The Merced Focus

Introducing The Merced FOCUS, a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to reporting on Merced and the San Joaquin Valley. Our mission is to highlight important issues within our community. From education and politics to cultural stories, our team of journalists provides an in-depth examination of the events and individuals shaping the news.

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Articles

Merced County supervisors rubber stamp proposed $1.15 billion budget. Why the spending plan is slightly up this year

1 week ago | themercedfocus.org | Brianna Vaccari

Reading Time: 5 minutesAfter requests from residents to hold additional budget hearings and increase investment in affordable housing, the Merced County Board of Supervisors did neither on Tuesday and unanimously passed the proposed $1.15 billion budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 with no amendments or questions for county staff. It was business as usual for the five-member elected board, which passed its proposed budget the same day it was introduced for the past several years.
Liquor licenses abound in the Valley. How many is too many?

2 weeks ago | themercedfocus.org | Tim Sheehan

Reading Time: 5 minutesIn some neighborhoods in the San Joaquin Valley, it’s challenging to go more than a block or two without finding someplace to buy alcohol. Between liquor stores, convenience stores, neighborhood markets and large grocers – and from the smallest rural outposts to the region’s largest cities across eight counties – 2,140 retailers hold state-issued alcohol licenses to sell beer and wine for off-site consumption.
Merced sees seismic turnout for 'No Kings' demonstration

2 weeks ago | themercedfocus.org | Victor Patton |Christian Betancourt

Reading Time: < 1 minuteHundreds of people have turned out at the “No Kings” protests in Merced. Both sides of M Street from 19th Street to the County Administration building are lined with protesters.
Does Merced County need an independent commission to draw Board of Supervisors districts?

2 weeks ago | themercedfocus.org | Brianna Vaccari

Reading Time: 6 minutesA bill authored by Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria would create an independent redistricting commission for Merced County – but the Board of Supervisors opposes it, saying it’s an unnecessary, unfunded state mandate. Assembly Bill 1441 would create an independent, 11-member commission that would choose the maps for county supervisor districts beginning after the 2030 census. The bill is making its way through the legislative process.
This pop-up nightclub is a place of ‘pure happiness’ for Merced’s disabled adults

1 month ago | themercedfocus.org | Brianna Vaccari

Reading Time: 4 minutesAbout once a month, the inside of the Merced Senior Center transforms into a dark, thumping night club – complete with a DJ, flashing lights and a snack bar that serves mocktails and nonalcoholic beer. The pop-up event, known as Club 67, isn’t a typical nightclub.
The bear returns: Merced installs new sign at Applegate Zoo

1 month ago | themercedfocus.org | Christian Betancourt

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe bear is back. Merced’s Applegate Zoo, one of the city’s oldest and most beloved public spaces, has replaced the custom wooden sign that was stolen earlier this year. Crafted in the silhouette of a bear, the design includes a stag standing in a forest while a bird of prey soars overhead. In a Facebook video posted this week, Merced Parks and Recreation Director Chris Jensen confirmed the new sign has been installed. The piece wasn’t just a decoration.
Merced County will close a third fire station, despite passage of Dos Palos sales tax

1 month ago | themercedfocus.org | Brianna Vaccari

Reading Time: 4 minutesAnother Merced County fire station is scheduled to close, this time in Dos Palos. The Merced County Board of Supervisors on a split vote approved the closure of Fire Station 75 located at the Dos Palos Wye. It’s one of two fire stations currently serving the city of around 6,000 people and the surrounding unincorporated area. The move diverges from the county’s original plan to consolidate the Dos Palos fire stations and close Station 76 in town.
Merced’s proposed budget ‘maintains status quo’ as labor costs rise

1 month ago | themercedfocus.org | Brianna Vaccari

Reading Time: < 1 minuteMerced city officials plan to leave some city positions unfilled during the next fiscal year so that it can balance its $438.5 million budget. “We’ve had some challenges in balancing the budget,” said Venus Rodriguez, finance officer for the city of Merced, explaining that there will be deferred maintenance. “It’s not a lot of big new things in this budget.
Play celebrating the life of civil rights icon and actor Paul Robeson coming to Merced

1 month ago | themercedfocus.org | Victor Patton

Reading Time: 4 minutesThe life and times of one of the 20th century’s most prolific artists – who was a singer, actor, activist and scholar – will be celebrated in June with a one-man play in Merced. “The World is My Home – The Life of Paul Robeson,” will be performed by actor Stogie Kenyatta at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7, at Unity of Merced. Vocalist Michelle Allison will open the show with a performance.
Merced County employees get big raises one year after near strike

1 month ago | themercedfocus.org | Brianna Vaccari

Reading Time: 4 minutesMore than 1,700 Merced County employees will receive a 10% pay raise and alleviated healthcare costs thanks to two new labor agreements approved this month. The raises come after more than 18 months of employee advocacy that was sparked, in part, by skyrocketing healthcare premiums. They also come after most Merced County Sheriff’s Office employees received similar increases in late 2023 and early 2024 to stop the hemorrhaging of department staff.