Sanger Herald 1-18-18 E-edition

Wrestlers drop Edison in first dual meet
Looking for a home
page 8A
Back in the saddle on cattle drives
Sports 1B
Lifestyles 3B
THURSDAY
JANUARY 18, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 3
2 sections, 16 pages
CLASSIFIED 4-6B LIFE STYLES 3B
OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A
Weekly Newspaper
New planning
commissioners
and amended
grant payouts
Wide ranging agenda for today's council meeting
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
This would be a good city council meeting to attend if you're interested in what will be the next street reconstruction project, how the city's new grant writer is doing, meeting new planning commissioners and hearing about a proposed amendment to the payout for Measure S gang and drug prevention/ intervention project grant recipients.
The public meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th Street.
Vincent Wall and Monica Yamada will be appointed to fill vacancies on the planning commission. Wall, a patent attorney, is a re- cent arrival in town. Yamada, a Fresno State graduate with a BA degree in liberal studies, saysshe'salifelongresident. Theywillbe replacing Frank Valles and David Gonzalez on an advisory group to the city council on matters related to city planning and develop- ment.
Administrative service director Gary Watahira will ask the council to approve a Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee recommendation for changing the way grant recipients get paid and the way they have to report on how they are spending the money.
The oversight committee wants grant money to be paid to recipients once a year instead of in four equal payments. It also is recommending that recipients report on how they're using the money a couple of times
a year instead of requiring the reporting to take place before the money is paid out.
Downtown streets and water and sewer lines were being reconstructed most of last summer. City engineer Josh Rogers will tell the council what's on the capital improve- ment project list for this summer.
And a quarterly report will give the council a look at how its new grant writer Townsend Public Affairs is doing.
Townsend was hired in November of 2017 after the council decided in May not to re- new a contract with Acquisition Partners of America. Thefirmhadbeenwritinggrants for Sanger since 2011, had brought in more than $4 million and had produced a return on investment of $14 for every $1 invested.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Sanger man was
arrested after sex
crime accusation
Herald staff report
A Sanger man, Roberto Tomas Romero, 33, was arrested for allegedly fondling a teenage girl.
Romero was arrested after the incident was reported to police Monday afternoon, said police chief Silver Rodriguez.
Romero reportedly knew the 15-year-old girl through a family member and was at her home Sunday night. Police say that after the girl's mother went to sleep, Romero allegedly entered the daughter’s room and “fondled” her.
The daughter told her mother on Monday and the mother reported it to police.
Romero also had an arrest warrant out for driving without a license and DUI.
He was booked into Fresno County Jail for the warrant, suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts, sexual battery and false imprisonment.
His bail was set at $135,000.
Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657
Apaches beat the No. 11 ranked team in the state
Mike Nemeth/Sanger Herald
The Apaches' Cameron Stanley drives for a layup against the San Joaquin Memorial Panthers. He is trailed to the basket by Panthers' star Jalen Green. Stanley wound up with 10 points in a game that saw 10 Apaches in the scoring column. Only five Panthers were able to score against the Apaches. The Panthers came into the game ranked No. 1 in the CIF Central Section and No. 11 in the state, according to Sanger masterstatisticianRonBlackwood. IntheotherCMACgameplayedTuesdayEdisonbeatMaderaSouth 64-52. The Apaches will host Madera South this Friday. They'll be in Fresno next Tuesday to play Bullard and back home on Friday, Jan. 26, to host Edison. See more game coverage and photos on page 6A.
50¢ (tax included) Mayor will
talk about the state of the city
Frank Gonzalez
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Municipal achievements and current and future issues are expected to be the topics of mayor Frank Gonzalez's first state of the city address at 6 p.m. on Jan. 29 in the council chamber at city hall.
The annual event is usually an upbeat review of all the good things that have happened in the city during the past year and a look ahead to what might be in store during the next year.
Any perceived problems with municipal governance are usually only mentioned during a question and answer period that traditionally follows the speech.
The only change this year will likely be the venue. In
the past the state of the city address has taken place at the community center. This year it will be at city hall.
The reporter can be contact- ed by email at sangerherald@ gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Blossom Fest
planning gets
underway
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Forget, if you can, the bone chilling fog and the off and on showers. Blossoms are on the way and they signal the opening of the Blossom Trail and one of Sanger's biggest annual parties, the 30th annual Blossom Festi- val.
The Blossom Trail kickoff ceremony will be hosted by the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce this year. The event willbeat10a.m.onFeb.2in the Sanger Woman's Club build- ing at 1602 7th St. The public is invited, said chamber president/ CEO Tammy Wolfe.
The Blossom Festival will be pretty much all day on March 3 in downtown Sanger. It starts at 7 a.m. with runs and walks and winds up with a car show in the afternoon.
If you'd like to get involved call the chamber at (559) 875- 4575.
The reporter can be contact- ed by email at sangerherald@ gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
By Miike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
The San Joaquin Memorial Panthers entered the Coach Dean Nicholson Gym at Sanger High with quite a bit of statistical panache and more than a little hype over Jalen Green, a nationally ranked sophomore who has a list of the top col- leges offering him a spot on their teams.
But this was Sanger.
The Panthers walked into the packed gymna- sium somewhat anonymously. The Apaches, on the other hand, got the chants and cheers, possibly none more than Sanger center Leo Leon, the tow- ering 7 footer.
A crowd of students in the very full west bank of bleachers yelled, "Leo! Leo!"
Leon retained an impassive game face only later revealing what the chants meant. "They said I was going to get dunked on," he said, somewhat still breathless from the congratulations mid court from the 85-75 win his Apaches pulled off. "I proved them wrong."
Green got one dunk and attempted a second,
if memory serves. Something for the highlights along with his 25 points and eight rebounds.
But it was all Apaches, especially in the second half when Sanger's finest, now with a 16-4 overall record, rebounded from a 43-38 halftime deficit to go all out.
While Morice Norris led all Apaches with 25
points, nearly every body else on the roster con- tributed.
"Holy moley," said coach Al Alvarado III, after the game and somewhat after the on-court crowd had diminished. "I guess we're still upsetting teams."
Alvarado said he told his team before the game that they have three really good players. He said if Sanger was to put its three top players head to head with those, "It's going to be very tough. So I said, 'Let's go with our top 10 against their top 10. Let's wear them down.'"
Norris said he stepped up. "I had to," he said. "They had stars on that team. I had to show them we have stars on our team."
Isaiah Rodriguez, a senior who played perhaps his most aggressive game of the season, shot seven for eight from two-point range, playing cleanup and scoring rebounds.
"They were good," he said. "But tonight, we were the better team. We played together. They had just three guys playing one on one."
After the game, the Panthers were ranked 30th in the state but retained their hold on the Central Section Division II ranking of No. 1, at least for the time being.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerheraldsports@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com