Sanger Herald 8-16-18 E-edition

Young boxer wants to see how far he can go
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Mi Linda Tierra's block pary
page 8A
Sports 1B
Lifestyles 2B
Weekly Newspaper
Amendments to city
manager's contract
on council agenda
Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657
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'Create extraordinary moments' for students and for each other is the mission of all 1,279 school district employees in 2018-2019
Mike Nemeth/Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
Superintendent Adela Jones, above left, welcomes district employees back to school and talks about the theme for the 2018-2019 school year, "Create extraordinary moments." A very poised Sanger High School student body president Rachel Pimentel, top right, emceed, did the Pledge of Allegiance and hosted games, and high school senior Mason Frazier, lower right, accepted sustained applause after singing the National Anthem.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Ceremonial matters, a proposed amendment to the city manager's contract and deciding whether to reap- point the mayor - who is run- ning unopposed for another term - or put the office on the ballot top a short city council agenda for this evening's meeting.
Mayor Frank Gonzalez is running for a second term and he has no opposition.
So, why go to the expense
of putting his name on the November ballot? That's the question the city council will consider this evening at its 6 p.m. meeting in city hall at 1700 7th Street.
The council may call a special meeting to decide whether or not to save some money by simply reappoint- ing Gonzalez to the position.
Even though city man- ager Tim Chapa's present employment agreement runs through Jan. 21, 2019, the
council will consider extend- ing his contract for three years and amending provi- sions dealing with termina- tion without cause and an automobile allowance.
Those new terms would not become effective until the end of his current con- tract in January, after the November election and the possible seating of three new councilmembers at the first meeting in December.
Greg Velasquez will be recognized for his many years of service to the com- munity as a member of the police department.
Newly appointed police officer Menou Thao and firefighter paramedic Joshua Brocket and new police Sgt. Ralph Salazar will be intro- duced at the beginning of the meeting.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Extraordinary moments
Editor's note:
While new school district superintendent Adela
Jones was preparing to deliver a back to school mes- sage to district employees about the importance of extraordinary moments - the kind of moments that can jolt us and elevate us and change us - former su- perintendent Matt Navo reminisced with the Herald about those very kinds of moments during his five year tenure.
Council and school board races are set
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Adela Jones, superinten- dent of schools, took only a few minutes on Wednesday morning to underline and put exclamation marks around the latest call to action for the award winning Sanger Unified School District.
"Create extraordinary mo- ments" is the theme for this school year, said Jones.
"The kind of moments that can jolt us and elevate us and change us.
"We're good, but not good
enough. We can be even bet- ter by creating extraordinary - defining moments - for our students and for each other."
Jones was talking to the 1,279 district employees,
The City rushed to make sure that work on the shoul- ders of Bethel Avenue in front of the high school was completed before school started. City crews worked Tuesday and Wednesday re- painting the lines wiped out by PG&E when it replaced an old gas line running along Bethel.
more than 100 of the 12,000 students in the district - members of the drumline, band and cheer team - dis- trict trustees and VIPs who attended the "welcome back to school" general session in the high school's Coach Dean Nicholson gym.
"Be an Inspiration!"
was last year's motto, and the year before it was "Be courageous!" Five years ago it was "Dream Big, Work Hard and Believe" coupled with the district's ongoing theme of "Every Child, Every Day, Whatever it Takes."
Four years ago it was "All In Together," and three years ago during a time of great change with the introduction of Common Core and new technology, the motto was, "Never Give Up!"
The district's vision, adopted last year, is "Create options and opportunities for all students."
It's Jones's first year on the job as superintendent and judging from the enthusias- tic crowd reaction, she did a good job of setting the stage
See MOMENTS, page 7A
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Mayor Frank Gonzalez and school board incum- bents Pete Filippi and Jesse Vasquez get free passes in this election cycle. No one is running against them.
Two city councilmembers, Humberto Garza and Eli On- tiveros will face opposition.
The Sanger Womans Club will be inviting all candidates with opposition to participate in a candidate forum.
"We're looking at Saturday, Oct. 20," said Jeanne Adams, president of the club.
Melissa Beasely is chal- lenging Garza in council district No. 2 and retired fire captain David Sulenta and campus safety officer Michael Montelongo are running against mayor pro tem Eli Ontiveros in council district No. 4.
Office manager Gina Lynn Olson-Cuevas and custodian Jesse Solorio, are vying for the district No. 6 school board seat being vacated by retiring Kenneth Marcanto- nio.
Other races involve city councilmember Melissa Hurtado and school board
member Marcy Masumoto. Winning in those contests
would involve giving up pres- ent council and school board positions.
Hurtado is running against incumbent Andy Vidak for the district No. 14 state sen- ate seat, and Masumoto is running against Narinder "Nick" Sahota for the County Board of Education district No. 4 seat being vacated by retiring Delbert Cederquist.
The regular candidate filing period ended last Friday and the extended filing period for the school board and the County Board of Education positions left open by retiring incumbents ended Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Repaving project will be rerouting traffic on Church Avenue for awhile
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
If you usually use Church Street between Bethel and Greenwood avenues to get to or from anywhere it might be a good idea to consider a different route for awhile.
There will be street and alternate lane closures for about the next month while the street is being repaved, said city engineer Josh Rog- ers.
"There will then be some work to raise manholes and water valves to grade, as well as oil coating, striping and installation of traffic signal loops at the intersec- tion of Bethel and Church. All that work will have some continued effect on traffic, but not as much as the major road work being done cur-
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
The east bound lane of Church Street was closed Monday morning from Fairbanks to Green- wood avenues. Alternating lane closures will likely continue for about a month said city engineer Josh Rogers. Church Street is being repaved from Bethel to Greenwood.
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com
rently," said Rogers.
Most of the curb and gut-
ter work has been completed and, according to Rogers, the contractor is about two
weeks ahead of schedule. "We project they will most
likely be done with the proj- ect around the third week of Sept.," said Rogers.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
THURSDAY
AUGUST 16, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 33
2 sections, 14 pages
CLASSIFIED 3B LEGALS 4,5B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 6B LIFE STYLES 2B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A