Mid Valley Times 10-1-20 E-edition

Thursday, October 1, 2020
Vol. 2, No. 13
Coronavirus Update — Efforts To Reopen Fresno, Tulare Counties
Region improves to red tier for cases
St. La Salle in Reedley reopens, positive rate varies
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
There was good news early this week for Fresno County when it came to COVID-19: the region has exited the "widespread" risk level that has kept it on the state's county monitor- ing list and kept many businesses closed or on restricted opening status.
As of Sept. 29, the county's rate of new COVID-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 people had dropped to 6.2, below the purple-colored widespread level of 7 (Tier 1) and into the "substan- tial" level (Tier 2). Even better, Fresno County's positivity rate had declined to 4.9 percent, dropping it barely into the orange "moderate" level.
See COVID-19onpageA9
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
Younger students at St. La Salle Catholic School practice social and physical distance outside their classrooms during the first day of live instruction on campus on Sept. 28. Younger students ages transitional kindergarten through sixth grade were allowed back on campus after the school successfully filed a waiver with Fresno County last week. Stu- dents, teachers and staff at the school are required to follow safety precautions because of COVID-19. More on St. La Salle's return is in Lifestyle on Page B1.
Sanger, Reedley among Fresno Co. cities to receive CARES act funding
Mid Valley Times Staff Report
Members of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors joined sever- al Fresno County city officials last week to announce the allocation of $3 million of CARES Act funding to help aid local needs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of awarding a portion of the county’s CARES Act allocation to the smaller cities in Fresno County to provide an ad- ditional means to develop programs unique to each city’s needs related to COVID-19.
The cities of Sanger, Reedley,
See CARES on page A9
50 cents
2 men dead in Parlier homicides
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Homicide detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office are investigating sepa- rate shootings six days apart in Parlier that left two Parlier men dead.
The victims are 30-year-old Regino Serrano and 19-year- old Julio Diaz. Serrano was fatally shot outside his home in the 600 block of King Street in Parlier on Sept. 19, while Diaz died at Adventist Health Reedley after being transport- ed there following his shoot- ing in the 600 block of Bigger Street in Pariler on Sept. 25. Detectives said no true motive was determined in Serrano's shooting, but reported that the fatal shooting of Diaz was gang-related.
According to FCSO. Ser- rano was shot multiple times sometime before 9:30 p.m., and was pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives inter- viewed neighbors at the scene and collected evidence, and determined the shooting was not random. No arrests had been made as of early this week.
Diaz, meanwhile, reported- ly was involved in a physical altercation at an apartment complex on Bigger Street. He
See HOMICIDES on page A6
New home for Dinuba clock
George M. Villagrana / Mid Valley Times
Maribel Reynosa / Photo Contributed
By George M. Villagrana
Mid Valley Times
The city of Dinuba clock, a staple in the community since the early 1900s, was moved on Sept. 24 to the Alta District Historical Society for preservation.
Formerly known as the Fast Jeweler’s Clock, the clock had been tampered with and vandal- ized. The caretaker of the clock for many years was former fire chief Myles Chute.
Chute, who died earlier this year, wished to have the clock moved to the historical society, according to Maribel Reynosa, ADHS president.
After Chute’s passing, the city agreed to move the clock to ADHS. The historical society hopes to raise funds to refurbish the clock.
Workers from the city of Di- nuba, Dinuba Public Works and Parks Department, along with Denis Jahn from Visalia Clock Works and Belknap Pump all played an integral role in moving the clock to its new location.
ABOVE LEFT: Workers with the city of Dinuba removed the downtown clock, a staple in the com- munity since the early 1900s, on Sept. 24 to move to the Alta District Historical Society.
ABOVE RIGHT: The clock is now on display at its new location on the Alta District Historical Society property. The society is hoping to raise funds to refurbish the historic clock.
Dinuba GAC hosts political forum tonight
Mid Valley Times Staff Reports
The Dinuba Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Committee will be hosting a political forum tonight, Oct. 1, at the Alta Historical Society in Dinuba. The event will be broadcast on Facebook Live on the Dinuba Chamber of Com- merce’s page.
This evening's event, which will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m., will be mod- erated by former Tulare County Board Supervisor Steve Worthley.
Expected to participate in tonight’s forum are candidates for Dinuba City
Council, including Joshua L. Huerta and Rachel Nerio Guerrero, who are running for the Ward 1 seat. The seat is being vacated by longtime coun- cil member Joey Morales, who steps down after more than 20 years on the council.
Three candidates will be vying for the Ward 5 seat, including incumbent Linda Launer. Challenging Launer for the seat are Geno Gomez, a computer technician, and Andrea McComb Sotelo, a hospital donor coordinator.
Questions for the forum may be sub- mitted to ssills@dinubachamber.com.
•••
Questions for the Sanger Woman’s
Club’s virtual candidate forum next week will be taken until Saturday, Oct. 3. Those questions can be submitted via email by sending them to:
history4me@verizon.net.
The Sanger Woman’s Club candi- date forum will be broadcast live on the club’s Facebook page. It will feature candidates running for Sanger City Council, Sanger Unified School Board and the city mayoral race.
The forum will be held on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Classifieds - A7 Directory - A8
Legals - B3-4, B7-9 Sports - B2
Lifestyle - B1, B10 Lights & Sirens - A3
Obituaries - A2-3, A5 Opinion - A4