Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 2-14-19 E-edition

Immanuel Schools host annual Campus Days
Panorama
Reedley High baseball rallies for season-opening victory
Sports
Vol. 130, No. 7 | Thursday, February 14, 2019
www.reedleyexponent.com
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents Council will consider 4-way stops at G and 9th, 12th
City will present resolution for action at future meeting
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
The city of Reedley took a step forward to- ward the possible installation of four-way stop signs at the downtown intersections of G Street at 9th and 12th streets.
By a 3-1 vote (council member Anita Betan- court was absent), the Reedley City Council at the Feb. 12 regular meeting approved city staff to return to a future meeting with a resolution that would request approval of the four-way stop signs. Council member Mary Fast cast the lone “no” vote.
In a presentation to the council, City Engi- neer John Robertson said that the engineering analysis showed the city did not meet the first two specific requirements — called “warrants”
— for placement of the signs. These were sta- tistics showing numbers citing left turn con- flicts and vehicle/pedestrian conflicts.
However, Robertson said the two inter- sections did meet a critical third provision — where a road user, after stopping, cannot see the conflicting traffic and is not able to negotiate the intersection unless conflicting cross traffic is required to stop. Council mem- bers Bob Beck and Ray Soleno specifically sided with this argument, saying they were
concerned with the risk to pedestrians that in- clude students walking to and from Reedley High School along G Street and senior citizens.
Beck said he would avoid those occasional heavy traffic situations by driving through back alleys, and said the visibility issues pull- ing out onto or crossing G Street are serious hazards. Soleno said he was frustrated by the lack of serious concern for safety, which
See STOP SIGNS on page A2
Rain threat postpones UHC facility groundbreak Staff Report
The threat of bad weather this week resulted in a one-week post- ponement of the groundbreaking for the United Health Center’s new Reedley Health Center.
On Feb. 12, UHC officials announced the delay of the cer- emony – originally scheduled for Feb. 13 — until Wednesday, Feb. 20. The groundbreaking will be at the site of the future health cen- ter (which includes clinics and medical offices) at 2022 E. Man- ning Avenue, at the northeast cor- ner of Manning and Buttonwillow avenues.
The National Weather Service predicted rain to begin early on Feb. 13 and continue for much of the next four days through Sat- urday, Feb. 16. The rescheduled ceremony will begin at the same time, 11 a.m., at the same location.
The new health center is ex- pected to be the anchor facility of a proposed business center at the intersection. In recent months, the city completed the annexation process and ap- proved the construction of the health center.
This week’s threat of rain could temporarily affect outdoor work projects and activities, par- ticularly in outdoor sports. The Central Section soccer playoffs were scheduled to begin on Feb. 12, and matches in each boys and girls bracket could be delayed and push back the two-week play- off schedule.
Next Town Hall meeting Feb. 25 Staff Report
The next Reedley Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, at the Reed- ley Community Center’s Senior Room.
The topic “Why Don’t We Have a Target Yet?” and deals with economic development facts and myths in the city. Leaders will be in attendance to answer questions and discuss the issue.
The public is invited to at- tend. For more information, call City Hall at 637-4200, ext. 212.
Ready for romance
Flower shops prepare for busy Valentine’s Day holiday
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Local florists agree that the most popular flower sold during the Val- entine’s Day holiday is the red rose.
“Your roses. Always, always red roses,” said Cynthia Nunez, owner of the Reedley Flower Shop in down- town Reedley. “I don’t even think there is a close second in flower, I would say no, that’s the one every- body wants and they always want it in red.”
Across G Street at Aurora’s Flowers, Jessica Garza agreed.
“The main flowers we are see- ing that get ordered are the red roses,” said Garza. “Valentine’s Day of course, the red is love — so we always see the red, And, then, after that, a lot of people do some mixed flowers that include lilies, because we do use a lot of lilies in our ar- rangements as well.”
According to finder.com, more than half of American’s will spend an average of $220 on Valentine’s Day gifts for their loved ones this year. A collective $30 billion in Valentine’s Day revenue is expected nationwide.
Garza said that in order to ac- commodate the holiday rush, they work longer hours in the weeks and days leading up to Valentine’s Day.
“People want to make sure they get an arrangement done for their loved one, and that’s basically how we handle it,” she said on the after- noon of Feb. 11. “We get pre orders so people don’t have to wait. Or sometimes people want special ar- rangements made, we also do have a lot of customers who decide on custom made arrangements. In the last week, we’ve been receiving a lot of orders, a lot of people are pre- ordering.”
Garza added that they also set up tables inside the store with extra flowers for the last minute shoppers.
“Valentine’s Day is non-stop. All day long, from early morning to late night, we have customers coming in,” she said. “We have tables set out we cover them up with arrange- ments, we have a lot of varieties so when you walk in you don’t have to wait, especially if it’s last minute.”
Back in the prep room at Au- rora’s Flowers, florists worked in an
See VALENTINE’S DAY on page A6
Exponent office closed on Feb. 18
The business office of The Exponent will be closed on Monday, Feb. 18, in observance of Presidents Day.
There will be early dead- lines this week because of the office closure. Classified liner ads and legal notices are due by noon on Thursday, Feb. 14. Regular and classified display ads also are due by noon on Thursday, Feb. 14.
The Exponent’s office will reopen for business at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
Citizen of Year Jimenez tops 2019 Chamber winners
The late Pam Melville will
be newest HOF inductee
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Danny Jimenez had a long career as head custodian for the Kings Canyon Unified School District, and in retirement has continued his love for Reedley High School and the city through volunteer activities and involvement in extracur- ricular school activities and sports.
Because of this, Jimenez has been se- lected as Reedley’s Citizen of the Year for 2019 by the Greater Reedley Chamber
Directory - A5 Legals - B6-7
of Commerce. He will be among award winners honored as the chamber’s annual awards gala and dinner on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Reedley College.
This week, the chamber announced that the late Pam Melville will be this year’s inductee into the Hall of Fame. Melville owned and operated David’s boutique in downtown Reedley for nearly four decades before her death from can- cer last June.
Here are capsules on this year’s award winners, with quotes listed from nomination entries:
See CHAMBER on page A3
Sports - B3-4 Lights & Sirens - A3
Danny Jimenez checked his smartphone for information while he was shooting photos at a recent Reedley High School girls soccer match. Jimenez, a longtime community fixture, was selected as the Citizen of the Year for 2019.
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
ABOVE: Elyssa Cazares, a florist at Aurora’s Flowers arranged a red rose bouquet on the afternoon of Feb. 11.
LEFT: Fresh flowers were unloaded and unboxed in the work area of Aurora’s Flowers. Staff said they prepared well in advance for Valentine’s Day. Roses are by far the most popular flower for people to purchase on Valentine’s Day.
Photos by Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Classifieds - B5
Obituaries - A2-3
Opinion - A4