Page 1 - Mid Valley Times 8-5-21 E-edition

Thursday, August 5, 2021
Vol. 3, No. 5
School
year starts
back up
for some
next week
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Don't look now, but it's al- most time to go back to school. Next week, four school districts will be starting their 2021-2022 school year with live instruction on campus. That's in stark contrast to last year's start of school, when all districts in the region except for Immanuel Schools began the year with distance learn- ing only because of the CO- VID-19 pandemic, eventually returning to live classes with
blended schedules and more. Dinuba Unified School Dis- trict is the first to begin the '21-22 school year with live instruction beginning on Mon- day, Aug. 9. Dinuba Unified was one of the last districts in the region to return to full live instruction during a CO-
VID-19 plagued school year. On Wednesday, Aug. 11, Kings Canyon Unified Schools in Reedley and Orange Cove have their first day of instruc- tion at all grade levels. Stu- dents were registering earlier this week, and the first sched- uled Back-to-School night among KCUSD schools is at Lincoln Elementary from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 10. Immanuel Schools in Reed- ley also will be starting up with the first day of classes on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at all grade levels. There also will be a senior student sunrise event starting at 6:30 a.m. that
morning.
The Cutler-Orosi Joint Uni-
fied School District is under-
See SCHOOLS on page A6
Chamber honors
50 cents
144th honors Reedley,
Dinuba
MVT Staff Report
The Fresno Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing honored the cities of Reedley and Dinuba on July 30 by hav- ing their respective city seals displayed on the nose cone of the base's F-15 Eagle fighter jet.
The "Cities of Honor" cere- mony took place at the guard's Fighter Wing hangar and base located next to Fresno Yo- semite International Airport. Hosting the ceremony was Troy Havener, commander of the 144th, and Capt. Jason Sanchez served as master of ceremonies.
This is the second time that Reedley has been honored as part of Cities of Honor pro- gram. In February 2015, it be- came the seventh Central Val- ley city honored by the Fighter Wing. This time, both Reedley and Dinuba were honored.
See 144THonpageA2
ABOVE: Master of Ceremonies Joshua John- son, right, presented a plaque to Denny Nol- ler, 2021 Citizen of the Year in Sanger, during the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce's 96th annual awards banquet on July 30 at Belmont Country Club in Fresno.
RIGHT: Ken Marcantonio, the chamber's Hall of Fame inductee for 2021, addresses the sellout audience on July 30. A story and more stories on the banquet are in the Lifestyle section on Page A7, and more photos are on Page A18.
Photos by Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
Body found in vehicle near Dinuba
MVT Staff Report
Detectives with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office are in- vestigating the death of an adult male found inside a car along the side of the road in the area of Road 76 and Avenue 432 west of Dinuba on July 31.
At about 6:30 p.m., depu- ties were called to the scene of what was called a suspicious car. When they arrived, the found the deceased man inside the car. Deputies then called out TSCO homicide detective to take over
the investigation.
The office said the man's
death remains an active inves- tigation, and as of Aug. 3 there were no new details into a cause of death. Officials with TCSO did not say if the investigation was for a homicide.
Anyone who may have infor- mation about the investigation or the man's death is asked to con- tact the Tulare County Sheriff's Office. Persons can call via tele- phone at (559) 733-6218 or anony- mously at tcso@tipnow.com or by text/voicemail at (559) 725-4194.
Tulare County Sheriff's Department / Photos Contributed
Tulare County Sheriff's deputies investigate the scene near Dinuba at Road 76 and Avenue 432, where a man's body was found inside a vehicle on July 31.
Coronavirus Update — Delta Variant Causes Numbers To Climb
Sanger students, families vax up in 'second dose' event
Sanger High School student Luis Munoz, 15, looked at the cam- era as Melissa Oliver, registered nurse on site for Pinnacle Train- ing Systems, admin- istered the COVID-19 vaccine at a free event on July 30 at the the Sanger High School Presentation Center.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Vaccination numbers are steadily rising, but not enough to meet the rate of Delta variant-driven positive COV- ID-19 cases in Central California and across the nation.
Both Fresno and Tulare counties be- gan showing noticeable jumps in new active cases, and hospitalizations in Tulare County nearly doubled for the week and jumped by 18 in a single day (from Aug. 2 to Aug. 3). That same day, intensive care unit patients doubled from three to six.
The numbers of people vaccinated are trying to catch up. In Fresno Coun- ty, as of Aug. 3, 954,476 people had re- ceived at least one shot (47.4 percent
of the population, 57.6 percent of resi- dents). Of that number, 418,316 had re- ceived final doses.
Some of those — along with others getting first shots — had their vaccina- tions at a July 30 Sanger High School event in the school's multipurpose room. It was billed as a "second dose" event, although students and older adults could also get an initial dose of the vaccine.
"There was a lot of mix of first and second shots," said Frank Juarez, a project event coordinator with host Cultiva La Salud. He said an incentive for getting vaccinated was $25 gift cards good at local businesses, and those getting second doses were en-
See COVID on page A6
Classifieds - A9 Directory - A10
Legals - A12-15
Sports - A11
Lifestyle - A7 Lights & Sirens - A3, A5
Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4