Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 7-23-20 E-edition

Thursday, July 23, 2020 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION The destruction continues
One of the most difficult things about writing a newspaper column each week is sitting down in front of a blank screen and trying to gather one's thoughts in order to write about some- thing new with a fresh perspective.
It's an unprecedented change for our region's high school sports
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Although it was not an area where I
had intended to go, the mindlessness of
the continuing destruction of business-
es and private property simply can't
be allowed to stand. There remains the
proclivity of “blue state” mayors and governors to claim the protests are peaceful while damage estimates run into eight or nine figures. Guess who ultimately will be forced to pay the tab for all of this idiocy?
Although media members do their level best to portray this event as racially driven, it seems that a large portion of the demonstrators are caucasian. While much is being perpetrated under the Black Lives Matter umbrella this sort of action tends to strengthen the hard feelings that separate us as a nation. One would think that the white kids who are acting up for something they truly don't un- derstand, they are, themselves, damaging the cause.
Never forget that Black Lives Matter is a political organization that is funded, basically, through the ex- tortion of large “woke” American businesses. BLM is a well-financed Marxist group seeking political power through the implementation of “useful idiots” being sup- plied by our universities and a fringe group of thugs who simply like to break things.
You'll never convince me that there isn't an organized effort behind all of this when it is well-documented that routinely baseball bats and bricks are being supplied to these law breakers by “unknown and unidentified" sourc- es. Their tactics even appear to be closely coordinated.
Tearing down statues, burning, looting and the de- struction of small, family owned businesses has noth- ing to do with justice for anyone. Crime is at record highs and yet people like Bill de Blasio have instituted policies that eliminate the cost of bail and are cutting their police forces. The plan for “fundamentally chang- ing America” was drawn quite some time ago, but is frighteningly close to fruition when a group of people feel compelled to tear down a statue of Christopher Co- lumbus and they are so poorly educated that they have no idea of who he was.
Now that people of color are actually receiving pref- erential treatment by the bureaucrats it seems, by defini- tion, racism. Everything about America, beginning with the Constitution, recognizes that all me are created equal.
My question would be, why are certain segments of our society doing everything possible to rip the country asunder?
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is an old English proverb whose source is clouded in the fog of history. As a refresher, for your consideration, a proverb is a short, common saying that gives advice or declares a universal truth.
More often than not, one of the greatest exemplars would be government officials who feel their actions are good for the community when they often are not. While their actions are well intended, we would remind those government officials that there is another universal truth that counsels, “first of all, do no harm.”
I know that local cities are doing everything pos- sible to help deal with the devastating economic dam- ages being being inflicted by the Coronavirus and our governor's decision to once again shut everything down. Knowing that Reedley officials were sympathetic to the needs of business, it's still difficult to describe the feel- ings last week when, on G Street, I came upon huge or- ange painted barricades that had blocked traffic. The first thing that this ugly mess brought to mind was the use of “autonomous” zones in Seattle and Portland. The only things missing were the fires, trash and graffiti. A handful of people are being benefitted at the expense of the general public.
There has to be a better way of doing this! How was this decision made?
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
Football in March? Basket- ball, soccer and wrestling in June? Yes, the 2020-2021 school year will be unique indeed for high school student athletes in California.
Given the increased rise of reported COVID-19 cases in the state the past month, it came as little surprise that the California Interscholastic Fed- eration announced on July 20 a modified sports schedule — with football, volleyball, water polo and cross country compet- ing as fall sports from January through March (all but football actually open their seasons the last week of December). All re- maining prep sports will com-
pete in a spring sports season beginning in March and run- ning into June.
This means no high school sports will be contested during the next four-plus months and that summertime rules will be extended through November, according to new Central Sec- tion CIF Commissioner Ryan Tos. Activities previously al- lowed during the summer will continue to be allowed through November.
By condensing to a two-sea- son format, it means that prep sports will be able to maintain the length of their seasons — merely shifting the start and completion of those seasons.
It also means
that section
playoffs can re-
main – although
brackets will
be reduced for
football. In foot-
ball, that means
that schools can
continue with 10-game regular seasons.
The challenge now is for schools to adjust schedules and matchups accordingly. The Times will release information on the new schedules as soon as they become available.
Jon Earnest is Reedley edi- tor for The Times.
Here's the difference between Sanger Unified and the city of Sanger
Why is the new Sanger High School campus being built so far away from the city of Sanger? That was Donna Bailey's question in her letter to the editor last week, and it echoed one of the most fre- quently-asked questions about the new facility just off Jen- sen between Armstrong and Fowler avenues. The answer is, Donna, because that's where the bulk of the student popula- tion is going to come from for the new campus.
Go Apaches!
Probably the next most- asked question is, "With an- other high school campus does that mean we'll have another football team to compete with the Apaches for players."
Most emphatically, "no" is the answer you'll get from any- one at the district office. Sanger loves its Apaches. Sanger is one town and one tribe with one team ... the awesome Apaches ... at least for now.
The city of Sanger and the Sanger Unified School District are two very separate enti- ties. They have very differ- ent boundaries and different governing boards with very different cultures. The school district's boundaries include the communities of Sanger, Centerville, Del Rey, Fairmont, Lone Star, Tivy Valley and por- tions of the Sunnyside area of metropolitan Fresno. The pop- ulation center is about where the new campus is located, several miles west of the city of Sanger, which, as time goes by is becoming a smaller and smaller part of the district.
The corporate cultures are about as different as they can be. In the opinion of an old guy who closely followed the for- tunes of the district and the foi- bles of the city for 15 years, as an editor and reporter for the Sanger Herald, they are about as different as night and day.
In my opinion, the dis-
trict's culture
is shaped by a
process of col-
lective discov-
ery and collabo-
ration, and the
city's is shaped
by an orthodoxy
known only to
an enlightened few whose job it is inform everyone else. In my opinion, the school district's concept of success is based on results and the city's is based on being in control.
It seems to me the city has opted for control over prog- ress, over growth and over transparency. If that's the case the city must consider itself very successful.
Why Donna is the new cam- pus being built so far away from the city of Sanger? Just lucky I guess.
Dick Sheppard is editor emeritus of the MidValley Times and can be contacted by email at dicksheppard86@gmail.com.
QUOTE
“A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.”
— Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)
Jon Earnest
Fred Hall
Dick Sheppard
Thanks Reedley leaders for supporting business
I am the owner of Gnardog CrossFit in downtown Reedley. In our five years here, we have been fortunate to help many in our community to find a passion for health & fitness. Our current state of affairs with COVID-19 make it challenging to continue to run business as usual.
On July 13 the state an- nounced our second forced clo- sure; this time, however, out- door activities would be accept-
able. I was excited in speaking with city of Reedley officials in their willingness to work with us and closing half of G Street and 10th Street in front of our gym to allow us to continue our mission of spreading health & fitness in our community.
In understanding the added challenge of more limited park- ing for surrounding businesses, I have directed all of our mem- bers to park at least a block away from our gym; most are parking at Pioneer Park. As a small business I understand the
many challenges, and am happy to further accommodate all of our small businesses in Reedley and in particular downtown.
I commend and recognize the leadership at the city of Reedley for taking these steps to help me and other small busi- nesses. Namely Rob Terry, Di- rector of Community Develop- ment, and City Manager Nicole Zieba. They have a 'thankless' job, but I'd like to thank and recognize them.
Matthew Tuttle Reedley
Letters from readers