Page 1 - Dinuba Sentinel 8-9-18 E-edition
P. 1
Dinuba Sentinel Serving the communities of Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi and Monson-Sultana
Apartment opens
Self-Help apartments on Crawford Avenue will hold Grand Opening News, Page A8
Established 1909, Dinuba, California Thursday, August 9, 2018 50 Cents
Three city council seats up for election
Dinuba Mayor Scott Harness will not run for a third term
Some of the things Harness said he's most proud of during his eight years in office is getting the revitalization project going on the east side of town, with construction currently going on to extend Randle Avenue. He was also instrumental in getting sidewalks paved throughout town, most notably on two stretches of Hayes Avenue. The first section was just north of El Monte Way and the other, finished this Spring, was the block south of Washington Intermediate School.
"We added some 10,000 linear feet of sidewalk," said Harness.
Harness said if their is one thing he learned after taking office it was to
listen.
Said Harness, "My platform changed
completely after I took office." Harness said, though he always saw the position as a eight-year term, he almost went for a third. Previously, in his ward, former Mayor Ray Millard was on the council for 20 years and former Mayor Mark Wallace served for
eight years.
With Harness stepping aside, District
3 is up for grabs in the November elections. As of Tuesday, only one person had submitted his name for the seat, Armando Longoria.
The other seats that will be up for election will be Districts 2 and 4. District
2 currently has two people running for the seat, incumbent Maribel Reynosa and challenger Victorio G. Rojas.
Rojas filed to run back in the middle of July, while Reynosa filed to run for another term on Monday.
In District 4, one person had registered to run for the seat as of Tuesday. Tish Perez filed to run for the District 4 seat last month. Long-time city council member Joey Morales had not yet filed to run for another term at the time of publication. He has been on the city council for 20 years now.
To register or inquire about the available seats, visit tularecoelections. org.
School
starts
Monday
By Rick Curiel
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
After eight years of public service, the last two as the mayor of Dinuba, Scott Harness will be stepping aside at the end of this term, which ends in December.
This makes for three city council seats now open for the November elections. And because Harness, the incumbent, will not be running for another term, the deadline to file to run for his seat
has been extended from Friday, August 10, to Wednesday, August 15.
"For eight year, for two terms, I really have put the city first," said Harness. "I've always felt that that was a sufficient amount of time."
For the past eight years Harness has balanced a career as a real estate agent as well as a full time representative of the city.
"I really feel the city of Dinuba will benifit from having a fresh set of eyes," added Harness.
Smoke lls Valley air
Smith Mountain is barely visible through the smoke filled Valley air on Tuesday morning. This photo was taken from the eastern city limits of town. Experts are advising people to avoid outdoor activities as fire from the nearby Ferguson Fire has made air quality Very Unhealthy.
of Monday.
As it was on Monday, the air quality is expected to remain at a Very Unhealthy
level. Doctors and experts urge all people to minimize their outdoor activity, especially those who may suffer with asthma or lung disease.
With Monday’s Air Quality Index reaching 218, all people are susceptible to the bad air. A level between 200 and 300 is considered a health warning of emergency conditions. Even healthy people can be affected by the poor air quality.
Symptoms may include irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, nasal drainage, coughing and sneezing.
By Rick Curiel
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
How many cigarettes did you smoke this week?
According to an App called “Shoot, I Smoke,” which uses a scientific formula to equate air pollution to smoking cigarettes, the air was so bad this Monday that to step outside and breathe was roughly the equivalent of smoking eight cigarettes, at the same time.
Smoke from the nearby Ferguson Fire made its way deeper into the Valley this week. Stronger winds caused the fire outside of Yosemite National Park to grow to a total of over 94,000 acres burned with 39 percent of it contained, as
Another local business closes its doors
Called up to AAA
Former Emperor Dylan Lee one step closer to the big leagues Sports, Page B1
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
The wait is finally over for students, teachers, staff and administrators in the Dinuba Joint Unified School District. Classes for the 2018-19 school year will officially begin on Monday throughout the district.
This year there were 22 new faces to the district, filling in a variety of positions, from kindergarten teachers to special student services.
The new staff members were introduced at a new teacher orientation held Tuesday at the Dinuba Vocational Center.
In addressing his new staff, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joe Hernandez reminded them to remember why they chose to teach.
While being interviewed by Dr. Hernandez, the new teachers were asked who their favorite teacher was and why.
“You all gave me the same answer,” said Dr. Hernandez. “Their care in nurturing you was evident. The second thing was you learned something from your favorite teacher.”
Dr. Hernandez encouraged them to remember why their favorite teacher stood out and to find the balance to do the same for their future students.
New staff members from every school in the district, with the exception of the high school, were present at the new teacher orientation.
At the elementary level, Jefferson
See Teachers, Page A7
By Rick Curiel
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
After running a successful gym in the west side of Dinuba since 2007, Xcelerate Fitness abruptly closed its doors last week after failed negotiations with its landlord.
The owner of the business said the new gym on the east side of town took about half the membership away from the business, leading to their closure.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
By Rick Curiel
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
When Walmart wanted to build a Walmart-Supercenter in the city of Reedley, the community and city staff agreed it would have an adverse effect on small- town business. The proposal was struck down by the city of Reedley.
But Dinuba, at the time looking to create a new shopping center to accommodate the housing development on the west side of town, jumped on the opportunity.
Though there may have been some concern in Dinuba about the same fears, a deal was struck, and in 2006 Walmart opened on the west side of town.
Four years later, Dinuba’s Save Mart on the east side of town closed its doors. And two years ago, Kmart, Mercantile Row’s
in December we
lone remaining anchor, followed suit.
Now, Dinuba has lost another business as last week Xcelerate Fitness suddenly closed its doors after failed
negotiations with the landlords of the shopping strip on West El Monte Way.
According to
co-owner Cheri
Bertelson, the
gym had been in
negotiations with
their landlords
for over a year, attempting
to lower their
rent by as much as half due to an overwhelming decrease in membership this year. She said they began attempting negotations with them last year.
"Back
approached them and said it's really important we do something or we wouldn't make it another year," said Bertleson.
Though Bertleson said the gym in Dinuba was very successful for many years in town, she knew the community couldn't support two large gyms.
She was referring to the new gym that opened on the east side of town, occupying a portion of the old
Kmart building.
Bertleson claims that after
the new gym opened, half of her membership disappeared. She had seen it before. The same gym
opened in Selma and soon after the Xcelerate there closed as well due to lack of membership.
"They did the same thing in Selma," she said. "They do it by underselling. There model is about volume, ours is about service."
As for the abrupt closing, Bertleson said she got a lot of complaints as to why the doors were closed, but wanted to assure people that it was beyond her control.
"I would never do anything intentionally," she said. "It was just something that happened."
Bertleson said she is making it easy for people who would like to cancel, though she hopes members visit the site in Reedley. She said it offers more amenities and, unlike the Dinuba location, the property is owned and not leased.
"They did the same thing in Selma. They do it by underselling. There model is about volumn, ours is about service."
-Cheri Bertleson Co-owner of Xcelerate
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