The Merced FOCUS

Amid conflicting messages over the safety of vaccines, cases of measles have been on the rise both in California and the U.S. this year compared to 2025.

And in the San Joaquin Valley, where two cases of measles have been reported so far in 2026, vaccination rates among kindergarten students at a growing number of schools are falling short of a level considered to provide “herd immunity” to prevent the disease from spreading.

Read more and learn about the schools falling short of measles 'herd immunity,' link in the comments. 🔗

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A push by Merced artists to pause two $10,000 mural projects revealed confusion over how the projects were shaped and what the city’s Arts and Culture Advisory Commission was asked to approve.
Four members of Merced’s arts community spoke before the Merced City Council on Sept. 8, asking officials to freeze the current request for proposal, or RFP, and reconsider the amount of money offered for each project.
For local muralist Eddie Rodriguez, that concern comes from experience doing city work.
“I think for every mural I’ve done for the city, maybe not my first electrical box, but every mural since then, I pretty much just operated at a loss,” Rodriguez said in an interview after the meeting. “It costs me money to do this project. I do it because I love the city, and yeah, I want to have beautiful art for here.”
The dispute comes as Merced leans further into public art. The city was recently designated a California Cultural District, while the Merced AF festival added a new wave of privately funded murals downtown.
Full story, linked in our comments 🔗🎨

These vintage signs in Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield are relics of businesses and community members from a time long past. Read the full story, link in the comments. 🔗

This story was published in collaboration with KVPR.

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The op-ed was written in response to a column written by Rep. Adam Gray. Congressman Gray’s column was a response to a story published by The Merced FOCUS about his vote on the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. Link in the comments. 🔗