Dinuba Sentinel 10-25-18 E-edition

Dinuba Sentinel Serving the communities of Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi and Monson-Sultana
Emperors of the month
Ten Dinuba High students recognized for good character
Established 1909, Dinuba, California
Community, A6
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Fall Fiesta
Election
50 Cents
Three grand
marshals
selected for
Veterans
parade
Sentinel staff report
Cutler-Orosi’s annual Veterans Day Parade and Festival will be held next Saturday and this year’s parade, which begins at Orosi High School and ends at Ledbetter Park in Cutler, will feature three grand marshals.
This year’s grand marshals are Raffi Soghomonian (Marines), Ernie Rubalcaba (Army) and Raymond V. Montano (Air Force).
Raffi Soghomonian – Soghomonian retired from the United States Marine Corps in 1998 after serving a full and rewarding career. This career culminated in achieving the rank of Gunnery Sergeant for the Fourth Light Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion as a Journeyman Electrician and Engineer Chief.
Soghomonian entered the service in September of 1980 and was originally stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. Stateside duty stations included El Toro in California, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, Quantico in Virginia, and Kane’ohe Bay in Hawaii.
He was part of the First Marine Brigade Infantry Division and also served on the USS Denver and the infamous, amphibious Newport-class tank landing ship USS Cayuga.
Soghomonian was deployed overseas to Australia, Somalia, Oman, Okinawa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Diego Garcia, the Philippines and Kenya.
Over the past 18 years, Soghomonian has remained committed to the community of Cutler-Orosi, where he works for the school district as the Director of Facilities.
He has volunteered for various disaster relief efforts for the building of Fresno’s Legion of Valor Museum and volunteers annually for the Toys for Tots Charity toy drive.
Soghomonian still hosts an annual reunion open to all former members of the 4th LAAM Battalion.
Ernie Rubalcaba – Rubalcaba was born in Dinuba in 1948 to parents Tony and Katie Rubalcaba. He was the oldest of five children and attended elementary
See Veterans, Page A7
Cardinal King & Queen
2018
City council
candidate
pro les
By Rick Curiel
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
To help better inform the public for the upcoming election, as it pertains to local governance, the Dinuba Sentinel offers the following profiles of the six candidates running for Dinuba City Council.
The candidates are broken down by Ward/District. Three seats are up for election on November 6.
District 2
Dinuba’s downtown district covers the area east of South Alta Avenue and south of East El Monte Way. It extends to South College Avenue and also includes everything west of South First and California avenues. Running for the seat are incumbent Maribel Reynosa and challenger Victor Rojas.
Maribel Reynosa – This is Reynosa’s first reelection campaign. She is a life-long resident of Dinuba and attended Dinuba schools and graduated from Dinuba High School. She also graduated from the Tulare-Kings Police Academy and received her Associate of Science Degree in Administration of Justice from College of the Sequoias.
After entering law enforcement as a Sheriff’s Cadet, Reynosa was promoted to Tulare County Deputy Sheriff and retired after 25 years as an investigator for the Tulare County District Attorney Office.
She has served on various boards in the community, such as Relay for Life, Dinuba Gridiron Boosters, Leadership Northern Tulare County and the Alta District Historical Society.
During her four years on City Council, she has represented Dinuba on the Tulare County Association of Government, Tulare County Transportation Authority, the League of California Cities-Governance and the Transparency and Labor Relations Policy Committee.
Reynosa said she has attended numerous meetings and work sessions in Dinuba, Tulare County, and throughout California, to stay informed.
“In order to represent the people of Dinuba you have to know them,” said Reynosa. “In order to govern you need to be informed.”
See Pro les, Page A6
Over the past four years, Dinuba High School has raised over $300,000 for their Medical Gateway Academy and Construction Management Academy, and doing so has been one big Fiesta. Saturday, the school held their Fourth Annual Fall Fiesta Fundraiser to raise funds for both programs.
Photos by Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
In addition to folkloric dancers and local guitarist Sal Vargas providing entertainment, guests also enjoyed a Casino Night. Each guest was provided with $500 in play chips to play at either black jack, roulette or craps tables. The play chips were later redeemed for raffle tickets for prizes.
Those who attended were treated to a smorgasbord of food and an endless array of auction items that included anything from baked goods, custome made storage sheds and fire pits, and even three autographed football jerseys. One jersey was signed by LA Rams running back Todd Gurley, another signed by Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and third was signed by current Fresno State quarterback and Dinuba native Marcus McMaryion.
McMaryion's jersey went for $300. One of the biggest bids, however, was for an 8x8 storage shed made by this year's DHS Construction Management Academy. That item received a bid for $550.
Water help for East Orosi may come in form of consolidation
Tulare County Board of Supervisor, Steve Worthley, was also in attendance voicing his support of consolidation.
“This is a wonderful opportunity I believe for both communities, because the consolidation will allow them to spread their costs even more,” Worthley said to the crowd. “The best interest of all is sustainability, we can drill a new well it may have clean water today. What if doesn’t have clean water tomorrow?”.
Worthley went on to say by being part of a larger system east Orosi residents will have the ability to rely not just on one well but the other wells within the district to provide safe drinking water.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Worthley said.
Ryan Jensen of the Community Water Center, an advocacy group that serves as a catalyst for community-driven water solutions, said the most cost effective and sustainable solution for east Orosi to restore access to safe drinking water is by connecting to the system in Orosi. The SWB was able to step in and obligate this consolidation to make sure east Orosi has safe drinking water, said Jensen.
Jensen addressed the crowd saying OPUD to be a willing good neighbor to help out their community. Jensen went on to say that he was glad the discussion was happening because it was going to be the solution for residence of east Orosi.
Cutler Orosi Joint Unified School District Superintendent Yolanda Valdez shared her sentiments encouraging those in attendance to be heard and voice their opinions while getting others involved.
“This is the time to take action,” Valdez said. “Together we are better.”
By George M. Villagrana
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Over 60 residents from East Orosi and Orosi gathered in the Orosi High cafeteria Monday evening as part of an informational meeting while voicing their concerns and ask questions regarding the potential consolidation of East Orosi Community Services District with Orosi Public Utility District.
Residents in east Orosi have not had reliable access to safe drinking water for over a decade due to nitrate contamination of their ground water. That combined with limited capacity of the community and their water board to confront these ongoing challenges, has led to the conclusion that the most cost effective and sustainable solution for east Orosi is to restore reliable access to safe drinking water, is to be connected to the OPUD water system.
Chad Fisher, district engineer with the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water said during the meeting that residents in east Orosi have been receiving bottled water with grants from the state for drinking and cooking. The long-term goal is to have residents be able to turn on their taps and not have to think about the safety of their water.
In July, the SWB notified both water systems of their intent to pursue a mandatory water system consolidation if the two parties are unable or unwilling to come to an agreement on their own by early next year. As part of the public review process, the SWB hosted the first of two public meetings where residents met with state and local officials, learning about the solution and share their opinions.
George M. Villagrana | The Sentinel
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No place like home
Orosi opens new stadium with 35-6 route over Parlier
Sports, Page B1
The first Homecoming Queen and King to be crowned in the new George Millhorn Stadium at Orosi High School were seniors Aislinn Bobadilla and Roger Galutira.