Page 16 - Mid Valley Times 2-18-21 E-edition

SHEPPARD Continued from page A1
four grand jury inves- tigations later I be- lieve things are prob- ably about as normal as they're going to be for awhile in Sanger," he wrote in his column.
Sheppard's weekly "Random Thoughts" column was the high- light of the week for faithful Herald readers and Sanger residents over the years. He en- tertained with his sto- ries and recollections of his childhood, his days in radio and tele- vision and, of course, his time in Sanger. He never shied away from tightening the screws of oversight on city heads of government, and the paper won numerous investigative awards while also helping prompt the four grand jury investigations.
Sheppard was born June 24, 1936 in Ma- comb, Okla. and moved to the Central Valley with his family in the late 1930s. He worked the fields as a young child while the family lived at the Linnel Farm Labor Camp near Farm- ersville, and later lived in Dinuba where he at- tended Dinuba High School.
Sheppard got his start in radio for KR- DU in Dinuba as an an- nouncer, working his way up to news and sports director. That set the stage for two de- cades with McClatchy Broadcasting. Among his job titles were radio and TV sports direc- tor, program manager and general manager at KMJ Radio and Televi- sion in Fresno.
Sheppard's climb in radio continued as a television station man- ager and Stockton and radio station vice presi- dent/general manager. After two managing stints in the Bay Area, his peak in broadcasting came when he served as chief operating officer of Crown Broadcasting, a national group of radio stations.
But the Valley lured Sheppard, first as gen- eral sales manager of KJOY FM and KRDU AM before he got what
positive cases, respectively, through its last listed update on Dec. 29. The county announced on its website that it will not list recoveries at this time to reallocate staff for new cases.
became his "all-time fa- vorite position" with The Herald.
Sheppard's involve- ment with Sanger was prolific. He was active- ly involved in veteran groups (Sanger Post 7168 Veterans of Foreign Wars and Sanger Post 98 AMVETS) and was a proud veteran himself, having served in the United States Army Se- curity Agency (military intelligence) and the U.S.Navy Reserve in Di- nuba. Before his health issues, he remained ac- tively involved with the Sanger Veterans Parade Committee.
Sheppard also was heavily involved with the Rotary Club, first as charter member of the Rotary Club of Fresno Airport and then the Rotary Club of Sanger where he served as president and other positions. Other past involvement includes the Downtown Kiwanis Club of Fresno (charter member and later dis- trict president).
Sheppard's commu- nity service won him many awards, includ- ing the American Le- gion Medal for Charac- ter, the Gold Seal Award for community service from the Sanger Cham- ber of Commerce, the Samnger Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame and the California Leg- islature Resolution for playing a part in im-
proving the quality of the Sanger community.
Mr. Sheppard is sur- vived by Nadine, his wife of 36 years; chil- dren Mark Sheppard, Cassandra Gordon (and her husband Jack), Christopher Sheppard (and his wife Petra) and stepson Michael Klas- sen (and his wife Jessi- ca); nine grandchildren and nine great-grand- children.
The Sheppard family said a military service is pending for a future date.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
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A16 | Mid Valley TiMes
COVID-19 update
As of the most recent update on Tuesday, Feb. 16, there had been 93,231 confirmed cases (no active update) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) out of 748,900 tests in Fresno County, with 1,291 deaths and 328 hospitalizations.
Dick Sheppard's Facebook page
Dick Sheppard was active in numerous service groups and organizations during his 15 years as editor/reporter for the Sanger Herald. The paper won multiple investi- gative journalism awards and covered four grand jury investigations of the city.
VIRUS
Continued from page A1
It also turns out that vaccination sites for the Valley are coming close to home – Reedley Col- lege in particular. On Feb. 10, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the addition of various sites around the state, including a partnership at the college with Op- tumServe.
“Reedley College will become a mass CO- VID-19 vaccination site when the appropriate amount of vaccines be- comes available for us to do so,” said Jerry Buck- ley, RC president, in a Feb. 10 news release. “We will work with the Fresno County Depart- ment of Public Health
to communicate with our community as up- dates become available."
Buckley said that the college continues to serve as a COVID-19 testing site. When infor- mation becomes avail- able this week or in the near future, the college will share it to the public.
The latest numbers are showing that the vaccinations are hav- ing a positive effect on curbing the virus, in spite of any new strains that are showing. Total positive cases of the virus increased by just more than 800 in Fresno County, but hospitaliza- tions (328 as of Feb. 16) and the positivity rate (down to 7.9 percent on
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Feb. 16) both were sol- idly down for the week. The numbers are even more encouraging in Tulare County, which has been hard-hit since the pandemic took root in March 2020. Active cases plunged by more than 600 for the week, to 1,456, and the recov- ery rate has climbed back to 95.4 percent after dipping into the low 80s during the fall- out from the Christmas/
New Year's holidays. Early this week, Di- nuba hit the 4,000 mile- stone for total positive cases. But only 124 of those cases have been active the past three weeks. That's a drop of
68 this week.
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Among Mid Valley Times cities in the county through Feb. 12 (the Fresno County dashboard page is under construction until early 2021), Sanger continues to have the most total overall positive cases with 4,169. Through the Feb. 12 unofficial printed update, Reedley is at 3,259 cases; Parlier was listed with 2,377 cases and Orange Cove had 1,455 cases. Del Rey was at 294 cases while Fowler had 932 cases through Feb. 12. Squaw Valley and Dunlap had 46 and six total
In Tulare County, there were 46,934 total confirmed cases (1,456 active, down 603 for the week) of COVID-19 with 697 deaths and 95 hospitalized as of Tuesday, Feb. 16. Breakdowns by cities/ regions through Feb. 16 show an even 4,000 cases (just 124 in the past three weeks) in Dinuba, 1,386 in Orosi, 733 in Cutler, 235 in Traver, 57 in the rural area south of Reedley and 21 in the rural area southeast of Orange Cove.
A total of 44,781 people (95.4 percent) in Tulare County were listed as recovered as of Feb. 16.
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