Mid Valley Times 5-19-22 E-Edition

Thursday, May 19, 2022
Vol. 3, No. 46
Reedley budget meetings
finish up
MVT Staff Report
The City of Reedley will hold its final special budget meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 24, in the Council Cham- bers at 845 G St. The work- shop and budget presentations will take place before the 7 p.m. regular council meeting that evening.
The second portion of the budget hearings took place the evening of May 17. It was the second of three consecu- tive weeks the council met to hear budget presentations for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. That presentation featured presentations on budgets for the city's Community Services and Engineering departments along with Fire and Police.
The first budget presenta- tion on May 10 featured pre- sentations on Administration and Administrative Services. That meeting also featured comments on the budget pre- sentation by City Manager Ni- cole Zieba.
Hot times ahead
ABOVE AND RIGHT: The dried- out Kings River channel just north of Reedley Beach gave off a desert-like aura on May 17. Just a small stream of water flowed through Reedley and the river channel was sand only near the Kings River Golf Course in Tulare County. An abbreviated agricultural and recreational wa- ter release season on the river is scheduled to begin later this month in time for the Memorial Day weekend. The region is ex- pected to heat up to the high 90s this week.
Photos by Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Coronavirus Update
50 cents
Sanger
may end
COVID-19
emergency
status
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The Sanger City Council this week will be considering and possibly voting to end a two years-plus emergency declaration regarding COV- ID-19.
The regular 6 p.m. meet- ing on Thursday, May 19, will follow a special closed session meeting at5:30 p.m. that in- cludes labor negotiations. The regular meeting is open to the public both live at the council chambers (1700 7th St.) or by video on Zoom.
After a receiving an infor- mational update on COVID numbers in the city and re- gion, the council will discuss possibly terminating the res- olution formalizing the initial emergency proclamation, which took effect on MArch 17, 2020,
"As COVID-19 and its im- pact on the local medical system has subsided, it is no longer an immediate emer- gency," stated a summary on the proposed action. While cases have waned significant- ly from a peak in 2021 and an- other outbreak this past win- ter, active case numbers have been steadily climbing in the past month.
In the report, City Manager Tim Chapa showed statistics that more than 11,000 positive COVID cases – equivalent to about 40 percent of residents – have been reported for
See COUNCILonpageA2
Active case increase continues for month
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
This week marks a month that active cases of coronavirus have been on the rise in Fresno and Tulare counties.
While it's not a case that cases of COVID-19 could be considered an out- break, the new daily cases per 100,000 population in Fresno County is once again nearing 10 per day. The May 17
date showed 9.4 percent of new daily cases, a jump from 6.2 percent a week earlier. The general positivity rate grew from 3.9 to 5.5 percent, with the seven- day average increasing from 623 to 890 active cases of the virus.
Hospitalizations in Fresno County jumped by 13, to 52, and intensive care cases grew from a low of one to six pa- tients by May 17. There were five addi- tional deaths, bringing the total number
to 2,759 in the county.
Tulare County's active case rate per
100,000 grew from 5.8 to 4.6, and the positivity rate rose back to 3 percent. There were eight additional deaths for the week, but hospitalizations dipped from 14 to 10 before returning to 14 as of May 17. The county entered the new week with no ICU cases of COVID.
See VIRUS on page A18
UPCOMING GRADUATIONS
Reedley College commencement (Agricultural, Industrial/ Manufacturing, Business), RC south cafeteria lawn, 6 p.m.
Reedley College commencement (STEM, Social Sciences, Art, Music, Early Child), RC south cafeteria lawn, 6 p.m.
Thursday, May 19
Friday, May 20
Wednesday, May 25
DUSD alternate education graduation, DHS stadium, 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 26
Reedley High School, Football Stadium, 8 p.m. Dinuba High School, Football Stadium, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 27
Orange Cove High School, Titan Stadium 8 p.m.
Monday, May 30
Taft Academy graduation, WAMS auditorium Sanger, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 31
KCUSD Educational Options, Reedley HS stadium, 7/8 p.m. Hallmark Charter graduation, WAMS auditorium Sanger, 7 p.m. COJUSD Alt-Ed graduation, Orosi Youth Football Field, 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 1
Reedley Mid. College HS, RHS Performing Arts Theatre, 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 2
Orosi High School, Ed Coats Stadium. 7 p.m.
Wednesday, June 8
Sanger Adult School graduation, WAMS auditorium, 7 p.m.
Thursday, June 7
Kings River HS graduation, WAMS auditorium Sanger, 6 p.m.
Friday, June 10
Sanger High School, Save Mart Center Fresno. 7 p.m.
Band-O-Rama in Dinuba
Inaugural event set for May 19
MVT Staff Report
The Dinuba Unified Musi- cal Department presents the inaugural Band-O-Rama mu- sical performance at Dinuba High School stadium at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 19.
The stadium performance at Claud Hebert Field will be highlighted by the Dinuba High Marching Band, but will also include performances from the Washington Interme- diate School band and elemen- tary school bands in the Dinu- ba Unified School District.
It's the final opportunity for the community to hear the popular DHS marching band perform in a show during the 2021-22 school year. The band
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
The Dinuba High Marching Band, performing at the annual Reedley Fiesta in October 2021, will be the featured attraction at the inaugural Band-O-Rama on Thursday, May 19, at Dinuba High stadium.
Classifieds - A16
Directory - A6
Legals - A9-10, 12-15
Sports - A11, A17 Lifestyle - A7-8
Lights & Sirens - A3, A5 Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4
recently performed musical numbers earlier this spring at the groundbreaking for the new high school campus, and won Sweepstakes honors at the 2021 Reedley Fiesta.
There will be food and snow cones sold at the event. All money raised goes to Di- nuba band programs at the high school and in the district.
The public is invited.