Page 12 - MidValleyTimes 7-4-19 E-edition

Thursday, July 4, 2019 | A12 | Mid Valley TiMes
Tulare County libraries to revise internet policy
Revisions will likely take place this coming fall
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
At a public meeting held Thursday, June 27, at the Tu- lare County Library Dinuba Branch, members of the com- munity learned of an upcom- ing revision to the library’s in- ternet policy. In the balance, according to Tulare County Librarian Darla Wegener, is the library’s responsibility for safeguarding against il- legal activity and its obliga- tion to serve the public as a means of being a resource of information.
The library is required to review their internet pol- icy and hold periodic public meetings as part of its agree- ment with the US Depart- ment of Education for receiv- ing its E-Rate discount. The federally funded assistance allows schools and libraries to receive telecommunication services for as much as a 90 percent discount.
The county must also comply with the federal guidelines under the Chil- dren’s Internet Protection (CIPA) Policy. The CIPA policy requires those receiv- ing assistance to enforce a policy of internet safety that includes measures to block or filter Internet access for both minors and adults to certain visual depictions. Those de- pictions would include any- thing considered obscene, child pornography, or any material deemed to be harm- ful to children.
In the past, the Tulare County Libraries would re-
ACADEMY Continued from page A1
Work will begin this month on the final improve- ments to Academy, includ- ing straightening out that confusing to visitors – and probably to some Sanger residents - bend in the road at the Annadale Avenue in- tersection.
Construction will consist of three phases, according to information released by the City of Sanger:
• Phase I includes grinding the existing as- phalt and constructing an asphalt overlay between an area about 850 feet south of North Ave. to an area about 350 feet south of Annadale Ave. There are no plans to
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quire a permission slip, signed by a parent, in order to allow children to access the Internet through its com- puters. One of the revisions to the county’s Internet pol- icy, however, would incorpo- rate the Internet permission at the point of registering for a library card, and would be tied to each patron’s card.
The computers at the li- brary are currently all set at the child level, as they are equipped with software that filters out prohibited mate- rial. But, the monitoring of internet activity, according to Wegener, is not the job of the librarians.
“The use of the internet in the library is not the re- sponsibility of the library,” she shared “It is the responsi- bility of the parent or guard- ian of that child. If a child is in here and somehow hacks around the filter, then that is the responsibility of the adult in their life.”
Though the policy re- quires libraries to provide fil- ters for internet viewing for children, some at last week’s meeting were surprised to hear that the library does not have the right to deny an adult’s constitutional right to view adult material.
Wegener explained about the adult policy, “If an adult comes in and they can legal- ly look at that, by law, under their protection of their first amendment rights, we have to un-filter.”
The only exceptions, ac- cording to Wegener, are if the material viewed is illegal
widen the road in that area, other than doing some mi- nor work at the roadway intersections to construct accessible curb ramps and associated improvements.
• Phase II includes re- alignment and full recon- struction of the roadway from about 150 feet south of 11th St. to an area about 350 feet south of Annadale, including reconstruction of the existing traffic signal at Annadale.
• Phase III will consist of reconstruction of the ex- isting traffic signal at North Ave. to add protected left turns.
For Phase I, the contrac- tor will be required to main- tain one lane of through traffic in each direction at all times and maintain access to businesses and residences from Academy Avenue.
For phase II, the re- alignment of the road and
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
The Dinuba Branch of the Tulare County Libraries will be one of many libraries in the county system that will be updating its internet policy to better serve the community. The changes will be voted on by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors and will likely begin in the fall.
(such as child pornography) or can be readily viewed by children in the area.
In a draft of the proposed revised policy, a portion un- der a section entitled ‘Re- sponsibility’ reads, “The li- brary expects patrons to act responsibly when using the internet. The user is ultimate- ly responsible for selecting which sites to visit but should be aware that others may be involuntarily exposed to what is displayed. Users are asked
removal and replacement of the existing traffic sig- nal at Annadale Avenue will require full closure of Acad- emy and a temporary detour of through, non-truck traffic to 11th Street, O Street and North Avenue. During any detour, the side streets in this area (11th Street, 12th Street and Annadale Av- enue) will remain open for access to businesses and residences.
Phase III is expected to have a fairly limited traffic impact, but construction-re- lated traffic disruptions can be expected over the dura- tion of the project, which is anticipated at 90 working days or approximately 4.5 months.
Refer questions about the project to the City of Sanger, (559) 876-6300.
The reporter can be reached at sangerherald@ gmail.com or by phone at (559) 875-2511.
to respect the privacy of oth- ers.”
Internet use is limited to one hour per patron, per visit. Those limits can be extended, however, under certain con- ditions, such as if a patron is taking a long test or filling out a long application.
The proposed policy also deals with internet hacking, use of equipment and copy- right infringements.
The county will contin- ue to hold public meetings
at few other branch librar- ies before a final revision is brought to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors for ap- proval. If approved, the new policy will likely go into ef- fect in the fall.
In addition to the chang- es in internet policy, the li- brary will also soon be un- dergoing a $2 million reno- vation that is scheduled to begin this fiscal year. The property on which the li- brary sits, which the county
leased from the city for over 40 years, was recently deed- ed over to the county.
With the property now in the hands of the county, Wegener said the process of moving forward with the library’s renovation proj- ect should be made easier. Among the projects consid- ered under the renovation are a new roof, new HVAC system and updates to the library’s plumbing and elec- trical.
Crime scene tape cov- ered the driveway area entering into the Willow Glen Apartments on June 26 while Reedley Police investigated the scene of the fatal shoot- ing of 38-year-old Ama- dor Aguirre. According to police, two individu- als were seen near the area in a dark colored sedan during the time of the shooting.
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
and ammunition from a home in the 1000 block of South Church Avenue.
The most recent shooting, however, has left neighbors in the Willow Glen apartments visibly shaken and police back to working around the clock to make an arrest in the homicide.
"We are still gathering in- formation from witnesses and from other people who may be able to help us in trying to solve this case," said Garza. "We are asking our communi- ties help to locate them [the suspects], because it's going to take our entire community to deal with this issue."
Anyone with information on any of these shootings and homicide, is asked to call the Reedley Police Department at (559) 637-4250.
The reporter can be reached at juanita@ midvalleypublishing,com or by phone at (559) 638-2244.
HOMICIDE Continued from page A1
Investigators confirmed that two individuals were seen near the area in a dark colored sedan during the time of the shooting. They were de- scribed by police as two His- panic male adults, possibly in their 20s.
The latest shooting fol- lows a series of gun violence that took place in early 2019. The first round of shootings, which happened from March through April, prompted po- lice to enforce a citywide gang sweep.
It was back on March 29 that police were called to the 900 block of East Springfield in Reedley where a man was shot in broad daylight as he exited his vehicle. The man was transported to Commu- nity Regional Medical Centers in Fresno and survived his in- juries.
Just seven days later, on April 6, two men were shot in the early evening as they sat inside a garage at a home in the 1600 block of East Spring- field.
Both those men also sur- vived their injuries. How- ever, just hours later a man was killed several blocks away in the 700 block of Sunset and Duff Avenues in Reedley.
It was later determined that the man involved the Sunset and Duff shooting died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police responded to the influx of violence by enforc- ing a city wide gang sweep on May 1. With the help of sev- eral agencies, including the Dinuba Police Department, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, Selma Police, Men- dota Police and Sanger Police — authorities netted a large arsenal of weapons, drugs,
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