Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 11-29-18 E-edition

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Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents Cox pulls ahead in 21st Congressional race
New quiltwork on display at Mennonite Quilt Museum
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Vol. 129, No. 48 | Thursday, November 29, 2018
www.reedleyexponent.com
Gomez’s lead increases in SCCCD trustee race
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Ray Soleno and Magdalena Gomez continue their march into office in two notable Reedley election races, but a congressional battle in- volving some Reedley-area voters has taken a dramatic turn in the latest count of provisional
and mail-in ballots.
Democratic challenger T.J. Cox has moved
in front of Republican incumbent David Valad- ao in the race for the 21st Congressional Dis- trict seat. The lead change occurred Nov. 26, powered by the latest count of votes from Kern County. The districts has votes in portions of four counties – Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare. Residents in rural areas just west of Reedley and in neighboring towns Parlier, Selma and Kingsburg are in the 21st District.
New totals through Nov. 27 show Cox with
55,672 votes (50.2 percent) to 55,236 (49.8 per- cent for Valadao. Vote totals continue to be up- dated in all for counties, and analysts expect the margin to remain with 500 votes.
The other Congressional race with the ma- jority of Reedley residents is the 22nd District, where Republican incumbent Devin Nunes continues to lead with 110,306 votes (53.4 per- cent). Democratic challenger Andrew Janz has 96,134 votes (46.6 percent). Totals are through Nov. 27.
Soleno still leads challenger Lee Ky by sev-
en percentage points in the race for Reedley City Council District 4. The veteran incumbent has 2,382 votes (53.25 percent) to Ky’s 2,067 (46.21 percent).
Gomez, meanwhile, is solidifying her victo- ry over incumbent Ron Nishinaka for the State Center Community College District’s trustee seat for Area 4. The Selma resident has 14,609 votes, and has built her lead to more than seven percentage points (53.58 to 46.07).
Vote totals must be certified by Friday, Dec. 7.
A downtown holiday glow
Tree Lighting ceremony draws large crowd
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Laura Lopez, a longtime Reed- ley resident, said the tree lighting ceremony on the evening of Nov. 24 was everything she was hoping for and more.
“It’s beautiful, I feel like I’m in a Hallmark movie,” said Lopez. “I’ve lived in Reedley since 1974, and ac- tually this is my first time coming to the tree lighting ceremony.”
Lopez also added that the size of the tree didn’t make much of a dif- ference to her or her family.
“I mean yes, the tree is a little skinnier than other years,” she said. “Because usually they are a little bit fuller and taller too, but no matter that it is thin, it’s pretty, and once it’s turned on it’s going to look really pretty. Anything that’s decorated with lights like that is going to be really pretty.”
Erik Valencia, the executive director for the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce, said the smaller tree that is displayed down- town was a last-minute selection af- ter the original tree was not cut due to some power lines.
The smaller tree didn’t discour- age residents from attending the ceremony. Valencia said the crowd in attendance this year was larger than previous years.
“I’d guess somewhere between 300 and 500 people showed up to- day,” he said. “However, I am certain it was a bigger crowd than last year.”
Marlow Ens, another Reedley resident who was also at the tree lighting, said he and his family also make it a point to attend the ceremo- ny every year.
“This is a small town tradition,” said Ens. “And I’m glad we can come together and sing Christmas carols, listen to music and celebrate the holiday. I’ve attended the tree light- ing the last few years and we enjoy it very much.”
Valencia said that the tree light- ing ceremony began with a Christ- mas message at Pioneer Park pre- sented by the lead pastor at the Reedley Redeemer’s Church. “Pastor Nick Jones addressed the crowd,”
See LIGHTING on page A2
TOP: One of the many families attending the tree lighting held candles during the event.
Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
ABOVE: Santa hats were popular headgear for children at-
cooler weather.
tending the tree lighting.
BELOW: Families posed for photos while dressing for the
Juanita Adame / The Exponent Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Reedley police stand together outside a vehicle near a house in the 900 block of Friesen Avenue where a report of a gun at the residence during a family domestic disturbance led police to deploy special units to the scene.
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Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
Members of the St. La Salle Catholic School Choir held candles as they stood in front of the Christmas Tree in downtown Reedley after it was lit during a ceremony at the intersection of G and 11th Streets on Nov. 24. More than 300 people attended the annual event, which began with a brief message and march along G Street from Pioneer Park to the tree. The event included songs and a short speech by Mayor Anita Betancourt.
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
A domestic disturbance in a west Reedley neighborhood led to a large police presence on the af- ternoon of Nov. 27.
The call came in sometime after 2:45 p.m. in the 900 block of Friesen Avenue.
“We got a call about a family fight going on,” said Marc Ediger, Reedley police lieutenant. “We were initially told that one of the males or one of the sons in the home had struck the mom and he
also had a gun.”
Ediger said that because reports
of a possible weapon were involved, and because no one answered the door when officers first arrived on scene, they were forced to take ex- tra precaution and deployed sever- al of their special units — including their K9 unit, drone unit and their Rapid Deployment Team.
“We got down here, started to make contact with the house and nobody wanted to answer the door for quite awhile,” Ediger said. “We were finally able to get people to come out of the house including
some juveniles that also came out, some females and the grandmother who also lives at the house.”
After further interviews, Edi- ger said they could not determine that any crime had occurred or that anyone had been assaulted as ini- tially reported.
“No arrests have been made at this point,” he said. “There are no pending charges, unless further in- formation surfaces.”
Anyone who may have infor- mation about the incident at the residence is asked to call Reedley Police at 637-4250.
Report of gun at family fight leads to armed police response