Page 1 - Mid Valley Times 3-17-22 E-Edition

Thursday, March 17, 2022
Vol. 3, No. 37
Fred Hall
Festival returns, car show draws record number of entrants
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Sanger residents, local and out-of-area visitors came out in full force to support the return of the annual Sanger Blossom Trail Festival.
As of late morning, hun- dreds were walking the down- town area along 7th, N and O streets enjoying a live event for the first time since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic hit just before the 2020 event, and still-high infection rates prevented a return in 2021.
But now, case numbers have greatly waned from a winter surge, and the return to late summer-early fall lev- els meant many people were ready to again enjoy a Sanger
See FESTIVAL on page A18
A long line of people made their way along 7th Street in front of Brehler Square in downtown Sanger during the late morning hours of the annual Sanger Blossom Trail Festival on March 12. After an ab- sence of two years because of COVID-19, the Festival returned as a live event and drew large numbers of attendees. Visitors enjoyed food, crafts, games; the 15th annual car show, which drew a record of 200 vehicles, and a Lego Masters contest hosted by Sanger Bible Church.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
50 cents
Fred Hall
Memorial
service
on Friday
MVT Staff Report
The public is invited to a memorial service to honor Mid Valley Times Publisher Fred Hall, who died at his Selma home
on Feb. 26. The me- morial ser- vice will take place at 1 p.m. Friday, March 18, in the Reedley Community
Center's California Room. Mid Valley Times' offices in Reedley and Sanger will close at noon on Friday to al- low employees to attend the
services.
The offices will reopen at
their regular 8 a.m. time on Monday, March 21.
Blossom fever blooms in Sanger
Coronavirus Update
Numbers drop to pre-winter levels
Dinuba council holds hearing about recycling
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Active cases of COVID-19 now have dropped to levels not seen since last fall, ac- cording to the latest data released in both Fresno and Tulare counties.
The latest figures through Tuesday, March 15, showed that active seven-day case aver- ages are below 1,000 in both counties. Fres- no County's numbers declined from 1,147 on March 8 to 763 as of March 15. The new daily case rate also is dropping; from 18.6 per 100,000 cases to 11.5. It's showing in the declin- ing hospitalizations, 172 to 140.
Tulare County's new daily case rate per
100,000 actually dipped below 10 percent; to 9.3 as of March 14. Active cases fell by more than 500 to 852, and hospitalizations slowly de- clined by three, to 37.
This week marks the first full week that school age children aren't having to deal with a mask mandate from the state of California. That expired as of the end of the class day on March 11, and wearing masks indoors now is "strongly recommended" for all people, includ- ing those unvaccinated. All states now have lifted mask mandates except for Hawaii, and that state will be letting the mandate expire a week from Friday as the end of the day on
See VIRUS on page A9
MVT Staff Report
The Dinuba City Coun- cil held a public hearing on March 9 to amend portions of its municipal code per- taining to the regulation of state-mandated recycling programs.
The amendments are needed in order for Cali- fornia cities to come into compliance with Senate Bill 1383. Some of the provisions of the bill require the city to provide organic waste recy- cling services to all Dinuba
residents and businesses; adopt an enforcement ordi- nance; and implement an ed- ible food recovery program that recovers edibles from the waste stream.
Consent items approved by the council on March 8 in- cluded a second reading and adoption of Dinuba Unified annexation; approving a pyro- technics contract for the 2022 Dinuba Independence Day Celebration; and recognition of Dinuba High's boys basket- ball team for its Central Se- quoia championship season.
Reedley High, KCUSD celebrate new athletic facilities
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Reedley High school students worked out by doing squats with free weights. The weight and wrestling room modernizations were part of the $3.1 million field house construction funds.
MVT Staff Report
Reedley High School staff and athletes along with Kings Canyon Unified School District leaders proudly touted new ath- letic facilities at the school — part of a $10 million renovation project — during a campus media tour on March 10.
School and district officials showed off upgrades that includes a new varsity baseball stadium ($2.7 million), a new field house/women's wrestling room ($3.1 mil- lion), weight and wrestling room modern- ization (included in field house improve- ments), new softball complex ($2.5 million) and new soccer complex ($1.5 million).
The baseball and softball improve- ments are at the existing varsity fields for both programs, and the new soccer com- plex on the north end of campus already has hosted a NorCal state playoff game.
A story and accompanying photo is in LIfestyle on Page A7. More photos will be published in the March 24 issue of The Times.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Education leaders along with media and Reedley High staff and athletes checked out the newly renovated $2.7 million varsity baseball stadium during the first stop on a tour on March 10. The near-$10 million project includes a new field house, soccer complex, softball complex and weight room modernization. Coaches and athletes from the three sports participated in the tour.
Classifieds - A10 Directory - A6 Legals - A12-16 Sports - A11, A17 Lifestyle - A7-8 Lights & Sirens - A3, A5 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4