Appliance Repair in Fresno, CA

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Stacy Dewall is in the business of turning heads and now that Eye Candy Fashion Boutique has opened a Clovis location at 8th and Pollasky, she's expanding her brand and clientele.

"We don't want to look like were trying to be younger than we are but we don't want to look ancient either," Dewall says. "So fashion is a good way to figure that out and tell the world I'm still fun."

From flared jeans and jewelry to statement pieces like boots or wide brimmed hats, the shop offers ways to put your own spin on the latest styles.

Not sure what you're looking for? Or if you're ready to hop on the latest trend? Stacy and her team have you covered for any occasion.

"A lot of times people say well i love the idea of this but im not comfortable in it so well maybe help you transition into a new style," Dewall says.

Known for some of her custom upcycled creations, Dewall made space for local artisans to shine.

"We just want people to find things they don't find everywhere," Dewall says.

Just one year into business, Little Valley Goods owner Patrick Palmer having a home base has helped boost business.

The 16-year-old is still in school so now he doesn't have to wait til the weekend to make sales.

"It's cool because now I've been able to say I have customers that come back and i remember you from this market," Palmer says.

You no longer have to travel to Basilwood Farm in Prather to enjoy these Goat Milk skin care products.

"Soap is still our biggest product we have our own goats at the farm in Prather and we use that milk in our soaps and other products," Basilwood Farm owner Jill Spruance says.

Soaps, bath bombs, lotions are just a few of the variety of products offered.

Spruance says she found out about the co-op availability through a fellow artisan, highlighting the importance of community over competition.

"There's room for all of us to succeed just knowing what makes your business and your product unique about you," Spruance says.

FRESNO, Calif (FOX26) — Fulton Street in Downtown Fresno has been helping local businesses with its popularity.

Originally in the early 1900's Fulton Street in Downtown Fresno had many popular buildings, including the first skyscraper in the city of Fresno, according to UC Merced.

When Fresno State relocated in 1956 and moved North, Fresno began to experience a population boom after World War II so the city of Fresno built "Fulton Mall" in 1964, according to the California Garden and Landscape History Society.

Five years ago the old Fulton Mall was demolished and brought back Fulton Street in downtown Fresno and local businesses are saying bringing back Fulton Street helped the city.

"It used to be kind of a ghost town over here and now it's actually really lively," said Samantha Bailey a server at Toshiko Restaurant in Downton Fresno.

The 20 million dollar project to bring back Fulton Street to "reintroduce traffic" was completed in 2017, and many businesses said opening up the street made it really accessible to many more people.

"It gets so so busy especially because we are on Fulton," said Bailey. "I don't see really any other sushi place like that busy unless they're on a main street like we are."

The revitalization project funded by the city along with other donors was centered around "reintroducing traffic" to the area.

Since 2017, many businesses said opening up the street to both foot traffic and driving traffic made it much more accessible to the local community.

"The walking traffic that comes from it open, as a street has still been really prevalent especially on nights like this during the Fulton Street Party where people are hoping around different bars," said Madison Beard the event coordinator for Tioga Sequoia Brewing Co. "Hoping around to different events happening throughout the night."

Locals agree, the much-needed renovation also brings new life into the once-dead area.

"It's fun to see people be able to feel comfortable walking in downtown to all the different activations and I think that accessibility and that lighting and that safety of that there's, it's populated by people," said Beard. "I think that makes it more accessible for that safety. I often see people meeting up and then heading out to their next spot or ending their night here, so I love the space that we're in because we're kind of the central spot where we can see all the fun things happening."

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Beginning its toughest stretch of the season, playing two of the top ranked teams in the country over its next three games, Cal Poly hits the road this week for a pair of games.

The Mustangs (1-1) head north to take on No. 2 Stanford Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tip. The game will be streamed live on Pac-12.com.

They then head east to face Fresno State Friday at 6 p.m. That game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

Links to watch both games and follow live stats can be found on the schedule page.

Last week, Cal Poly opened the season with a road loss to UCLA. The Mustangs then picked up their first win of the season a few days later against Simpson in the home opener.

Through the first two games, senior forward Julia Nielacna leads the Mustangs in scoring at 12.5 points per game. Sophomore guard Annika Shah leads the team in assists at 4.5 per game and junior forward Natalia Ackerman paces the team in rebounds at 6.5 per game.

For the first time in 25 years, the Mustangs will have a new head coach at the helm as Shanele Stires enters her first year as head coach. She was hired in April following the retirement of Faith Mimnaugh, the winningest coach in Cal Poly women's basketball history, after 25 seasons with the program.

The team's top three scorers return from last year and eight total letterwinners. On top of that, the new coaching staff brought in seven newcomers. Those consist of four true freshmen and three Division I transfers.

Following Friday's game, the schedule doesn't get any easier as the Mustangs welcome in No. 1 South Carolina to Mott Athletics Center Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m.

Scouting Stanford: The Cardinal are off to a 4-0 so far this season. The 2021 national champions return 10 players from last year's team, including All-Americans Haley Jones and Cameron Brink. The last time the Mustangs played Stanford was Nov. 24, 2020 with the Cardinal winning, 108-40.

Scouting Fresno State: The Bulldogs head into the week 1-1 so far this season with a win over Fresno Pacific and a loss to CSU Bakersfield. Last year, Fresno State was 11-18, losing in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament. Their top three scorers from last season are gone and this year's team features nine underclassmen on the roster.

Returning Mustangs: Despite losing two starters from last year, Cal Poly brings back plenty from last year's team. The team's top three scorers are all back this year.

Senior guard Maddie Vick led the team in scoring, assists, and minutes last season.

Senior guard Maddie Willett returns after being second on the team in scoring last year at 8.9 ppg while leading the team in made threes and three point percentage.

Senior forward Julia Nielacna is also back after averaging 8.3 ppg last season while playing in 24 of 25 games and starting 11.

In addition to those three, there are five players back this season who played in at least 22 games last year.

New Stangs: Cal Poly added eight newcomers to this year's team, five freshmen and three Division I transfers. The three transfers consist of graduate student Nikola Kovacikova, graduate student Oumou Toure, and junior Taylor Wu.

Kovacikova comes to Cal Poly after previously playing at both Penn and Georgetown. Last season at Penn, she played in 19 games with eight starts. Off the court, she earned Penn's Norman J. Goldring Prize and George H. Frazier Prize which is given to a senior female student-athlete with the highest GPA. She spent her first two collegiate seasons at Georgetown. As a sophomore in 2019-20, she appeared in 27 games with 12 starts and was the Hoyas' third-leading scorer, averaging 7.9 ppg.

Toure comes to Cal Poly after having spent the last three years at Butler. She played her freshman season before missing the next two due to injury and the COVID pandemic. As a freshman in 2019-20, she was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team. That season, she appeared in 27 games, making 20 starts and ranked second on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the field to go along with 6.1 rebounds per game. She also led the Big East and ranked 45th in the NCAA in steals per game at 2.33.

Wu spent the last three seasons at California Baptist University where she played in 70 career games. She made her mark as a freshman in 2019-20, averaging 6.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg in 18.4 minutes per game. She broke the program's freshman single game scoring record after dropping 37 points against Ottawa (AZ) and in the same game broke the program record for threes made in a game with 10.

As a sophomore, she started 19 of 27 games, averaging 8.9 ppg, 1.7 apg, and 21.9 minutes per game. She scored in double figures 11 times including a season-high 15 against Pepperdine.

Tens of thousands of academic employees across the University of California’s 10 campuses walked off the job Monday, demanding better pay and benefits in what union leaders say could be the largest work stoppage the prestigious public university system has ever faced.

The unions representing some 48,000 teaching assistants, researchers, postdoctoral scholars, tutors and graders say the vast majority of members turned out at picket lines starting at 8 a.m. They say they are seeking significant pay increases and child-care subsidies to afford the cost of living in cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and Berkeley, where housing costs are soaring.

The strike threatens to disrupt classroom and laboratory instruction across the statewide university system just weeks ahead of final exams in December. Some instructors were already telling some students classes were on hold indefinitely.

Organizers from the United Auto Workers, which represents the employees involved, say they have set no end date for the work stoppage.

“The strike will end when UC ends its unfair labor practices and starts bargaining in good faith,” said Neal Sweeney, president of the UAW Local 5810, representing about 12,000 UC postdoctoral and academic researchers.

He said the unionized workers, represented by four bargaining units, are seeking pay that will lift workers out of “rent burden,” which is defined by the federal government as having to pay at least a third of your salary toward rent.

The average current pay is about $24,000 annually for student employees including teaching assistants and tutors who “collectively do the majority of instruction,” at UC schools, he said.

They are seeking minimum annual base salaries of $54,000.

UC has offered a salary scale increase of 5% in the first year and 3% afterward, but workers say that is not adequate.

In a statement, UC said it had entered the talks with a “genuine willingness to compromise,” adding that “many tentative agreements” on issues such as health and safety had been reached.

“UC’s primary goal in these negotiations is multiyear agreements that recognize these employees’ important and highly valued contributions to UC’s teaching and research mission with fair pay, quality health and family-friendly benefits, and a supportive and respectful work environment,” the statement said.

Ally Cara, 32, a postdoctoral researcher in endocrinology at the University of California Los Angeles, spends half of her income on rent, paying $2,000 for a one-bedroom apartment.

“Most of us are severely rent burdened and some of us are having to choose between paying rent and buying groceries and medication,” said Cara, who moved from Michigan and has been in Los Angeles just over a year. Rents are increasing everywhere but she said “California is uniquely higher.”

According to the UAW, the strike is the largest to occur at the University of California and could be the largest academic strike in higher education in U.S. history.

James Boocock, a postdoctoral scholar in human genetics at UCLA, joined one of six pickets on campus. He said striking “was a tough decision to make” given he loves his research but added salaries are unsustainable and the university doesn’t provide enough support.

Besides pay raises, the unionized workers are demanding child care subsidies, enhanced health care for dependents, public transit passes, lower tuition costs for international scholars and greater accessibility for workers with disabilities.

Demonstrators were out in force at UC campuses in Los Angeles and Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Merced, Santa Barbara, and Irvine. Some 300,000 students attend the 10 schools that make up the University of California. On some campuses, students joined in solidarity.

Lex Von Klark, a 22-year-old political science student at UCLA, was among several hundred people on campus holding signs and participating in picket lines Monday.

“I am out here primarily because these people are my teachers, and their working conditions are my learning conditions,” he said. “Basically if my teachers are getting paid less than a living wage and have to work multiple jobs, it makes it hard for me to get a high-end education.”

A group of 33 state lawmakers sent a letter last week to UC President Michael Drake in support of the student employees.

“The UC is one of the top public university systems and research institutions in the world, in no small part because of its ability to attract the most talented scholars from a wide array of backgrounds, the letter said. “But the UC system cannot live up to its mission and reputation if its own employees do not feel respected.”

The lawmakers urged the university to bargain in good faith with the workers: “By failing to do so, UC is risking mass disruption and losing the talent that has earned UC its prestigious reputation."

Gecker and AP writer Janie Har contributed reporting from San Francisco. Julie Watson contributed from San Diego.

This story was originally published November 14, 2022 10:31 AM.

NEW YORK (AP) — In the past few years, Slutty Vegan, an Atlanta-based eatery, has attracted a cult-like following with its raunchy approach to veganism.

Celebrities often pop in for a visit. And customers routinely wait through long lines to order from the chain’s cheekily-named menu, which includes the “One Night Stand” burger and the slutty fries.

Owner Pinky Cole opened up the first brick-and-mortar location in 2018 in Atlanta, where the acclaimed burger joint attracted a largely Black customer base. Since then, Cole has added new locations in other parts of Georgia as well as Birmingham, Alabama and Brooklyn, New York.

This month, she will begin a five-city tour to promote her new cookbook, “Eat Plants, B(asterisk)tch: 91 Vegan Recipes That Will Blow Your Meat-Loving Mind.” The Associated Press recently spoke with Cole about her business, her new cookbook and how she’s preparing for a potential economic downturn. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: How did you start your business? And why did you decide to go with a raunchy name?

A: So I started my concept in my two-bedroom apartment while working full-time as a casting director. The idea hit me out of nowhere. I didn’t know a side hustle would turn into a $100 million brand. I thought I was doing something personally for myself. But I was really doing something for people who want to reimagine food in a different way. The name was a catchy way to get people to pay attention. I knew ‘slutty’ and ‘vegan’ didn’t go together. They’re so oddly different that if you put them together, it would make people ask questions.

Q: Speaking of your prior career, how did you transition your broadcast skills to the restaurant business?

A: I know what people pay attention to. I know what gets them bored. I know what gets them to tune in. I learned that working in TV as a producer for the Maury show. I also worked on more therapeutic shows, so I know what pulls on people’s emotions. Our marketing is racy, raunchy and its in-your-face. I’m just producing TV every day.

Q: The chain limits customers to two burgers per order. Have you dealt with any complaints regarding that?

A: No. It’s funny. People don’t even complain standing in line. We do the limit because there’s something in the art of scarcity that people have fallen in love with. If you make it available to them sometimes, but not all the time, it’ll make them come back. Another reason we implemented the limit was because we want to make sure the experience was efficient for customers. We’re still a small business. So the policy might change in the future as we grow.

Q: Many are worried that we might have a recession soon. Are you preparing your business for one?

A: Yes, we are actually in the process of doing that now. You know, it’s a very scary thing. Even for somebody who just raised $25 million, you’d be surprised how fast you can lose it if you’re not conscious about how you spend the money. We are strategically coming up with a game plan. Once upon a time, we were just focused on brick-and-mortar locations. But it takes almost $1 million to build one brick-and-mortar site. Now we are focusing our energy on buying food trucks.

Q: Do you have plans to go global?

A: We’ve already gotten some trademarks internationally. So we are preparing. But I can’t say just yet what we’re preparing for.

Q: Who’s the audience for the new cookbook?

A: This is for the meat eater. The vegans already got it figured out. No limitations – really good food. It just happens to be plant-based.