Mid Valley Times 12-23-21 e-Edition

Thursday, December 23, 2021 From All of Us To All of You,
Vol. 3, No. 25
Wreaths for Reedley Veterans
Sanger
West
reveals
nickname
New school's mascot, name will be Hornets
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The nickname and mascot for the new Sanger West High School now is official — the Hornets.
The name and logo were unveiled and then officially presented to the Sanger Uni- fied School District Board of Trustees at the board's regu- lar meeting on Dec. 14. Sam Polanco, the school's deputy principal, was on hand along with a number of school staff to unveil illustrations of the nickname and mascot.
A short YouTube video presentation currently is on- line on the new high school's website, showing the design of the mascot in a series of logos. The color scheme is a combination of a medium- dark shade of blue and white with gray trim.
The logo and nickname is the latest step in the es- tablishment of Sanger West High, which dedicated Phase I of its new high school edu- cation complex on the north- east corner of Fowler and Jensen avenues back on Oct. 12. The two-story building at the site — which opened in August 2020 — is serving as the new high school until a three-story facility is built, and then it will convert to the junior high school.
See HORNETSonpageA2
Annual event at cemetery returns after a year's absence
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The heartwarming sight of hundreds of holiday wreaths once again covered a good portion of Reedley Cemetery on Dec. 18, as the annual Wreaths for Reedley Veterans ceremony and wreath laying returned for 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic prevented a formal event in 2020, although some individ- ual wreaths had been placed. But the full event returned this year, with dozens of vol- unteers walking the cemetery and placing Christmas holiday wreaths on metal stands set up at gravesides of the cem- etery's interred veterans.
Before the ceremony, or- ganizer Susan Lusk thanked the many volunteers present, and shared some of the chal- lenges the Wreaths program will face in 2022. The big- gest is the impending closure
See WREATHS on page A16
ABOVE: Volunteers began the pro- cess of laying out wreaths during the Wreaths for Reedley Veterans event at Reedley Cemetery on Dec. 18. The wreaths will adorn veterans' gravesites through the end of the year, and will be removed on Saturday, Jan. 8.
LEFT: Organizer Susan Lusk released one of a number of trained doves dur- ing the ceremony before volunteers laid out wreaths for military veterans interred at Reedley Cemetery.
Photos by Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Omicron arrives, but region numbers dip
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Officials announced early this week that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has arrived in Fresno County, but its presence hasn't made an immediate dent in the continuing decline of posi- tive case numbers.
The Tuesday, Dec. 21, update on cas- es from both Fresno and Tulare counties' health departments showed that active cases numbers and daily new case rates
Coronavirus Update
continued a downward drip the last full week before Christmas. In Fresno County, the new case rate declined for the week from 15.1 to 12.2 per 100,000, and the positivity rate went down to 4.4 percent out of 2,058,079 tests. Hospital- izations dropped by six for the week, but there were 29 additional deaths re- corded.
In Tulare County, active cases went up midweek but by Dec. 21 had dropped
to 896. The new case rate also declined from 15.1 to 10.2 per 100,000, and the positivity rate remained lower at 3.2 percent. While the death toll for the county climbed by 18, to 1,129, hospi- talizations in the county dropped from 66 down to 46, and there were just 10 reported patients in the ICU.
Fresno County did update its com- munity case and death numbers for the first time in more than a month, with all
See VIRUS on page A16
MVT offices will close Dec. 24 in observance of Christmas
The Mid Valley Times' business offices in Reed- ley and Sanger will be closed on Friday, Dec. 24, in observance of the Christmas Day holiday.
There will be early deadlines this week be- cause of the office clo- sure. Classified liner ads and legal notices are due by noon on Thursday, Dec. 23. Regular and classified display ads also are due by noon on Thursday, Dec. 23.
The Times' two offices will reopen for business at 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 27.
Big crowds turn out for Dinuba Cookie Walk
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
It was a chilly Monday evening in Dinuba's Viscaya neighborhood on Dec. 20, but that didn't stop scores of people from enjoying the return of the Dinuba Cookie Walk after a year's absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 40 residences in the neighborhood had tables set up with cookies, candy, warm drinks and other treats for visitors, many of them children, tak- ing in the seventh annual event. The Cookie Walk was a brainchild among eight families along Heather and Rosemary avenues, and has
grown over the years. Maria McElroy, one of the organizers, said in the first hour of the Walk that large crowds already had visited her table and setup in front of her Heather Av- enue residence. The small block area included nine of the 40 stops, and a three- block radius of Heather Avenue had 14 homes par-
ticipating.
The return of the walk
didn't come without a few wrinkles. Because of rain in the forecast, the walk was moved up a day from its normal Tuesday date. But that didn't stop the many hosts from providing the
SeeCOOKIEWALKonpage A16
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Maria McElroy, one of the organizers of the annual Dinuba Cookie Walk, pointed out some of her selection of homemade cookies to young visitors on Dec. 20. Hundreds of people walked the Viscaya neighborhood during the three-hour evening event, which returned after a year's absence.
Classifieds - B0 Directory - B0 Legals - B0-0 Sports - B0-0 Lifestyle - A0-0 Lights & Sirens - A0 Obituaries - A0 Opinion - A0
Classifieds - A14 Directory - A6 Legals - A10-14 Sports - A9, A15 Lifestyle - A7-8 Lights & Sirens - A3, A5 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4