In a few weeks, a team of Washington, D.C.-based researchers will descend on the Central Valley for a couple of days of interviews about health care. Some questions are already being directed their way: Since we've already been dubbed the Appalachia of the West Coast, why do we need more research? With all the scads of studying done, we've had ...

It's the latest in the ''blame, don't blame'' game of health-care, finger-pointing -- with at least one worthwhile takeaway. The Public Policy Institute of California has a new report, ''Emergency Department Care in California; Who Uses It and Why?'' Key findings: Fresno, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties have the highest per-capita ED ...

Every successful downtown needs a personality. I've lived and worked in some that did (New York City, Milwaukee) and others that didn't (Hartford and New London, Conn.). Here's what I wish for downtown Fresno: A gourmet restaurant. We've got subway sandwiches, chicken pita and a pittance more. A five-star hotel. I'm sure glad ...

For me, the last brush with idiocy came at a Valero Station where one red sports car and one yellow sporty car -- seemingly unconnected -- began engine revving at the gas pumps. Burning rubber has now morphed into burning brain cells -- sorry, I'm according them too much credit -- as everyone else chews on the foul air and fetid gas ...

The grass has turned to straw. The darkened building has a foreclosure sign taped to the door. Past-due notices are scrunched into the jamb. That describes houses in my Clovis neighborhood. It soon may well describe some California hospitals. Members of the California State Rural Health Association gathered recently in Reedley, and one ...

So, how did the president of the Philippines wind up visiting Community Regional Medical Center on the sultry Sunday morning of June 22?   It began about nine days earlier when a Community physician of Filipino heritage stopped by the hospital's administrative offices seeking help for the visit. Within 72 hours, the Philippines consul ...