Mid Valley Times 5-14-2020 E-edition
P. 1
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Vol. 1, No. 46
Recoveries, reopenings, concerns
Longtime Dinuba pastor returns home after battle with COVID-19
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
Rolling into town last Thurs- day may have never felt better for Pastor Mark Wallace of Liv- ing Word Fellowship.
“This is my town,” Wallace told his wife Tammy as they entered city limits. “I’m home.”
Soon after, Wallace and his wife entered the parking lot of Living Word Fellowship where they were greeted by dozens of church members welcoming him back home.
The former mayor of Dinuba was released from Kaiser Per-
See PASTORonpageA16
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Wearing a mask, Pastor Mark Wallace of LIving Word Fellowship church in Dinuba acknowledges dozens of church members on May 7 as he's driven by his wife, Tammy, into the church parking lot. Wallace was released from Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Fresno after a month-long battle with COVID-19.
Sanger's virus numbers still a worry to City Council and staff
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
As much of California moves into Phase 2 of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to re- open the economy, Sanger’s City Council and staff are concerned with pushing for- ward as numbers out of Fres- no County show the city near the top of the list of confirmed cases.
At the time of the council’s last meeting on May 7, Sanger had the second most con- firmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the county – 68. It has since grown to 82 cases.
During a COVID-19 update in the meeting, which was held via video and teleconfer- ence, Sanger city manager Tim Chapa advised the coun- cil that the city may need to proceed with caution in the following weeks.
“We’re going to start feel- ing the pressure to do what other cities are doing,” said Chapa. “But we are not like other cities. We are the num- ber two city in the county.”
Chapa expressed that the numbers were concerning and mentioned that the city was even ahead of Clovis, which has a population five times that of Sanger.
“We need to stay diligent,” he expressed. “We need to stay the course. Now is not the time to take our foot off the throttle.”
It was also made public
See COUNCILonpageA6
Parlier giving the green light to businesses
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The city of Parlier has taken the first steps to getting back to a state of fully open for business.
Sonia Hall, city administrator, wrote a letter at the start of the month to the community's hair salons and barbershops saying they would be allowed to reopen, providing they followed rules for social (physical) distancing and continued with precautions. Currently, hair stylists and barbers aren't deemed as "essential busi- nesses" as part of California Gov. Gavin Newsom's shelter in place recommenda- tion.
The action followed a resolution in late April that businesses could remain open as long as they're able to follow the social distancing guidelines.
"Unfortunately, that left the hairdress- ers and barbers out, because they can't follow that social distancing," Hall said.
"So they came to us and we had been dis- cussing it. We said by May 1 if this hasn't let up we have to just let them open.Be- cause they're not making any money."
Both Hall and Mayor Alma Beltran said many businesses applied for the
Maria Gonzalez with the Magic Hair Cuts salon in Parlier puts the finish- ing touches on a razor cut to customer Hector Renteria on May 11. The salon opened last week as the city cleared the way for salons, barber shops and other small businesses to reopen despite the state's shelter in order advisory remaining in place.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
low-interest federal loan to cover payroll — with Hall even helping in the grant- writing loan process — but no businesses in the city had heard back.
See PARLIER on page A6
50 cents
Coronavirus Shelter in Place — Week 8
Drive Thru honors OCHS seniors
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Orange Cove High School's Class of 2020 may have faced an unprecedented loss of a traditional high school senior year with the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but they also were re- cipients of a special event on May 8 that no previous Titan graduating class had experienced.
Seniors drove through the ac- cess roads on campus, receiving gifts and congratulations from edu- cators, during a Senior Celebration Drive Thru. Organizers called it "Celebrating Your Journey Through the Titan Empire."
Castan Ortiz, English teacher at OCHS who helped organize the
event, was thrilled with the early turnout within the first hour of the three-hour event.
"I'm so excited with how many people came out. I wasn't expecting this many people to be here," she said. "It's really cool to see not only the Orange Cove HS staff, but all the elementary school staffs and Citrus [Middle School]. The com- munity is involved, and the kids are decorating their cars. It's really great to see them get involved and do something fun."
See DRIVE THRU on page A16
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Orange Cove High School staff passed out gift bags to Class of 2020 students driving through campus during a Senior Celebration Drive Thru at the high school on May 8.
Reedley High records its virtual graduations, Lifestyles on Page A7
Classifieds - A11 Directory - A12
Legals - A13-14 Sports - A9
Lifestyle - A7-8 Lights & Sirens - A3 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4