Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 3-14-19

It’s a ‘Fun Fitness’ day at Washington Elementary
Panorama
Vol. 130, No. 11 | Thursday, March 14, 2019
IHS state title dream falls just short
Eagles lose to Ribet in
Division 4 title game at
Sacramento on March 9
Staff Report
Pirates softball hosts Bejar Swing into Spring tourney
Sports
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Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Immanuel High School basketball players and coaches including head coach Chris Woods, right, met with the media after the Eagles’ 60-49 loss to Ribet Academy of Los Angeles in the Division 4 state championship game on March 9.
The Immanuel High Eagles goal of a state basketball championship came up just short in Sacramento on March 9.
The Ribet Academy Fighting Frogs, Southern California champion, pulled away late in the fourth quarter to post a 60-49 victory over the Northern California champion Eagles (26-9) in the Division 4 final at Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA’s Sac- ramento Kings. The defeat snapped Immanuel’s seven-game postseason win streak that included the team’s sixth consecutive Central Section crown.
Immanuel, competing this year in the North- ern California playoff bracket, reached the state finals for the first time.
More photos from the weekend’s state finals vis- it are on Page A6. A story on the state championship game and game photos are in Sports on Page B3.
County DA charges Assembly member
Staff Report
The Fresno County District Attorney’s office earlier this week charged Assemblyman Joa- quin Arambula (D-Fresno) with a single misdemeanor count of cruelty to a child.
The 41-year-old Arambula announced in a March 12 news statement through his attorney that he was taking a voluntary leave of ab-
sence from his Assembly seat representing the 31st Dis- trict, which in- cludes Reedley.
“My wife
and I are
shocked that
the district
attorney has
decided to file
charges,” Arambula said in the statement. “The allegation that I may have harmed one of my daughters is false and unthink- able.”
Arambula had been arrested Dec. 10 at his 7-year-old daugh- ter’s elementary school in Fres- no on suspicion of injuring his daughter. He was released from custody, and has said in inter- views that he spanked his daugh- ter on her bottom with his hand as a punishment for acting out.
Fresno police Chief Jerry Dy- er has said that Child Protective Services was summoned to the school as a result of the injury that occurred the night before. Dyer said Arambula’s daughter had an injury that was not on her buttocks.
Arambula was scheduled to be arraigned in Fresno County Superior Court on March 13. If convicted, he could face up to six months in jail.
The Los Angeles Times re- ported that Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) said that Arambula’s leave of ab- sence will be unpaid. Rendon ap- pointed Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) to head Arambula’s budget subcommit- tee on health and human services during his leave of absence.
Arambula, a Fresno phy- sician, defeated Fresno City Council member Clint Olivier in a special election in 2016 to fill the 31st Assembly seat vacated by Henry T. Perea. He was re- elected by a wide margin in No- vember 2018.
Early rising Kings River
Water releases
from Pine Flat
began March 8
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Summer water conditions on the Kings River came at least a couple of months early last week.
A series of storm in recent weeks, dropping above average amounts of rain in the Valley and foothills and snow in the Sierra Nevada, brought river water levels up considerably in the past week-plus. It also caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin flood-prevention releases on March 8 from PIne Flat Reservoir in the mountains northeast of Reedley.
That caused the river flow to swell to normal summer month lev- els on March 9. The water releases began when Pine Flat Reservoir reached about 65 percent of its mil- lion cubic-feet capacity. Steve Hau- gen, Kings River watermaster with the Kings River Water ASsociation, said the Army Corps of Engineers decided on March 6 to begin the re- leases after overall storage began to encroach into space reserved for flood management.
The water releases brought flow levels to each bank of the river through Reedley. Release flows from the dam on March 12
See RIVER on page A3
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
The Kings River flowed bank to bank, with only a small portion of Reedley Beach above the waterline, in a look at the river north from the Olson Avenue Bridge. The Kings River Water Association began early releases from Pine Flat Reservoir on March 8, increasing the river’s flow to normal summer levels. The releases are scheduled to continue for an indefinite period.
Joaquin Arambula
He beat the odds, and now gives back to community
Ryan Rodriguez serves as RFD volunteer firefighter
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Ryan Rodriguez’s arms tell a story. A story that began on a hot July day, when he was just 13 years old, and involved their family dog.
Now, at 32 years old, and a captain with the Reedley Fire Department, Rodriguez talked about the brutal dog attack nearly 20 years ago that almost killed him.
He survived the attack, but was told by doc- tors he would never have the full use of his right arm.
“The doctors told me I was facing amputa- tion of my right arm because I had lost so much blood, because when he [the dog] attacked me, he ripped my main artery out,” Rodriguez said on the afternoon of March 1. “I think they told me I had lost half the volume of blood by the time I’d arrived at the hospital.”
“I was told I would never write with my right hand, because I am right-handed,” Rodriguez continued. “I was in band at the time. I went to Grant Middle School and played violin, and they told me I would never be able to do those things.
Classifieds - B7 Directory - A5
Also, that I was never going to be able to play baseball.”
Fast forward to the present day. Rodriguez not only has beaten all those odds, he’s excelled at many more activities as well — including serv- ing his community as a volunteer firefighter.
“At the end of our fire academy, I had won an award for being the most physically fit, despite what had happened to me earlier in my life,” he said. “I had made it clear, I am going to win that award and nothing will stop me from getting it.”
Rodriguez joined the fire department at the age of 19. Following in the footsteps of his fa- ther, Rich Rodriguez (a fire apparatus engineer with RFD), Ryan said service to his community is something truly important to him.
“This job its different, a lot of responsibility,” he said. “When we go on a call, aside from the safety of the guys in the back, just like with all of us captains, we have a million and one things running through our minds. Anything from what’s the best way to get there, if it’s a struc- ture fire, or a car accident, how are we going to approach this?”
He said he’s been on numerous calls in the city of Reedley and throughout the county roads as well.
Ryan Rodriguez checked the exterior wall of a home to see if fire has extended to other parts of the structure. Rodriguez,a captain with the Reedley Fire Depart- ment, said he enjoys giving back to his community. “Being there for someone’s worst day of their life, and to make a difference to them, and for them to say ‘thank you,’ I really believe that is what giving back to the community is really about,” he said.
Reedley Firemen’s Association / Photo Contributed
Legals - B6
See RODRIGUEZ on page A3 Sports - B3-4
Lights & Sirens - A3
Obituaries - A2-3
Opinion - A4