Sanger Herald 2-28-19 E-edition

New pizza franchise in Sanger
Looking for a home
Apaches lose heartbreaker
page 8A
Lifestyles 2B
Sports 1B
WeeklyNewspaper
Mid term Adult School graduation
Forty graduates "rocked it!"
Sanger(FresnoCounty)CA93657
State of the City
Things are good and they're going to get better
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
Mayor Frank Gonzalez delivering a "State of the City" address at city hall Tuesday evening.
50¢ (taxincluded) School board
okays plan to reconfigure K-5 schools in the city
By Dick Sheppard
sangerherald@gmail.com
By a unanimous vote with two mem- bers absent the school board on Tuesday approved the reconfiguration of City of Sanger K-5 elementary schools to K-6.
There wasn't much discussion at the Feb. 26 meeting. The item had already been presented and discussed at the Feb. 12 board meeting. The discussion at that previous meeting included the growth factors that the school district is facing and the consideration of a K-5 to K-6 reconfiguration for K-5 elementary schools in the city of Sanger.
With board members Tammy Wolfe and Jesse Vasquez absent, board members Pete Filippi, Ismael "Mike" Hernandez, Rick Duran, Brandon
Vang and Jesse Solorio voted to move forward with a plan that would, in some respects, put things back the way they were before 6th graders were moved to Washington Academic Middle School many years ago.
The massive Sanger Unified School District covers 180 square miles. Within its boundaries are the city of Sanger and the communities of Centerville, Del Rey, Fairmont, Lone Star, Tivy Valley and portions of the Sunnyside area of metropolitan Fresno.
Associate superintendent Eduardo Martinez pointed out at the Feb. 12 board meeting that the greatest popula- tion growth within the district is not in
See SUSD page 6A Another fatal
traffic accident
By Dick Sheppard
sangerherald@gmail.com
A 36 year old Fresno man died on Feb. 23 of injuries sustained when his motorcycle failed to negotiate a curve on Academy Avenue and hit a curb near Church Avenue, said Sanger police Sgt. Joshua Johnson.
The name of the victim has not been officially released by the coroner.
His passenger Heather Barbosa suf- fered minor injuries.
The victim was not wearing an ap- proved helmet. The passenger was, said Johnson.
The accident is still under investiga- tion.
Sonya Morales
By Dick Sheppard
sangerherald@gmail.com
Sanger Adult School mid term graduation student speaker Sonya Morales asked, "Did we really do it? Did we beat the odds? Did we really come through on our promises? Those promises made to our teachers, our families, and ourselves?"
Then Morales answered her own question, "Well, looks like we did. Not only did we get it done, we rocked it!"
Forty graduates, ranging in age from 18-55, including Monica Cruz who graduated with her daughter, Meranda Betancourt and Miranda’s partner Angel Montalvo, walked across the stage in the WAMS auditorium on Feb. 20 to pick up their high school diplomas and shake hands with the superinten- dent of schools Adela Madri- gal Jones and other members of the Sanger Unified admin- istration and board.
Why a mid term gradua- tion?
"In the past few years we have had a packed house with many audience mem- bers having to stand. In other words, we outgrew the high school multipurpose room.
"The smaller graduating class allows students to invite as many family members as they want and also avoids the standing room only situation," said adult school principal Lori Hawkyard.
"We are here tonight," Hawkyard told the enthusias- tic picture taking, cheering, flowers and balloon bouquet toting audience members, "to honor these brave graduates. I call them brave because
it takes courage to re-enter school after being away from the world of educa- tion. Manyofourstudents left traditional school due to challenging life situations, disappointment, or to work fulltime to help support their families.
"Despite their past experi- ences, these students decided to take control of their future and create a new direction for their life," said Hawk- yard.
Morales was described as a rock star student by her adult school teacher Darla Davis.
"Sonya, our 'rock star' stu- dent completed most of her course work through our on- line program, Edgenuity. As part of the online program, the teacher can see when the student is logged on and working. Sonya’s dashboard showed that she was doing her school work anytime shehadafreemoment. She would be logged on during her breaks at work, in the morning, evening and even at2a.m. Shehasgonefar beyond the minimum re- quirements of our program because she was determined to get this done for herself andherfamily. SonyaMo-
See GRADUATION, page 6A
By Dick Sheppard
sangerherald@gmail.com
The theme of mayor Frank Gonza- lez's upbeat state of the city address Tuesday evening in the council chamber at city hall seemed to be "Things are good and they're going to get better."
Unfortunately, there weren't many people there to hear him tick off the past accomplishments of the present administration and council or the ambi- tious projects on the City's "to do" list for the future.
A couple of other councilmembers, Esmeralda Hurtado and Daniel Marti- nez, city staff and media representa- tives made up half of an audience that wasn't large enough to make much of a dent in the supply of cookies and bottled water on a table in the lobby.
"We're not just waiting for things to happen. We're looking and moving for- ward," said Gonzalez.
He mentioned several times that this council and city staff have had to deal with projects that have been kicked down the road. "We're cleaning those up and moving forward," said Gonzalez.
"This town is ready to explode. The City of Sanger has a vision and a plan. A vision without a plan is just a hope. We have the plan to turn our vision into a
reality," said Gonzalez.
The audience of approximately 15
residents plus city staff and officials and media representatives must have agreed with him because there were no comments or questions after the 30 minute presentation.
"The upcoming year will be one for the history books and with our col- laborations with the school district, the chamber of commerce and the greatest citizens in the state we can keep Sanger in the upper echelons of Fresno County cities," said Gonzalez before he intro- duced a PowerPoint presentation that bulleted the city's past and anticipated future accomplishments.
Looking to the future Gonzalez talked about:
• Construction of a 750,000 water storage tank that city staff believes will go a long way toward solving the city's present low water pressure problems and make possible infrastructure improvements necessary for northern growth. The project, partially funded by a $1.2 million grant, will cost an esti- mated $4.5 million.
• The start of contruction of a new water well that will cost $1.9 million, which may be partially offset by a
See STATE OF THE CITY, page 7A
Will it rain on our festival? See the forecast on page 8A
Blossom Festival is this Saturday
• Feb. 28 - Planning commission meeting, 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St.
• March 2 - Blossom Festival in downtown Sanger. • March 5 - Measure S Oversight Committee, 6 p.m.
at city hall, 1700 7th St.
By Dick Sheppard
sangerherald@gmail.com
Chamber of commerce boss Tammy WolfeistoutingthisSaturday's Blos- som Trail Festival as the biggest and best ever.
Maybe so.
It's better not to doubt someone who has consistently delivered on her "best ever" promises ever since she took over as chamber president/CEO a few years ago.
"So many fun things to do! Blossom Trail run, arts and crafts booths, food booths, kid’s activities, Lego car show, Sanger City Adventure, a real car show, live music by the Prestige Band and new this year carnival rides and games,"
Tammy enthused on the chamber's web- site.
The threat of a few showers hasn't seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm - it's happened before.
The festival begins about time the sun comes up at 7 a.m. with some com- petitive and some just for fun runs and walks. Therewillbesomethinggoingon downtown, rain or shine, until 5 p.m.
The carnival will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The real car show and the Lego car show will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The band will be performing from noon to 4 p.m.
The event is in conjunction with the Fresno County Blossom Trail running
now through April.
The Blossom Trail 10K run attracts
top runners from all over the state. It's run over a flat course that takes run- ners through Sanger’s downtown and through the outskirts of town where the blossoms overflow. Participants then return and finish on 7th Street near the start line.
Anawardsceremonywillbeheld at the Measure C Stage following each race.
A newer feature of the festival is the Sanger City Adventure which sends participants on a citywide adventure to checkpoints around town.
Obstacles at each checkpoint test brainsandbrawn andjusthowmuch fun you are willing to have.
• March 7 - City Council, 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St.
• March 12 - School board meeting, 7 p.m. at district office, 1905 7th St.
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thsangerherald.com
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 28, 2019
VOL 130 NO. 9
2 sections, 14 pages
CLASSIFIED 5B LEGALS 6,7B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 8B LIFE STYLES 2B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A