Mid Valley Times 8-8-19 E-edition

Thursday, August 8, 2019
Vol. 1, No. 6
Hall of Fame worthy
50 cents
Three new
principals
at Dinuba
Unified
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
New faces are common at the beginning of each school year, whether they be students or staff. This year is no differ- ent as Dinuba Unified School District added 34 new staff members to their school sites.
The new staff members were intro-
duced at an
orientation
Reedley College welcomes 6 to its athletics shrine
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Reedley College's Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame offi- cially grew by six members on Aug. 3 with the induction of five standout athletes and a longtime coach with the vol- leyball program.
The coach — Noboru "No- bi" Kitaoka — capped off a memorable, emotional eve- ning at the Reedley College cafeteria by accepting his in- duction a mere hours after a Celebration of Life service for his wife Elizabeth Balderama Kitaoka, who died on July 22.
"We had been married for 41 years, 41 great years," Kita- oka said of Elizabeth shortly after he received a standing ovation from the attendees.
Kitaoka enters the RC Hall of Fame along with fellow 2019 inductees Anthony Mont- gomery (football, 2003-2005), Curtis Pasma (baseball, 2003- 2005), Jessica Baley Quinn
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
The Reedley College Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame inductees for 2019: From left, Curtis Pasma (baseball, 2003-2005), Abbi Millwee Riddle (basketball, 1998-2000), Anthony Montgomery (football, 2003-2005), Riley Young (football, 2001-2003), Jessica Baley Quinn (volleyball 1995-1997) and Noboro "Nobi" Kita- oka (volleyball coaching, 1980-2002, 2017-current).
held Tues- day at the district’s Vo- cational and Educational Center in downtown Di- nuba.
Making this year stand out from previous years is the fact that three of the staff members are principals. Dinuba High School, Jeffer- son Elemen- tary School and Lincoln Elementary School will each begin the 2019-20 school year with new administra- tors.
(volleyball, 1995-1997), Abbi Millwee Riddle (basketball, 1998-2000) and Riley Young (football, 2001-2003).
Kitaoka's wife was one of three women he specifically thanked during his speech, in-
cluding his mother as well as longtime RC head coach Shir- ley Gustafson, who watched from the audience.
""She is so true to her faith, giving a chance to me to work with her," Kitaoka said of his
fellow RC Hall of Famer. "My chance came through Shirley, giving me an opportunity [to coach] in the sense of having no hands tied."
See HALL OF FAME on page A10
Andew Popp
Robert Rodriguez
Melissa Vega
2019-2020 school year opens next week
MVT Staff Report
Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District welcomed 19 new teachers at a luncheon held Aug. 5 at the district office as schools prepare for
the new school year on Mon-
day, Aug. 12.
The teachers started the
morning off with a district
orientation and were given a
tour of the community to get
to know the community they serve, according to Shev-
SeeSCHOOLonpage A9
At right, Cutler Orosi Joint Unified School District admin- istrators, principals, and support staff created a tunnel as they welcomed the district’s newest teachers on Aug. 5. COJUSD’s first day of school is Monday, Aug. 12.
George M. Villagrana / Mid Valley Times
Here’s a look at each of the new principals, along with their new staff members.
Dinuba High School
Dinuba High School’s new principal comes to Di- nuba from Sanger, where he served seven years Sanger
See PRINCIPALS on page A10
Pirate Days prepare Reedley High freshmen, Page A5
Sanger's Veterans Memorial Park may press forward
By Dick Sheppard
Mid Valley Times
Completion of the long-awaited Sanger Veterans Park at the corner of Indianola and Jensen avenues could be as close as only one more grant away.
"The Veterans Park Phase I is nearing completion and this competitive grant op- portunity may provide the funds to com- plete the park," Sanger's management ana- lyst Daniel Galvez told the City Council at its Aug. 1 meeting.
The park has been a long time in coming.
The chairperson of the first veterans park committee, Regina Uribes, remem- bered getting together more than a decade ago with a group interested in forming a veterans memorial park in Sanger and talk-
ing about the layout and how to get it ac- complished.
When that early group faded away it was replaced by a veterans advisory committee now headed by JD Bennett. The advisory committee helped get the city behind the concept and the project picked up steam, said Bennett.
With a combination of money from the city and various grants covering construc- tion costs a groundbreaking for the first phase of park construction was held on March 20.
The new money Galvez is talking about to finish up the park would hopefully come from the California Department of Parks and Recreation Statewide Park Development and
See PARKonpageA2
Artist concept courtesy City of Sanger
This Memorial Plaza will be on the northeast corner of Indianola and Jen- sen avenues at the west end of the park.
Classifieds - B4-5 Directory - B3
Legals - B6-9 Sports - B1-2, 10
Lights & Sirens - A3 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4