Mid Valley Times 2-17-22 E-Edition

Thursday, February 17, 2022
Vol. 3, No. 33
A call for justice in hit and run
50 cents
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Rob Terry, left, Reedley's outgo- ing Community Development Di- rector, posed with City Manager Nicole Zieba after being honored at the Feb. 8 council meeting.
Reedley
honors
Rob Terry
Outgoing Community Development Director accepts high position with city of Selma
MVT Staff Report
Reedley bid a fond and emotional farewell on Feb. 8 to Rob Terry, the city's outgo- ing Community Development Director.
Terry — who is taking a new position equivalent to an assistant city manager in nearby Selma after 5 1/2 years on the job — was honored with a plaque of appreciation at the Reedley City Council meeting. His last day at Reedley was Feb. 1.
"He brought that wisdom, that loyalty and that profes- sionalism to the job," City Manager Nicole Zieba said in her remarks. "He's a valuable member of the team, and I know I'm not the only one that is going miss him terribly... I know you are going to do great things."
"It's difficult, because I love this community. Not only professionally, but personally,"
See TERRY on page A18
Juliana Ramos' family gathers to reflect, remember a year after her death
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
The family of Juliana Ramos, the Reedley nurse struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle on the night of Feb. 10, 2021, gathered at the Reedley Cem- etery on the morning of Feb. 12 to visit her grave on what would have been Ju- lia’s 29th birthday.
“We’re upset, yes, because today should have been a happy day. She should of been here celebrating,” said Cinthya Ramos, sister-in-law of Julia. “She was very young and she had a lot of ambition, she had a lot of dreams and hopes for her family.”
The Ramos family, including Julia’s children played music, released balloons with heartfelt messages and shared sto- ries about the mother of three.
The family still cannot come to terms with the way Julia died. They feel her
See JULIANA on page A18
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
The family of Juliana Ramos released balloons during a brief ceremony the morning of Feb. 12 at Reedley Cemetery. The family came together to remember the Reedley nurse, who was struck and killed by a hit and run driver on Feb. 10, 2021, on what would have been her
Del Rey vax event
goes well, Sanger
reopens City Hall
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Fresno and Tulare counties early this week mirrored the rest of Califor- nia with continued steep drops in active coronavirus cases.
On the same day state health officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom removed the indoor mask mandate for Californians, data released in both Central Valley counties showed that the virus was wan- ing in all its variants. In addition, the city of Sanger on Feb. 15 lifted its indoor
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Del Rey resident Orlando Garza received the COVID booster shot from site nurse Charlie Holeson at the Feb. 9 vaccination event at Del Rey Elementary School.
mask mandate; announcing that city of- fices were reopening effective Feb. 15. The Feb. 15 report from the Fresno
Coronavirus Update
County Department of Public Health showed nearly a drop of 2,500 activate cases of COVID-19; from 7,940 to 5,456 in a seven-day period. Accordingly, the positivity rate dropped from 21.4 to 17.1 percent, and new daily cases per 100,000 sank from 142.9 to 82.3.
Vaccinations continue to slowly in- crease, with the percentage of residents ages 5 years and older creeping up from 69.5 to 69.8 percent including more than 224,000 booster shots administered. Some of those came at a Feb. 9 vaccina- tion event at Del Rey Elementary School south of Sanger.
The past week marked an equally
SeeCOVIDonpage A18
29th birthday. A Sonoma man was arrested
death was at the hands of someone who should have helped her.
Ramos was killed just after midnight on Feb. 10 last year after she tried to as- sist an injured driver on the Highway 99 freeway near the Manning Avenue off ramp.
The California Highway Patrol ini-
last October and charged in the fatal accident.
tially reported an accident on Highway 99 just north of Manning Avenue.
The accident involved a Hyundai El- antra and a Volvo Tractor trailer pull- ing a semi-trailer. According to police reports, Julia exited the vehicle to assist
SeeJULIANAonpage A18
COVID cases continue downward trend
MVT offices will be closed Feb. 21 in observance of Presidents Day
The Mid Valley Times' business offices in Reed- ley and Sanger will be closed on Monday, Feb. 21, in observance of the Presi- dents Day holiday.
There will be early deadlines this week be- cause of the office clo- sure. Classified liner ads and legal notices are due by noon on Thursday, Feb. 17. Regular and classified display ads also are due by noon on Thursday, Feb. 17.
The Times' two offices will reopen for business at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
Teen candidate practices 'service above self'
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Andrew Santana, candidate for Dinuba Teenage Citizen of the Year, hopes to attend UCLA or UC Irvine after graduation, and is planning to major in psychology.
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Dinuba High senior An- drew Santana has used his many school and community involvements during his high school days to ponder his "why" in life — his core belief of "service above self."
"At its core, "Service Above Self" means to put others' needs above your own," he said of the phrase which is the motto of Rotary Club in- ternational. "After learning this quote from my Activi- ties/Leadership Direcotr. I de- cided to uphold these values within 'why.'"
Andrew is one of four fi- nalists for Dinuba Teenage Citizen of the Year, which
will be announced at the an- nual Chamber of Commerce "Night of Heroes" banquet on Friday, Feb. 18.
In his essay to the selec- tion board, Andrew shared his frustration at being bul- lied in his younger years up to middle school, but that the words of encouragement and determination from his moth- er helped him to persevere through tough times. It also spurred him on to keep chas-
See TEEN on page A2
This is the fourth of four finalist profiles for Dinuba Teenage Citizen of the Year.
Classifieds - A9
Directory - A6 Legals - A10, 13-17 Sports - A11-12 Lifestyle - A7-8
Lights & Sirens - A3, A5 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4