Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 2-21-19 E-edition

Citrus Middle School student’s design talents recognized
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Stirring comeback advances Immanuel to section semis
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Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents Orange Cove , FOCAS find common ground at last
Vol. 130, No. 8 | Thursday, February 21, 2019
City, animal advocates OK deal for shelter to operate
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
It took months of discussion and hours of working out a compromise, but on the evening of Feb. 13 the Orange Cove City Council and
the Friends of the Orange Cove Animal Shel- ter or FOCAS finally agreed on a contract that would allow the shelter to once again operate within the city.
“There was a lot of give and take, and I’d like to compliment everyone involved in this process,” said Rudy Hernandez, interim city manager for Orange Cove. “We have spent a tremendous, tremendous amount of time work- ing with the president of FOCAS.
“We started working on this sometime, I believe back in November, December, January, February, so we have gone through it over and over and once again I believe we have reached an agreement and a compromise.”
Hernandez added that there was a lot of “give and take” between the city and the ani- mal shelter, but they finally felt they were ready to move forward with introducing a new contract that would benefit both the shelter
and the city of Orange Cove.
Several conditions were reiterated by Her-
nandez. At the top of his list was the issue that FOCAS encountered with state’s Franchise Tax Board that initially led to the shut out of orga- nization officials from the shelter by the city.
“We are asking for evidence of insurance, and also the big issue once a year they have
See SHELTER on page A8
Chamber
awards
set for
Saturday
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
The 2019 Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce’s annual Awards Gala on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Reedley College is just about sold out heading into the final days before the event.
Erik Valencia, executive director for the chamber, said a limited number of tickets re- mained heading into midweek. Information on any remaining tickets is available by calling the chamber office at 638-3548 or going online to reedleycham- berofcommerce.com.
Citizen of the Year honors for 2019 go to Danny Jimenez for Citizen of the Year and Reed- ley High School student Roberto Campos for Junior Citizen of the Year.
Jimenez is retired from the Kings Canyon Unified School District, where he served as the head custodian for Reedley High School and the district. In retirement, he has become a fa- miliar face at RHS athletic and extracurricular activities taking photos. Many of his sports shots run on a regular basis in The Ex- ponent.
This year’s Hall of Fame in- ductee is the late Pam Melville. Her husband, Dale Melville, will accept the award in her honor. Pam Melville owned and oper- ated David’s boutique in down- town Reedley for nearly four decades before her death from cancer last June. This year’s Hall of Fame inductee is the late Pam Melville. Her hus- band, Dale Melville, will accept the award in her honor. Pam Melville owned and operated David’s boutique in downtown Reedley for nearly four decades before her death from cancer last June.
Here are this year’s business and community award winners: CITIZEN OF THE YEAR —
Danny Jimenez
JUNIOR CITIZEN OF THE
YEAR — Roberto Campos, Reedley High School
LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR — Adventist Health
See CHAMBER on page A3
Heavy rain,
winds pelt
Reedley
Reedley and eastern Fresno County received a healthy dose of winter weather for a good portion of last week. On Feb. 15, a brief afternoon thunderstorm brought lightning, thunder, high winds and concentrated heavy rain through the city. There were no official National Weather Service figures from the Feb. 15 thun- derstorm in Reedley, but it’s estimated as much as an inch or more fell.
Jon Earnest / The Exponent Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4
Governor visits Riverview
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
California Gov. Gavin Newsom knelt down to speak to young students at Riverview K-8 School in Parlier during a Feb. 13 visit to the region to sign Assembly Bill 72 to provide funding for emergency drinking water. The school has had to bring bottled water to campus for more than a year because of unsafe drinking water on site.
Newsom signs bill Feb. 13 to address safe drinking water
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Less than two months into his term, Gavin Newsom visited the Reedley area on Feb. 13 to sign his first legislation as California governor.
Inside a classroom at Riverview K-8 School in Parlier, and in front of a group of first grade students at the Kings Canyon Unified School District campus, Newsom put pen to paper to make Assembly Bill 72 state law after state leg- islative approval..
The bill, provides an immediate $20 million – $10 million to continue funding for emergency drinking water projects and $10 million in tech- nical funding — to help the state address cur- rent drinking water standards.
““This legislation provides emergency fund- ing as a down payment. But it’s only the first step to addressing the clean drinking water cri- sis in our state,” Newsom told parents, educa- tion officials and media at a roundtable meet- ing after the signing. “The fact that more than a million Californians can’t rely on clean water to drink or bathe in is a moral disgrace.
“Our state must forge a long-term solution
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Newsom answered a number of questions from elec- tronic and print media during a brief news conference in the school library.
to this crisis, and I’m looking forward to work- ing with the Legislature in the coming months to do just that.”
Newsom’s visit to Riverview had just that
purpose. The school has had unsafe water on the campus for more than a year, and has had to bring in bottled water for student and faculty consumption.
AB72 was linked to AB73, which provides emergency funds for fire recovery in a state dev- astated by a handful of massive wildfires in the last three-plus years.
The bill also clarifies that funding in the 2017- 18 budget for drinking water in schools can be given as grants to public agencies, public water systems, or non-profit organizations. The funds can be used to help with water management and re-appropriates the balance of 2016 drinking water funds for schools.
Newsom spent the first half of his 90-minute visit to the Riverview campus visiting with young students, most elementary age but a few ranging up to high school age. He gave them a brief and sometimes humorous civics lesson on political in- volvement, even jokingly trying to sway support from a young first-grader who raised his hand to signify he was against the new bill.
See NEWSOM on page A5
Next Town Hall meeting Feb. 25 Staff Report
The next Reedley Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, at the Reedley Community Center’s Senior Room.
The topic “Why Don’t We Have a Target Yet?” and deals with economic development facts and myths in the city. Leaders will be in attendance to answer questions and dis- cuss the issue.
The public is invited to at- tend. For more information, call City Hall at 637-4200, ext. 212.
Classifieds - A7
Directory - A6
Legals - B6-7
Sports - B3-4
Lights & Sirens - A3