Fresno Looks To Shed Poverty Label

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, January 8, 2026

• In 2005, a national report revealed that the U.S. city with the highest rate of concentrated poverty was Fresno. Now, 20 years later, we wondered: have those economic conditions changed?
• High profile defense attorney Alan Jackson has announced that he no longer represents Nick Reiner, who stands accused of murdering his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, last month. 

Fresno Once Had The Worst Poverty In The Nation. For Some, It’s A Lasting Struggle

Yonas Paulos’s advocacy for homeless veterans is driven by his own struggles. Paulos, 56, is an immigrant from Ethiopia. He fled his home country to escape war and poverty. He said he first experienced homelessness as a child – and it left a lasting impact. “I never forgot how horrible it felt to be homeless at age seven,” Paulos said.

Paulos later settled in Fresno, where he lived for 40 years. In those decades, he still experienced periods of homelessness. The most recent was last summer. He said mental health struggles were factors. But also a divorce. Today, Paulos has a place he can finally call home.

But his home is no longer in Fresno. Paulos lives about an hour south in Kingsburg, where he says he found more affordable housing. He said rising costs in Fresno made it impossible for him to stay.

Paulos’ economic situation is playing out amid signs that Fresno’s economy is improving, after decades of its own economic instability. Fresno has long struggled with deep-rooted poverty. In 2005, a report by the nonprofit think-tank Brookings Institution broke this out in the open, revealing that Fresno had the highest concentration of poverty of any U.S. city. The study showed that a significant number of Fresno’s census tracts had at least 40 percent of residents living at or below the poverty line. Those findings left city officials with a big task ahead to improve conditions.

The non-profit Central Valley Community Foundation aims to create jobs and economic opportunities in the Fresno region. The organization has been the leading group helping to develop projects in recent years to boost the regional economy. It has sought to respond to evolving technological changes that could impact the workforce. It oversees initiatives around the food and farming industry, and seeks to build a private donor base to sustain future economic projects.

A recent report by the community foundation showed that some of that work – along with other potential factors in the wider economy – could be making a difference. The organization found that the rate of concentrated poverty in Fresno has dropped by 68% since 2014.

High-Profile Attorney Withdraws From Reiner Case

A high-profile defense attorney for Nick Reiner, who is accused of killing his famous parents in their Brentwood home, has stepped down from the case and arraignment has been pushed to next month.

Reiner, 32, was expected to be arraigned Wednesday morning in Los Angeles County Superior Court in connection with the deaths of his parents, Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, last month. Instead, Nick Reiner’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, revealed to Judge Theresa McGonigle that he was withdrawing from the case. “Circumstances beyond our control, but more importantly, circumstances beyond Nick’s control have dictated that sadly it’s made it impossible for us to continue our representation of Nick,” Jackson told reporters after Reiner’s brief court appearance.

The attorney said he is “legally and ethically” prohibited from explaining why he would no longer represent Reiner. “We know the legal process will reveal the true facts of the circumstances surrounding this case,” Jackson continued. “We’ve investigated this matter top to bottom and front to back.“

Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead Dec. 14 after police were called to their home on South Chadbourne Avenue. Detectives with the Police Department’s elite Robbery Homicide Division, Homicide Special Section began an investigation and identified Reiner as the suspect, according to police. The younger Reiner was located and arrested near Exposition Park close to USC at approximately 9:15 p.m., according to police. He remains in jail on a no-bail status.