Page 9 - Reedley Exponent 3-21-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent PB anorama
The latest news and events in the senior community
See B2
Section | Thursday, March 21, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com
Local girl's hard work is paying off
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
The View From Here
As soon as I pulled up to the home of Julie Torres and her family, I was greeted by a slew of chickens.
They came
in all shapes,
colors and
sizes and they
[the chickens]
were cautiously looking at me. Wondering who I was and what I was doing there.
I was at their home, the Tor- res family home, just outside the city limits in Reedley, to do a story about backyard chickens.
Backyard chickens are chick- ens raised by those who live in the city or just outside the city. People who have decided to raise chick- ens for eggs.
It's has quickly become a growing trend among people who want to know where their food comes from. Also from people who want organic food minus the high prices.
I spoke to Julie and she told me they have about 15 chickens roaming around their property and just got a new shipment of about a dozen chicks as well.
Julie told me the chickens lay plenty of eggs for them and some- times they have so many eggs left over that they give some of those eggs away.
While I was talking to Julie, I alsomether12-year-old daughter, Meredith.
Meredith is the oldest of Julie’s girls and told me she is in charge of cleaning the chicken coop and collecting the eggs.
Meredith showed me around the coop and demonstrated how she cleaned the coop. It is not an easy task by any means.
She also told me her favorite chicken is her sapphire chick- en because, like Meredith said, "she’s really funky, and she's super sweet."
Julietoldmethather husband Daniel built the coop. She said he built the entire thing on his own. Very impressive!
Thank you Julie and Meredith for letting me come out and inter- view you both! It was a great day meeting all the chickens and new chicks on the property.
Later that day, I was scheduled to ride along with Reedley Police. I was working on a story about
St. Patrick's Day. We received a no- tice from the California Highway Patrol with some drunk driving statistics for last year.
According to the CHP stats, on March 17, 2018 one person was killed and 48 were injured in colli- sions caused by those driving un- der the influence. Statewide, 131 people were involved in DUI col- lisions on St. Patrick's Day in 2018.
Working on a St. Patrick’s Day story. I figured what better time to tag along and see how Reedley handles St. Patrick’s Day.
I rode with Sgt. Guillermo Garza and he told me he’s been with the department since 2013.
Garza said St. Patrick’s Day can be pretty busy around Reed- ley. We started the night by driv- ing past some local bars just so he could get an idea of how busy they were.
One of the bars had its park- ing lot filled to the brim with cars as well as cars spilling out into the street.
Garzalookedoveratme, "This is an indication of how busy our night will be."
He said the influx of people at bars meant an influx of impaired people. That could lead to impaired drivers, fights, and many other in- cidents. Full story in A section.
Again, thank you Reedley Po- lice for allowing me to obtain a first hand look at what goes on in the city after dark.
Some people mentioned we need to cover more positive sto- ries. Which we do, there are plenty of great people who do amazing things in this community.
However we also need to high- light the problems that still exist, the problems that we as a society have the power to change, and make better.
Juanita Adame
ABOVE: Meredith Torres, 12, lives in Reedley and said she loves to take care of her family's chickens.
Photos by Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: The flock of chickens on the Torres property produce anywhere from 10 to 15 eggs daily.
ABOVE: An Isa Brown is one of the chickens roaming the property.
ABOVE: Meredith said her favorite chicken is the Sapphire.
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Meredith Torres, a 12-year- old student at Immanuel Schools in Reedley, reached into her fam- ily's chick brooder and pulled out a small yellow chick.
"We have more than 10 chick- ens here," Meredith said as she gently stroked the top of the ba- by chicks head. "And with these chick's we'll probably have 28 when they're grown up probably. Watching the chickens grow up is cool. Once we get them they're so little then after two weeks they're huge, and it's the same with our ducks."
Meredith lives with her sisters and her parents, Julie and Daniel Torres, just outside the Reedley city limits. The family is part of
See CHICKENS page B8
Photos by Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: Meredith Torres and her Sapphire chicken on the morning of March 16.
Maintenance Department reaches new milestone
Photo by Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: Joseph Gonzalez, the director of maintenance for the Kings Canyon Unified School District and his team stood before the KCUSD school board on the evening of March 12 to update them about their new milestone of reaching two years with no job related accidents. Full story in next weeks Panorama.
ABOVE: A photo from Sept. 2018, the maintenance department had reached 562 days of accident free days. Since Feb, 2019 the department has been accident free for two years.
File Photo / The Exponent
St. La Salle School goes to PAL track meet
Roocio Ruiz
Maria Palafox
Cody Marisacal
Aaliyah Gonzalez