Page 1 - Mid Valley Times 1-20-22 E-Edition

Thursday, January 20, 2022
Vol. 3, No. 29
Sanger
again
extends
COVID
measures
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Keeping in line with the recent spike of COVID-19 cases from the Delta and Omicron variants, the Sanger City Council at its regular Jan. 6 meeting adopted with- out dissent a resolution to ex- tend the mask mandate for all indoor businesses in the city for an additional month, to Tuesday, Feb. 15.
In remarks to the council, Sanger City Manager Tim Chapa issued the revised executive order while point- ing out the fact that some California cities have closed their city hall operations. He said he had the same concern that closures could come to Sanger; particularly after the city had 13 of 120 employees test positive for COVID in the days prior to the meeting.
"We've seen an increase in cases, that have doubled, triple, and quadrupled the numbers that we had seen before Thanksgiving," Chapa said in his initial remarks to the council. "One of the things with this Omicron variant is that for those who are vac- cinated the symptoms are milder than the Delta was, but 3, 4, 5 times the amount of people are getting COVID."
Making a remark that in recent days has proven to be spot on, Chapa told the coun- cil that "the county is expect- ing that we will see our heavi- est of positive cases at the
See COUNCIL on page A2
A grove overhaul
50 cents
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
A sign on the Reedley Public Li- brary still gave reference informa- tion to the satellite branch.
Reedley's
library set
to reopen
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
It's been nearly two years — actually going back before the start of the COVID-19 pan- demic — but Reedley book enthusiasts once again will be able to access the city's long- standing public library.
The Reedley branch at 1027 E. St. will reopen for
SeeLIBRARYonpage A2
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
With the still green foothills in the background, cuttings from retired orange trees were stacked and ready for removal off Avenue 440 and east of Hills Valley Road north of Orosi on Jan. 18. The parcel was surrounded by still-active groves of citrus trees. Following an extremely wet December and two weeks of periodic dense fog, the Central Valley was receiving increased amounts of sun and warmer temperatures. The region is expected to have dry and relatively sunny days for the next week, with high temperatures reaching the mid-60s throughout the warm spell.
Numbers keep surging upward in Valley
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Positive COVID-19 numbers in Fres- no and Tulare Counties appear to be increasing at their largest levels since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.
Positive coronavirus cases for the week in Fresno County jumped by a staggering 15,406, to 176,959 cases as of Tuesday, Jan. 18. Incredibly, more than 7,400 of that jump came in a three-day period between daily updates through the weekend, and 2,141 new cases were reported on Jan. 11. The daily new cas- es reached 175.6 per 100,000 popula- tion, well more than doubling from 74 on Jan. 11.
The numbers for Tulare County were equally startling, jumping by
nearly 6,000 for the week but 5,398 of the new cases were in a four-day win- dow. In that same timeframe, active cases grew by nearly 4,800, to 8,058. Hospitalizations also soared from 81 to 116, but only two more patients for the week were in intensive care.
Individual Tulare County communi- ty numbers underwent dramatic jumps. Dinuba's total COVID cases jumped to 6,502, an increase of 235 in just four days and up by nearly 300 for the week. Orosi's cases increased by 182, to 2,179; Cutler's rose by 40, to 1,101; and Trav- er's cases jumped by 22 in just four days, to 413.
While vaccinations slowly increased,
they lagged in comparison to the new cases. Tulare County's rate of fully vac- cinated people still hasn't reached 50 percent; as of Jan. 18 the data showed 270,558 had fully received the shots. For the week, that was an increase of 8,437. New daily cases per 100,000 had climbed to 112 in Tulare, and the posi- tivity rate was at 28.4 percent (up more than 8 percent for the week).
There were not exact numbers re- leased when it came to the Omicron variant, but jumps in hospitalizations in both counties seem to indicate that the Delta variant still may be well in play. Fresno County hospitalizations climbed by more than 100 for the week, but while ICU visits also increased sharply
See COVIDonpageA16
Orange Cove teen fatally shot, another wounded Jan. 16
FCSO says incident may be gang-related
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
A 16-year-old boy is dead and a 14 year old is injured following a shoot- ing in Orange Cove on the night of Jan. 17.
Deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office responded to the ar- eas of 10th and C Streets just before 10 p.m. and found two gunshot vic- tims.
The unidentified 16-year-old teen died on scene. The other boy was transported to the hospital and treat- ed, then released.
“Our detectives responded to the scene,” said Tony Botti, spokesper- son for the department. “No suspects have been identified.”
Botti said the Orange Cove Police Department initially responded to the scene and requested the sheriff’s of- fice to take over the investigation.
“Detectives are interviewing wit- nesses and reviewing surveillance videos to try and determine a suspect description,” Botti said. “This is being investigated as a possible gang-relat- ed shooting.”
Two days after the shooting, the scene was quiet in the neighborhood on the north side of the community in eastern Fresno County's Valley portion. It's the second tragic death of an Orange Cove youth; coming just more than two weeks after the death of 8-year-old Jonathan Aparicio in a crash north of Dinuba.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call Crime Stop- pers at 559-498-STOP. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
This shot looking west on C Street, between 10th and 11th streets, in Orange Cove on Jan. 18 was in the general area of a fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy and wounding of a 14-year-old boy in the late night hours of Jan. 16. The Fresno County Sheriff's Office has taken over the investigation to the shooting, which occurred at about 10 p.m.
Coronavirus Update
Classifieds - A10 Directory - A6
Legals - A11-14 Sports - A9, A15-16
Lifestyle - A7-8 Lights & Sirens - A3, A5 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4