Page 1 - Mid Valley Times 7-7-22 E-Edition

Thursday, July 7, 2022
Vol. 4, No. 1
Alan Herrera
50 cents
Reedley
teen dies
in July 3
shooting
Alan Herrera
was on bicycle
when attacked
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Reedley police continue to investigate the fatal shoot- ing of a 15-year-old male who was riding his bicycle in east Reedley the evening of July 3.
The victim was identified as Alan Herrera, a student at Reedley High School.
Police said the shooting occurred
Fireworks blaze across region
about 9:30
p.m. on
11th Street
near Myr-
tle Avenue.
Officers
arriving
on scene
found Her-
rera on the
sidewalk in
front of a nearby apartment complex with several gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was transported to Adventist Hospital Reedley, where he was pronounced dead.
Reedley police detectives and Crime Scene Investigators took over the investigation, according to an RPD news release. Investigators believe Herrera was riding when he was shot by an unknown sus- pect who possibly was on foot. It’s unknown if a vehicle was involved in the incident.
On July 4, detectives were canvassing the area for any surveillance, and also were looking for possible witnesses.
See SHOOTING on page A5
ABOVE: Pyrotechnics lit the evening sky downtown above the Reedley Wa- ter Towers during the closing moments of Downtown Reedley's Celebrate America event on July 1.
Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
RIGHT: Central Valley jazz hip-hop group The Box performed live music for the attendees at the Sanger Fourth of July Spectacular at Sanger High School on July 4.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Workers with Fireworks America put the finishing touches of preparation on the 20-minute fireworks show setup at Ridge Creek Golf Course for the Dinuba Independence Day Celebration on July 3.
Cities host events, but
illegal fireworks keep
enforcement busy
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Mid Valley Times region residents celebrated America's 246th birthday and the surrounding holiday weekend in different ways, but many centered around fireworks.
Between July 1 and July 4, fireworks shows were put on by Reedley, Dinuba and Sanger along with Orange Cove. All events drew appreciative crowds taking in the pyrotechnic light shows along with food, drink and musical entertainment.
Reedley's show took place downtown on July 1, with the fireworks being launched from near- by Washington Elementary School to the south- west. That same night, Orange Cove residents and guests gathered at the community center to watch the show from across Anchor Avenue to the east.
On July 3, Ridge Creek Golf Course in Dinuba was the location an Independence Day Celebra-
SeeFOURTHonpage A2
COVID numbers fluctuate slightly, no spikes
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Coronavirus cases continue to in- crease in general positivity rates, but have relatively stabilized and even de- clined slightly with 7-day active num-
bers in the region.
Possibly because of the holiday
weekend, there had been no new case numbers released as of early this week (just one update for the week). Total seven-day active cases in Fresno County reached 2,547 (down 144) although the
new daily cases per 100,000 climbed to 34.9. The positivity rate also grew to 17.6 percent.
It was more of the same in Tulare County, where total cases increased by
See VIRUS on page A2
DUI driver crashes into Sanger Community pool area
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
A 23-year-old Sanger woman was arrested for suspected DUI after crashing her vehicle through the fence at the Sanger Community Cen- ter's public pool the evening of June 29.
Estefania Martinez-Olea was booked on DUI and felony child en- dangerment charges after the 8:30 p.m. crash. Traveling east on 7th Street, her car went straight ahead instead of turning south onto Recre- ation Avenue at the elbow turn. Mar- tinez-Olea crashed through the exte- rior fence and a second gate, ending up plunging into the deep end of the main swimming pool just to the east of the Apache water slide at the fa- cility.
There were
swimmers pres-
ent at the time,
reportedly in the
shallow end of the
pool during fam-
ily swim night,
but no one was
injured from the
crash. Teenage
lifeguards with
the recreation de-
partment helped
remove Martinez-Olea from the ve- hicle.
A crane eventually removed the car from the pool, and it appeared damage was contained to the area on the north end of the pool. City of- ficials drained the pool and began
See POOL CRASH on page A2
Estefania Martinez-Olea
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
A broken fence was barricaded off at the corner bend of 7th Street and Recreation Av- enue in Sanger on June 30. The night before, a vehicle driven by a woman driving drunk crashed through the fence and into the deep end of the Sanger Community Pool, pictured in the background at left.
Classifieds - A16 Directory - A6 Legals - A11-15
Sports - A10 Lifestyle - A7 Lights & Sirens - A3, A5 Health & Fitness - A8-9 Obituaries - A2 Opinion - A4