Reedley Exponent 12-13-18 E-edition

Valentino’s Pizzeria plans 55th anniversary celebration
Panorama
Vol. 129, No. 50 | Thursday, December 13, 2018
www.reedleyexponent.com
Reedley boys soccer upends Sanger in rivalry matchup
Sports
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents
Electrical holiday magic
Election
results
officially
certified
Soleno and Gomez capture local races, Valadao concedes in 21st Congressional
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Local victories by Ray Soleno for Reedley City Council and Mag- dalena Gomez for the State Center Community College District Board of Trustees were officially certified by Fresno County
election officials
last week.
Final counts were released by the county on Dec. 5. California elec- tion officials cer- tified vote count results on Dec. 7.
Soleno, 78, was elected to another four-year term represent- ing District 4 on the council after defeating chal- lenger Lee Ky by a 52.98-46.40 percent margin in the Nov. 6 gen- eral election. Sole- no collected 2,652 votes while Ky finished with 2,323 votes. There were 31 writ-in votes.
Soleno and
District 2 Coun-
cil Member Mary
Fast – who ran un-
opposed this fall
– were to be sworn in for their new council terms at the Dec. 11 meeting.
Gomez, and education consultant and businesswoman from Selma, unseated incumbent Ron Nishinaka from Reedley for the SCCCD Area 4 trustee seat. Gomez received 15,342 votes (54.15 percent) in the district covering parts of Fresno and Tulare counties compared to 12,881 (45.48) for Nishinaka.
An upset in the 21st Congres- sional District — which includes Fresno County areas just west of Reedley as well as Kings, parts of Tulare and Kern counties — was sealed when mail-in and provisional counts vaulted Democrat challenger T.J. Cox past Republican incumbent David Valadao.
The three-term representative from Hanford conceded the race to
See ELECTION on page A3
Rain lets up for crowd to enjoy annual evening holiday parade on Dec. 6
Ray Soleno
Magdalena Gomez
Official election results, page A5
TOP: A brightly-lit reindeer on a hoist was the highlight of the Sweepstakes- winning float entry from Jim’s Christmas Trees at the 2018 Reedley Electrical Farm Equipment Parade on Dec. 6. The other top three floats in judging were awarded to City of Reedley Public Works, first place; Reedley 4-H, second place; and New- ton Sano Real Estate, third place.
ABOVE:JonandJenniferCallahanwereselectedastheFamilyoftheYear for the 2018 parade. They rode down the parade route along G Street in the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce vehicle.
Photos by Jon Earnest / The Exponent
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Foldable chairs, blankets, um- brellas, and plastic covers all lined the sidewalks along G street in down- town Reedley on the afternoon of Dec. 6.
People made sure to have their spots saved for the annual Electric Farm Equipment Parade that, was set to take place that evening.
“I have my granddaughter, she’s going to be singing in the parade and performing and that’s why we are out here,” said Jimmy Antuna, a resident from Orange Cove. “And of course my son, he’s in band so he wants to see the Reedley High School band and see what a real band sounds like.”
This year’s parade featured over 40 floats including the Boy Scouts of America, Queen D’s Dance, and Kings River Tractor, Inc., Rancho Prieto, Johnston Manufacturing Company, H&R Trucking, Immanuel High Schools, Fiesta Auto Insurance,
Reedley Lumber Company, Charlie Taff and California Health Collabora- tive, just to name a few.
Nathan Antuna is in the sixth grade in Orange Cove and was also braving the low temperatures to be able have a front row seat for the event.
“I’m not that cold,” he said. “I am excited about seeing my sister in the parade, that’s what I’m looking for- ward to.”
Local vendors were also among the crowd of people at the parade.
“We’ve been doing this for about fifteen, sixteen years here,” said Rod Kubo, a vendor selling kettle corn at the event. “In fact we bought the business from another Reedley guy so this kettle corn has been served here in Reedley for about twenty years.
We are looking forward to the pa- rade, we have family in it, so there’s always that as well.”
Serena Franco, a local resident
See ELECTRICAL on page A8
High-speed chase reaches Reedley, ends in Sanger
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Multiple law enforcement units were on scene at the Dec. 5 arrest of a Sanger man who led Sanger Police on a high-chase, a pursuit that briefly went into Reedley before returning to Sanger. Police were assisted by air support from the California Highway Patrol in spotting the suspect north of Sanger just before making the arrest.
Sanger man reached speeds
near 100 mph while fleeing
By Mike Nemeth
Mid Valley Publishing
A Sanger man led police on a high-speed chase on Dec. 5 that reached speeds of about 100 mph as he head- ed south toward Parlier. But because of the time of day — about 3 p.m. — officers discontinued the pursuit for safety reasons, said Sanger police Cpl. Manuel Duran.
Then the man, driving an older Blue Chevy Tahoe, was reported driving erratically in Reedley.
Duran said Sanger police spotted the suspect’s ve- hicle about an hour later with help of air support from the California Highway Patrol near the intersection of Highway 180 and Academy Avenue, and officers began following, finally cornering the suspect at the intersec- tion of Fifth Street and Academy in front of the Sanger Starbucks.
The suspect, identified as Luis Cantu, was arrest- ed. Nobody was injured, but a couple of police vehicles
See CHASE on page A2
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Sanger police took suspect Luis Cantu into custody in Sanger after Cantu led law enforcement on a high-speed chase toward Parlier that briefly went into Reedley.
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Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4