Page 1 - Sanger Herald 12-14-17 e-edition

Fundraiser wonderland
Apache wrestlers build program
Looking for a home
page 7A
Lifestyles 3B
Sports 1B
Weekly Newspaper Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657 50¢ (tax included) No snow but lots of Christmas spirit
Trek to the Tree
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
Daniel Warnecke leads the Sanger High School Choir at the base of the Nation's Christmas Tree, the General Grant, in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park during the 92nd ceremony at the tree, jointly sponsored by the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce and the National Park Service. The event last Sunday drew a larger than usual crowd, possibly because of what someone referred to as "chamber of commerce weather." For the first time in years there was no snow and the temperature was in the 50s. See more photos on page 8A.
By Ron Camacho
Sanger Herald correspondent
There were only a couple of patches of melting snow and the temperature almost called for short sleeves, but other- wise, the 92nd Trek to the Nation’s Christmas Tree over the weekend was all about the holiday season.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Police suspect the hus- band may have shot his wife and then himself.
The bodies were discov- ered by the couple's adult son a little after 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 in their home in the900blockof 2ndCourt, just around the corner from Wilson Elementary School.
"He came home from work and found his parents deceased inside," said Sanger
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Three Sanger firefighters are in the Santa Barbara County area of the Thomas Fire pro- viding direct structure protection in Carpen- teria. ThereisalsoaSangerfirelinemedic providing medical support to fire crews and the public in the Fillmore area, said fire chief Greg Tarascou.
The fire grew to 237,500 acres overnight,
The General Grant tree measures almost 270 feet tall and 107 feet around at its base.
The story of how it became the Nation's Christmas Tree is part of Sanger’s mythology.
“The then secretary of the (Sanger) chamber was looking at the tree while he was stand-
Police Chief Silver Rodri- guez.
Neighbors say the dead are Sara Segura and Ramon Segura Rodriguez.
Neighbors also say Mrs. Segura had filed for divorce.
The evening of the shoot- ing, lights from Sanger police cars and the sheriff depart- ment's crime lab flashed
a surreal counterpoint to blinking Christmas lights on the street. The usually quiet, narrow street was clogged with slowly cruising cars,
ing next to a little girl,” said Tammy Wolfe, president of the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce.
“The girl looked at him and said, ‘What a wonderful Christmas tree it would be.' He went home, back to the chamber and started writing letters to president Calvin
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
looky-loos, watching police activity blocking the inter- section of 2nd Street and 2nd Court.
Officers say they have been called to that home be- fore but would not comment on the circumstances.
Police are still investigat- ing.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Coolidge asking that the Gen- eral Grant be declared the na- tional Christmas tree.”
The chamber held its first service for the tree in 1925. A year later, Coolidge officially designated the 3,000-year-old sequoia as the Nation’s Christ- mas Tree.
The tree also became a site
to honor the country’s fallen military almost 30 years later when president Dwight D. Eisenhower declared it to be a national shrine.
Since then, people from all over the world have traveled to the annual trek ceremony. Some make the trip to honor American’s fallen heroes
while others make the jour- neyasawaytokickoffthe holiday season.
“It takes love, passion and six months of planning and getting the word out to make this happen,” Wolfe said.
“This is our favorite event of the year.”
See TREK, page 8A
City manager gets a raise
No answers for oversight committee member
Holiday tragedy
Murder-suicide suspected
Sanger firefighters at Thomas Fire
Sanger fireline medic is also in Southern California
Photo courtesy Ventura County Fire Department
with containment at 25 percent, according to CalFire.
Crews are working to protect lives and homes on the west end of the fire near Mon- tecito and Carpinteria.
Since breaking out Dec. 4, more than 900 structures have been destroyed and tens of thousands remain evacuated.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
The 3.64 percent salary increase the city council gave city manager Tim Chapa is based on Chapa's performance evaluation of 3.64 on a scale of 1-5.
City attorney Hilda Cantu Montoy made that announcement when the council came out of its closed door performance evaluation session on Dec. 7.
Montoy also said she had been asked to announce, for the record, that mayor pro tem Eli Ontiveros does not have confidence in Chapa.
The wage bump means Chapa's monthly salary will go from $13,083.33 to $13,559.56, an increase of $476.23 each month, based on a salary memo Chapa posted online in Septem- ber.
Chapa had barely finished thanking the council for the wage increase and saying he looked forward to working with all five coun- cil members when he found himself in the midst of another apparent misunderstanding with a member of the Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee.
"I'm here for the answers to my questions," said oversight member Tony Gonzalez as
he stepped to the podium during the public forum portion of the council meeting.
Gonzalez persisted when both Chapa and mayor Frank Gonzalez told him it [answering his questions] would have to be agendized.
"When will that be? I was told at the previ- ous meeting it would be at the next meeting. That's today," said Gonzalez. "Somebody is dropping the ball."
Montoy said she would be happy to start addressing this [getting answers to Gon- zalez's questions] as soon as possible and agreed to meet with Gonzalez at the end of the council session.
A member of the audience, Kevin Carter, reminded the council and city manager the questions were about a compliance audit the oversight committee wanted but didn't get because of a previous apparent misunder-
Tony Gonzalez
standing between the city manager and the oversight committee.
The council unanimously approved a master fee schedule after council member Daniel Martinez questioned a proposed $1 fee increase to use the community pool.
It also unanimously approved the purchase of a "cleaner truck" for more than $400,000 and an agreement with MBIntel Inc. to do a community risk reduction analysis.
Ontiveros cast the lone dissenting vote
on a staff recommendation to award a con- sulting agreement to New Economics and Advisory LLC for what was called a "Focused Economic and Retailer Target Study."
A discussion about possible changes in the ordinance defining Measure L, the measure that made changes in the way the mayor and other council members were elected elicited suggestions for extending the mayor's term from two to four years, going back to five districts and five council members, eliminat- ing the at large voting for a mayor and finally the cost of a demographer to create new districts. No action was taken.
The measure was approved by voters in November 2010 with only an 8 percent reg- istered voter turnout. It was the subject of a 2012 Fresno County Grand Jury report.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald during business hours at (559) 875- 2511.
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com
THURSDAY
DECEMBER 14, 2017
VOL 128 NO. 50
2 sections, 16 pages CLASSIFIED 4-6B LIFE STYLES 3B
OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A