like to apologize for a recent mistake by my campaign. In the enthusiasm of earning the endorsement of The Fresno Bee, my campaign scanned the endorsement article, made what they thought were two minor alterations and included a much reduced version on a flyer inserted in The Bee.

fresnobee.com — In the television age, voters are an ever-more demanding bunch. These difficult times have made it clear that voters are watching closely. That raises the stakes for presidents, governors and mayors -- if not every politician. Simply put: Voters want to know if you are fighting for them.

fresnobee.com — Cigarette smoking is a disgusting and unhealthy habit, and we don't have much use for tobacco companies that spend millions to entice young people to smoke. But we don't support Proposition 29, which would raise the tax on cigarettes sold in California by $1 a pack.

fresnobee.com — The San Joaquin Valley's stubborn economy showed improvement in April, but the region remains saddled with joblessness that has been with us even when the local economy was booming. The region must diversify its economy if it's ever going to break the shackles of double-digit unemployment.

fresnobee.com — A congressional committee is investigating California's $68 billion high-speed rail project. The U.S. Government Accountability Office is investigating, too. Meanwhile, this proposal for the largest public works project in California history is the target of a flurry of lawsuits filed by local governments and opposition groups.

fresnobee.com — One word seemed to sum up the response among Fresnans to Sunday's solar eclipse: "Awesome." That's how Devon and Alexis Kelly and others in a crowd of about 70 people at The Discovery Center in southeast Fresno described seeing the moon blot out nearly 90% of the sun.

fresnobee.com — May is "Bike Month," and about 800 Fresnans (not even 1% of the population) have registered to become a part of the "I Bike Fresno Challenge." These happy individuals have pledged to ride one million miles, collectively. I would like to make a few suggestions so we can all get along a little better out there on the roads.