It must be Fresno Week for the national media: In addition to this weekend's USC-Bulldogs coverage, both the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post attempt to tackle all things Fresno. In an excellent piece, the Sunday Times addresses the Fresno "Brain Drain" -- complete with quotes from Fresno Famous media mogul Jarah Euston and a front-page pic of her doing her best "Shawshank Redemption" pose. Nice work, guys! My other favorite part: The melancholy photo of FSU professor and empty-nester George Raney, who mournfully clutches a photo of his children. Hey LA Times, the kids aren't dead. They just moved.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports on Fresno's poverty problem today, making the town sound like a developing country in Central America. Too heavy-handed? Or right on?
A drive through south Fresno found streets with wilted, squat wooden and concrete houses, a handful of prostitutes standing dejectedly on corners, huddles of young men standing outside a weedy lot drinking beer and mothers with children, but few children playing on the streets.
