Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 11-8-18 E-edition

Immanuel volleyball loses a thriller in D-4 section final
Sports
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents Faith House shelter hosts open house Nov. 8
Children seek out candy on G Street for Halloween
Panorama
Vol. 129, No. 45 | Thursday, November 8, 2018
www.reedleyexponent.com
The Faith House emergency shelter at 1697 W. Hunts- man Ave. will be hosting a grand opening event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8.
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
One family already living in temporary shelter that some neighbors opposed
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Faith House, the emergency shelter that was approved earlier this year by the Reedley City Council in the face of neigh- borhood opposition, will open its doors to community members this week.
The house at 1697 W. Huntsman Ave. in west of the Kings River in southwest
Reedley will host an open house event on Thursday, Nov. 8. Ken Baker, pastor of Heritage Church in Reedley and director
of Hope Now Ministries that will operate the shelter, said the public is invited and expects about 100 people to attend.
Olivia Padilla will be the on-site man- ager at the shelter, which currently has one family residing. There is room for up to six families, as many as 16 or 17 people, for stays not lasting longer than 30 days to help get them on their feet.
Padilla, selected over two other ap- plicants for the on-site manager position, calls the opportunity gratifying. The Di- nuba native is a member of the Heritage Church, where Baker is her pastor.
See FAITH HOUSE on page A8
Soleno
leads in
District 4
Nishinaka narrowly leads SCCCD race
Staff Report
As of 10 p.m. Nov. 6, Ray Soleno appeared to be on his way to retain- ing his City Council District 4 seat.
Soleno, who has served 32 years on the council including six as may- or, had 816 votes (56.35 percent) compared to 626 votes (43.23 per- cent) for challenger Lee Ky. There were six write-in votes, and votes had been counted nearly 1,600 times as part of 9,688 counts.
With 53 percent of precincts re- porting, Ron Nishinaka was narrow- ly leading in his bid to win another term as trustee in Area 4 of the State Center Community College District. Nishinaka had 4,167 votes (51.64 percent) while challenger Magdalena Gomez had 3,881 votes (48.1 percent). As of 10 p.m., 47 of 89 precincts had been counted, and votes had been counted less than 20 percent.
In local Congressional races, in Fresno County incumbent Devin Nunes led in the 22nd District (which includes all of Reedley) with 29,453 votes (56.5 percent) to chal- lenger Andrew Janz (22,650 votes, 43.5 percent). Incumbent David Va- ladao had 57 percent of the vote to 43 percent for challenger TJ Cox in the 21st District (rural areas west of Reedley).
In the 31st State Assembly Dis- trict which includes Reedley, Joa- quin Arambula easily led challenger Lupe Espinoza 59 to 41 percent. But a surprise was occurring in the 14th State Senate race, where challenger Melissa Hurtado had 60 percent (8,991 votes) to 40 percent (5,944) for incumbent Andy Vidak with nearly 52 percent of precincts reporting.
The Exponent will have total un- officials results in the Nov. 15 issue. Updates also will run on The Expo- nent’s Facebook page.
GRAND OPENING EVENT
When: Thursday, Nov. 8, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., ceremony at 5:45 p.m.
Where: Faith House shelter, 1697 W. Huntsman Ave. (southeast corner of South Kings River Road and Huntsman Avenue) Featured: Open tours available, meet McGruff the Crime Dog, free bounce house, photos with fire trucks and EMT unit, free tacos provided by Ortega’s
A pivotal Election Day
Midterm draws
large number of
Reedley voters
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
The parking lot at the Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church on L Street was quite busy on the morn- ing of Nov. 6.
Cars could be seen driving in and out of the parking lot as soon as the polls opened at 7 a.m. As one person would leave, another would arrive, and all of them were there with one purpose: to vote in the 2018 midterm election.
“There is a lot more interest in the elections this season this time around, a lot of issues a lot of things that are going on,” said John Loewen.
Loewen is the 200th Precinct Inspector for the L Street polling location. “We’ve got two precincts in here,” he said. “And already this morning we’ve seen close to 130 people come through here and vote. It’s much busier than it was at the primaries.”
Nicholas Olvera III, a lifelong Reedley resident, said he’s been vot- ing in elections for many years and does so because he wants to make a difference.
“It’s important that I come out and vote, because it’s up to us to de- cide who our leaders are,” he said. “We can’t just leave it up to them, because if we don’t vote someone else will vote, and get maybe what you didn’t want in there. So you have no reason to complain if you’re not going to get out and participate.”
The midterm elections are held every second year between presi- dential elections. Voters elect posi- tions for Congress and for California governor, along with other statewide races that are held every two years as well.
This year, however, some locals said they felt the political propagan- da sent through the mail or through phone calls and texts, was excessive.
See VOTING on page A8
TOP: Voters cast their ballots mid-morning in- side the Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church on Nov. 6. Two precincts inside the church reported a steady stream of voters casting their ballots.
ABOVE: Reserved parking signs for voters were placed outside the fellowship hall of the Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church.
LEFT: Flags and voting signs were located in front of the church’s fellowship hall. Voters were able to cast their ballots at 12 precincts in Reedley on Election Day.
Photos by Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Reedley Police Department honors its finest for 2018
Officer Steven ‘Max’ Puryear is named as top sworn employee
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
A 10-year veteran of the Reedley Police Department was honored by the force as its top sworn employee for 2018 during the an- nual Reedley Police inspection and awards ceremony on Nov. 6.
Police personnel, families and communi- ty dignitaries attended the morning awards ceremony at the Reedley Community Center. They looked on as Chief Joe Garza named Officer Steven “Max” Puryear as sworn em- ployee of the year.
Garza initially called Puryear by his giv- en name, but acknowledged that the officer
is know around the department as Max.
He then listed some of Puryear’s many accomplishments since coming to Reedley
in 2009.
“Max was honored for meritorious ser-
vice in 2011,” the chief said. “He was named top narcotics officer in 2011 and 2012, He received the Top Gun award in 2013. He was a recipient of a medal of valor in 2015. And he has two letters of commendation.”
Garza also said that Puryear was honored by Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer for Pur- year’s involvement and participation in one of that department’s largest enforcement actions.
The Professional Employee of the Year went to Jenn Ross, a dispatcher who joined the department in November 2016. She immediate- ly impressed supervisors with her willingness to do what was necessary to get the job done.
In addition to training new dispatchers, Ross also has become an adviser for the Police
See AWARDS on page A2
Reedley police Lt. Marc Ediger, right, smiled at Officer Steven “Max” Puryear, the Reedley Police Department’s Sworn Employee of the Year for 2018, as Puryear listened to remarks from Chief Joe Garza during the Reedley Police Depart- ment’s annual awards ceremony on Nov. 6 at the Reedley Commu- nity Center. Looking on at left is Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba.
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
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