Hi everyone!

This is Foster, with another special news report from Fresno, California. I’m here in the newsroom, waiting for our roving reporter, Panda, to come online. Panda, are you there?Yes, Foster! I’m here at Fig Garden Village, where as you can see behind me, the hair salon has opened back up. I’m on my way over to Starbucks now to see what progress has been made there.Well, Panda, I’m sure Aunt Gail will be glad about the hair salon. I see Mom made you a new mask. It looks good! We’ll be waiting to hear what you find out at Starbucks!Thanks, Foster. I’m here in Starbucks, and you are now able to enter the store to order your coffee. There are some snacks available as well. They have this cool green and white tape on the floor with clearly marked circles for you to stand on. It is evident that they want customers to maintain a proper social distance from each other. Of course, face masks are still required.That’s good to know. Umm, Panda, can I ask why you have your Hawaiian shirt tucked in? I don’t think I’ve seen you wear it that way before.Well, Foster, it’s because Mom said I have to. You see, my stuffing is coming out again from us playing so rough, and she hasn’t had time to sew me back up again. She thought maybe tucking in my shirt would help.Oh, okay. I guess that does make sense. We probably shouldn’t be so rambunctious in the house. So can customers sit down to have their coffee? Are the chairs back?I do see some chairs and tables, but let me read this sign. The print is kind of small, but is says the seating area is temporarily closed.However, some of the outside tables have been put back. Most tables only have two chairs, and some only have one. I guess if you go for coffee you’ll need to go by yourself or with just one other person.Wow, Panda, they are really serious about this! What about the other outdoor tables?Well, Foster, you might remember, in my last report I showed you that there were no tables in this shady area. Now there are some, but not as many as there used to be. Again, the seating seems to be limited to two people at a table.So even with some of the tables back, the area is still kind of deserted.That’s too bad! Are they keeping everything is being sanitized?

Yes, Foster, everything is very sanitary. As I showed you last time, there is hand sanitizer located in various places. This nice lady helped me get some, because as you can see, I’m too short to reach.Wait a minute! Isn’t that the same lady who helped you get sanitizer before? Somehow she looks familiar…Anyway, tell us about the stores. Were you able to go inside any of them?Yes, Foster, there are a few stores opening back up. Each one has their own policy about how many customers can be inside.One store even has messages painted on the sidewalk. I guess they missed their customers during the lockdown.I will admit that this sign puzzled  me. I’m not sure why dogs have to be 21 years or older to go in. I see they allow outside food, so it must be a restaurant for elderly dogs. As you know, 21  would be 147 in dog years.Yes Panda that’s possible, but what if they have already done the math? It could be for 3 year old dogs, since we know that 3 times 7 is 21.Well I suppose anything is possible. I walked over to “Anthropologie” and saw these cool flower props in the window. I thought Mom and her friend Kathy could make something like this for Sunday school.That was nice of you to think of them. I’m sure they’ll be glad to do puppet shows again when Social Distancing is over. What about Mom and Aunt Gail’s favorite stores?I peeked into Bath & Body but they are still closed. No word yet on when they will be opening back up.Still not open? That’s going to make it tough for Kate to get her favorite soaps and hand sanitizers. Yes, Foster, you’re right. But Eddie Bauer is open now, so that’s good for Aunt Gail.But I might mention that you can’t try anything on right now, and all the fitting rooms are blocked off with clothing racks. There is a sign on each of the doors stating that the fitting rooms are temporarily closed.Oh wow! That means people had better know their sizes. I’m glad cats don’t have to worry about clothes shopping!I agree! And since Mom makes all my clothes, I don’t have to worry about it either. You’ll notice that some businesses seem to be closed down for good. This was a restaurant, but now it’s empty inside. They say the restaurant business is really suffering.Well that’s not good! Hopefully things will go back to normal eventually. Did you get a chance to check out the fountain?Yes, Foster, I did. Still no water. Not sure what’s up with that, but maybe there will be some next time. You may be able to tell in my photos that there are still not as many people out and about as there used to be.However, I did meet some nice ladies who offered to take a selfie with me. It seems that whenever I come here, everyone is really nice, and they all seem to enjoy taking selfies.Panda, those are the same…never mind. We’ll talk when you get home. In the meantime, we’ll be looking forward to another informative live report. This is Foster and Panda, signing off! Thanks for joining us, and everyone stay safe!