Dinuba Sentinel 1-4-18 E-edition
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Dinuba Sentinel Serving the communities of Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi and Monson-Sultana
State conference
Dinuba High School's HOSA students attend leadership conference
Established 1909, Dinuba, California
Community, Page A7
Thursday, January 4, 2018
50 Cents
Local merchant
donates $10,000
for scholarships
Vaca would notice. Vaca stated that like many other students who arrive from the Middle East, Mohammed was put into ESL (English as a Second Language) classes with other immigrants from Mexico.
“That became his circle of friends,” said Vaca. “Before you knew it he was talking both English and Spanish. He would come into my office and I would quiz him on Spanish and he would teach me a few words in his native language. . . He adapted very nicely.”
Said Mohammed of Vaca, “He helpedmealot.IwasnewandIwas struggling and he really helped me.”
Years passed and both Vaca and Mohammed moved on. Vaca went on to Hanford West and then, three years ago, to Orosi where he would take over as the high school principal.
Mohammed went on to carry on
See Merchant, Page A7
The year 2017 in photos
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Ten Orosi High School students will be receiving $1,000 scholarships this year thanks to a generous donation by a local merchant. And along with the merchant, Orosi High students may also want to thank their principal as well.
When Yakoob “Jack” Mohammed arrived from Yemen just over a decade ago he knew very little English and found himself in a new world. He was enrolled as a sophomore at Sanger High School and his counselor was Roberto Vaca, current principal at Orosi High School.
Here's just a sampling of the 2017 news in pictures:
Above: Alyssa Leal, right, was crowned 2017 Miss Dinuba by the outgoing Miss Dinuba Makayla Chavez in September.
The Sentinel
Right photos: A landmark in downtown Dinuba, the Maya Theater, burned down in May. The building was deemed unsafe and had to be torn down in July.
Contributed and The Sentinel
Below: The newly crowned Cinco de Mayo Queen Aniceta Perez-Huerta, right, and Princess Natalie Gonzalez wave to the audience at Dinuba High School's Hellbaum Auditorium in April.
The Sentinel
“We hit it off right beginning,” said Vaca.
from the
Mohammed and Vaca would spend the next three years getting to know each other and as Mohammed grew more accustomed to his new world
New businesses,
housing units
come to Dinuba
company contracted with the city as part of the grant, is actively presenting Dinuba to retailers across the country. The priority is to direct business to the east side, but businesses may also consider other locations after hearing theirpitch.
Daniel James, Interim Assistant City Manager, said, “When we get contacted by a grocery store, we immediately direct them to the east side. Often times the retailer will say ‘That’s wonderful, we wish you the best, but we want to be close to Wal-Mart.’ The city, staff, and consultants are always focusing on that side. We’ve had some wins out there in terms of the new gym - we do still have some retail out there, which is helpful.”
Several locations recently opened their doors from Road 72 to the Downtown District. Japanese restaurant Yamamori’s and burger joint Wimpy’s held grand openings in recent months to provide new eating options for Dinubans.
A prominent retail building also popped up on the northeast corner of Alta Avenue and El Monte Way.
See Businesses, Page A2
By Jackson Moore
News@thedinubasentinel.com
“Here we grow again” is the city of Dinuba’s tagline after several new businesses and housing developments opened their doors in 2017, or announced their plans to come to Dinuba in 2018.
A 2015 grant awarded to the city of Dinuba worth $2 million was aimed to help struggling business locations on the town’s east side. The efforts are ongoing, but recruitment led to 2017 results there, in addition to the downtown and the ever-growing commercial area surrounding Wal- Mart.
Mercantile Row was the key focus of the city’s grant, specifically to extend Randle Avenue and promote traffic, housing growth and business improvements in the area. The location attracted a new gym before the road project has broken ground. Fit Republic acquired, remodeled and opened in a third of the space left by Kmart, which closed in 2016. The rest of the building, and the nearby former Save Mart, remain empty.
The Retail Coach, a retail recruitment
Right: Design work and preliminary site reports started in February for Dinuba High School's new campus, which will be located at the southwest corner of Alta and Kamm avenues. Contributed
Left: Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District board members and district staff shovel the first dirt for Orosi High School's new science Building in March. In June the building was transported from Orosi to Bakersfield in 50 pieces. It took another two months to install the building. It was completed by the first day of school in August.
The Sentinel
Bledsoe chosen to HOBY conference
of Dinuba stated that she believes it was her knowledge of leadership that helped her get selected for this honor.
“I have a deep perspective in leadership as I have been involved in it, someway or other, since eighth grade,” Sally said.
On her HOBY application Sally was asked to describe the most rewarding and challenging aspect of being a leader in her school or community. She answered, “The most challenging part of being a leader on this campus is that I can't please everyone. Everyone wants something different to happen around here, but not all of them get what they want, because we as leaders have to do what is best for the campus and student body. The most rewarding part of being a leader, however, is being able to step up and help people out when they need it. Another rewarding part is getting to know people that are so inspiring, especially when they inspire us to become even better leaders.”
Sally is involved in band, student government [2020 publicity chair person] and numerous clubs at Dinuba High
See HOBY, Page A3
Sophomore Sally Bledsoe, left, will represent Dinuba High at HOBY leadership conference in June. Also pictured is the HOBY alternate, Alissa Baza.
Keven J. Geaney | The Sentinel
Dinuba High School sophomore Sally Bledsoe recently found out that the Dinuba Woman's Club chose her to represent Dinuba High at the Hugh O'Brian Youth [HOBY] leadership conference in Southern California in June.
“I was shocked when I found out I was chosen,” Sally said. “I thought I was in trouble. I was trying to think of what I did that day.”
Sally stated that she received a note in the afternoon that she had to report to the office, but no explanation of why. At the office her counselor told her the good news.
The woman's club pays for the student's conference application fee of $250 and gives them $100 for travel expenses. Founded in 1958, HOBY's mission is to inspire and develop our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation. HOBY founder Hugh O'Brian was a motion picture and television actor.
The 15-year-old daughter of Samuel and Suzanne Bledsoe
By Keven J. Geaney
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
thedinubasentinel.com Inside | Lights and SirensA2 | ObituariesA2 | OpinionA4 | Classi edsA5 | SportsB1
Consolation Championship Dinuba girls basketball goes 3-1 in Tulare Mid-Winter Tournament Sports, Page B1
