Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 8-8-19 E-edition

Thursday, August 8, 2019 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION State leaders' actions are
asinine and self-defeating
Obviously Gavin and the gang in Sacramento don't feel that insuffi- cient water supply and storage, im- migration, homelessness, poverty and the skyrocketing cost of living in California are major problems with which we are faced.
Random thoughts about no-shows and affordable housing strategies
Rick Curiel — Dinuba Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Sanger Editor
Fred Hall
In just one week from to- day, on Aug. 15, more than 12,000 students will be going back to school in the great Sanger Unified School District and the theme for the year will be appropriately, “See the Greatness!”
“The theme is meant to en- courage all of us — 1,450 dis- trict employees — to see the greatness in our kids and in each other,” said superinten- dent of schools Adela Jones.
In just two weeks and one day from today, on Aug. 23, the awesome Apaches travel to Reedley for a 7:30 p.m. non- conference football season opener with the Pirates.
While I’d rather watch an Apache game in Tom Flores Stadium, I don’t mind going to Reedley. The quality and quan- tity of concession stand food in Reedley is several notches above most other places the Apaches play — except Hanford — where sometimes Superior Dairy shows up with ice cream.
•••
I got an invitation last week
to join a few former Dinuba High School classmates at the La Catrina restaurant in Orosi. Thought it would be fun. Great restaurant. Good food. Nobody showed up. It was just like high school all over again.
•••
Remember that state or-
dered rezoning brouhaha Sanger went through recently – the one where the city coun- cil made sure all the areas to be rezoned for affordable housing were pretty much around the very edges of the city, about as far away from downtown as possible? The one where the shout of NIMBY
(Not In My Back Yard) was so loud it could have been mis- taken for a small earthquake by Cal Tech seismologists?
It makes me wonder about the differences between Dinu- ba and Sanger when I drive by the beautiful affordable hous- ing complex, Emperor Estates, on M Street in Dinuba, next to downtown, within easy walking distance of shopping centers.
But, now that I think about it, Sanger’s downtown is not really within an easy walking distance of shopping centers.
Wish we could trade down- towns. Maybe city councils.
•••
I get a feeling of déjà vu all
over again every time I drive by the Dinuba city hall. Many years ago, the building was a US Naval Reserve facility where I finished out my mili- tary commitment after several years of active duty. Makes me feel like standing up straight- er and saluting somebody. It’s the building on El Monte Way with the drought-resistant landscaping that looks like, well, very drought-resistant landscaping. Wonder if city manager Luis Patlan wears desert gear to work and brings a big canteen of water — just in case?
•••
That flap between devel-
oper Sam Lucido and the City of Sanger that boiled to the surface at a recent council meeting — where Lucido sug- gested the city may not be all that business friendly — is ap- parently not resolved. Lucido is not singing a solo. It’s pos- sible the “not business friend- ly” chorus will become the theme song of a membership
campaign by the concerned citizens group - and of the 2020 city council election.
It’s also pos-
sible, in my
opinion, that
incidents like the one with Lu- cido might be avoided if the city would spring for enough money to get personality transplants for a few of city manager Tim Chapa’s staff.
•••
What’s going on across the
street from Sanger city hall, on the south side of 7th Street between West and DeWitt av- enues where the houses are boarded up and a ginormous bulldozer was for awhile poised ominously on one of the front yards?
The consensus at city hall is that the anticipated demoli- tion is in preparation for some kind of construction.
Really.
Sanger development di- rector, Tom Navarro, said the owner hasn’t filed any plans yet with the city.
•••
If your route to work in
Sanger is on Academy Ave- nue — by Chuck Wagon — you might want to start thinking about an alternate route be- ginning Aug. 12. That’s when the long awaited widening and straightening construction project will begin.
•••
It just seems appropriate
that the word "swims" upside- down is still "swims."
Dick Sheppard can be con- tacted by email at sangerher- ald@gmail.com.
QUOTE
“A celebrity is
a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.”
— Fred Allen (1894-1956)
Dick Sheppard
Judging from recent legislative
action, it appears that challenging
Donald Trump's appearance on this
state's primary ballot by having to give up to five years of tax records is far more important than any of the aforementioned quality of life issues for locals. California Democrats who form the “resistance” seem to feel that it is imperative to defeat anything the president wants. To this point, the only thing they've achieved is to appear as petulant children and present an embarrassment for much of the state.
Absent any real doubt about whether the president actually paid his taxes over the five years requested (there is zero evidence to indicate he didn't) this whole charade is strictly voyeuristic and political. The in- tent is purely and simply an attempt at harassment, since most of the people requesting a peek will have no idea about what they actually are viewing. Trump's sprawling interests guarantee a truly complicated fil- ing, requiring the minds of some pretty good financial operatives. I feel safe in assuming those minds are more developed than anyone infesting the statehouse in Sacramento at this time.
With all the political machinations, what makes me especially curious — remember, Jerry Brown didn't want to do reveal his taxes, either — is how our politi- cal geniuses expect to pay for all the free new offer- ings being proposed for everyone, requiring precipi- tously raising of taxes. We continue to return to the starting point which is, no matter how often politicians imply otherwise, nothing is ever free. It must be paid for by someone! Government in and of itself creates nothing! Their operational budget is buckets full of money which has been extorted from us, the taxpayer.
Common sense would illustrate to one that this state is beset with a plethora of problems that require the immediate, dedicated attention of lawmakers and bureaucrats alike. Yet we see that state Attorney Gen- eral Xavier Becerra, with the blessings of our gov- ernor and other elected officials, has seen sufficient need to file lawsuits against the federal government at least 50 times over trivial issues which are aimed at basically being a thorn in the side of the president.
It's especially troubling when too many of the decisions regarding important issues involving the people of California are carefully formulated to rep- resent a “finger in the eye” of the president. When one takes an honest look at the impact that out-of- control immigration and its ancillary impact in terms of poverty and homeless in our state, many of the actions of our politicians are surely asinine and self defeating. There's really something wrong when one group of people hates so much an elected representa- tive of the American people that they are willing to harm the country, something's dramatically wrong.
Making special concessions to the point of actually rewarding those who are entering our country illegal- ly should be, in itself, illegal and subject to some level of prosecution. All the current giveaway programs are nothing more than a lure, which is sure to exacerbate a problem which is already gotten well out of hand.
State leaders boast of “reserves” which they claim run into the tens of millions of dollars and yet seek every opportunity to raise your taxes. Truth be known, we suspect there is a huge deficit when one considers the only real tangible that can arise from such prof- ligate spending as we experience from the Capitol.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
A Valley July heat wave...
A recent Sunday marked the hottest temperature this year, a near record 107 degrees at Fres- no Air Terminal. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued excessive heat warnings and, according to the NWS, “These are not normal.”
We might look to the Reedley airport for a more relevant ther- mometer, in a field away from the runway. That same Sunday it registered a peak of 102 de- grees — five degrees cooler than Fresno Air Terminal.
Last year, Fresno’s record string of 100 degree days was broken by a 99 degree day. A KFSN-30 weatherperson said the NWS might adjust that day
upward. The NWS did. Official temperatures, in fact, have been adjusted up during recent years while historic records have been adjusted down.
A yearly list of Fresno’s tem- peratures for July is online at usclimatedata.com. For the past 12 years, 11 July temperatures met or exceeded the 107 de- grees on July 28. 2016 had two 111 degree days and 2013 had three 111 degree days.
KMPH-26 forecasters pre- dicted the 107 would be the hottest day of this year be- cause temperatures tend to fall through August.
Only in distracted America can the hottest temperature fall four degrees from 2016 and
legislators still want us to pay a “warming tax.”
Lennox International, an air conditioner company, reported weaker earnings due to falling temperatures. Wall Street trad- ers pushed their stock price down more than 10 percent. You can expect your power bill to be lower than it was for July last year.
The Reedley NWS list is at weather.gov. Type in "Reedley Airport" for location.
If Reedley Municipal Air- port’s application for electric plane usage is approved its well situated thermometer will be become even more relevant.
Robert Brown Jr. Sanger
Letters from readers