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Dinuba Sentinel Serving the communities of Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi and Monson-Sultana
Mr. Emperor
Dinuba High School will host the Mr. Emperor contest on Saturday
Community, Page A7
Thursday, February 8, 2018
50 Cents
Established 1909, Dinuba, California
Mock Trial team reaches semis
When asked how they were able to do so well, compared to other years, Lopez said, “I have a really good group of kids that know how to work well together.”
Another factor for Dinuba’s 20-member Mock Trial team doing so well has been the help of volunteer coaches Susana Losoya and Maria Montes. Lopez said that the two Dinuba High graduates and former Mock Trial members have been a huge asset to the teams success. Both students have been attending community college, but will be moving on to a four-year university this fall. Montes will attend Fresno State and be on their Mock Trial team.
The final round will be on Feb. 20 at the Tulare County Office of Education Redwood Conference Center [6200
See Mock Trial, Page A6
By Keven J. Geaney
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
Dinuba High School’s Mock Trial team this year might possibly be the first ever semifinalist in the annual Tulare County Mock Trial competition. The win over Orosi High School last Thursday propelled the team into the semis with a 3-1 record.
“I think we are the first team ever to reach the semis,” coach Alexandra Lopez said. “If not, we are the first team in so many years. But I have never heard of a team from Dinuba making it this far.”
Dinuba’s 3-1 record put them in fourth place to advance to the semifinals. The Emperors now have to face the No. 1 team of Redwood on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. in the Tulare County Superior Court building [third floor] in Visalia.
Keven J. Geaney | The Sentinel
Board approves groundwater fee
plan."
Following the public hearing,
the KREGSA Board voted 5-0 to approve the fee. Two board members were absent for the meeting - Steve Worthley of Tulare County and Ernest Buddy Mendez of Fresno County. The KREGSA meetings are typically held on the third Thursday of each month at 2 p.m. in the Dinuba city council chambers.
The Prop 26 fees will be issued for three years, starting in March 2018, then in Jan. 2019 and Jan. 2020. The GSA will use those fees to have a groundwater sustainability implementation plan ready by Jan. 31, 2020.
Said Layne, “On the invoices, what we’re going to do is list the fees for all three years. We may have some users where the fee is so small ... that they say, ‘Well I’m just going to pay (it) all now and then you don’t have to bill me again in 2019 and 2020. The fee is not going to change and it’s only for a finite period - only for those three years.”
Alta Irrigation District General Manager Chad Wegley explained at the Jan. 18 KREGSA meeting, “Everybody pays a $1.45 per acre foot fee. If you’re a landowner and you have 40 acres in an unincorporated area, you will be paying $1.45 per acre foot for the water you pump. That’s it ... If you’re in a district, you’ll have district assessments plus you’ll get a separate bill from the GSA for groundwater
See Fee, Page A2
Orosi High School students Peter Mendez, left, and Julio Castrorena compete in the Super Quiz event during the Tulare County Academic Decathlon on Saturday in Visalia. Mendez took home nine medals to lead the Cardinals to the small schools championship. Castrorena took home seven medals. The Cardinals' Mock Trial team took home 49 medals.
Right photo: Dinuba High School student Andrew Mariano won eight medals, including six golds, to lead the Emperors' Mock Trial team to theirmostmedalseverwith38. More pictures are on page 8.
By Jackson Moore
News@thedinubasentinel.com
The Kings River East Groundwater Sustainability Agency’s groundwater pumping fee was approved following a Proposition 26 Public Hearing on Feb. 1.
The fee will cost groundwater users within the water basin $1.45 per acre foot. The fees will be used to fund the local GSA, which is tasked with studying local groundwater and creating a plan to sustain it.
Only one member of the public spoke during the Public Hearing, asking for clarification on how he would be effected. The local resident was told that he may qualify as a de minimis user - those who use less than two acre feet per water per year are exempt from the fee. There were no written contests to the fee either.
Lauren Layne, contracted KREGSA attorney of Baker, Manock & Jensen, gave a presentation on the proposed fee and concluded, “The $1.45 is very low compared to other options. If the state comes in, first they will charge you for every well on your property, they’re going to require you put a meter on every well on your property, then they are going to charge you $10 to $85 per acre foot for your water use in the sub basin. We’re staying well below that.
“Using Prop 26 is a regulatory fee on landowners proportional to the cost of service - proportional to how much its costing the GSA to put together the
Orosi wins fourth straight Academic Decathlon
Dinuba High wins most ever medals at Academic Decathlon
QK Inc. Senior Planner Mike Ratajski, second from right, talks to community members at the Dinuba Senior Center last Thursday.
Jackson Moore | The Sentinel
The new vision for East Dinuba includes brand new retail centers, homes for as many as 1,700 new residents, new parks and more.
Mike Ratajski, senior planner for QK Inc., unveiled the tentative site plan for the east corridor to a crowd of more than 30 people at the Dinuba Senior Center on Feb. 1. The site plan laid out how the city will attempt to revitalize the Mercantile Row shopping center and develop nearby plots of land.
The city is currently preparing for its Randle Avenue Extension Project to connect the road from Sierra Way to El Monte Way, but the site plan also sees the potential for expansion north of El Monte Way as well - most notably a brand new shopping center just north of the current Mercantile Row.
“Once you have more rooftops, there’s a possibility to
By Keven J. Geaney
the win, because of all the new faces, Albers stated that he felt his team had a 50/50 chance of winning it.
“The students practiced hard for this and we had more students than some other teams,” Albers said.
Peter Mendez led Orosi with nine medals in the varsity division, three of which were gold. He had gold medals in math, social science and music. The other eight medals consisted of four bronze and two silver. He placed in nine of the 10 events at the decathlon.
Orosi also won seven more gold medals and 49 medals all together. The other top gold medalists were Noah LaFleur and Desiree Alvarado in the scholastic division with three gold medals each. Noah won gold in social science, art and music and Desiree won
gold in essay, social science and art. Just behind Noah and Desiree with two gold medals in the varsity division were Alejandro Robles and Julio Castrorena. Alejandro won gold in essay and science and also won two silver and three bronze medals. Julio won gold in interview and speech and also won two
silver and three bronze medals. Cardinals Adam Lopez [scholastic division] Joshua Talingo [honors division] and Manolo Cirilo [honors division] each won one gold medal. Adam won his gold medal in literature and also won two silvers and three bronze medals. Joshua won his gold medal in art and also won two silver and bronze medal. Manolo won a gold
See Decathlon, Page A8
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
Despite having only one returner from last year’s squad, Orosi High School’s Academic Decathlon team was still able to win the small schools championship for the fourth year in a row at the Tulare County competition on Jan. 27 and Feb. 3.
“It’s great,” Orosi High’s Academic Decathlon coach Daniel Albers said about winning the event for the fourth straight year. “I hope sometime we not only win the small school division, but also the county competition.”
Granite Hills High School in Porterville won the large school division and the overall competition.
When asked if he was surprised with
Going unbeaten in league Orosi High's varsity girls soccer team captures the league title Sports, Page B1
Retail centers, homes, parks are part of vision for East Dinuba
attract more retailers,” Ratajski told the audience. “We’re looking at connecting the shopping center to the south to a new shopping center to the north. People will be able to walk back and forth.
“We’re looking at more of a main street environment or village environment where you have the shops face the street, you can park on the street and you have large sidewalks and shade trees. Hopefully this would recruit an outdoor cafe, or coffee shop.”
The site plan introduces an additional new retail center and offices west of The Island.
The plan also calls for an extension of Bolinger Way to Road 92. That would open the door for nearly 200 new single- family homes on about 6,000 square feet lots connected north of Bolinger Way - a short walk from the new retail to the south. The plan includes a park, and a nearby 50-unit apartment complex in the immediate area.
See Vision, Page A9
By Jackson Moore
News@thedinubasentinel.com
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