Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 4-25-19 E-edition

Zech Orchestra conductor Fritz hanging up his baton
Panorama
Local prep baseball teams wrap up holiday tournament play
Sports
Shelter has hosted 6 families
in initial months of operation
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
The Reedley City Council received an ini- tial six-month support on the operations of the Faith House emergency shelter in southwest Reedley during the April 9 regular council meeting.
Arrest
made in
April 14
carjack
Staff Report
Reedley police on April 18 ar- rested a 26-year-old Reedley man in connection to an April 14 car- jacking of a local pizza delivery driver that resulted in a serious head injury to the driver.
A news release from the Reedley Police Department said Pedro Gonzalez was taken into custody after
Ken Baker, pastor of the Reedley Heritage Church and director of operations for the shel- ter, delivered the report to the council during a half-hour workshop sessions.
The two-story home at 1697 W. Huntsman Ave. is designed to house up to six families at a time for a generally set time of 30 days, although that number can be extended by ex- ception.
“My dream or vision for this was to be a family home, and it really has turned into that,” Baker said. “I’m not saying that it’s perfect. It
always has its bumps, but all the families re- ally work well together. They share with one another.”
Baker described the $36,000-plus operat- ing expenses for the shelter from May through December 2018. He showed what he called a “snapshot” of the total expense with the big- gest costs being almost $8,300 in liability insur- ance and nearly $7,400 in payroll.
More than $6,300 in facilities and equip- ment won’t be repeated in future reports, Baker said, as an initial purchase of matching
bunk beds for each living quarter was made with those funds. The beds were purchased lo- cally from Ideal Furniture, and also includes a bed for onsite live-in manager Olivia Padilla.
Baker said Padilla is complemented by as- sistant live-in manager Rosa Juarez.
“By adding her, we now have 24-7 coverage [of staff staying with tenants],” he said.
Baker said the shelter is closed weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon to allow staff to take care
See FAITH HOUSE on page A3
www.reedleyexponent.com
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents Council gets semi-annual Faith House update
Vol. 130, No. 16 | Thursday, April 25, 2019
Back to school rally, honors
Washington Elementary School in Reedley had an extra special first day back from the spring vacation break, holding a 2019 testing rally to celebrate scores in the California Smarter Balanced Assessment. Earning special honors was fourth-grader Will Bacon, who had the rare achievement of posting maximum scores of 2663 in English Language Arts (ELA) and 2659 in mathematics. As a reward for his testing prowess, Will received a t-shirt from the college of his choice — the University of Kansas Jayhawks. All Kings Can- yon Unified School District schools and Immanuel Schools returned to class on April 23.
TOP: Cathleen Warmerdam’s fourth grade class screams a cheer at the urging of Barbara Jimenez, Washington School learning director.
ABOVE: Will Bacon posed for a photo in his Kansas Jayhawks shirt along with Mary Stanley, Washington School principal.
RIGHT: Will Bacon received the red carpet treatment as he walked up to collect his t-shirt
reward.
Photos by Jon Earnest / The Exponent
an exhaustive
investigation
identified him
as a person of
interest in the
carjacking,
which occurred
shortly before
3 p.m. April
14 in the 1000
block of East
Manning Avenue. Gonzalez was arrested on an unrelated war- rant, interviewed and ultimately booked into the Fresno County Jail on charges of carjacking, as- sault on a person causing great bodily injury, petty theft and an additional charge of vehicle theft.
The victim attempted to stop the suspect determined to be Gonzalez as he was taking the vehicle from the parking lot of the Me-N-Ed’s Pizzeria on East Manning. The incident apparent- ly began when the victim started the vehicle, then ran inside to get something before returning to find the suspect in the car be- hind the wheel.
According to police, the vic- tim clinged to the vehicle from an open window in the passenger side as Gonzalez drove at a high rate of speed east on Manning, passing other vehicles and con- tinuing past South Zumwalt Av- enue. According to Dana Boss, crime analyst with RPD, the victim was carried more than a mile before letting go.
At that point, the victim was flung from the vehicle due to er- ratic and reckless driving from
See CARJACK ARREST on page A3
Pedro Gonzalez
Kori Tincup: a local ‘Hero of Hope’
Reedley woman continues battle against cancer By Sharon Agrifoglio
For The Exponent
The American Cancer Society has volunteers who are called “He- roes of Hope.” These individuals are cancer survivors who are willing to share their stories with our commu- nities.
Reedley has one such Hero of Hope, Kori Tincup. I first met Kori in 2006 as part of the Reedley Re- lay for Life event. Over the years we have become close friends and I have had the privilege of travel- ing with her to various events in the Central Valley where she has shared her story with others.
Kori was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 She found a lump in her right breast and went to the doctor to be checked. The doctor told her she did not have breast can- cer because the lump was not black, she was only 39 years old and had no
family history. She was persistent, the lump was tender and finally the doctor agreed to a lumpectomy, the results came back, it was cancer- ous. The initial surgeon did not get clean margins around the tumor, so she had to undergo a radical mas- tectomy followed by chemotherapy
Kori Tincup was
one of the speakers before the luminaria ceremony at the 2018 Reedley Relay for Life. The Reedley resident has battled cancer since first be- ing diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. She has appeared at various Relay-related events around the Central Valley, where she has shared her story for years.
Exponent File Photo
and radiation.
Kori’s second diagnosis came in
treatment needed. Things went along well until 2009 when doctors discov- ered a tumor on her kidney resulting in removal of the kidney, again with no further treatment needed.
2006 when they found cancer in her
left breast. This resulted in a mas-
tectomy followed by chemotherapy.
In 2007 they found cancer cells in
her ovaries resulting in another sur-
gery to remove them with no further See TINCUP on page A6
ANNUAL REEDLEY RELAY FOR LIFE
When: Saturday, April 27, 9 a.m. to Sunday, April 28, 9 a.m. Where: Reedley High School practice field, located southwest of varsity baseball diamond
What’s happening: Teams of volunteers are walking and running laps for 24 hours to raise money in the fight against cancer. A variety of teams are raising money selling crafts and food.
Special attractions: An opening ceremony at 9 a.m. featuring a special Survivor’s Lap, and a luminaria ceremony and lap of remembrance at dusk. Admission: Free to the public,
but all donations are welcomed by Relay volunteers.
Next Town Hall meeting April 30 Staff Report
The next Reedley Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, at the Reedley Community Cen- ter’s Senior Room.
The topic “City Hall 101” gives the public an opportunity to learn about city organization, get questions answered and learn how to connect regularly with the city and city services.
It’s the lone Tuesday meeting of the six scheduled Town Halls. The public is invited to attend. For more information, call City Hall at 637-4200, ext. 212.
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