Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 7-30-20 E-edition

Thursday, July 30, 2020
Former RHS students earn pilot certificate amid pandemic By Juanita Adame
The View From Here
I decided
to add cream
cheese to
my salmon
bowl this
time around.
It was late
on the after-
noon of July
26 and I’d fin-
ished doing
some chores
around the house, so decided to head to Clovis for lunch.
Friends and family who know me well, know that I am a creature of habit, espe- cially when it comes to the food I eat.
I tend to eat the same thing every day, or almost every day. That is: a bowl of white rice, raw salmon sprinkled with masago (fish eggs), pineapple, and wasabi.
Some of my friends can’t understand why I like the dish so much. "That's gross," I've heard them tell me.
For me, it’s a dish I’ve been eating for years. It makes me feel good and it is healthy.
I have several places where I stop to order my bowl. One of those is in Reedley, it’s called Yoi. The other places are in the Fres- no / Clovis area.
On this particular after- noon I decided to make the drive to Clovis to pick up my bowl, since Yoi in Reedley is closed on Sundays.
I sat in my car enjoying my lunch and then decide to head home.
Arriving back in Sanger, I heard about a motorcycle accident on Jensen Avenue and McCall Avenue. This was about a five minute drive from where I was.
I decided to pass by the accident and hoped it wasn't too serious.
Anytime there is a mo- torcycle rider involved in an accident - the outcome is usually never good.
Because I was so close to the crash site, I arrived be- fore any fire or ambulance units. I drove up to the in- tersection, pulled my car onto the side of the road, parked, grabbed my camera and exited my vehicle.
There was a man laying in the middle of the road. It didn’t take long to figure out he was the injured motor- cycle rider. Next to him was his motorcycle. It was laying flat on its side.
The man was thankfully alive, but writhing in pain. His eyes were shut tightly as he simultaneously held parts of his back and legs. Surrounding the man were about five civilians.
One woman held up a towel to provide shade for him. The others reassured him that help was on the
SEE COLUMN on page A8
Mid Valley Times
Through an online video interview on the morning of July 24, several college freshmen as well as their instructor Jaime Luque, and Fabrizio Lofaro, superinten- dent of the Valley ROP pro- gram at Reedley College sat down to detail how they were able to manage an aviation course in the midst of a pan- demic.
“For me it was the spac- ing between learning the in- formation- and then actually taking the test due to the Covid incident,” said Emily White. “So just getting back into the information was dif- ficult because it was learned months ago.”
The aviation course start- ed for the students during their senior year at Reedley High School and then contin- ued through their first year of college just as the corona- virus pandemic began.
“The certificate that we
Photo Contribted
From left, students Emily White, Gabriel Padilla and Gemma Sandoval sat socially distant and wearing masks while preparing for their aviation test.
Juanita Adame
just got was a very good stepping stone in becoming a pilot,” said Gabriel Padilla. “This type of certificate is for a small unmanned air- craft, so a lot of it is going to be in drone photography, tower inspections, as well as other operations similar to that.”
Gemma Sandoval also en- rolled in the course. She said for her the interest in avia- tion began at a young age.
“Basically I started look-
ing into aviation because I realized that while on family travels, I was fascinated by the aviation realm,” she said. “I took the classes because of those childhood travels with my family.”
Course instructor Jaime Luque said they teach flight safety regulations, and other topics related to the FAA.
"We want them to be safe pilots because they’re going to be the pilot in command even if it is just a drone or
the an unmanned aircraft,” said Luque.
“They’re going to be shar- ing the air space with other aircrafts, so this adds a layer of complexity and they need to be aware.”
Padilla and White earned their Unmanned Aircraft certificate in July. Sandoval will test in August.
For more information on the aviation programs at Reedley College visit reed- leycollege.edu.
Locals support inaugural 'Plant Night' held in Dinuba By Juanita Adame
Photo Contributed
From left, Monica Ruvalcaba, Rosy Pena, Jodee Smith, Anita Elizondo, Dora Ledesma, Elena Cortez, Lee Martinez, Adolfo (Tino) Martinez.
Mid Valley Times
With current health regulations in mind, Adolfo Martinez, owner of Roots, Rocks, and Plants in Dinuba said he wanted to do some- thing special for those who are interested in plants and wanted to enjoy time with friends.
"I wanted this to be safe for everyone," he said. "So we hosted our first annual Plant Night, it was a small group, and we were able to gather and enjoy some plant therapy."
Participants were able to learn about succulents and create arrangements during the event.
For more information on Roots, Rocks, and Plants contact (559) 643-7761.
KCUSD details key points for online 'Distance Education'
Photo of the week
Mid Valley Times
In a letter to parents, John Campbell, superintendent of the Kings Canyon Unified School district detailed an online plan for students come the fall semester.
“Working with the guide- lines announced by Governor Newsom, we are building a program that will provide the highest quality academic ex- perience that this will allow,” the letter read in part.
Campbell outlined the difference between distance learning and the remote learning model they plan to implement which they are calling 'Distance Education.'
The letter goes over sev- eral key points including; daily scheduled online inter-
actions, the types of instruc- tions students will get as well as daily attendance checks.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on July 17 that schools could not reopen until their counties stabilized coronavirus infec- tions and hospitalizations.
The latest mandate left many districts including the Sanger Unified School District, and now the Kings Canyon Unified School Dis- trict scrambling to adjust their original plans of re- turning students to campus and implementing new plans for an effective online edu- cation that will benefit both students and teachers while keeping them safe from CO- VID-19.
Contributed
An unforgettable senior class, Augie Villarreal posed for a photo in his Reedley High School class of 2020 cap, gown and Pirate logo mask. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@midval- leypublishing.com.