Page 16 - Mid Valley Times 3-11-21 E-edition

BBB
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count number, or oth- er private information that could be used to steal your identity. Al- ways be wary of work- from-home, package reshipment, and se- cret shopper positions. A company sending you items in some- body else's name, then asking you to reship them, ask yourself - why aren’t they just doing it themselves?
• Ask questions. If you want to take advantage of a work- from-home opportu- nity, you’ll need to do your research. The FTC’s Business Op- portunity Rule has safeguards in place to make sure you have the information you need to tell whether a work-at-home op- portunity is a risky business. Under the Rule, sellers have to give you a one-page disclosure document that offers key pieces of information about the opportunity. Use the information in the disclosure document to fact-check what the seller tells you. Get as much information as you can about the job before accepting the offer.
• Report the bad actors. You can report employment, reship- ping and work-at- home scams to BBB ScamTracker, the Fed- eral Trade Commis- sion, U.S. Postal In- spection Service, and your state’s Attorney General.
Thursday, March 11, 2021 | A16 | Mid Valley TiMes
Reedley council receives CalPERS update
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The Reedley City Council received an update on the city's status in handling CalPERS funding for the city's group of retired employees.
Paul Melikian, assistant city manager, took a little more than a half hour to provide a slide and package presentation on the state retirement system and its impact on city finances. In look- ing over the 2021-22 pension forecast, the bulk once again comes in the "Classic" plans in- volving pre-2013 retirees.
Melikian said the practice of
Additional Discretionary Pay- ments (ADPs) by the city will help to save money by reduc- ing future interest payments, and will provide stability to the city's contribution. Using a hy- pothetical ADP example for the city, a funding figure of$900,000 from the general fund would be broken down to $565,714 for the Classic Miscellaneous Plan (most general city employees) and $334,286 to the Classic Safe- ty Police and Fire Plans.
By funding the older CalP- ERS programs, Melikian said, it upholds the basic financial principle of paying down the most costly debt first. For fis-
cal year 2020-21, the city's Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL) payment was $1,038,713. By making a minimum annual payment on the UAL that the state requires, Reedley was able to save between $30,000 and $40,000 of interest.
Melikian's presentation showed that the city's market value of assets provides nearly 74 percent funding for the ac- crued liability, which he said is slightly better than the state's average.
The council and staff re- ports providedCOVID-19 up- dates, both personal and city- wide. Council members Bob
Beck and Ray Soleno both said they had received their second vaccinations, and City Manager Nicole Zieba said that the city had reached 3,300 total positive cases but nada relatively low amount of active cases.
Council Member Matthew Tuttle talked about reports from Reedley Cemetery about drug abuse among people com- ing onto the property after hours and specifically over- night.
The Reedley City Council also held its first regular meet- ing for March on March 9. The council meets the second and fourth Tuesdays each month.
COVID
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also is opening up in both counties.
Tulare's new case per 100,000 rate actually is lower than Fresno, hav- ing dropped to 9.4 per- cent. An overall positiv- ity rate of 4.4 percent as of March 9 is a positive sign, along with the in- crease of nearly 12,000 vaccinations in the coun- ty to a total of 62,216 as of the 9th.
The only negative news regarding the county is in active cases. After last week's drastic drops to well below 1,000, the past week saw active cases climb from 705 to 838.
The drop in new cas- es per 100,000 in popu- lation for both Fresno and Tulare counties has been good news for high school athletics, particu- larly football. By falling below the 14 per 100,000
adjusted requirement by the state, area prep foot- ball teams are able prac- tice, schedule and play games starting on Friday, March 19 (see related story in Sports, Page A9).
In addition, outdoor sports such as cross country, tennis, golf and swimming are in the midst of abbreviate "Season 1" schedules. Since the start of March, these have been the first competitions held under the umbrella of the Cali- fornia Scholastic Federa- tion.
And more sports ap- pear to be returning, with revisions. Sanger High School has sched- uled outdoor volleyball matches, and the re- sumption of soccer is in the not-too-distant future.
While the purple tier remains, businesses con- tinue to prepare for a return to more normal operations. The city of Reedley on March 15
is planning to remove a temporary outdoor work- out area in front of Fit- ness Quest Health Club on 10th Street. The area has limited 10th Street between G and F streets to eastbound traffic only.
The situation for the region's schools is slow- ly moving toward more reopening. After Kings Canyon Unified high schools (Reedley and Orange Cove) reopened to on-campus instruction last week, transitional kindergarten through second grade students in the Dinuba Unified School District also re- turned to campus on March 4. On March 9, grades 3-6 returned to their school classes in DUSD, although junior high and high school stu- dents are continuing dis- tance learning for now.
COVID-19 vaccina- tions were continuing (by appointment) on a regu- lar basis at Reedley Col- lege, and another event was held in Orange Cove on March 9. That same day, Tulare County eli- gible residents received COVID-19 shots at the International Agri-Cen- ter in Tulare.
COVID-19 update
As of the most recent update on Tuesday, March 9, there had been 96,665 confirmed cases (6.1 percent positive rate of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) out of 802,526 tests in Fresno County, with 1,505 deaths and 159 hospitalizations.
Among Mid Valley Times cities in the county through March 9 (Fresno County's new dashboard surveillance didn't provide an update), the Sanger region continued with the most total overall positive cases with 5,721 (4,300 in the city proper) and 53 deaths according to the FCDPH website. Through the March 9 update, Reedley (including immediate surrounding rural areas) still was showing 4,170 cases (3,400 in the city proper) and 61 deaths; Parlier continued to be listed at 2,877 (2,400) cases with 33 deaths and Orange Cove had 1,500 cases and 12 deaths. Del Rey
was at 300 cases while Fowler had 1,157 cases (977 in the city) and 14 deaths through March 9. The region that includes Squaw Valley, Dunlap and Miramonte had 296 total cases on the new data surveillance website through March 9. The county announced that it will not list recoveries at this time to reallocate staff for new cases.
In Tulare County, there were 48,399 total confirmed cases (838 active, up 133 for the week) of COVID-19 with 776 deaths and 43 hospitalized as of Tuesday, March 9. Breakdowns by cities/ regions through March 2 show 4,123 cases (71 in the past three weeks) in Dinuba, 1,434 in Orosi, 739 in Cutler, 254 in Traver, 59 in the rural area south of Reedley and 22 in the rural area southeast of Orange Cove.
A total of 46,785 people (96.7 percent) in Tulare County were listed as recovered as of March 9.
l
selma F ea market [mt. View and highway 99]
ColleCTor CAr /PArTs &
useD BIG Boy Toys sAle
$25 per Vendor Space
$25 to Sell Car or Boat
$5 per Person at the Gate
Free Parking
Food & Drink Available
Buy or sell
saturday, march 20, 2021
— 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. —
Early vendor setup & check-in:
sponsored by reedley blossom trail a’s
rain or shine
March 19, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
SelmaSwap.com
Information & Reservations:
559.896.3243
006917
006992