Valley Voice Issue 115 (19 April, 2018)

Valley Voice

Tulare County Board of Supes faces potential voting lawsuit NANCY VIGRAN

nancy@ourvalleyvoice.com

In a letter dated April 4, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors was threatened with legal action if it does not take measures to correct an alleged violation of the Federal Voting Rights Act. The letter, signed by Marguerite Melo of the law firm Melo and Sarsfield, stated the firm represents a “group of voters who reside within the jurisdictional boundaries of the County of Tulare.”

The letter also stated the Dolores Huerta Foundation is also affiliated with the potential legal action.

The pending lawsuit is “based upon the County of Tulare’s illegal dilution of the minority/Latino voting community as applied to how board seats are drawn.”

Melo further stated in her letter that the firm will hold off on potential litigation until May 5, 2018, allowing the county some time for thought and response.

LAWSUIT continued on 7 »

Volume XXXVIII No. 8 19 April, 2018 ourvalleyvoice.com

Why are these men free?

CATHERINE DOE

catherine@ourvalleyvoice.com

The names in this article have been changed to protect the victims.

The first week of November 2017 Frasier decided to come out to his family. He had been sexually abused as a child from the age of eight to 10 years old, and the #MeToo movement gave him the strength to name his abuser.

According to Frasier, his cousin Holly arranged a sit down with his father.

Frasier recounted that day.

“When he arrived, he sat down and asked what was going on. I was reluctant to disclose any information at that time for fear of embarrassment. Holly then spoke up and explained why I was reluctant to speak and discussed the incident with my father. My father was visibly angry and did not speak for approximately seven minutes after being told the information. My father then asked me what action I would like to pursue. I decided to report this information to the police. My father then drove me to the Farmersville Police Department.”

Frasier was interviewed by Officer Alavarez, whereupon he gave the details of his abuse, the location, and identified his abuser. The abuser would fall into the category of a caretaker and

One of these men has moved across the country — the other still lives in Tulare County.

not a stranger.

During the course of Frasier’s interview five more victims were identified, three of whom would come forward within the week to give the police their testimony. One of those victims was Samantha, who had been abused for seven years by two men in the 1990’s.

One was Frasier’s abuser, who still lives locally, and the other has moved to another state.

Samantha and the other two victims were able to give details of what happed to the two victims who did not want to come forward.

Frasier was still under the statute of limitations to press charges against his abuser. The other five victims had

aged out.

All agreed that their abusers were still molesting children.

So why are these two men free six months later?

Getting the run-around

Several weeks after the Farmersville Police Department did its investigation and sent the case to the Tulare County District Attorney’s office, Frasier received a letter dated November 16.

The letter said that the DA’s office had “reviewed a law enforcement report” that indicated he was recently the victim of a crime.

FREE continued on 8 »

Mathis sued for retaliation by former chief of staff Hensley’s not STAFF REPORTS going down without a fight: attorneys still quibbling

Devon Mathis’ former chief of staff claims he was retaliated against attempting to put a stop to Mathis’ alleged alcoholism, sexual improprieties, gender-based discrimination, and mishandling of campaign finances, according to a new lawsuit.

Sean Doherty, the former chief of staff, was fired in May 2017. He has also named the California State Assembly

in the suit, claiming that the assembly’s Rules Committee on multiple occasions did not assist in reigning in the behavior.

“To help cure dysfunction in his office, Assemblyman Devon Mathis lured Plaintiff Sean Doherty away from his more lucrative consulting practice with the promise of long-term employment. Doherty realized that the dysfunctions ran all the way to the top. Fixing the problems in Mathis’

office required that Doherty prevent Mathis from misusing state resources, engaging in sexual harassment, and other improper, inappropriate, and illegal behavior,” Doherty’s suit reads. “Mathis pushed back against this effort, retaliated against Doherty, and broke his promise by terminating Doherty’s emploment.”

The full story was developing as the Valley Voice headed to press. To read more, visit ourvalleyvoice.com.

Visalia Planning Commission denies controversial ARCO permit DAVE ADALIAN

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

The fight isn’t over yet, but activists have won the first round in the battle to prevent the city’s largest gas station from being built in their southeast Visalia neighborhood.

PC Split on ARCO Decision

Stunned and thrilled members of Oppose ARCO rejoiced as the Visalia Planning Commission voted 4-1 Monday, April 9 to deny Chandi Group USA’s application to build a 17,000-square-foot ARCO AM/PM campus at the corner of Caldwell Avenue and West Street.

The project, had it been approved, would have included a 20-hose gas station, car wash,

ARCO continued on 10 »

A standing-room-only crowd filled the Visalia Convention Center on April 9 as citizens lined up to share their opinion on a proposed ARCO AM/PM at Caldwell and West streets in Visalia. Dave Adalian/Valley Voice

NANCY VIGRAN

nancy@ourvalleyvoice.com

Attorneys keep quibbling regarding the former Tulare police chief, Wes Hensley’s possible public hearing regarding his firing. Specifically -- Hensley’s attorney says he is required to have one, and the City of Tulare’s attorney disagrees.

Hensley’s attorney, Michael Lampe, is pulling out all of the stops to make one happen. Heather Phillips, the city’s attorney, says that only a more limited hearing is required.

Chief Hensley was fired on March 20. He had been on paid administrative leave for nearly six months, and was under investigation as directed by the city’s former city manager. However, his termination was not attributed to the investigation, but as stated in his termination letter – “You are not being dismissed from employment as the result of misconduct.

You are being dismissed to further the goals of this Organization, due to a loss of confidence in your ability to lead the Police Department in a manner that is consistent with the goals of this Organization; having management style that is incompatible with this Organization’s/Administration’s

TULARE continued on 9 »

19 April, 2018 Valley Voice

2

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK

Dateline: Baku

It took us three flights and 24 hours to travel 12 time zones—halfway around the world. But we managed our sleep in transit and were able to rise with the sun over the Caspian Sea on the morning of our first day. After an improvised brew of coffee through a tea maker, taken on our tiny balcony, we were ready to explore the streets of Baku.

I’d been hankering to come here for years because, as a kid, I once read that on the outskirts of town an entire mountainside is on fire. Perpetually. We’ll revisit that later.

So when an old college friend of ours, now a Fresno State professor, invited me along on her research trip—because, she said, I was the only American she’d ever known to be aware of Baku--I had no option but to happily accept. The Chief promptly accepted as well.

Alison, an excellent guide, first lead us on a half-day tour of the jagged-walled Old City, now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

It turns out they’re holding a presidential election in Azerbaijan.

But you won’t find any political posters in the Old City, and you won’t find the plethora you’d expect to in the capital proper or in the wider countryside. Outside the Old City is one message both ubiquitous and identical, reading, in Azerbaijani, “Presidential Election 11 April. Raise your voice.” Sometimes, even that exhortation is omitted.

Meaning there’s only one candidate, of course, and he’s too entrenched to bother mentioning. Like father, like son-like Syria, like North Korea. Like a monarchy. The current Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, succeeded his father, Heydar Aliyev. Ilham, naturally enough, has a son as well.

We’ll see how that future unfolds when Ilham himself is old and infirm.

For now, the new President Aliyev has called for an election something like six months in advance of the one regularly scheduled. The question is why.

Why, if you’re effectively hereditary president for life—a king—would you so much as lift a finger to change the timing of your sham election?

It turns out the Valley Voice is well connected here. Which is to say through Alison, and her own, genuine connections.

She met with a group of former students, now teachers here themselves, and the election arose as a topic of conversation. The consensus, apparently—as reported by Alison—is that there is a jock-

eying amongst the ruling families, complicated by pressures being applied by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

From its website: “The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.”

There was an astonishing apathy toward the election, as manifested by everyone we spoke with. Nobody voted because the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

Employment apparently comes under similar consideration. Ramiz, the husband of a woman Alison was reconnecting with, said that he refused to consider any governmental employment whatsoever--even though almost every job here is related to the government in some way; those in the public sector, actually, are expected to prove they had voted--because of the rampant corruption.

Alison herself simply thinks shifting the election is a way to keep people off balance—and, by doing so, to make it easier for the regime to retain power.

Our best estimation involved the centennial anniversary of Azerbaijan’s original independence following the First World War. Quite possibly, the election was held early to further legitimize the regime and de-cloud its scheduled celebration.

The Chief and I wandered into Fountain Square the night before the election, and the regime had some children out in force—well, perhaps a tiny, chaperoned platoon. To the tune of some sort of love song to Ilham, and the State of Azerbaijan in general, six-year-olds gyrated, marched and plastically gesticulated. The middle school ribbon twirler seemed enthusiastic, so I twirled my right index finger in turn.

We secured the pound of coffee we were after and got out of there—finally—myself sickened while the Chief, calling me a stick-in-the-mud, declared it all cute.

Cute! So was the Hitler Youth.

BAKU continued on 9 »

Valley Voice

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The Voice strives for accuracy in reporting.

Commentary or corrections regarding errors of fact in our printed, online, or social media content can be sent to the email and mailing address listed below.

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Valley Voice 19 April, 2018

POLITICAL FIX Will Ryan’s Retirement affect Nunes’ Reelection?

Congressman Paul Ryan’s retirement as Speaker of the House could mean good news or bad news for Congressman Devin Nunes.

The bad news is Mr. Ryan’s retirement shakes the foundation of the Republican Party and puts into question President Donald Trump’s innocence.

The good news is maybe Mr. Nunes will become Speaker, that is if the Republicans can keep control of the House this November.

There are two men who outrank Mr. Nunes for Speaker, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Whip Steven Scalise.

Mr. McCarthy already had his chance to become Speaker in 2015 when former Speaker John Boehner unexpectedly retired after an emotional visit with Pope Francis.

But then Mr. McCarthy gave a couple of incomprehensible speeches, and later told the world how Republicans cleverly reopened the Benghazi hearings to score political points, versus to bring justice for those who lost their lives in the attack.

As for Mr. Scalise, he is a Tea Party darling and probably not able to bring the fractured Republican House members together for crucial votes in the way Mr. Ryan was so adept.

Mr. Nunes, a high ranking, veteran House member, can effectively communicate in front of a camera, is a prodigious fundraiser, and is not seen as an extremist.

That’s not a glowing endorsement for the job as Speaker, but Mr. Ryan--as a former Vice Presidential candidate, third in line to the presidency, and a House member who can deliver the votes--is leaving some very big shoes to fill.

Despite Mr. Ryan’s assurances, he is not leaving Congress with a team of able Republican leaders. He is leaving Congress with a dense cloud overhead that even the strongest Sirocco winds can’t dissipate.

Mr. Ryan and Mr. Nunes are not just political allies but they are friends. Both Mr. Nunes and Mr. Ryan entered Congress in their late twenties and have lead scandal-free lives, at least before Mr.Trump, marrying and raising families during their tenure.

Mr. Nunes and Mr. Ryan worked for years on the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that would have greatly benefited Valley farmers, but which Mr. Trump canceled soon after taking office.

They collaboratively started writing the recently passed tax overhaul legislation 11 years ago, though their original plan reduced the deficit and looks nothing like the mess that was rushed through the House and Senate.

They both rose up through the ranks of the party, attaining the most prestigious posts.

Mr. Nunes became one of the youngest chairs of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2011. Mr. Ryan became the youngest Speaker to take the office in 100 years.

But now Mr. Ryan, one of the

most powerful people in Washington and at the peak of his career, is walking away.

How do his Republicans peers explain that?

To start, you could say that Mr. Ryan never supported Mr. Trump for president until he was forced to. The two men share no moral, ethical or religious values and Mr. Ryan must have a pretty hard time explaining Mr. Trump’s behavior when his name comes up around the family dinner table.

The unconfirmed explanation for Mr. Ryan’s departure is that he wants to leave Washington while his reputation is still intact.

He also may not have wanted to defend the massive public debt produced by his tax overhaul legislation, a debt that is predicted to balloon by one trillion dollars.

The not so benevolent explanation is that Mr. Ryan’s departure telegraphs that the Republican image of family values, balanced budgets, law and order, and free trade is just that--an image.

Mr. Ryan knows Mr. Trump is guilty of rampant sexual promiscuity, lying, and humiliating our most honorable Americans.

He also probably has confirmation that Mr. Trump is guilty of collusion, obstruction of justice, or money laundering and doesn’t want to be left holding the bag when the special council announces its findings.

That makes it particularly difficult on Mr. Nunes’ campaign, who has been one of Mr. Trump’s loyal soldiers and recently closed the House’s Intelligence Committee investigation because he found no evidence of wrongdoing in Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign for the presidency.

Mr. Nunes has strongly defended Mr. Trump, attacking the media as lying, accusing the FBI, CIA, and the Justice Department of having a Clinton bias and denouncing the Steele Dossier.

Mr. Ryan, on the other hand, who when faced with hypocrisy or political suicide, decided to leave politics entirely.

Mr. Nunes would never lose an election for his lack of loyalty, but because of Mr. Ryan’s retirement, might possibly lose because of it.

The Fourth Estate

The League of Women Voters is hosting a panel of journalists on May 15 during a luncheon at the Wyndham Hotel to discuss the role of the Fourth Estate in a Democracy.

That seems to be a concept taken for granted recently.

Baby boomers assume newspapers will always be around as they saw their parents read the morning or afternoon paper then took up the habit themselves as adults.

Readers’ favorite thing to do back then was to gripe about their local rag, and the same is as true today.

But times have changed. The wisdom behind that constant griping, or threatening to cancel your subscription because you don’t agree with the day’s cartoon, no longer seems so wise.

As the facts unfurl how extensively Russia meddled in our elections and amid President Donald

3 a column by CATHERINE DOE — catherine@ourvalleyvoice.com Trump’s attack on the building blocks of our Democracy, one thing becomes clear; if America’s Democracy survives, it will be because of the Fourth Estate.

Hyperbole? I think not.

People need to be reminded that those countries whose presidents have attacked or suppressed the press no longer enjoy a functional democracy and the privileges that go with it.

Mr. Trump and many Republicans refer to CNN as the Clinton News Network and constantly allude to the Washington Post, New York Times and many others as reporting “fake news.”

So when an investigative reporter merely reports the truth, the news outlet is often labeled as left-wing, liberal, biased, or fake.

But reporters have no skin in the game whether one politician or another is elected.

The Valley Voice has extensively reported on Assemblyman Devon Mathis’ personal challenges and political missteps in Sacramento. But if Mr. Mathis loses he is only going to be replaced by a more conservative Republican.

The same is true for Tulare Mayor Carlton Jones, who is a Democrat.

The mayor’s bullying and possible misuse of public funds, brought to light by the media, might lead to his defeat. But he also most likely will be replaced by a Republican.

So where is this left-leaning bias?

The irony in Mr. Trump’s favorite hashtag “fake news” is that it was

Russian trolls spreading fake news about Hilary Clinton though Facebook that was partially responsible for his becoming president.

Mr. Trump’s razor-thin electoral victory came with 70,000 votes over three purple states in a country of 350,000,000 souls, while he lost the popular vote by over three million.

When Mr. Trump bemoaned the fact that the election was rigged, he was correct.

Mr. Trump inhabits the most powerful pulpit in the world.

Though while he attacks the FBI, the National Security Agency, Justice Department and strategizes on how to fire Mr. Muller, there is one special council he will never be able to fire.

And that is the media. And the media is not going to relent until the truth is told.

One of the more surprising aspects I discovered about being a reporter is the fact that I have as many Tea Party contacts as liberal contacts.

I have find myself commiserating as much about local and national government with Central Valley Tea Party Chair Dennis Smith as I do with liberal Democrat Ruben Macareno.

Maybe that is because I live in a conservative area.

But maybe it is because something deeper runs between us humans than being conservative or liberal, and that is integrity.

So in these chaotic times where does the Fourth Estate fit into a Democracy?

Elected officials have their dais,

POLITICAL FIX continued on 10 »

TOTAL:

$ 605,288.73*

*Interest continues to accrue on the unpaid principal at the rate in the applicable 19indicated April, 2018 Valleyloan Voice documents from and after September 30, 2017 until paid and shall be added to the above total. In addition, any and all attorneys’ fees and costs and other costs incurred from and after September 30, 2017 shall be added to the above total in accordance with the terms of the applicable loan documents.

4

Tulare hospital’s creditors lining up in court

TONY MALDONADO

tony@ourvalleyvoice.com

Jilted creditors and vendors are lining up in bankruptcy court for some of the Tulare Local Healthcare District’s cash -- including Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA), the district’s former management partner.

Those entities also include the City of Tulare, Tulare County, Bank of the Sierra, the district’s interim management consulting company, and the district’s former legal counsel.

While those claims -- mostly for work done before the district filed bankruptcy -- total $64,034,836.83, the district’s interim management team’s most recent public estimates value the total of the district’s accounts payable at $33,000,000; $27.4m in pre-bankruptcy debt, and $6m in post-bankruptcy debt.

The large difference is because the validity or amount of some claims are disputed, and others are connected to active, unsettled litigation. Any potential payouts from those litigated claims would be paid from insurance policies, not the district’s assets.

The majority of the district’s creditors and vendors had until April 10, 2018 to file claims with the United States Bankruptcy Court for potential payment. Others were acknowledged in some of the hospital’s initial bankruptcy filings.

“Most vendors had to file a claim,” Riley Walter, the district’s bankruptcy attorney, said. “We’ll compare what the records of the district say is owed to what the claimant says is owed; and, at some point in the far distant future we will have to reconcile that. We will always try to do it by agreement, but if we don’t, we’ll submit it to the court -- and the court will fix the amount that’s allowed for the claim.”

County, City, Utilities Unpaid

Tulare County officials had filed a suit against the district in September, 2017 for unpaid rent at the Hillman Clinic, a building owned by the county. According to a bankruptcy claim filed by the county, unrelated to the suit, the district also failed to pay for its last three elections.

At the time the suit was filed, the district had been served with a Three-day Notice to Pay or Quit, which claimed that the district had been in arrears since February, 2017 for monthly rent totalling $148,146.10.

Alan Germany, HCCA’s Chief Financial Officer, briefly referenced the

suit at a September 27, 2017 district B) Remaining Balance (as of 3/5/2018) board meeting. He skipped over any Loan No. XXXXXX1001 mention of the Principal $ 599,624.63 election bills.

Interest 14,642.95 “There’s been Late Fees 8,793.05 cases of homeless Attorneys’ Fees & Costs 6,876.26 people sleeping (Less Application of Collateral Proceeds) ($610,100.28) in the attic out $19,836.61** TOTAL: there,” Germany said of the clinic at **The remaining balance as of March 5, 2018 follows claimant’s application of all proceeds held the meeting. “This in that certain account that served as collateral for the debtor’s obligation in favor of claimant, is going to sound which application of funds was completed after the court’s entry of an order terminating the terrible, but it’s automatic stay with respect to said account. Claimant asserts that this remaining balance, plus the truth — there’s additional attorneys’ fees and costs and any other amounts payable by the debtor from and after mice and rats March 5, 2018 in accordance with the terms of the applicable loan documents, constitutes its out there.” remaining unsecured claim.

“I’ve met with Filed 12/05/17 Case 17-13797 Claim 43-2 the county and Above: a document from Bank of the Sierra claiming a past due balance on a loan. talked about this, and lo and behold — now they’re su- Below: a document from Tulare County claiming nonpayment of rent at the Hillman Clinic. ing the district for back rent, in the amount of $148,000,” he said.

The suit was filed by the county the day before his remarks.

According to the county’s claim, the district now owes only $111,515.58 in rent at the Hillman Clinic for rent between July and December, 2017.

Documents show Tulare County went unpaid for $132,622.08 in elections expenses, spanning the July 11, 2017 recall election, the November 8, 2016 general election, and the August now we’re finding the data that shows Creager emailed HCCA officials 30, 2016 Measure I BondExhibit election. to Proof of Claim we (6051.692) don’t owe them,” Larry Blitz, the asking for an update on the past due of 1 The City of Tulare isPage also1seeking re- hospital’s interim CEO said. invoices in August, 2017. payment in the amount of $84,864.62.

One claim from DHCS states that “Is there anything I can do on my $48,949.90 of that is for a loan repay- hospital management failed to com- end to help press the issue as this is ment, according to the city’s docu- ply with a required audit in 2017, really a significant financial hardship mentation, and $35,734.72 is for utili- causing the department’s auditors to for me. I could provide a formal letter ty payments. declare that the entire $2,370,060 the if that helps, but want to be respectSouthern California Edison is also district had been paid in 2013/14 to be ful in that I know the organization is seeking a total of $473,625.65 for past an overpayment. working through their financial oblidue utility services. The Voice first reThe payment came from the Dis- gations,” Creager wrote. ported on the electric company’s prob- proportionate Share Hospital (DSH) By that point, HCCA had been givlems with the district in September, af- program. Under the program, hos- en permission to seek up to $79m in ter officials with Edison sent a five-day pitals which serve a large number of loans for tower construction and bond shutoff notice to the district. low-income patients are eligible to re- redemption, and an additional $22m Documents submitted by the com- ceive payments for treating uninsured in loans for “operating expenses of the pany show that bills spanning as far patients. Federal regulations require Hospital, repayment of debt, payment back as January 2017 went unpaid. that states audit the hospitals that re- of ongoing costs of construction of

State Agencies Come Knocking

The City of Tulare and Tulare County aren’t the only governmental entities looking for cash.

The California Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) has filed two claims. One is for $2.3m, another for $2.5m.

Hospital officials state that they’ve got records proving the amounts have already been paid.

“We were suspicious when we got the notice[s] I think a week ago, and

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ceive such payments, a declaration attached to the claim states.

“DHCS, Myers & Stauffer, and the District Hospital Leadership Forum reached out to Tulare several times asking for the data and Tulare finally sent a few support files to Myers & Stauffer on June 22, 2017. The data that was submitted was incomplete and insufficient for the DSH audit. We again reached out to Tulare asking for the proper data and there was never a response received,” Jillian Mongetta, an auditor with Myers & Stauffer, writes in the declaration.

In a separate claim, DHCS officials seek an additional $2,513,810 for Medi-Cal overpayments.

Problems stemming from unsubmitted, or insufficient, paperwork have been common, Blitz said.

“We’re finding things everyday that require our attention, require justification, or require an action by the district to be able to remedy any particular situation that was not cured previously,” he said.

Consultants, Familiar Faces Unpaid

Multiple consultants went unpaid as officials with HCCA made attempts to solve the district’s cash flow issues and deal with rising debt.

Heather Creager, a consultant specializing in Electronic Medical Record software, filed a claim for $22,425.00 for work done between March and November of 2016.

the Tower project, and for other Hospital purposes.”

Its ability to do so, however, was being challenged by board members Kevin Northcraft, Mike Jamaica, and Senovia Gutierrez. Gutierrez had won a recall election, been sworn in, and the three voted in an emergency meeting to revoke that authority, but HCCA officials stated that she wasn’t officially a board member and the meeting wasn’t legal.

Shawn Burgess, HCCA’s chief information officer, alluded to the company’s efforts to seek out funding in his reply.

“We have been making progress— with finding potential glitches in the Cerner system impacting the $1MM month over month shortfall in cash.

On another tangent there is effort underway to leverage some of the capital assets to bring in some cash as well,” Burgess, replied on August 31. “Unfortunately, making payroll has been a challenge where money has been borrowed to cover this expense as well.

However, we do see progress on remedying the shortfall in the system and with financial arrangements.”

HCCA still managed to execute a $3m loan in the district’s name, the district later alleged. The money from that loan was received the same day Burgess’ email was sent, but the district claims the money immediately went to another company controlled by HCCA’s CEO -- not vendors like Creager.

CREDITORS continued on 5 »

Valley Voice 19 April, 2018

Tulare hospital, with loan, inching closer to reopening

DAVE ADALIAN

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

Tulare Local Health Care District (TLHCD) employees won’t miss a paycheck, and Tulare Regional Medical Center (TRMC) is one step closer to reopening its doors.

Quick Decision

At a very brief meeting held April 4, the District’s governing board voted 4-0 to accept a one-time $450,000 loan from Community Medical Centers, a Fresno-based medical management group.

The cash will be used to cover payroll and accounts payable.

“It was to cover payroll and a bill, that’s why they were doing it,” said TLHCD board member Steve Harrell.

The District has until May 1 to repay the no-interest loan. Current revenue streams will cover repayment, Harrell said.

“My question was how are we going to have that money in hand,” he said. “I was showed we have it on paper.”

Evolutions Not For Sale

The other item on the April 2 agenda was consideration of the sale and lease-back of the District’s public fitness facility, Evolutions, and the “lease of hospital facilities.” Had the board opted to sell the property, it

CREDITORS continued from 4

At the same time, officials were working with Wipfli/HFS Consultants -- the interim management company currently handling the district’s dayto-day operations -- to find lenders to finish the district’s beleaguered tower construction project.

Blitz, a consultant with Wipfli/HFS, stated that he was not involved in the earlier work with the district, and that the company was brought on by the district -- not HCCA. That work included a feasibility study, which Dr. Benny Benzeevi, HCCA’s CEO, mentioned publicly at an April, 2017 board meeting.

“The first step in that is to get a feasibility study which will confirm by an outside entity that the projections we have for the hospital’s ability to pay back that loan are accurate,” Benzeevi said at the meeting, “and that is what is happening at present.”

That study was never fully paid for, Wipfli’s bankruptcy claim suggests.

The company is requesting repayment for $93,256.73 of debt generated before the hospital’s bankruptcy claim, and $15,425.84 in debt generated afterwards.

HCCA has also claims for repayment.

One claim is for $5,908,213.62. That amount is for money the company claims was loaned to the Tulare Local Healthcare District and is secured by a number of attached promissory notes.

The other is for $10,674,478.18, and according to the filing, is claimed for the company’s termination fee, management fees, and “labor costs” that came after the district rejected the HCCA contract.

Banks, Lawyers Unpaid, Too

Bank of the Sierra went largely un-

would have leased the land back from the new owner and continued operations there.

It will not take that step. There was no report following the board’s closed-session decision to retain the Evolutions property at 1425 E. Prosperity Avenue.

A rumor circulated the District was considering selling the property to Dr. Yorai “Benny” Benzeevi, former manager of the District and CEO of Health Care Conglomerate Associates (HCCA).

HCCA holds a deed of trust for Evolutions and an adjacent plot, and has filed a pair of lawsuits against its former client.

Last month, the District, in a 3-2 split decision, voted to settle both suits. According to a District insider, Benzeevi will not get his hands on the District’s land.

Reopening TRMC

While the loan means the District will remain solvent as it undergoes reorganization under Chapter 9 of the federal Bankruptcy Code, there is still no firm date for the reopening of Tulare Regional.

Harrell, however, says he expects the hospital to reopen well within the next six months.

“We’re going to be open way before that,” he said.

Still, Harrell reports the road to getting patients treated at Tulare Re-

paid for the district’s $800,000 line of credit, according to a claim the bank filed. The loan, taken out in October 2016, was sought to repay other past due bills -- to Cardinal Health, a pharmaceutical vendor.

The records show that as of the time the district filed bankruptcy, it still owed Bank of the Sierra $599,624.63 in principal on the loan, along with interest and late fees. In its claim, the bank states that it applied $610,100.28 held in a money market account as collateral towards the unpaid portions of the loan.

That wasn’t enough to satisfy the interest, late fees, and legal fees -- required since the bank had to make multiple filings in bankruptcy court to apply the collateral towards the unpaid loan -- that had accrued on the loan as of March 5. The bank is seeking an additional $19,836.61.

Additionally, the district’s former law firm, BakerHostetler, filed a claim for nonpayment in the amount of $498,825.40. According to the records provided to the bankruptcy court, invoices began racking up in March of 2017.

Bruce Greene, the attorney who previously represented Benzeevi, HCCA, and the district, sent Benzeevi a letter in September 2017 stating that the firm would no longer take on new cases for HCCA or for Benzeevi personally, and would move to terminate its relationship with him.

“This letter shall serve as notice that the Baker Hostetler firm has determined that we must commence termination of our representation of you personally as well as our representation of HCCA, and all entities affiliated with you and HCCA (collectively, “You and HCCA”),” the letter read. “Commencing today, we will no longer undertake any new legal matters for You and HCCA.” It ended by requesting Benzeevi settle “outstanding accounts with the firm forthwith.”

gional is long, difficult and winding, and it’s proved to be full of unexpected pitfalls and delays. Yet Tulare Regional could open again at any time.

“Throughout the whole thing, I’m so optimistic I’ll tell you the next month, then we get something thrown at us,” he said.

Special Meeting Friday?

At its March meeting, the board tabled beginning the formalities for finding a management company willing to step into the gap left by the District’s estrangement with HCCA. Instead, it will discuss issuing the official request for proposals this month, perhaps at a special meeting to be held Friday, April 20.

“There are a couple of issues that are in the wind,” Harrell said. “We may have a special meeting to get them wrapped up. Things are moving.”

The board, he said, has a single purpose.

“Every single thing that we do is putting us one step closer to opening the hospital,” Harrell said. “That’s the only goal.”

Community Medical Centers is the current preferred choice to take over operations at TRMC. The privately-held, not-for-profit company operates three hospitals in Fresno and a third in Clovis, as well as several other health-care facilities in Fresno.

The loan between TLHCD and Community signals that relationship

remains healthy.

Bone to Pick

Meanwhile, Harrell still has an issue with Tulare Mayor Carlton Jones, who recently called Harrell a liar on social media after TRMC failed to open by a date Jones said Harrell had given during a meeting of the Tulare City Council earlier this year.

A pair of recordings of the meeting in question show Harrell did not give a date for the reopening of the hospital.

Harrell has been a regular attendee at Tulare City Council meetings since that body placed former Chief Wes Hensley on leave, eventually firing the long-time veteran officer.

Harrell is a former member of the Tulare Police Department.

After Harrell left the most recent Council meeting, he says Jones walked back his comments about Harrell and the TLHCD Board.

“I was called and told he (Jones) made a statement about me ‘lying,’ that he was somewhat confused by the comments he read in the paper,” Harrell said. “The only problem was that the comments were in your article (in the Valley Voice), which was written a month after the fact.”

Harrell said he intends to continue regularly attending Tulare City Council meetings, specifically to hear any remarks Jones might make first-hand.

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19 April, 2018 Valley Voice

6

AGRICULTURE

Voting results on milk order will come in June CHING LEE, CFBF Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture say they expect to announce the results of a producer referendum in early June on whether the state will join the federal milk marketing order, with implementation no later than Nov. 1 if the order is approved.

Producer voting on the referendum continues until May 5. USDA held a public meeting in Clovis last week to review the referendum process and what’s in the proposed federal order, and to answer questions.

To pass, two-thirds of producers voting, or producers representing two-thirds of the milk in the referendum, must approve the order. USDA said it will not reveal the actual results of the referendum, just whether it was approved or not.

It also will not make public whether the state’s qualified dairy cooperatives are bloc-voting on behalf of their members.

“Our whole intent is to be as inclusive as possible, but we also want to make certain that only the producers who are affected by a potential California federal milk marketing order are the ones who received the ballot,” said Dana Coale, USDA deputy administrator of dairy programs.

Only independent producers and those who belong to cooperatives that are not bloc-voting received ballots. They had to have supplied Grade A milk to California in May 2017 to be able to vote. For those shipping milk to more than one entity, voting depends on where the majority of their milk is shipped and whether it’s a cooperative that’s bloc-voting.

Each producer has one vote, even those who own multiple farms, un-

less those farms have different corporate structures or owners.

To ensure the integrity of the voting process, Coale said each ballot is numbered to allow tracking, and no photocopies are allowed. Ballots must be postmarked by May 5.

If the order is not approved, USDA will issue a formal document terminating the proceeding.

If it passes, USDA will begin working with milk handlers to ensure they understand the process and the system to which they’ll be moving. The department will also work on transitioning with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which will continue to administer a producer quota program that operates independently from the federal order.

“Our goal, if a California federal order is implemented, is to make the transition as seamless as possible for everyone,” Coale said.

USDA answered questions about how the proposed federal order differs from the current state order. For one, there is a 12-step process to making changes to federal orders, with a timeline of 12 to 18 months, Coale said. Under the state system, changes could be implemented within a couple of months of petitioning CDFA for a hearing.

Another difference is in milk pooling. In the proposed California federal order, as in the 10 existing federal orders, only fluid-milk plants are required to pool milk and pay the regulated minimum prices. Handlers of milk used in manufacturing don’t have to participate in the pool and are not subject to federal-order pricing. The current state system requires mandatory pooling of all classes of Grade A milk. CDFA currently regulates milk prices on all classes of milk

and enforces contract payments to producers.

Because USDA is only responsible for enforcing minimum prices on milk that’s pooled, the price independent producers receive for nonpool milk will depend on what is negotiated between producers and handlers, Coale explained. The value of that milk, she added, will also depend on supply-and-demand conditions of the market.

Speaking on what he has observed in other milk pools with respect to pricing, Cary Hunter, USDA market administrator for the Southwest order, said handlers will need to “pay a competitive price to maintain their relationship with the producers.”

Generally, handlers choose to opt out of the pool when the minimum class price exceeds the blend price.

To discourage handlers from frequently jumping in and out of the pool, the proposed order requires that for the months of April through February, handlers be allowed to repool only 125 percent of the milk they depooled the previous month, and for the month of March, 135 percent.

In an updated economic analysis of how adoption of the proposed California federal order could affect dairy farmers, USDA projects that the state’s uniform milk price could average 4 cents per hundredweight higher from 2018 to 2026. The blend price for that same period could increase an average of 45 cents per cwt., while the all-milk price could go up an average of 43 cents per cwt.

“Approving a California federal milk marketing order is about approving a system; it’s not necessarily about approving a number,” Coale said. “These are the numbers that we believe will result, based on our

analysis using this model. This model is the best tool that we have at USDA to provide you with an indication of what would happen if a California federal order were to be put in place.”

Because California produces about 20 percent of the nation’s milk supply, “coming into a federal order will have an impact on the entire system,” she added.

According to the USDA analysis, implementation of the California order could reduce the all-milk price in the Northeast, Central, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Arizona and unregulated West regions.

All other regions could experience increases in their annual all-milk price, ranging from 4 cents per cwt. in the Southwest to the largest increase of 43 cents per cwt. in California.

The model used for the analysis is based on historical annual data in the current federal orders, said Clifford Carman, USDA assistant to the deputy administrator of dairy programs.

Therefore, it would not account for anomalies that occur in any given year, such as crop losses or weather disasters.

“We can’t take into account those shocks that have happened,” said Erin Taylor, USDA acting director of order formulation and enforcement.

“They’re reflected in the data that’s fed into the model, but we can’t forget that next year, who knows what could happen?”

To view a recording of the public meeting, go to www.ams.usda.gov/ rules-regulations/moa/dairy/ca.

(Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@ cfbf.com.)

This article reprinted with the permission of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

Farm bill discussions will affect all Californians, says CFBF STAFF REPORTS Noting that programs in new federal farm legislation have the potential to benefit everyone in California, the leader of the California Farm Bureau Federation welcomed today’s release of draft legislation by the House Agriculture Committee.

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Discussions of farm-bill issues will likely continue for the next several months, Johansson said, adding that Farm Bureau “will remain active in advocating for farm and nutrition programs that will serve Californians for years to come.”

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Valley Voice 19 April, 2018

Tulare’s B-17 gets ‘TLC,’ to be presented on May 12 DAVE ADALIAN

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

Preston’s Pride will never fly again.

The World War II-era bomber’s quad propellers will never turn again.

Gun turrets that never spat fire at Nazi fighters in the skies over Germany never will. Neither will its bomb bays unleash exploding hell of red-hot shrapnel on unseen hostiles below, nor will this Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress probe miles beyond enemy battle lines on daring recon missions.

Likely, the 63-year-old bomber will never move again from beside the Golden State Highway in southern Tulare, where it languishes--seemingly ready for takeoff--and has since 1958.

Forgotten Fortress

She’s been mistreated over the decades by generations of miscreants who found an easy target in the neglected World War II memorial.

“Unfortunately, it was raped and pillaged for years,” said Greg Stathatos of B-17 Archaeology. “It’s been vandalized, just decaying away.”

Not anymore. The decrepit and nearly forgotten relic of WWII will soon shine again.

B-17 Archaeology

Already, Preston’s Pride is glowing again in the Valley sun, thanks to a group of volunteers--B-17 Archaeology--who travel the States restoring the less than 50 remaining B-17 models left in the world.

“It’s an all-volunteer group, which is what’s really great about it,” said Chris Harrell, the executive director and curator of Tulare Historical Museum. “They basically go around to the surviving B-17s that are left--there’s not a lot. They try to help restore and give them some good TLC over time.”

They aren’t just restoring Preston’s Pride’s original factory finish.

They’re also gathering the history of

LAWSUIT continued from 1

The last redrawing of districts

Tulare County’s supervisors have been elected by districts since the mid 1800’s, according to Julieta Martinez, the board’s chief of staff. The last time the TC Board of Supervisors realigned its districts was in 2011, which was based upon overall population – distributing the districts equally with the amount of residents in each district; not voters, and not by race.

In the agenda item referencing the redistricting of the September 27, 2011, Board of Supervisors meeting, the summary included – “The Elections Code provides that following the federal census, and using that census as a basis, the Board of Supervisors must adjust the boundaries of the supervisorial districts of the county as needed, so that the districts shall be as nearly equal in population as may be and shall comply with the provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.” It further stated – “The Board has determined that the following optional criteria will be considered in review the proposed plans: topography; geography; cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity and compactness of territory; and communities of interest.

The Board has also determined that the

7

the plane--which was built one month before Germany surrendered to Allied forces in 1945--including its role as a roadside attraction on Highway 99 between LA and San Francisco.

“We’re telling its story from where it went, how it got to where to where it’s sitting, and what it’s future is,” said Stathatos.

Local Flavor

When that history is complete it will be included in an ongoing series of DVDs produced by B-17 Archaeology called Surviving B-17s. The group is negotiating to have the series aired on network television. It is currently available for purchase at b17archaeology.com.

B-17 Archaeology would like to include the memories of those who’ve lived so long with this faded piece of American history.

“It’s the B-17 that has sat in one place for the longest time,” Stathatos said. “There are more childhood memories, if you can help us, if you have a photo of the old girl back in the day, please contact Chris here at the (Tulare Historical Museum). We want to include a montage of people’s stories.”

Contact the museum at tularehistoricalmuseum.org or (559) 686-2074.

Ship With No Name

Unlike her sister ships that flew in WWII, Preston’s Pride had no name when it arrived in Tulare.

“That moniker didn’t really come about until the ‘90s, or it could have been the early 2000s,” said Harrell. “It basically went by its tail number. This one never had a specific name.”

It did have a specific job.

During the development of thermonuclear weaponry during the Cold War, Preston’s Pride flew an important mission for Operation Crossroads, the nuclear bomb test that completely destroyed Bikini Atoll in the Marshall

TLC continued on 12 » following local criteria will be considered in reviewing the proposed plans: avoid dividing urban growth areas where possible; facilitate access of constituents to their Supervisors; and avoid splitting election precincts wherever possible.”

However, with approximately 70% of the county being Hispanic, Melo said in an interview, each district needs to be representative of its population.

Melo also cited that historically only one Hispanic has served on the county’s Board of Supervisors, and he was appointed to a partial term, not elected.

Melo said she was approached by several individuals within the county and asked to take a further look into the situation.

“There has to be fair representation,” she said. “There is a clear violation” as to how the districts are currently distributed.

In response

The county’s official response to an inquiry from the Valley Voice was: “The county of Tulare has received the letter from Melo and Sarsfield dated April 4, 2018, and will review the allegations with due diligence.

“We do want to remind anyone who is eligible but has not registered to vote that the deadline to register to vote in the next election is May 21.”

According to the office of Melo and Sarsfield, they have not yet received

Greg Stathatos of B-17 Archaeology, a volunteer group refurbishing Preston’s Pride at Mefford Field in Tulare, stands before the WWII-era Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The project will be complete in time for a public ceremony at 10 a.m. May 12. Dave Adalian/Valley Voice

any response to their letter.

District 2 Supervisor Pete Vander Poel said the board has not yet had the opportunity to discuss the letter.

He was deeply involved in the 2011 redistricting, he said, and “is very confident in that.”

In an April 10 radio interview on K-TIP, District 5 Supervisor Mike Ennis, did, to some extent, address the potential lawsuit.

There are 460,000 residents in Tulare County with 90,000 in each (of five) districts, he said. “You just can’t go and make spots all over the county, and call that a district – a district has to coincide and be within itself.

“It’s all defined on how many residents live within that district – it’s not on the voting. It’s not on how many people are registered to vote. We got no control over people getting registered to vote. That’s up to them to get registered to vote.”

Ennis said it was an outside committee that worked on the redistricting issue in 2011.

District 5, he said, is probably 70% Hispanic with Porterville being over 50% Hispanic, and the smaller outlying areas being almost 100% Hispanic.

“I think we did a very good job on this thing. I don’t know what they are trying to pull,” he said, “They’re just trying to get some money, I guess.”

He ended by saying redistricting is

done every 10 years.

He should probably not comment any further, he said, and that the board will probably be “brought up to speed” about it in closed session.

Kern County lost similar case in court

In a similar case involving Kern County in February of this year, Kern County’s Board of Supervisors lost its battle. A US District Judge ruled district boundaries, created by the County in 2011, were illegally drawn and in violation of the US Voting Rights Act. That suit was brought against Kern County by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) defending several Kern County voters, according to The Bakersfield Californian.

New district boundaries have been agreed upon by the county and MALDEF, with a few tweaks still to be made. The new districts will need approval through an ordinance by that county’s boards of supervisors. Three district board seats will be up for election in November.

Melo said she has “little faith” the Tulare County Board of Supervisors will take steps to address redistricting itself. “I am pretty confident we will have to file a lawsuit.”

Disclosure: The owners of the Valley Voice have previously used the services of Melo and Sarsfield in personal matters.

19 April, 2018 Valley Voice

8

FREE

continued from 1 Frasier continued, “the letter also included a Marsy’s Law victim’s bill of rights card. I was also given an additional case number. The District Attorney assigned me a victim advocate named Joan Sanders who was with the victim witness assistance division.”

Over the next few months Frasier waited to hear the news that his abuser had been arrested. When no one contacted him he started asking questions.

In February, Frasier made an attempt to reach out to the district attorney’s office in hopes of finding out what, if anything, had been done. He called the DA’s office but only received the same information as before, which was his case number and the name of his victim advocate.

Frasier recounted, “Later that evening I was eating out with friends, I received a phone call from my advocate and she explained to me that the district attorney’s office had sent the report back to the Farmersville Police Department for further review. I asked why that was and I am still uncertain at this time. I believe I was told it was to gather more evidence.”

On March 16 Frasier reached out to the Farmersville Police Department for an update on his case. He was informed that Officer Alvarez was on medical leave and that it was uncertain when he would be back.

“The officer advised me he could not access my case, and the only officer responsible was on medical leave.”

Seemingly hitting a wall, Frasier drove back to the TCDA’s office to inquire as to why his case had been kicked back to Farmersville in the first place.

Frasier said, “I then drove to the district attorney’s office located on the second floor of the Tulare County courthouse. I spoke with a clerk who asked me if I was ‘representing myself’ and directed me to room 124 on the first floor. Confused, I proceeded to room 124, only to discover it was for traffic and court appearances. Walking the halls, I was approached by a very nice and respectful sheriff’s deputy who advised me to seek a copy of the police report at the Farmersville police headquarters.”

On returning to the Farmersville Police Department Frasier was informed that he could not receive a copy of the report due to its nature.

On March 26, Frasier made another attempt to determine the status of his case. He called the Farmersville Police Department and spoke to Detective Barklow. Detective Barklow seemed to be unaware of his case, but Barklow wanted to make some inquiries and called Frasier back soon after with some unsettling news.

A system of failures

This wasn’t the first time law enforcement dropped the ball concerning Frasier’s abuser. The Exeter Police Department allegedly received two reports on the same child molesters in the 1990’s.

In 1995 Samantha’s mother allegedly reported to the Exeter Police Department that her daughter had been sexually molested between the ages of three and 10 by two men. Samantha had been warned by her abusers that if she told anyone her mother would no longer love her and that she would be put in foster care.

So Samantha didn’t say anything until she was 10-and-half years old. Her

mother then went to the Exeter Police Department, which allegedly brushed her off, saying there was not enough evidence.

The first time the police were made aware of the child molesters was 1990 or 1991. According to Samantha, a young boy was brutally raped by one of the men and left in a plum orchard off of Orange Avenue in Exeter. “I was told he fought back and that’s why he was beaten to a pulp.”

He was six years old.

The boy’s mother allegedly went to the Exeter Police Department to report the crime, but Samantha was too young when it happened to understand the details or why the case was not investigated.

Once Frasier came forward to report on his abusers, Samantha took the opportunity to finally tell the police her story in her own words.

“It’s been buried for a long time and I was told I just have to accept this, but I decided that is not OK,” Samantha said.

Who is responsible?

Samantha has not been contacted by the TCDA or the Farmersville Police since December of 2017. Frasier has not been contacted since speaking with Detective Barklow in late March.

So who is responsible?

According to the Farmersville city website, the Police Department Investigations Bureau is responsible for the investigation of crimes which include sex crimes, juvenile/crimes against children. “Often these investigations take many hours of field and office work before an arrest can be made and cases can be forwarded to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution.”

According to the correspondence received by Samantha and Frasier in 2017, Farmersville had in fact sent the TCDA its case.

During the March 15 TCDA forum, Assistant District Attorney Dave Alavezos stated, “One of the first things he (Tim Ward) did when he became appointed (2013) he set up a program that was basically a Violence Against Children Unit. We took a group of prosecutors, added to them, and made them a focused unit to prosecute people who do sexual assaults and physical assaults on children.”

Challenger Matt Darby’s response at the forum was, “I honestly felt that when Tim came up with Crimes Against Children Team it was nothing but a political ploy. He didn’t have anything to run on (in 2014) so he came up with that position.”

What happens next?

Detective Barklow kept her word on March 26 when Frasier called the police department wanting to find answers. She called him back within the hour and asked who at the DA’s office told Frasier that the case had been pushed back to Farmersville.

Frasier said, “Detective Barklow told me that the DA did not push the report back to Farmersville and that she had to call (the DA’s office) and request the report.”

Allegedly, the case had been languishing at the TCDA’s office for six months.

“Though Barklow didn’t say it in so many words, it is obvious the DA’s office lied to me,” said Frasier. “The DA’s special unit didn’t help me, and I fear that they never will.”

Detective Barklow has taken over the case.

Valley Voice 19 April, 2018

TULARE

continued from 1 goals and the philosophies of leadership upon which they are based.

The City thanks you for your many years of service to the City of Tulare.”

As the Valley Voice has reported, Lampe hopes to prove in a public appeal hearing a list of items, including just what the initial cause of Hensley’s being placed on administrative leave was; and, that while denied by the actual Notice of Termination, that reasoning came into play with Hensley’s termination.

He would like to depose or call upon some 18+ witnesses.

Who said what?

The latest discussion has centered around an alleged misquote of Phillips to another media outlet with regard to comments made by the California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) officials regarding the Hensley case. In the Visalia Times-Delta, Phillips was quoted as saying “Hensley will be provided an appeal in accordance with what ‘the law provides for.’ Hensley’s reinstatement as police chief will not be a possible outcome, she said.” “’The California Police Chiefs Association and all relevant case law have been consulted to ensure that the city is following proper procedure in this case,’ Phillips said. ‘An administrative appeal does not mean a full evidentiary hearing. That is only available to persons with vested property rights in their continued employment.’”

Lampe questioned the quote and contacted the CPCA himself. After a day of communications, James Touchdown, CPCA legal representative, sent a letter to the Times-Delta, copying it to Lampe, who forwarded it on to the Voice. In part it stated, “I am writing this e-mail to you because your article incorrectly asserts that the California Police Chiefs Association, and specifically both I and the Executive Director for the Association, have purportedly ‘confirmed’ that it is the Association’s position that Chief Hensley is entitled to a ‘limited liberty interest administrative appeal hearing.’ Please be advised that this statement is incorrect. The Association has ‘confirmed’ no such position with Ms. Phillips.

The Association has taken no position concerning the legal dispute between Chief Hensley and the City of Tulare.”

Lampe also spoke during the public comment period at the April 3 city council meeting, stating he felt the city and Phillips owe the former chief an apology.

Phillips responded to the Voice in an email regarding the incident and to her response at the April 3 council meeting.

“My comments on Tuesday were in response to the emailed quote from Mr. Lampe and his quote read at Council on Tuesday night. I now believe that his representation about the quote was

BAKU

continued from 2 Before we’d even left the United States, Alison had hired Elshad—coincidentally an OSCE election observer interpreter—as our guide to the interior.

He worked the election two days prior to leading us out, and his own observations were telling.

Elshad said the election was hilarious. The observers were not allowed to look at the returns. The ballots were kept from scrutiny. There was, he said, a situation the observers called a “carousel.”

All across the country a select cadre went

9 incorrect,” she said. “In fact, the Times Delta did not insert Hensley’s name into my quote - instead the article was written in a manner that made it sound like I was saying the Association had weighed in on Hensley’s termination and Mr. Lampe added Hensley’s name to my quote in his representations. In fact, the Association was only ever asked and only ever gave information about how they have seen other agencies interpret govt code 3304c.”

She further stated – “The Association would never weigh in on a pending legal matter, nor would they have all the information to do so, because Hensley’s contract, the City Charter, City personnel rules, and govt code 3304 must be reviewed to do that.”

With regard to a hearing, Phillips recommends a Lubey hearing.

A Lubey hearing is based on the court case, Lubey vs. the City and County of San Francisco (1979). “The court noted that ordinarily probationers can be dismissed without a hearing, since they have no property right in continued employment. (Lubey v. City and County of San Francisco, supra, 98 Cal. App. 3d at p. 345.) However, the court concluded that in certain situations a hearing may be required,” according to Lawpipe.

“The City is absolutely comfortable with the position it has taken on providing Mr. Hensley with a Lubey liberty interest hearing, as cited in my letter,” she said. “Obviously, Mr. Hensley always has the ability to try to change the City’s mind and void the termination, however, ordered reinstatement by a hearing officer will not be an option.

This is standard with at will employees throughout the state. That is why they are at will and not civil service employees. The only complicating factor here is the application of 3304 directly to a chief of police. We have double checked all of our findings and have concluded that it provides for an administrative appeal hearing to a Chief regardless of the reason for the termination, thereby increasing the situations in which the Chief would get ANY hearing compared to regular at will employees. It does not, however change the type of hearing required.

“If Mr. Lampe would contact some other jurisdictions, instead of jumping to conspiracy theories that I am trying to deny his client’s fair hearing, he would be able to confirm that they take the same position as Tulare.”

Phillips further said, “Wes Hensley is no longer employed with the City.

Therefore, the City has no authority to conduct an investigation and the investigation that had been ongoing was immediately suspended upon termination of his contract.

“Mr. Lampe has indicated that Wes Hensley will waive privacy and confidentiality on behalf of his client in the future. I have previously indicated to him in writing that I am happy to release all information possible to the public as soon as he sends me a copy of

that signed waiver. No such waiver has been received.

Once it is, or he makes this a public case in the Superior Court, I am happy to answer any and all of your questions and show the citizens that the City’s actions in this case were lawful and justified.”

Lampe responded, “Contrary to Ms. Phillips’ assertion, she has never requested a signed confidentiality waiver from my client.”

In a March 26 letter from Lampe to Phillips, he stated – “As you may be aware, Mr. Hensley has previously indicated that he will waive his right to privacy, and hereby demands that his Administrative Appeal be conducted in a public setting, open to both the press and interested citizens.”

That public case in Superior Court just may be coming.

The city council is not supposed to intervene in employment matters of the city. However, it has been embroiled in the matter, and asked by the public to intervene. This and other council matters have brought some to claim the city is in turmoil, a fact brought up to Mayor Carlton Jones during his weekly K-TIP radio chat.

“We’re not even close to in turmoil,” Jones said during an April 9 chat.

When asked about his support of the former chief, Jones responded, “it’s not an issue as to whether you support a person or not – I wish the best for Wes. Our city manager still had a job to do.”

He further commented, “I totally disagree with the approach that his representation is taking and if it was me, personally, and there was an issue between myself and my employer or myself and the people who work under me, I would have took all of the effort and energy to repair those relationships rather than going after a council that the truth is I have nothing to do with my employment. The employees who put out a letter of no confidence in you.”

It is believed Jones was referencing a press release of December 5, from the legal representative of the Tulare Police Officers Association, which was also presented to council.

“The stuff I was reading in the paper – and you see the comments that they were looking into a credit card.

“We all know the truth, including Wes that if he was doing an investigation he should tell people what the out-

come of that investigation was. I know that I didn’t use the credit card frivolously, or in the wrong manner, I know exactly what I did.

“He called me right after that and told me what the outcome was -- he should share that with people instead of letting them believe or think that there was anything different.”

On September 27, 2017, Hensley was told by the then city manager, Joe Carlini, to look into the receipt of a dinner Mayor Jones had paid for with a city credit card. The receipt indicated a meal for three at Cattlemen’s Restaurant in Selma, with Corp. James Kelly, who is also the president of the Tulare Police Officer’s Union, plus one.

According to the letter, Lampe has sources beyond Hensley who were aware of the situation and overheard a conversation between Carlini and Hensley.

“I have the f*****g Mayor committing fraud with the city credit card, what is next?” was a quote by Carlini within the letter.

According to various sources, Carlini later told Hensley to back off from looking into the incident. The mayor’s wife had come in and reimbursed the city for the dinner. At this point, it is still unclear as to who the mayor had paid for other than himself.

Mayor Jones has also been quoted as having said, “So I bought my family dinner. What’s the big deal?”

Hensley was placed on paid administrative leave later that day. Weeks later, Cpt. Fred Ynclan and Lt. Jerod Boatman were also placed on paid administrative leave. To date, the two officers remain on leave and under investigation.

The issue of the council’s use in credit cards has become another hot issue, one which Councilman Jose Sigala asked to be explained to the council and to the public. It was placed on the agenda of the April 17 council meeting.

precinct to precinct casting its vote for Ilham. When there was a glitch with one voter, Elshad reported that, with some indignation, the voter demanded to know what the problem was, claiming that he had already effortlessly voted five times previously. The celebratory fireworks were launched in advance of the results.

According to Elshad, the Central Election Commission (CEC) had earlier alerted each precinct as to what its tally should conform to.

According to the CEC, Ilham was re-elected with 86.09% voter participation and something north of 75% voter approval.

The OSCE agreed with Elshad.

As I mentioned--a sham election.

Oh—and that mountainside on fire?

Another sham. It’s more like a burning curb. I sure as hell would never have come here--bucket list or not--just for that. But that I did—and I had to. Because the Chief would have divorced me had I refused after having lowed and complained so long.

But part of me came here to experience being the “Other.” To be halfway around the globe, culturally uncluttered, and with absolutely no English in the ambient.

Reconnecting with Alison on this

level was wonderful. Imagine the best that old friendship and new technology can accomplish. She was a great tour guide in her own right, and she hired a great guide in Elshad.

“What a great trip,” I thanked her.

Everything was fascinating and, with Alison’s translating skills, we felt totally understood--as well as safe.

“Yeah—”she said. “It IS a police state.”

I’d totally forgotten. With its climate and two-tiered economy so similar to ours, we were as at home here as in Tulare County.

So much for being the “Other.”

Joseph Oldenbourg

The Mayor says

19 April, 2018 Valley Voice

10

POLITICAL FIX continued from 3

the wealthy have their lawyers, but the people, who make up a Democracy, have the media.

National and local news shine a bright light on those with power, and provides an accountability which almost always leads to justice--sometimes not quickly, but justice just the same. And justice is neither conservative nor liberal and reporting the truth is neither Republican nor Democrat.

Just one article can reverse the course of a huge injustice.

Take for example the abuse endured by all those women at the hands of Bill Cosby or the Healthcare Conglomerates Association mishandling the public’s money.

The media brings justice where justice has not been served.

It provides a platform for those who do not have one.

Newspapers level the playing field between the powerful and those with limited power, but who

ARCO

continued from 1 drive-through restaurant and convenience store. Original plans called for 24-hour operations.

Chairman Brett Taylor cast the lone vote supporting the plan.

Capacity at the Visalia Convention Center was standing-room-only, with dozens lining up to speak against the project.

Early in the meeting, Taylor clashed with the raucous onlookers as they jeered at supporters of Chandi Group USA’s plan and cheered those who spoke against it.

Those speaking in favor of the project included the landowners and Chandi Group USA employees.

Chandi Will Appeal

Those fighting construction of the ARCO were pleased, but cautious.

“I am very happy. Not only am I happy, the community is very happy,” said Robin Hernandez, a leader of the Oppose ARCO group. “Their response has been very happy, very grateful, very appreciative.”

Chandi has vowed to appeal the Commission’s decision to the Visalia City Council.

“We simply respectfully disagree with the Commission’s decision to overturn staff’s recommendation for approval,” Chandi Group USA representative Tom Freeman wrote in an email to the Oppose ARCO group. “We believe we have the right to develop this land. We followed all zoning laws, accepted each and every condition (City Hall) staff directed, addressed numerous public concerns you expressed in news reports, and we will appeal this decision.”

Chandi Group USA has 10 days to file the appeal. Documents must be received by 5 p.m. Thursday, April 19.

Chandi’s Mixed Message

There appear to be contradictory messages coming from the leadership at Chandi Group USA. According to reporting by ABC30, Nachhattar Chandi–CEO of the Imperial Valley-based gas station own-

have the power to vote.

And that is where the Fourth Estate fits into Democracy.

And Finally……

A few Sundays ago I put aside reading my weekend edition of the New York Times and wrote a story maybe no one wanted to hear.

I reviewed my notes of emotional testimonies, and recounted the tearful phone calls, and then wrote the article Why are These Men Free, featured in this issue.

It’s a story about six victims of child sexual abuse and their abusers who have never seen the inside of a jail.

That Sunday was one of my more difficult days, and as anyone who reads my column knows, I’ve had some doozies.

But if it was difficult for me, how much more difficult was it for the victims who live with the constant memories, and now--as adults--fear for the safety of their own children?

It was fate that two of the six victims, Samantha and Frasier, came

ership and real estate development group–says no final decision has been reached on whether to appeal the Planning Commission decision.

The elusive Chandi, who attended the April 9 Planning Commission meeting, did not address the commissioners. He also refused to discuss the situation with members of Oppose ARCO, and Chandi declined to answer or even acknowledge questions from the press.

Other representatives of Chandi Group USA declined numerous requests for interviews by the Valley Voice after initially agreeing to speak on the record.

Battle-Ready Stance

The differing answers concern Hernandez, who claims to have been met with stonewalling when attempting negotiation with Chandi Group USA about Oppose ARCO’s concerns. Initially willing to talk–at least theoretically–Chandi Group USA abruptly ceased communications when it learned Oppose ARCO members had consulted an attorney. The company’s erratic behavior was commented on by the planning commissioners prior to their vote.

Hernandez said she’s concerned those guarding the neighborhood will relax if they believe the fight against the developer is won. She hopes Chandi Group is acting in good faith, but the group will be ready if it’s not.

“I’ve got to stop the bleeding.

All the (Oppose ARCO) signs are disappearing,” she said. “They (her neighbors) think it’s over. It’s not over. We’ve to be prepared for one more time.”

Oppose ARCO continues to hold weekly strategy meetings.

ARCO Doesn’t Fit In

While staff at the city’s planning office recommended approving Chandi Group’s plan based on revised documentation–including a new sound pollution study after the first was found to be flawed to the point of unusability–it was the nature of the business that kept commissioners from giving it their OK.

into my life.

But until I met them I had no idea that identified child molesters lived freely amongst us. They are our neighbors, standing with us in the checkout line, drinking coffee with us at Starbucks, and sitting next to us and our children on the bus.

From Samantha’s testimony it seems that the Exeter Police Department should have filed charges against these men a long time ago.

From Frasier’s testimony it seems that the Tulare County District Attorney’s office misplaced its case and it fell through the cracks.

The first known molestation incident was around 1994, and the last known incident was in 2011.

That means these men were molesting children over the span of 20 years even though the police had been notified at least twice.

The Valley Voice does not report on crime.

Nevertheless, I get regular press releases from local law enforcement agencies about the arrest of human traffickers, drug dealers and child

molesters.

So how did these men slip through the cracks, and are there many more out there just like them?

Is it the Exeter or Farmersville Police Department’s fault? Is it the DA’s office fault? Is it the fault of the system? Or do the gears of justice just turn so slowly that it is incapable of keeping our children safe?

Frasier and Samantha are certain these men are still abusing children.

“They have been doing it for 20 years,” said Samantha. “Why would they stop now?”

It wasn’t easy for Samantha or her mother to relive those years. But she didn’t think it was fair that her abuser was free to ride his bike, enjoy the fresh air and go about his life while everyday she has to live with the memories of what he did to her.

Samantha and Frasier wanted to tell their painful story so more children won’t have to tell one of their own. Hopefully it was not told in vain, and might bring about real change and a little bit of justice for them.

A colossal gas station has no place in one of the city’s nicer neighborhoods was a sentiment repeated often by the dozens of concerned citizens who addressed the Commission.

“The proposed ARCO is not right for this neighborhood,” said Donna Martin, a 31-year resident of the area and a 13-year veteran of the Visalia Unified School District’s Governing Board.

Martin also countered Chandi Group’s assertion residents need the services it would provide. A gas station with a convenience store already occupies the northeast corner of the intersection, and two full-service car washes operate within one mile. A Jack-in-the-Box opened recently in the same shopping complex.

“It’s not compatible with the interests of this neighborhood,” Martin said.

“I’m not only happy for the decision, but I’m very grateful the planning commissioners who listened, particularly Sarrah Pearcio,” Hernandez said. “She did what we did. She went to these car washes. She went to these gas stations. She went to the neighborhoods. From that, she saw this was the size of Costco. I’m really appreciative that she did that work.”

She praised Commissioner Chris Gomez for reading the extensive documentation she provided.

Their work, Hernandez says, demonstrates priority for quality of life over revenue.

“They really took into account what this will do to the neighborhood,” Hernandez said.

The Right Call

Maile Malkonian, a resident of West Street who has seen traffic in front of her house multiply as a result of a previous decision by the Planning Commission not to connect Giddings Street with Caldwell, pleaded with commissioners not to make things worse.

“Please, do not exacerbate this situation with another bad decision,” she said.

Malkonian said she longs for the day when electric vehicles replace gas-driven cars because of the noise reduction it will bring to what she says was once a much more peaceful area. She also pointed out fuel sales is a shrinking “sunset industry.”

“This is doomed to be a white elephant in the near future,” Malkonian said.

“Visalians First”

Hernandez said she is heartened by the commissioners’ action, saying they didn’t appear to be “in it for the money” in the form of tax dollars the AM/PM would generate.

“They actually put Visalians first,” she said. “That made me so proud.”

She singled out two members in particular.

Smaller Station Possible

Chandi Group’s Freeman believes the Planning Commission is likely to approve a smaller filling station at the same site, and his email to Oppose ARCO hinted at what may be in store. They may use their chance to appeal to revert to a less intrusive development apparently suggested

by City Hall after the Planning Commission rejected their initial plan last year.

“It is possible that the appeal will also address the revisions to the scope and size of the project discussed with city staff in discussions about the project following the first ruling of the planning commission,” Freeman wrote.

Freeman said Chandi Group USA, which operates other AM/PM stores in Visalia, has “enjoyed a great relationship with Visalia customers” and he took a conciliatory tone in his email to Hernandez and Oppose ARCO. Chandi Group USA will, according to Freeman, reduce the size of the project.

“Likely, the car wash would be eliminated, along with four dispensers–that is eight pump nozzles,” he wrote, “and the actual size of the station will be reduced by as much as one-third of its original size to address the sentiments expressed by commissioners and many members of the public.”

Valley Voice 19 April, 2018

VOICES & OPINIONS

11

Wheaton “will make an amazing superintendent”

Gubler posesses “integrity, wisdom, conviction”

EMILY RODRIGUEZ, ED.D.

CYNTHIA NORVALL

Use your voice by commenting at ourvalleyvoice.com or email editor@ourvalleyvoice.com

This letter is in support of Dr. Craig Wheaton for Superintendent of Schools. I have known Dr. Wheaton for over 19 years. I first met Dr. Wheaton when he was an elementary principal with Corcoran Unified School District.

At the time, I was a Counselor working at the middle school in Corcoran. Being a new co-administrator, I was extremely impressed with Dr. Wheaton’s eagerness to provide support to our newly appointed Principal and site administration. Dr. Wheaton made numerous visits to our campus to meet and observe our site administrative team. His support, guidance and honest feedback provided me with the foundation and confidence to become an effective administrator.

After leaving Corcoran Unified,

I worked with Visalia Unified for 15 years as a school administrator. I had the privilege of, once again, working with Dr. Wheaton. Dr. Wheaton served as an Area Administrator and Superintendent for Visalia Unified.

Therefore, I had the opportunity to continue my interaction with him both at the school site and community level. Dr. Wheaton and I served on several community organizations including: Tulare County Hispanic Leadership Network (TCHLN), California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators (CALSA), and Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).

Throughout all these years, I can honestly say that Dr. Wheaton has proven to be a man with great character, leadership, creativity, respect and commitment. Dr. Wheaton has

demonstrated the ability to work in diverse communities, set rigorous standards for students and staff, develop effective college & career programs, and most importantly acquire positive results in every capacity he has served.

I believe Dr. Craig Wheaton will make an amazing Superintendent! As a community, we need to support a leader with a vision to help the Central Valley excel in all aspects of education and lifelong learning. Dr. Wheaton has the heart, passion and leadership to make our community great! Our students deserve not only a great education but also a great leader! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at (559) 967-4481 or erodriguez@farmersville.k12.ca.us.

Dr. Emily Rodriguez is the principal of Freedom Elementary School in Farmersville.

have resigned or have decided against re-election, the Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan’s announcement of his congressional retirement is the most significant.

It demonstrates that the President’s base is fast eroding and is on the fast track of turning away from a

dangerous path and agenda. Not as a partisan but as an American, I applaud Rep. Ryan for finally standing up for our country. I call upon my district’s representatives Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy and David Valadao to stand up for us as well as their House leader has done.

Macareno: Local reps should “stand up for us” like Ryan RUBEN MACARENO On my campaign trail for the state senate I always talk about how important the mid term House elections are in literally saving our country.

In a sea of a historic number of Republicans Members of Congress who

“

Jose Sigala is a man of integrity, talent, and carries with him a passion to help all his constituents, republican and Democrat alike. His goals aren’t to bring money to one side of the tracts, he wants to bring money to help his community and all who live within its boundaries. You speak of perks, if taking criticism from those who like “the same”, challenging the status quo, fight to gain monies allocated for the very needs Mr. Sigala highlights, and losing sleep so the community gains. If those are perks, then yes, Mr. Sigala gladly accepts the challenge. He knows the needs of his district and he wants to bring those needs to a resolution. I support you Mr. Sigala, and I wish you well.

— Robert Vega on Jose Sigala to Run for 26th Assembly

“

Very interesting! The board is considering a “deal” with HCCA, who is their mortal enemy? There is definitely MUCH MORE to the story. The board really is causing the back fire to themselves.

You made most people to despise HCCA and now you’re making deal with them?

I have learned in life that for most cases, the good guy versus the bad guy is really subjective on which side of the fence you’re on.

This is why there are perpetual wars in our world. Continuation of seeing everything one sided.

— the truth on Tulare hospital votes to settle HCCA suits

“

”

”

Mayor Jones try’s to act as if the City Manager doesn’t work for him and he only listens to him regarding budget or issues related to the council as a whole.

I know of two people who were told by him “Jones” The the city manager works for him and will do as he says. Nunley needs to go as well, I am gonna get all the public files I can regarding Nunleys business with the city. I want to find out what money he owed the city before he was elected and what he paid after he was elected. I don’t think I will be surprised to learn fees disappeared after he was elected. If someone starts a recall I will donate to the fund generously.

— Erik on Turbulence plagues Tulare PD, city

“

”

It is correct in thinking that three council members Should have the courage to stand up to what is going on; unfortunately at this present time, there are probably only two that would. Everyone knows where the mayor truly stands, despite how he constantly hides behind his own hypocritical words, trying to fool the public into thinking otherwise. So that leaves the remaining two members, one appears to be only interested in self, and the other appears to being trapped under the thumb of the mayor, despite trying to break out from under it. Maybe there’s still hope for that member.

It is also correct that the council’s evaluation will be determined at the ballot box. One ‘evaluation’ will happen this November.

Unfortunately though, the election for two of them are not until 2020. God forbid how much more damage the two could do between now and then. Hopefully the residents of their districts will come to the realization that for the betterment of the entire city, in the long run we can’t afford to wait for that 2020 election.

Monetary costs for recalls pale in comparison to the true overall cost of the city continuing in the direction that it is going down deeper and darker by the months.

— Thumbs Up to Tulare? on Turbulence plagues Tulare

“

The citizens of Tulare County are in the unique position of having an opportunity to support a political candidate possessing all of those virtues that are far too often absent. I am referring to Warren Gubler, a man who I believe should become our next Assemblyman.

I was fortunate to work with Warren for more than 12 years. During that time, I observed that he valued honesty in all that he undertook. I was always proud to say that we worked together because he is such a man of integrity. At the same time, I felt confident that the decisions he made or the course of action he took in those legal matters on which we were working was the right course. I have always held Warren in high esteem and am not surprised about all that he has been able to achieve for the city of Visalia as a member of the City Council and currently as our Mayor.

By voting for Warren Gubler, you have the opportunity to send to Sacramento a man possessing integrity, wisdom and conviction, together with an unwavering sense of right and wrong.

Please join me in making Warren Gubler our next Assemblyman.

In the 95 years my family has been in Tulare this has got to be the most dysfunctional city council there has ever been. Two council persons have the courage to do what is right and stand for change. It is a shame that one will not. I wish Craig Vevoda was back in office. Misuse of a City of Tulare credit card which belongs to the tax payers my parents, your parents, my children and your children no matter how big or small is a crime. In my career I had access to a large line of city credit and I would never ever abuse the tax payers money or trust. Tulare you do not deserve this quagmire of a council. The town looks like a dying town, Drive around and see for yourself is this what you want ? I have too many family members at rest in Tulare Cemetery to not care. I feel that as with the Hospital Board it is time to Recall, Replace, and Reboot the City Council Persons who are destroying Tulare. You deserve better we all do. My grandchildren do!’

— Tulare True on Turbulence plagues Tulare PD, city

“ “

”

The allegation of voting twice is a heck of an allegation.

Would it be too much to expect a picture of the 2 ballots cast?

— Saul Travers on Political Fix (5 April, 2018)

” ”

Not gonna happen because if it did then the California Secretary of State would have more pressure to address this matter publicly. I guess 58 counties are too heavy of a work load for his office to do the due diligence that their responsibilities call for. It’s not like the State Secretary himself would actually be doing the bulk of the work, after all he has underlings to do the actual work. As far as Ms. Crocker is concerned…..I’m with the Catherine on this…..in my opinion she is too political savvy to not have known all along.

— Barbara on Political Fix (5 April, 2018)

”

12

Valley Voice

19 April, 2018

TLC

continued from 7 Islands in 1946.

“This B-17 was the mother ship,” Stathatos said. “It flew drone B-17s in and out of the mushroom cloud.”

Preston’s Pride is the last surviving B-17 from Operation Crossroads.

Native Pilot Flies Home

A B-17 Flying Fortress wasn’t Tulare’s first choice to attract the attention of motorists passing the then tiny farm town. Before it moved operations to Bakersfield, Tulare had been the central hub of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

“The city wanted a train, an actual steam engine,” said Stathatos. “They couldn’t get one.”

Instead, they turned to native son Gen. Maurice Arthur “Mo” Preston, the one-time commander of United States Air Forces in Europe during WWII, who was born in Weed and attended high school in Tulare. The four-star general later commanded the Fifth and 19th Air Forces.

Preston--with his son as copilot--flew the B-17 from March Field Air Museum in Riverside to Tulare, but there was a slight technical snag. The crew was forbidden from landing the airplane at Mefford Field, where Preston’s Pride now stands. The USAF deemed the runway at Mefford too short to land the bomber there.

“A local farmer plowed his field and made a dirt runway,” Stathatos said. “It’s not Mefford Field, so he did not break an order. He just followed the gray area.”

The Restoration

The work on Preston’s Pride only includes the plane’s bright alumi-

Volunteers with B-17 Archaeology perform restoration work on Preston’s Pride, a WWII-era Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Dave Adalian/Valley Voice

num exterior. One dozen volunteers have gathered from as far as North Carolina to perform the work, which includes repairing minor damage to the plane caused when it was struck by a runaway semi tractor-trailer in

1982. The hull of Preston’s Pride is an empty shell.

“The original interior is absolutely gutted,” said Stathatos. “There’s nothing left on the inside.”

There is footage of the airplane’s interior. It, along with footage of the

plane in flight, will be included on the historic DVD. That footage will aid B-17 Archaeology as it moves the restoration inside Preston’s Pride.

“The ultimate goal is, once the outside is done, I have people who want to donate piece of the inside so we can restore it to the correct 1946 (configuration),” Stathatos said.

Restoration of the B-17’s exterior will include restoring the markings received at the factory in 1946.

Re-Opening Ceremony Those working on the project are volunteers, and materials to complete the work have been donated. Groups pitchinginincludetheChurchof Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Home Depot, which is providing the paint.

“This is a project totally done all by donation,” said Stathatos.

Work on the B-17 will be complete in time for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10am on May 12. The public is invited to attend.

MEDICARE 101 I N F O R M AT I O N A L SEMINAR Sponsored by Key Medical Group and Kaweah Delta Health Care District

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DATES TO CHOOSE FROM:

APRIL 12, 19, AND 26 MAY 17 & 24

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THE LIFESTYLE CENTER 5105 W. Cypress, Visalia, CA

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H E A LT H C A R E D I S T R I C T

19 April, 2018

VALLEYSCENE

ourvalleyvoice.com

Sequoia Symphony ends season with Beethoven’s 9th

ic is from the Bay Area.

Joining them will be the College The Sequoia Symphony will end of the Sequoias Concert Choir and Sethe season with the quoia Chamber well-known and Chorale directed by popular BeethoJohn Sorber. ven’s Ninth SymAlso on the phony—performed program is Menat a different time delssohn’s “Violin and venue. Because Concert in E Miof the large choir nor,” considered needed to perone of the four form the work, the great violin concerconcert has been tos of the 19th cenmoved to L.J. Wiltury. Guest violinist liams Theatre in is YuEun Kim from Visalia on a Sunday Seoul, Korea. afternoon, 3 p.m.

After earning on April 22. her bachelor’s and Beethoven had master’s degrees long thought of from the prestisetting Schiller’s gious Seoul Nation“Ode to Joy” to mu- YuEun Kim will perform with the Seal University, Kim sic, but it took him quoia Symphony as a guest violinist. was selected for over 30 years to acthe Artist Diploma tually complete the work. The story of program at the USC-Thornton School its premiere is a famous one. Because of of Music in L.A., which only accepts four his deafness, Beethoven could not con- students. Since graduating last May, duct the piece. However he sat on stage Kim has been performing in California. following the score. The audience reThe concert begins at 3 p.m., but the sponse was resounding, but Beethoven audience is encouraged to come to muwas so engrossed in the score, he didn’t sic director Bruce Kiesling’s preview at notice the performance had ended. A 2:15 p.m. to learn more about the comsoloist had to nudge and turn him so posers and music. that he could see the audience wildly Tickets are $22 to $45 at the symapplauding and waving handkerchiefs. phony office, 208 W. Main Street, Suite Three of the four soloists are from D, Visalia, downstairs in Montgomery the Valley: soprano Julia Grizzell, tenor Square. Student prices are $10. Tickets Zachary Sheely and baritone Limuel are also available at 732-8600 or go to Forgey. Mezzo soprano Alexandra Jerin- www.sequoiasymphonyorchestra.com.

DONNA OROZCO

Randy Bachman will honor his Beatles hero at the Visalia Fox on April 28.

Bachman comes to the Visalia Fox Theater stage on April 28 STAFF REPORTS Join Hands in the Community and the Joshua Ray Smallwood Foundation on Saturday, April 28 for a special evening with legendary rock musician Randy Bachman, a founding member of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, with a special tribute to George Harrison.

A new George Harrison tribute album in honor of his 75th birthday, “By George - By Bachman,” was released digitally in March.

Bachman said in a recent interview, the idea for the new album came during a tour with Burton Cummings, his former bandmate in The Guess Who, to do an album with him called “Jukebox.” For that album, Bachman did the Beatles’ “I’m Happy Just To Dance With You,” which he says he made “very acoustic and a nice shuffle (with) slightly different

chords. And, everybody loved it (and) told me it’s the most enduring song from the album.”

After a trip to Liverpool, he decided, “Hey, George is going to be 75 next year. I think I’ll take a bunch of his songs because I was always into George songs. You can’t outdo the Beatles. I can’t outdo George. I’m going to try to go to the edge.” He says he liked how other people have covered his songs, so he decided to try and “put a different set of clothes” on the songs.

In addition to the familiar songs he wrote and performed for The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bachman will perform selections from his new album, “By George - By Bachman,” at the Visalia Fox Theatre.

The performance begins at 7pm.

To reserve your seat, visit the Visalia Fox Theater, 308 W. Main St., or call (559) 625-1369.

Mighty Oak Chorus shares The American Experience Enjoy tractors, trucks and engines throughout the grounds of the Antique Farm Equipment Show. Courtesy/California Antique Farm Equipment Show

Antique Farm Equipment Show returns this weekend STAFF REPORTS

The Annual Farm Equipment Show opens Friday, April 20 at 8am and continues throughout the weekend, closing Sunday, April 22 at 12pm. Activities include the Tulare County 4-H Fair with livestock, baking and cooking competitions and more located in the Dairy Center and Building C; an Earth Moving Demonstration each day outside Gate 16; the Tractor Pull, Friday at 6pm and Sunday at 12pm, located in the Arena; and the Kids Arena full of games and activities.

The Antique Equipment Auction takes place Saturday at 10am and the

parade at 11am. There’s a chicken dinner available Friday evening and steak dinner on Saturday evening; and pancake breakfast and worship service on Sunday morning all in the Banquet Hall of the Heritage Complex.

Enjoy tractors, trucks and engines throughout the grounds. Visit antiques, clothing, home goods, furniture and more vendors. Like to eat, or drink milk? Enter the Black Bear Diner Pie Eating Contest, or the Rosa Brothers Milk Chugging Contest!

General admission is $5; children 6 and under enter free. For more information, visit www.antiquefarmshow.org/

STAFF REPORTS The Mighty Oak Barbershop Chorus presents their 37th Annual Show, The American Experience, Saturday, April 28, at the Central Valley Christian Theatre in Visalia.

Showtime is 2 o’clock. This delightful twohour musical is described as “a seriously funny look at American History!”

Headlining the show will be the award-winning “Hi-Fidelity” Quartet from Hollywood. The quartet has appeared on the “Tonight Show” and entertained throughout the world.

Also performing, a popular Tulare women’s group, Tonally Blessed and

making a special appearance, the Tule British Brass Band.

General admission seating is $15 for adults and $7.50 for children, 12 & younger. Also, ask about the special ‘family package’ rate.

Order your tickets now, online at visaliamightyoakchorus .org and use your PayPal account, or call Bud Case (559) 901-4615.

Some tickets will be set aside for purchase at the door.

Major sponsors for this 37th Annual Show include A&W Restaurants, Franey’s Design Center. ServiceMaster

By Benevento, Iron Horse Design, Redwood Springs Healthcare Center, and Village Printer.

19 April, 2018 Valley Voice

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Book Notes

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea NEWELL BRINGHURST newellgb@hotmail.com

Timely, given current tensions over the nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, is Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea penned by Los Angeles Times journalist, Barbara Demick. Demick’s account starkly chronicles the realities of life for average North Korean citizens.

In researching her account, the author found securing accurate first-hand information extremely challenging. This is not surprising, given the enforced isolation of North Korea—a hereditary Stalinist state under the iron-fisted control of Kim Jong Un. Given that all citizens are under constant surveillance the possibility of interviewing North Korean citizens was out of the question.

Compelled to look elsewhere, Demick sought out and interviewed some one hundred North Korean expatriates. She focused her narrative on six North Korean refugees from the grimy northeastern industrial city of Chongjin near the Chinese border, which she considered more representative of the

country’s grinding poverty, than Pyongyang—the country’s showcase capital city.

Inspiring the book’s title is a song that North Korean children are taught to recite: “We have nothing to envy in the world.”

The song is symbolic of the regime’s forced indoctrination of its citizens who are deluded into believing that their nation is the world’s most enlightened and best ruled.

Reinforcing this myth, is the concurrent embrace of the Kim Jong family as nation’s stalwart sentinels, protecting citizens from hostile outsiders, in particular South Korea and the United States, allegedly conspiring to extinguish North Korea as a sov-

ereign nation.

Thus, North Korea’s docile masses virtually worship the Kim Jong family, considering them beyond reproach, bestowing upon its members—both living and dead, quasi-religious adoration.

But the nation’s severe famine during the 1990s, resulting in the death of some one million individuals, triggered widespread cynicism, causing significant numbers of North Koreans to defect.

Symptomatic of this situation is the pointed exchange between Mrs. Song—an ardent defender of the regime, and her skeptical daughter Oak-hee: “Your general

[Kim Joong-il—father of the present-day ruler] has turned you all into idiots,” Oakhee scolds her mother.

Both ultimately flee South. Poignant is the tale of two other refugees, a pair of young lovers, Miran—the daughter of a lower-class miner; and Jun-sang, a college student from a comparatively privileged family.

After becoming disillusioned, both decide to flee, but dare not tell each other. After escaping, they meet up in South Korea.

But by this time their relationship is over.

Most ironic, many refuges reaching South Korea suffer further trauma in the form of culture shock, finding it extremely difficult to adjust to the freedom and openness of their new environment.

Riveting in tone and content, Nothing to Envy, is essential reading for all seeking to understand the dynamics of North Korean society.

Newell G. Bringhurst, a retired COS Professor of History and Political Science welcomes responses and comments at newellgb@hotmail.com

Coming to the Up In Smoke 40th Anniversary Friday, April 20 @ 7pm

Purple Rain Saturday, April 21 @ 7 pm Dwight Yoakam Live!

Sunday, April 22 @ 7pm SOLD OUT!

Backdraft Saturday, April 28 @ 7 pm A fundraiser in support of local fireman, Keith Hernandez.

La Bamba Saturday, May 12 @ 7 pm (559) 584-7823 On Facebook at facebook.com/ourvalleyvoice

www.foxhanford.com

Print replica edition at issuu.com/ourvalleyvoice

Valley Voice 19 April, 2018

Simon and Garfunkel tribute comes to Lindsay theater STAFF REPORTS

Visalia Host Lions Club announces Murder Mystery Dinner fundraiser STAFF REPORTS The Visalia Host Lions Club is bringing a Murder Mystery Dinner to the Visalia Convention Center on Friday, June 15.

The evening will feature a threecourse meal catered by Sue Sa’s Creative Catering and entertainment with The Murder Mystery Company of Los Angeles.

Attendees in the dinner theater become participants in the murder mystery and interact with cast members to solve a fictitious murder scene.

Mardi Gras masks, evening wear and ball gowns are encouraged.

“Since being chartered in 1926,

Visalia Host Lions Club has supported local nonprofit organizations through our internal fundraising, and this is our first fundraiser open to the public,” noted event chairman Lauri Aguilar. “Proceeds will help us do more to support our community. We are excited about this evening of hijinks and hilarity for a good cause!”

The evening begins with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person.

The club is also seeking sponsorships and table decoration sponsors.

For tickets and information, call Lauri Aguilar at 936-5712 or email laguilar@ thelockwoodagency.net.

The Lindsay Community Theater will bring the music of Simon and Garfunkel to life with Swearingen and Kelli as part of the 2017-18 Concert Series.

The show is on April 21 at 7:30 PM at the Lindsay Theater, 190 N Elmwood in the heart of downtown Lindsay. Tickets are $20 ($15 for groups of 10 or more) and are available at lindsaycommunitytheater.com.

For more information call 559 284 2223.

Swearingen and Kelli are based in St Petersburg, Florida. Most of their tour dates are on the east coast, but they are stopping by the Lindsay Theater as part of their west coast tour.

The duo has been performing music together since 2010 and they have recently married.

Together and separately they have shared the stage with Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, Livingston Taylor, John

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McCutcheon and many more.

Two voices in perfect harmony balanced against one acoustic guitar deliver a vibrant tribute to the sound of the 1960’s.

Swearingen & Kelli recreate the music, memories and magic of the most famous folk-rock duo of our time, Simon and Garfunkel. AJ Swearingen grew up in Pennsylvania with a love of outlaw country, Jim Croce, and the guitar playing of David Lindley.

Jayne Kelli was weaned on artists such as John Denver, Glen Campbell, and Fleetwood Mac. It probably won’t surprise you to learn that their music draws from the stuff we tend to call Americana. It’s honest stuff, and they have great voices. His deep baritone blends perfectly against Kelli’s angelic vocals, which invoke a true sound in the spirit of Art Garfunkel.

For more information on Swearingen and Kelli visit swearingenandkelli.com.

Hospice nurse to talk on mindful caregiving of the dying DONNA OROZCO

Visalia Charter Independent Study to present “Greatest Show” on May 5 STAFF REPORTS Visalia Charter Independent Study students will present two performances of dance, drama and vocals at LJ Williams Theater on Saturday, May 5.

“The Greatest Show” will feature material from the hit movie “The Greatest Showman” and popular musicals such as “LaLa Land,” “Newsies,” “Honey,” “Key and Peele,” “Wicked” and more.

The circus-themed theatrical production will include life-size animal props, a bearded lady, a giant man and a strong woman, a fortune teller and contortionists. Students will perform to musical pieces from the movies “The Hunger Games” and “The Fault in Our Stars,” and the event will include gymnastics and a performance by the school’s rock band.

Students will perform at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $7 each and are available online at vciseagles.org and at the front desk of the school, 1821 W.

Meadow Lane.

“Our students are ready to wow the audience with this exciting and entertaining variety show,” noted Kassi Hampel, director of the Performing Arts Program at VCIS. “Over the past seven years, we have seen the program grow true artists and performers out of shy, timid teenagers. We are so proud of their accomplishments, and we’re looking forward to another great show!”

VCIS is a charter school for students in grades nine through 12, with a focus on a flexible approach to education. As the only independent study program within Visalia Unified School District, VCIS students are able to enjoy an accredited education and a blended learning approach designed to meet each student’s individual needs. In addition to the Performing Arts program, VCIS offers a culinary pathway, science and engineering, parenting and more.

For information, call VCIS at 7358055 or visit vciseagles.org.

Death is a difficult subject to talk about for many. Hospice nurse Laurie Burkhart, R.N., will present a free talk on “Mindful Caregiving of the Dying: Debunking the Myths of Hospice,” at 2 p.m. on Saturday April 21 at the Center for Spiritual Living, 117 S. Locust, Visalia.

Burkhart will talk openly about death to ease pain and suffering while providing resources to allow continued personal exploration of this important, but scary, subject. Participants will leave

the talk with hospice admit paperwork, a concept map outlining the hospice team roles, and a list of websites and reference material.

“From the beginning of my nursing adventure, I have been drawn to hospice,” Burkhart says. “The loss of my grandfather really shook our family—to pieces at times. Poor decisions were made multiple times. Opening up communication about death and de-bunking the myths of hospice, such as morphine kills people, can help families deal with this difficult subject.”

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Calendar

19 April, 2018 Valley Voice

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Now - April 21: Harvey at the Barn Theater April 20 & 21 (Friday & Saturday evenings) - Elwood P. Dowd insists on including his friend Harvey in all of his sister Veta’s social gatherings. Trouble is, Harvey is an imaginary six-and-a-half-foot-tall rabbit.

To avoid future embarrassment for her family - and especially for her daughter, Myrtle Mae - Veta decides to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium. At the sanitarium, a frantic Veta explains to the staff that her years of living with Elwood’s hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also, and so the doctors mistakenly commit her instead of her mild-mannered brother. Written by Mary Chase; Directed by Bob Merzoian. The Barn Theater is located at 42 S. Plano St. in Porterville. For more information, visit barntheater.porterville.com Now - April 29: Nana’s Naughty Knickers April 20, 21, 27, 28 @ 7:30pm, April 22, 29 @ 2pm - Written by Katherine DiSavino and directed by Belva Peden, Nana’s Naughty Knickers reveals Bridget and her grandmother are about to become roommates.

However, what Bridget saw as a unique opportunity to stay with her favorite Nana in New York for the summer quickly turns into an experience she’ll never forget. It seems her sweet grandma is running an illegal boutique from her apartment, selling handmade naughty knickers to every senior citizen in the five borough area! Will Bridget be able to handle all the excitement? Presented at the Ice House Theatre, 410 E. Race Ave. in Visalia.

April 21: Bird Walk at Big Sycamore Trail 8am - Big Sycamore Trail is an easy to moderate tree lined walking path that has had over 140 bird species spotted there. Guides from Tulare County Audubon will be available to help beginners identify the various birds that are migrating through and also the birds that call this place their home. USACE Rangers may also be available to assist participants. Meet at US Army Corp of Engineers Headquarters, 29330 State Hwy 190, Porterville, CA April 21: Pencil Drawing Workshop 9am - 3pm - Took a previous drawing workshop from Jana and want more? Every workshop is another opportunity to perfect and work on your drawing skills and great for beginners. This workshop is for all levels. The materials will be provided for the workshop. If you have your own you’d like to bring, other supplies are welcome.Instructor: Jana Botkin. Tuition: $75.00. For more information: visit www.artsvisalia. org or call (559) 739-0905.

April 21: Frontier Life Skills Classes and Exhibitions 9am-5pm — Blacksmith classes Taught by nationally known author and Master Blacksmith - Mark

Aspery 9-2 and 1-4. Exhibitions run throughout the day. Secrets to Wagon and Buggy Construction by wagon master and blacksmith Bill Melton. The art of hand-forged and crafted knives by blacksmith and woodworker James Allphin. The skills of horseshoe work by Central California farrier and blacksmith Walt Neel. Clint Woods, farrier and blacksmith demonstrating the making of horseshoes. Sponsored by the Tule River Historical Society.

For more information: call Betty Harding, (559) 539-6314.

April 21: Unlock the Spiritual World of Dreams 1-3pm - The workshop is family friendly and no charge to the public. It is sponsored as a community service by Eckankar, Path of Spiritual Freedom, that offers many spiritual tools and techniques on how to interpret and understand your dream life. Held at the Visalia Branch Library, 200 West Oak. April 21: “Mindful Caregiving of the Dying: De-bunking myths about Hospice” 2pm — Part of the Inspirational Talk series at the Center for Spiritual Living, will be presented by hospice nurse Laurie Burkhart at the Center, 117 S. Locust, Visalia. Participants will leave the talk with hospice admit paperwork, a concept map outlining the hospice team roles, and a list of websites and reference material. 559 625-2441 April 21: Fred Davis Dinner, featuring Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones 6-10pm — Please join us at the 2nd Annual Fred Davis Dinner featuring keynote speaker California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, a fearless fighter for health care and insurance justice—and a candidate for Attorney General. Saturday, April 21, 6-10 pm at the Visalia Lamp Lighter Inn, 3000 W. Mineral King.

Tickets $75; students with ID $40.

Sponsorships available. For tickets call the Tulare County Democratic office at (559) 754-0566 or order online secure.actblue.com/donate/ freddavis2018.

April 22: Visalia Rusty Roots Show 8am - 3pm - This is the 6th year of the Visalia Rusty Roots Show and we are so excited to announce we have over 130 vendors selling the most amazing goods! Items such as Antiques, Clever Upcycle, Repurposed, Vintage, Crafts, Shabby chic, Art, Junk, New and Old, Food and so much more! We are also proud to announce that we have our first vendor coming all the way from England yes just over the pond bringing the most amazing finds. Held in the Sequoia Mall Parking Lot, corner of Mooney and Caldwell in Visalia.

April 22: Birding for Beginners 9am - Meet at River Ridge Ranch, 37675 Balch Park Rd, Springville, CA. River Ridge Ranch, home to River Ridge Institute, comprises over

900 fenced acres that lie immediately adjacent to the Giant Sequoia National Monument. The ranch stretches from the North Fork Tule River through oak grasslands, oak woodland and chaparral. Numerous springs provide additional habitat and remnant valley oak corridors are fenced and protected from livestock. The entire ranch operates under a Conservation Easement overseen by Sequoia Riverlands Trust.

Birding for Beginners takes advantage of the rich springtime breeding bird fauna on the ranch (about 100 species identified thus far), celebrates Earth Day and provides a new program to get people into the outdoors.

This event is limited to the first 15 participants. RSVP info@river-ridge.net April 22: “Beethoven’s 9th” 3pm — The Sequoia Symphony ends its season with Beethoven’s magnificent “Symphony No. 9” at a new time and place. Because of the large choir required for this concert, it will be performed Sunday, April 22 at L.J. Williams Theatre in Visalia.

559 732-8600 or http://www.sequoiasymphonyorchestra.com April 26: Tulare Business Expo: Making the Connection 5:30-7:30pm - Local businesses and organizations will gather to showcase their abilities. Members and the public are invited to attend and see all that the local businesses have to offer. Information will be distributed, relationships will be started, and business transactions will happen. Held at the International Agri-Center, Heritage Complex. For more information contact the Tulare Chamber of Commerce, (559) 686-1547.

April 27-May 5: The Crucible - COS Theatre Arts April 27, 28, May 3, 4 - 7:30pm; April 29, May 5 - 2pm - COS Theatre Arts re-imagines Arthur Miller’s stunning indictment of fear-mongering for a 21st Century audience! By taking the show out of its original historical setting - which examined the Salem Witch Trials of Puritan Colonial America - and moving it to a post-World War II small town that feels eerily close to our own, this production breathes new life into one of the 20th Century’s most important plays. Performed ‘in-theround’ with the audience seated on the COS Theatre stage, this production is a visceral and intimate experience that is not to be missed!

Co-Directed by Zebulin Elliott & Chris Mangels. $14 General, $12 Seniors, $10 Students.Tickets available online at COStheatre.org/tickets, or through the COS Theatre Box Office, open Wednesday – Friday, from 12pm5pm, 559-730-3907. Rated PG-13 for Adult Themes. *Thursday, 5/3, is Student Discount Night featuring $8 tickets and an audience talk-back afterward with the cast and crew.

April 28: Randy Bachman at the Visalia Fox 7pm - In addition to the familiar

songs he wrote and performed for The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bachman will perform selections from his new album, “By George - By Bachman,” at the Visalia Fox Theatre. The performance begins at 7pm.

To reserve your seat, visit the Visalia Fox Theater, 308 W. Main St., or call (559) 625-1369.

April 28: Mighty Oak Chorus shares The American Experience 2:00pm - The Mighty Oak Barbershop Chorus presents their 37th Annual Show, The American Experience at the Central Valley Christian Theatre in Visalia. This delightful two-hour musical is described as “a seriously funny look at American History!” Order your tickets now, on-line at visaliamightyoakchorus .org and use your PayPal account, or call Bud Case (559) 901-4615.

April 29: Dia de los Ninos Celebration 1:00-5:00pm - Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber of Commerce invites you to celebrates Día de los Niños, Sunday April 29, 2018, at Roy’s Parks in Farmersville. This is a family event where everyone can enjoy mariachi, folkloric dance, Gaytan Pony Rides ($5.00 per ride) music, delicious food, beverages, informational booths, Farmersville Youth Soccer mini scrimmages for the kids and much more fun!

April 30: League of Women Voters Candidates Forum 6:30-9:00pm - On April 30 League is co-sponsoring a Candidates Forum for Congressional District 22 and Assembly District 26 with ACT for Women and Girls, AAUW, Visalia Times Delta, Visalia Chamber of Commerce, Tulare Chamber of Commerce, Tulare County Board of Realtors, Tulare County Farm Bureau and LULAC of the San Joaquin Valley. The Forum will be held at TCOE at 6200 S. Mooney Blvd.

May 1: Date to Create 6-8pm - Date to Create is a one-of-akind workshop focused on the seven elements of art and principles of design. Each quarterly held workshop allows a group to be creative together for a fun-filled night of mingling with friends and family while creating fine art pieces for any occasion while learning the art fundamentals. Instructor: Gabbi Barnes. Tuirition: $30. For more information: visit www.artsvisalia. org or call (559) 739-0905.

May 2, 9, 16, 23: Arts Visalia Ceramics Class 6:30-8:30pm - Learn the methods of ceramics in this adult oriented class for beginners. Instructor: Chris Lopez. Tuition: $105. For more information: visit www.artsvisalia. org or call (559) 739-0905.

May 4: Evening at the Derby 5pm - Assistance League Visalia is hosting their annual “Evening at the Derby” to raise funds in support of schoolchildren throughout Tulare County. The Derby is an evening of fun-filled activities including exciting horse races (wooden horses), with lots of prizes for winners; live and silent auctions;

Valley Voice 19 April, 2018 delicious dinner and dessert. Our venue has changed this year to the beautiful Koetsier Ranch located at 8320 Avenue 272 in Visalia. First race is at 5:30. Dinner at 7:15. Monies raised will provide services such as new clothes, backpacks, school supplies, personal hygiene kits, puppet shows, and US maps to students attending school in Tulare County.

Tickets $50 each. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit our website: assistanceleague.org/visalia or call (559) 737-1907. Assistance League Visalia is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization.

May 5: “The Greatest Show” 2pm, 7pm - Visalia Charter Independent Study students will present two performances of dance, drama and vocals at the LJ Williams Theater.

“The Greatest Show” will feature material from the hit movie “The Greatest Showman” and popular musicals such as “LaLa Land,” “Newsies,” “Honey,” “Key and Peele,” “Wicked” and more.

The circus-themed theatrical production will include life-size animal props, a bearded lady, a giant man and a strong woman, a fortune teller and contortionists. Students will perform to musical pieces from the movies “The Hunger Games” and “The Fault in Our Stars,” and the event will include gymnastics and

B5 a performance by the school’s rock band.

May 4: Creative Center High School Art Showcase Awards Reception 5-7pm - The 19th annual High School Art Showcase hosted by the Creative Center is a competitive, professionally juried exhibition of young artists from Visalia, grades 9-12. The top winners receive monetary awards.

Awards reception is open to the public and takes place at the Creative Center’s Jon Ginsburg Gallery: 410 E. Race Ave. in Visalia. Awards announced at 6pm. This event is FREE. Artwork is available for viewing May 2 to May 9. For more information, visit the Jon Ginsburg Gallery Facebook page.

May 5: Spring Into Gardening Festival 10am - 2pm - Using our bountiful demonstration garden beds, the Master Gardens will share how to use low water lawn alternatives, create pollinator gardens, and get the most out of your vegetable gardening space. Learn about mulching and using native CA plants to create a beautiful and drought tolerant garden. Bring the kids to explore the hands-on snail and worm table! This free event is open to all.

Hosted at Hurley Elementary, 6600 W. Hurley Ave, Visalia. For details or questions, please call (559) 684-3343.

May 5: 3rd Annual Book Sale & Basket Raffle 9am - 5pm - Friends of Exeter Library offer hundreds of books including hardbacks, paperback, books on tape, DVDs, CDs in all genres. Baskets donated by local downtown Exeter businesses. Held on the library’s patio at City Park, 230 E. Chestnut.

May 5: Visalia’s 9th Annual Kentucky Derby Party for Foodlink 1-5pm - Mint Juleps, anyone? Join us at the races to support Foodlink at the 9th Annual Kentucky Derby Party! Enjoy an afternoon of Southern hospitality including ample appetizers, refreshing libations, bluegrass band, “betting” on the horses, cigars, Fancy Hat and Bow Tie Competition, live auction, and much more at the Visalia Country Club.

Ladies, wear your fanciest hats and Fellas, dress dapper! $60 a ticket.includes food, complimentary adult beverage & entertainment, and a $30 donation to Foodlink for Tulare County, Inc. On May 5th tickets will increase to $75 at the door. Must be 21 to attend. Tickets available through https://www.eventbrite. com/e/kentucky-derby-party-benefitting-foodlink-of-tulare-county-tickets-42642239085 May 5 - 12: Annual Orchid Sale Fundraiser 12-5:30pm - Drop by Arts Visalia’s

Senior Calendar The Visalia Senior Center is located at 310 N Locust, Visalia, and available by telephone at 559-7134381. Lunch is served daily at 12pm; reservations are required by 11am the day before by dialing (559) 713-4481.

The Tulare Senior Center is located at 201 N F St, Tulare, and available by telephone at 559-685-2330.

Lunch is served daily at 11:30am; reservations MUST be made by 12:30 PM the business day before by calling (559) 685-2330. $3 donation is requested.

Visalia Senior Center, Saturdays: April 21, 28 12-4:15pm — Senior Pride Bingo Visalia Senior Center, Sundays: April 22, 29 1-4pm — Contract Bridge.

Visalia Senior Center, Mondays: April 23, 30 11am — Corn Hole 1-4pm — Pinochle 1-4pm — Tables Tennis Tulare Senior Center, Mondays: April 23, 30 9-11:30am — Open Paint Participants must bring own painting supplies. $2 per person.

sic by Ken Bridges, Senior Vol- day April 25 unteer.

9:30-10:30 AM - Bible Study 12:30 – 3:30pm — Community Bin- Everyone is welcome! This is a FREE recreational activity. The go Provided by Tulare Senior Ser- classroom is set up with tables vices Volunteers at Tulare Senior and chairs. This class is led by a Community Center. Must be 18 senior volunteer. years and older to play. Cost: 1st Half of Bingo is $1.25 per card, 2nd Half of Bingo is $1 per card.

This program is led by a senior volunteers.

1-4pm — Penny Bingo Tulare Senior Center, Tuesday April 24 9-11:30am; 12:30-4pm — Open Paint Participants must bring own painting supplies. $2 per person.

The fundraiser will be held in the 200 block of South “E” Street, and sponsorships are still available.

For more information contact Pamela Whitmire, 359-4644, the Exeter Chamber of Commerce, 592-2919, or any other member of the Exeter Mural Team.

May 12 - 13: Three Rivers 44th Annual Redbud Festival Saturday - 10am - 5pm; Sunday 10am - 4pm - Arts, crafts, music, food, and fun at the Three Rivers Memorial Buildling. Deadline for artists extended! https://artsalliancethreerivers.org/ For more general information, call (559)-799-1473 or email, redbudfestival@gmail.com.

Tulare Senior Center, Thursday April 26 10am - 12pm — Down Memory Lane (Writing Class) This class offered by Tulare Senior Recreation will help you organize your memories and write down stories about them.

You’ll be leaving a written legacy for your loved ones to cherish for many generations to come. $5 per month per student.

1pm — Scrabble Club 1:30pm — Garden Club 1-4pm — Table Tennis

Tulare Senior Center, Friday: April 27 8:30 - 11am — Table Tennis 10:30 - 11:15am — Ex-Chair-Cise Everyone is welcome! This rec- This is a FREE Tulare Senior Recreation activity! reation activity is FREE. 9:30 – 11am — Wii Bowling 12:30pm — Card Games Various card games are played. It is FREE to participate! Experience is NOT REQUIRED! Everyone is welcome! FREE! 10:30 - 11:15am — Ex-Chair-Cise 12:30 – 3:30pm — Community Bin- Everyone is welcome! This recgo reation activity is FREE.

1:30 - 4pm — Mah Jong Tiles Visalia Senior Center, ThursParticipants must bring own days: April 26 Tiles.

10am-12pm — Chess Club Visalia Senior Center, Wednes11am — Darts day April 25 11am — Brain Teasers 12-3:30pm — Poker

10-11:30am — Live Music 12:45-4pm — Contract Bridge Enjoy listening to or dancing to great live County Western Mu- Tulare Senior Center, Wednes-

May 6: Exeter Mural Team’s 17th Annual Garden Party 5:00pm - This year’s theme is, “Anna’s Flowers”, the team’s newest petite mural. Anna’s Flower is a breed of humming bird depicted in the mural on the east facing wall of the brick building in alleyway between Pine and Palm Streets.

9:30 - 10:30am — Crocheting The crochet is donated by the Visalia Senior Center, Friday hospital and others.

April 27 10-11am — Blood Pressure Screen- 1pm — Friday Movie

ing 12:30pm — Card Games FREE Blood Pressure ScreenVarious card games are played. ing! Sponsored by Tulare Adult Everyone is welcome! FREE! School and Tulare Nursing & Rehabilitation. Everyone is welVisalia Senior Center, Tuescome! day April 24 11am — Darts

gallery during these special hours to purchase orchids! Starting Saturday, May 5th through Saturday, May 12th, or until we run out. Orchids are $25 each and can be delivered to a business upon request. Arts Visalia is located at 214 E. Oak St. in Visalia. For more information, call (559) 739-0905.

1-2pm — Typing Club

1-4pm — Penny Bingo

12:30pm — Card Games Various card games are played.

Everyone is welcome! FREE! Tables and chairs are provided.

7-10pm — Senior Dance Anyone 18 years and older. Fee: $8 per person - Dance to Live Country Western music. Bring Potluck style foods to share.

19 April, 2018 Valley Voice

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Insurance commissioner Dave Jones coming to Visalia STAFF REPORTS The Tulare County Democratic Central Committee is bringing Dave Jones to Visalia to keynote their Second Annual Fred Davis Dinner April 21.

He has been California Insurance Commissioner since his election in 2010—and with 55% of Tulare County residents using Medi-Cal as their health insurance, this will offer a rare opportunity to hear how California through its Department of Insurance has managed to preserve and protect our health care system which has insured 5 million more Californians statewide under the Affordable Care Act. He is the first statewide elected official to champion the Healthy California Act under SB562 introduced in 2017, which promotes single payer health care reform.

In addition to overseeing the health insurance system, the Department of Insurance works closely with state and federal prosecutors across the state to investigate and prosecute fraud and other insurance related crimes.

Under Jones’ leadership, over 8,000 individuals have been arrested and successfully prosecuted for financial and other crimes.

He also leads a national enforcement action that has forced life insurers to disgorge over $12 billion in benefits that they were unlawfully failing to pay policyholders.

California is the largest insurance market in the United States where insurers collect over $289 billion in premiums a year.

Under Jones’ leadership the Department of Insurance has saved consumers over $2.6 billion in premiums by regulating insurance rates, issued important consumer protection regulations and won numerous court cases against the insurance industry involving important consumer protection issues.

Public hearings and legal findings that the Anthem and Cigna and the Aetna and Human mega-mergers were anti-competitive were relied upon to block

those mergers. The Department of Insurance also is the only financial regulator in the United States to require a financial sector to disclose and address climate risk.

Jones is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Before being elected Insurance Commissioner, he represented Sacramento in the State Assembly from 2004-2010.

As a State Assembly member he successfully authored gun control, consumer protection, civil justice, and other legislation. Prior to that he served on the Sacramento City Council for 5 years where he put into practice proven anti-crime and law enforcement strategies at the community level.

He began his law career as a legal aid attorney with Northern California Legal Assistance for 6 years. He and his

wife Kim Flores have two children.

Currently, Dave Jones is a 2018 candidate for California Attorney General.

If elected he would continue criminal justice reform, with a focus on re-entry and rehabilitation programs for offenders returning to our communities, and work to restore trust between law enforcement and communities while holding accountable those who violate the law.

He has signed a pledge stating that he does not, and will not take corporate money from the oil and insurance industries.

An avowed progressive, he supports gun law reform, civil rights and a woman’s right to choose, California’s environmental laws, public schools and teachers, the importance of unions and the rights of working people, and opposes the deportation of law-abiding immigrants.

Tickets for the Fred Davis Dinner featuring Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones are still available.

The event will be held at the Lamp Liter Inn in Visalia from 6 to 9:30 pm.

For information and tickets contact Tom Chamberlin at (559) 754-0566 or purchase online at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/freddavis2018.

Youth center camps to host garden party event in May STAFF REPORTS St. Anthony’s Retreat (STAR) and Santa Teresita Youth Conference Center (STYCC) will host a fundraiser May 19, hoping to raise $35,000 in scholarship funds.

The funds will be used over the next 12 months at both STAR and STYCC for people in need of financial assistance, benefitting people of all ages.

Special focus is put on those with disabilities, seniors, fixed incomes, or youth whose families lack the financial means to send them to retreat or summer camp.

Last year, the Youth Center Camps served over 8,000 students from the Central California region.

This year’s event is a Garden Party that will be located at the St. Anthony’s property in Three Rivers.

A 5 o’clock social will be hosted with tasty appetizers to kick off the event, and a catered dinner will be served at 6:00pm by Kathy Crettol from Bakersfield.

Crettol is known for her culinary delights. During the social, attendees will be able to enjoy the keyboard sounds of Andy Snodgrass.

The event will include both live and silent auctions, wine and craft brew tasting, and entertainment by Trinitas.

Tickets to the event are $50 per person, and seating is limited.

Those who are unable to attend can instead choose to sponsor one of the camps’ many other programs by contributing directly to the retreat centers.

Visit our website at www.stanthonyretreat.org or call 559-561-4595 for more information or to make reservations.

Public invited to celebrate Sequoia Legacy Tree opening April 28 STAFF REPORTS The Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau is pleased to announce that they will hold a dedication ceremony for its newly installed giant sequoia tree educational exhibit, The Sequoia Legacy Tree, on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 9:00 am.

‘We are so excited to open this special feature to the public and to share Visalia’s connection to Sequoia and King Canyon National Parks,’ said Suzanne Bianco of the Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Through informational exhibits, visitors will learn about water conservation, giant sequoia trees, Visalia’s historic links to the National Parks and how this special tree got its ‘roots’ in Visalia. Tourists to the area will find the exhibits educational and a great

stopping point before heading up to Sequoia National Park.

Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau reached out to the community for help completing this project. Kay Hutmacher with Sierra Designs, Inc and Matt Seals with Seals Construction, Inc. brought the project to life with their design and construction expertise. Major sponsors include California Water Company, Sequoia Parks Conservancy, Visalia Heritage, Tulare County Historical Society and Tulare County Supervisors.

Among those expected to attend the ceremony are Woody Smeck, Superintendent of Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Tulare County Supervisor Kuyler Crocker, and Visalia Mayor Warren Gubler.

The public is invited to come tour the site and celebrate the Dedication of this Visalia treasure.

Learn more about Visalia Chamber’s 9-day China trip on May 1 STAFF REPORTS The Visalia Chamber is offering the opportunity to explore China without the hassle of making airline reservations, booking hotels, figuring out transportation or worrying about what to eat. The trip is 9 days and includes shuttle service to LAX, 3 meals a day, 4 and 5 star hotel accommodations, roundtrip airfare from LAX to Beijing, Chinese domestic airfare, deluxe bus tours and an English speaking tour guide. The trip will depart on April 5, 2019 and return on April 13, 2019. Join the Chamber on May 1, 2018 at 6:00 pm for an orientation presentation at the Wyndham Visalia located at 9000 Airport Way, Visalia. The cost of the tour is $2,099 per person (double occupancy) for Chamber Members and $2,199 per person (double occupancy) for non-Chamber members.

Travelers will catch a shuttle from Visalia to LAX Airport where they will board an international flight to Beijing, China. While in Beijing travelers will visit Tian An Men Square, the largest square in the world as well as the Temple of Heaven which was built in 1420 AD. Additional sightseeing locations include the Palace Museum, also known

as the Forbidden City which has a total of 9,999 rooms. Before leaving Beijing, travelers will journey to the Great Wall.

The wall is said to be the only manmade structure visible by the naked eye from the moon.

From Beijing, travelers will board a flight and travel to Suzhou to visit the Lingering Garden, Tiger Hill and Hanshan Temple. Additionally there will be a tour of the National Embroidery Institute to learn about silk embroidery, a local craft with thousands of years of history. At the end of the day everyone will enjoy dinner and a show featuring traditional Chinese music. From Suzhou, there will be a short excursion to Hangzhou where travelers will visit the Economic Development Zone and the Lingyin Temple featuring a 64.3 foot high camphor-wood carving of Buddha. Following the tour there will be a morning boat cruise on West Lake and an afternoon bus trip to Shanghai.

Once in Shanghai there will be a visit to Yu Garden, a maze of marvelous pavilions, ponds, rocky works and overreaching trees.

For more information on the China trip, contact Dante Rosh at 559-734-5876, or visit the website at www.visaliachamber.org/travel.

Valley Voice 19 April, 2018

Porterville Fair celebrates milestone year: “Here’s Cheers to 70 Years” STAFF REPORTS “Here’s Cheers to 70 Years,” is the theme for the upcoming Porterville Fair and the community is invited to celebrate this momentous milestone May 9 through May 13, 2018.

This year the fair will be celebrating seventy-years and its rich history in the community dating back to 1948.

Most community members have fond memories of the fair during its fifty-nine-year run (1959-2010) at its Olive Avenue location. However, the

inaugural fair in 1948 was held at Porterville High School.

Prior to finding its permanent home, the fair was once again housed at Porterville High School in 1949 and the Rocky Hill Arena in 1950. In 2011, the fair found its new home at 2700 West Teapot Dome Avenue and has been bringing joy to a new generation of families and the community.

Porterville is fortunate to have one of the few not-for-profit community fairs that still exist in the state of California. The fair is supported by a large

volunteer base including a 12-member board with representation from throughout the surrounding area.

For decades the community has banded together each year to celebrate our agricultural roots and encourage children in the community to explore leadership opportunities and life skills through raising, showing and selling livestock.

Don’t miss out on the fun and festivities for our seventy-year celebration. Join the excitement early by purchasing season passes, parking passes,

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and pay one price (POP) carnival wristbands starting April 4, 2018 at the Porterville Fair Office.

For the first time in years, the Porterville Fair is pleased to bring a concert to our event lineup on Saturday May 12 featuring Wade Hayes; concert entry is free with fair admission. For more information regarding the activities and entertainment at this year’s fair, please visit the Porterville Fair Office at 2700 West Teapot Dome Avenue, Porterville, CA, www.portervillefair. com, or call (559) 781-6582.

Visalia Chamber recruiting for Unlocking the spiritual world of 2018-19 Leadership Visalia Class dreams STAFF REPORTS Applications are now being accepted for the 2018-2019 Leadership Visalia class, the Central Valley’s premier leadership development course since 1986. Leadership Visalia is a flagship program of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce, focused on developing effective leaders by refining their leadership styles, meeting and making connections with leaders in the community, and discovering opportunities for community engagement and involvement.

Leadership Visalia is a 9-month professional development program designed to help current and developing leaders in business and community organizations expand their leadership skills, community knowledge, and professional networks.

Class members explore topics including leadership styles, state and local politics, quality of life, education, water, and regional planning. To date, more

than 450 graduates have completed the intense program and realized their true leadership abilities and talent.

Leadership Visalia alumni have utilized their skills in the local business arena, elected office, local non-profit boards of directors, community commissions, committees and more.

“Leadership Visalia participants can expect to gain leadership skills, knowledge of the local community, as well as self-esteem that will enhance their effectiveness both personally and professionally. As business success becomes more elusive, these are exactly the skills and experiences businesses need in their current and future leaders,” noted Gail Zurek, President/CEO of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce. Applications for the 20182019 Leadership Visalia program are due by July 31, 2018.

For more information, or to obtain an application visit www.visaliachamber.org, or contact Dante Rosh, dante@visaliachamber.org.

LINDA LAVANERI Dreams touch every level of our life. They may let us glimpse the future, or give suggestions for healing, or share insights into our relationships.

Above all, they can and will steer us more directly toward God. What is this fantasy about dreams?

First, understand that the dream world is anything but a fantasy. A “confused” dream simply shows the inability of our mind to accept truth head-on, so it bends the facts and artfully weaves them into a story line that is less likely to cause us distress.

Yes, dreams are real.

You are invited to attend a free workshop on dreams, titled, Unlocking the Spiritual World of Dreams, Saturday, April 21, 2018, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Visalia Branch Library, 200 West Oak Avenue, in Visalia.

This workshop is sponsored by Eckankar, the Path of Spiritual Free-

dom, that can teach you how to look at your life and your dreams from a spiritual perspective.

Working with your dreams from this viewpoint can help you handle daily challenges and learn from them.

The understanding you gain can bring you more patience, compassion, and love.

Dreams can also give you the courage to recognize and pursue your divine purpose in life.

Eckankar offers spiritual techniques and exercises to help understand and interpret your dreams. At this workshop, learn how to create your own dream dictionary.

Experience an ancient mantra that purifies and connects to the Divine Source. Explore how to work with the Dream Master. Receive a free 32 page booklet with spiritual exercises to take your dream study to a whole new level.

For more information, dial (877) 504-6364 or visit www.eckankar.org.

The Price is Right, right at Eagle Mountain Casino May 11-12 STAFF REPORTS Love The Price is Right game show?

Then come on down to Eagle Mountain Casino on Friday May 11 and Saturday May 12 for The Price is Right Live - the hit interactive stage show that gives eligible individuals the chance to “Come on Down” to win. Prizes may include appliances, vacations and possibly a new car! Play classic games from television’s longest running and most popular game show like Plinko™, Cliffhangers™, The Big Wheel™, and even the fabulous Showcase.

Summit Club Members can use 100 points to earn 1 show ticket and show tickets will be awarded to guests through the monthly offers.

Guests can also purchase and possibly win tickets through other various

promotions.

There will be two shows, one on Friday at 8pm and another on Saturday at 2pm. Tickets are on sale now and are $40 for general admission seating and $45 for reserved seating.

To be an audience member of The Price is Right Live, you can purchase tickets online at www.eaglemtncasino.com or call 1-800-903-3353.

Registration is required in order to qualify to be a contestant on the show. Registration begins 3 hours prior to show time each day. You will be required to present a valid ID at registration in the upper parking lot just right of the Forest Buffet/Food Court entrance. (Showtime’s are at 8:00pm Friday May 11 and Saturday May 12 at 2:00pm). Registration will open from 5:00pm – 8:00pm on Friday May 11

and from 11:00am – 2:00pm on Saturday May 12.

What can guests expect when they get to the show?

Everyone in the audience registers to be a contestant and receives a “Price is Right” name badge, just like on the TV show. During the show, guests are randomly selected to “Come on Down” and play the best-loved pricing games for cash and fabulous prizes.

Is the live event like the TV show?

Very much. And we’ve made a few adjustments to give even more people the chance to play and win!

Can guests win prizes like they see on TV?

You bet. Cash, appliances, trips

and such are all up for grabs. Maybe even something new for your garage (hint hint). And the great folks at Eagle Mountain Casino have upped the ante even more by adding up to $20,000 in additional prizes to their guests at the shows. We love Eagle Mountain!!

Can anyone win?

Yes, it’s completely random and virtually everyone is eligible. All guests who want to be selected have to register at Eagle Mountain starting 3 hours before the show. Come early and avoid the crunch!

Where can guests buy tickets?

By going online to www.eaglemtncasino.com or calling 800-903-3353.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the show!

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19 April, 2018

Valley Voice

Mormons honor six Tulare County teachers with Crystal Apples STAFF REPORTS Six area teachers were presented with the Crystal Apple Award at a dinner and ceremony Wednesday, April 11, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 650 N. Lovers Lane in Visalia.

This was the twelfth consecutive year the Crystal Apple award has been presented to teachers from Visalia and Exeter high schools who have positively impacted the lives of their students.

Nearly one hundred students from early-morning religious education classes, called seminary, wrote letters thanking teachers for their efforts in the classroom.

A student panel selected one teacher from each school to be honored.

The six teachers honored were: Heidi Carmen, Exeter Union High School; Donovan McJunkin, El Diamante High School; Jean K. Newman, Redwood High School; Todd Herfurth, Mt.Whitney High School; Kari Benegar, Golden West High School; and Scott Duerksen, Visalia Technical Early College High School.

School and community leaders were in attendance.

Visalia Mayor Warren Gubler, who was in attendance that night, expressed his enthusiasm about the importance of honoring excellence in teaching before the event.

He said, “Our five children were born and raised in Visalia, attending public schools. They are now all successful parents, professionals, or college students, much of which I attribute to the great teachers they had here. I look forward to again attending the Crystal Apple awards ceremony, where

some of the best high school teachers in the area will be recognized for their outstanding efforts with our students.”

Carmen earned her BA in History, her social science credential, and her MA in Administration and Educational Leadership at Fresno State. She currently teaches at Exeter Union High School.

Subjects taught include World History (also Honors), US History (also AP), Government (also AP), Economics, and History in Film.

Donovan McJunkin, a graduate of Chico State, is currently teaching Eco-

nomics and AP European History at El Diamante High School.

Jean K. Newman earned her BA in Music Education at Fresno State and her Master of Education from Columbia International University. She also studied in France at Université de Paris Sorbonne, Les Cèdres l’ecole De Langue française, and Université de Grenoble.

She currently teaches French at Redwood High School.

Todd Herfurth received his BA in History at Fresno State University and his teaching credential at National Uni-

versity. He currently teaches US History, AP US History, and AVID at Mt. Whitney High School, where he has been teaching for 12 years.

Kari Benegar attended Fresno State where she majored in English. She loves teaching English at Golden West High School and has the best students. Kari has been teaching for 22 years.

Scott Duerksen attended several universities, including BYU, Cal Poly, and UCLA and is currently teaching Agriculture at Visalia Technical Early College High School.