Valley Voice Issue 121 (19 July, 2018)

Valley Voice

Volume XXXVIII No. 14 19 July, 2018 ourvalleyvoice.com

Transitional jobs program celebrates anniversary, renewal

“Pray for us,” Tulare mayor says

JOHN DILLION

Finally, there was no infighting at a meeting of the Tulare City Council, but only because most of the members didn’t show up for July’s only scheduled session.

“I don’t think we’re going to have a meeting tonight,” said Mayor David Macedo as he stood in the parking lot before the scheduled start time. “I don’t think we’re going to have a quorum. Since 4 o’clock we’ve had one, then two, then three say they weren’t going to make it, so...”

The missed meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, July 24, at 7pm in the Council Chambers, 491 North M Street.

Environmental Cleanup Opportunities (ECO) is celebrating its one year birthday this month.

ECO is a transitional job program instituted by the City of Visalia in partnership with ABLE Industries, a Visalia-based workforce organization for adults with disabilities, and the Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County. The initiative sees homeless individuals from around Visalia find full-time employment with the City, specifically in the area of sanitation.

Level I offers a workplace training program which teaches or re-teaches basic workplace skills. Here, participants learn to show up on time, build a resume, and how to interview among other essential abilities. Crews of workers are led by a supervisor who not only fulfills the role of “boss,” but also checks up on those enrolled to make sure they have support in their undertaking.

As of April 2018, 47 individuals have completed the work readiness portion of the program. Of that group, 29 moved onto Level II, which allows the participants from Level I to work for the city while they simultaneously search for other jobs. A minimum amount of time is required by the program allocated for this purpose.

Some of the workers have even

JOBS continued on 16 »

DAVE ADALIAN

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

“Back Area 15” is one of the areas of Top Dog Kennel. The establishment has come under fire on Facebook. Courtesy photo

Top Dog Kennel accused of being a puppy mill CATHERINE DOE

catherine@ourvalleyvoice.com

“My brother, his girlfriend, my wife and I visited this place looking for a dog for our parents…... We counted north of 100 dogs crammed into pens appropriate for only a couple, living in feces. Several dogs had open wounds, one dog in particular had a festering sore on his foot. The dogs were clearly wound tight, suggesting they are rarely released from these tiny pens. I recall a young female lab who was admittedly a couple years old but was well past her 3rd litter, stuck in a 2x3 crate.

My brother’s girlfriend left crying; it was that sad.”

This is Chase Morgan’s firsthand account of Ron Abbott’s Top Dog Kennel, written in March of 2016.

Dozens of first-hand testimonies just like this poured into Tulare Puppy Mill – Shut it Down (Shut it Down), a Facebook page when the founder launched it in 2016.

Ron Abbott, owner of Top Dog Kennel, says that the comments on facebook are all untrue and that the group is engaging in cyber-bullying.

“I love my dogs,” he said.

“I have 100 happy customers for every 1 customer that is unhappy,” said Abbott. “Most of the people

TOP DOG continued on 14 »

Last-Minute Absences

Macedo and Councilman Jose Sigala only learned of the lack of quorum after arriving for the meeting. Macedo, who replaced Carlton Jones as mayor last month in an unusual off-cycle reorganization, found out his predecessor would not be attending the night’s meeting when he was approached by Interim City Manager Willard Epps in the parking lot.

“Very unusual, yes,” Macedo said of the situation. “I know (Vice Mayor) Maritsa (Castellanzo) had texted earlier she was out of town on business, and then (Councilman) Greg (Nunley) texted me probably shortly thereafter, and

TULARE continued on 13 »

Tulare hospital board discusses draft contracts TONY MALDONADO

tony@ourvalleyvoice.com

Tulare’s hospital district board made public Tuesday night a slate of draft agreements between the district and Adventist Health, the district’s potential partner in operating Tulare Regional Medical Center.

The board plans to continue the discussion at its July 25 and schedule a special meeting for August 1; interested citizens can discuss the agreements at both. Additionally, an ad-hoc committee was formed to provide a review of the documents and recommendations to the board.

The agreements include: • An interim Management Services Agreement between Tulare and Adventist until voters approved Adventist’s lease of the hospital • The potential lease agreement between Tulare and Adventist, • The potential asset sale agreement between Tulare and Adventist, • A credit arrangement between Tulare and Adventist, • A security agreement that would pledge collateral between Tulare and Adventist, • A short form deed of trust and assignment of rents.

During the meeting, one question

from the crowd drew significant discussion: could leasing the district’s property to Adventist Health, a faith-based healthcare organization, and allowing it to operate the hospital until the lease was approved, run afoul of the 1st Amendment?

Religious Questions

Barry Caplan, a Porterville resident, noted that Adventist Health was a religion-based organization and noted Senovia Gutierrez, Kevin Northcraft, and Mike Jamaica at the July 17 Tulare Local Healthcare District Board of Directors meeting. that Andrea Kofl, Tony Maldonado/Valley Voice Adventist’s Presiover another, he said. lease from will entangle you with relident of the Central Valley Network, de“I have engaged in an online dis- gion,” Caplan said. “This is not a statescribed the organization’s care to the cussion with a gentleman I have good ment about the quality of care that will Voice as “Christ-centered.” faith reason to believe works for the be provided. The constitution does not Leasing the hospital to a religious IT department of Adventist, and he make exceptions for ‘unless the service organizations, and/or allowing it to has explained to me that meetings of is good enough.’” operate the hospital until the lease management and others often begin Todd Wynkoop, an attorney for the was approved, could prove to violate with prayers. This is one specific way board, said that the hospital would not 1st Amendment restrictions on govin which the facilities that the District need to worry about those religious ernment entities favoring one religion owns and benefits financially from the CONTRACT continued on 11 »

19 July, 2018 Valley Voice

2

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Two weeks ago a friend of mine passed, unexpectedly, in her southern California home. According to her wife, my friend was diagnosed with an aggressive and extensive cancer and she fought for a month and a half.

When I say she was a friend, I mean she was a Facebook friend. True, we had attended the same junior high and high schools, and were in the same class, but we didn’t move in the same circles and I don’t recollect speaking with her much. Facebook changed that. After accepting her request, she became an uncommonly warm online friend. She invited me in. Literally. In fact, we’d been out of touch recently, and I was just sitting down to message her when I saw the news.

The whole time we were out of touch she was fighting for her life.

It’s an unfair and terrifying prospect: While I’m fighting in life, as everyone does all the time everywhere, in the span of a month and a half my friend goes from perfect vibrancy to her grave.

This seems too random to pry a fresh perspective from. There’s no fulcrum--only a vacancy, and its accompanying sadness.

Contrast this with the experience of Joe Roth, an All-American quarterback at Berkeley in the mid 1970s. Roth survived melanoma at the age of 19. In remission, he transferred to Cal and lead the Bears to a 1975 Pac-8 co-championship. But just before his senior year the disease returned in force. Roth told nobody. He went to class. He went to practice. He studied. He socialized. He played quarterback. He played in three all-star games after the 1976 season, dying in February of the following year.

Of course the medicos knew of Roth’s predicament. His friends and team mates did not. Why? I don’t think he wanted to burden anyone. And it was irrelevant. Why? Because Joe Roth was going to be Joe Roth no matter what. Certainly no medical condition was going to keep him from living his chosen life to the fullest. Here’s an example: Knowing he was not long for this earth, he nevertheless handed in a last term paper.

I don’t think many people would be bothered to complete a paper, not feeling so physically lowly as Roth was at the time. But it makes sense if your response to a life-threatening condition is to live your chosen life to the fullest.

There remains every season at Berkeley a Joe Roth Memorial Game.

And his number, 12, is the only jersey ever retired in the history of Bears football.

I know my friend lived her chosen life to the fullest, and that is some consolation.

But it doesn’t help. Nothing ever does, when you lose someone you love. It never improves. There is always a sad vacancy that eventually becomes a dull ache. It’s constant. You learn to live with a limp, say, or some other inconvenience.

It’s akin to ageing, as I’m experiencing it. There goes reading the fine print. There goes the heavy lift. There goes the easy gift of being comfortable in my own skin. There goes my very digestion. It becomes a part of who you are.

And you don’t have a choice other than to accept it.

After some time, sure, there are the stories and memories and sharing them with others. But the despair merely eases.

You may have to live with it, but you don’t have to abide by it. You can combat it. How? I think you already know.

Live your chosen life to the fullest.

— Joseph Oldenbourg

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Valley Voice 19 July, 2018

POLITICAL FIX Primary Postmortem

Who wasn’t shocked at the results of the 26th State Assembly District race?

Just as shocking, but not as well known, were the results of Tulare County Supervisor District 4 race that stretches from Dinuba to Woodlake.

But then again who wasn’t shocked when President Trump was elected?

In the assembly race, incumbent Devon Mathis was expected to lose by at least a few points and maybe even come in third.

As for the supervisor’s race, successful business man and Vice Mayor of Dinuba, Kuldip Thusu, was expected to win the seat outright without the need for a run off in November.

But in both races the underdog won. Little known candidate Eddie Valero won outright at 54%, for supervisor, and beaten-to-apulp Mathis came in first in the assembly race out of four viable candidates.

For the assembly race, Visalia Mayor Warren Gubler was the odds-on favorite to come in first and proceed to the November primary, probably against Mr. Mathis, but maybe even against Tulare City Council member Jose Sigala.

Not only was Mr. Gubler expected to come in first, but many felt as though Mr. Mathis would not even make it through the primary.

After a month of debating with myself, what I missed when predicting that Mr. Gubler would win - I realized I hadn’t missed anything at all.

In New York’s 14th Congressional District, a 28-yea- old woman of Puerto Rican decent, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, beat 10-term incumbent Representative Joseph Crowley in the Primary. Mr. Crowley was the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House and considered a possible replacement for Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’ victory sent shock waves through the Democrat Party and was reminiscent of when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia lost his Republican primary to an unknown tea-partier in 2014.

In a campaign video that went viral, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in the very last line, “It’s time for one of us.”

And that is why Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Mathis, and Mr. Valero won their races. It even explains Jose Sigala’s surprising, and decisive victory against well-liked incumbent Shea Gowin in their Tulare City Council district 1 race in 2016.

The “one of us” maxim is also why Tulare City Council member Carlton Jones will never be recalled. The constituents didn’t care about Mr. Mathis’ reputation of harassing women, or Mr. Trump’s sexual predation, and the district does care about Mr. Jones’ documented abuse of women.

I did not predict that Mr.

Mathis would win the primary, but I did lay down the groundwork for how Mr. Mathis could. I said that Mr. Gubler was the establishment’s dream candidate, while Mr. Mathis was the face of America and “will get the vote of every person out there who feels just a little ignored.”

Mr. Mathis was, and still is, spurned by the Republican establishment and his life could be described as messy. But few people in Tulare County haven’t found their lives in a mess and Mr. Mathis resonates with them Also, constituents made it clear in the 2016 presidential election that they don’t want the “establishment candidate.”

Mr. Mathis’ victory has much wider implications than just his seat in Sacramento.

Jack Langer, Congressman Devin Nunes’ Press Secretary, said that Mr. Cantor’s loss in 2014 put everyone on notice. No Republican was taking their primaries for granted anymore because no one wanted to get “Cantored.”

For this election, Democrat Congressional Candidate Andrew Janz has no chance against Mr. Nunes this November.

But a Republican would.

It’s been the worst kept secret that Mr. Mathis has had his sights on the 22nd Congressional seat since before he knew his way around the assembly.

Mr. Mathis was once again reprimanded for sexual harassment in June by the Assembly Rules Committee. In contrast, Mr. Nunes, just like Mr. Gubler, appears to be a faithful husband and doting father who behaves with decorum around women.

But despite his many issues with women, Mr. Mathis won the primary. So it’s pretty obvious locals do not care.

We live in a different world. Is Mr. Langer still paying attention?

What would happen if Mr. Mathis challenged Mr. Nunes in 2020? Mr. Mathis is “one of us,” while Mr. Nunes won’t talk to us.

Could Mr. Nunes get Cantored?

America Needs its Republicans

A few months ago my daughter’s boyfriend, Brendon, left the Republican Party to register as an independent. This has been a national trend. Several high-profile Republicans, including columnist George Will and cable talk show host Joe Scarborough, have also left the Republican Party.

Just recently, die-hard Republican Steve Schmidt, Senator John McCain’s former campaign manager for president, publicly renounced his membership in the Republican Party in a Twitter post saying, “it is now fully the party of Trump.”

Another columnist, Max Boot, wrote why he re-registered as an Independent after being a lifetime Republican. “I can no longer

3 a column by CATHERINE DOE — catherine@ourvalleyvoice.com support a party that doesn’t know what it stands for--and that in fact may stand for positions that I find repugnant.”

Mr. Boot added that he and other former Republicans are rooting for a Democratic victory this November because, “just like postwar Germany or Japan, the Republican Party must first be destroyed before it can be rebuilt.”

But why would devoted Republicans leave the party because of Mr. Trump, who isn’t even a Republican and never has been? He is just an old cranky man who was a Democrat and changed parties only so he could become president.

When I pointed this out to Brendon he said, “I know Trump is not really Republican. It’s because of the rest of the Republicans that follow him.”

We only have two political parties, and Trumplican is not one of them.

America needs a strong Republican Party to counter a strong Democratic Party and to stand up for their core beliefs, like small government, lowering the deficit, and real family values.

Fred Rogers, of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, was a lifelong Republican. Do you think he would have quit the party? He said that the world has changed on the outside for children but that they are the same on the inside.

I believe the same is true for Republicans. Despite what is happening now on the outside, Republicans are still the same on the inside.

So stay and fight for your party.

Let’s Talk about Abortion

Given the fact that abortion might be illegal relatively soon I thought it was an opportune time to debate the weighty issue of when life begins.

There are those who believe that life begins at conception, and those who think life begins at birth, and those wise enough to know that no one knows.

So when does life begin? When the heart starts beating? When the baby takes its first breath?

Kay Packard, of the Hand Analysis Institute, says that a child gets its fingerprints at five months in utero and they can be used as a spiritual map, of sorts, for the rest of their life.

Is that when the soul enters the body?

I know when a soul leaves the body.

I hate to compare my son Alex to his dog Roo, or our family cat, Panther, but they all passed within 18 months of each other. And I believe all life has a soul. I was there when each one took their last breath and it was amazing how fast their bodies turned into nothing more than organic material.

The same must be true of a fetuses or a baby. At some point they transform from organic material to life. But when?

For this and other reasons I don’t know if abortion is right, moral or a sin, but I do know that it should be legal for those who need or want one.

The babies who grew inside of me had the same sacred soul as the soldier fighting on the battlefield.

Their lives were just a valuable as the wrongfully convicted man on death row. They even had the same sacred soul as the guilty man convicted of murder facing the executioner.

So what is the difference between capital punishment, going to war, or having an abortion?

Pro-lifers will say “but a baby’s soul is innocent.”

All those men facing the executioner were at one time innocent souls growing inside their mother’s bellies. And if my children, or anyone’s children, had had the crap beaten out of them day after day, or were severely neglected they might be murders also.

As pro-lifers might be want to remember, there but for the grace of God go I. In the midst of the MeToo movement discrimination against women in the United States is indisputable. And when you are pregnant it is 100 times worse.

“The sanctity of motherhood” is bunch of bull.

As a mother of five I can’t say where I land on the debate of whether or not a woman should bear children. It is a huge sacrifice, in all aspects of the word, and not supported by our government.

The misogyny experienced by pregnant women at work, or by an abusive husband, or a country that takes sadistic advantage of those most vulnerable, makes it a hard sale for me to say every woman should have children, or that women must carry every pregnancy to term.

If the United States wants to lower the number of abortions, then feed all the children. House all the families, and provide healthcare for everyone. Throw in college and it will make moms and dads reconsider having an abortion who already have children they want to send to college.

Is it a sin to have an abortion?

Does the doctor who administers the drugs to an inmate on death row go to hell? Is the drone pilot directing bombs to destroy an occupied building, killing all those inside, dammed for eternity?

Can we expect 350 million Americans to agree on these issues, or should we just leave it up to the individual?

I do know some things for sure: There is a reason why middle aged women can’t naturally get pregnant, because they would go to work and shoot their misogynist bosses, no one knows when life begins except God, and if all the miscarried and aborted babies are waiting for us moms when we get to heaven, then good, because it will be a lot easier raising them there than in the United States.

19 July, 2018 Valley Voice

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Visalia Imaging introduces 3D mammography technology STAFF REPORTS

Want cutting-edge mammography techonology? Visalia Imaging has just what you want -- brand new 3D mamography equipment.

At the Visalia Women’s Imaging Specialist (Visalia Imaging) a 3D mammogram machine was installed in May, and their 3D Breast Ultrasound, also known as ABUS (automated breast ultrasound) was installed in March.

It is the first facility in Tulare County to offer 3D Mammograms and the only facility in the Central Valley to have the ABUS 3D ultrasound.

“You would have to go to Atascadero or Sacramento to get a 3D ultrasound,” said Radiology Manager Erika Balderas.

After a woman has a regular mammogram, and it is determined that she has dense breasts, the next best step is to have the 3D ultrasound.

“The 3d ultrasound is used as a supplemental imaging tool and can see a cancerous growth through dense breast tissue that a traditional mammogram cannot,” said physician liaison Kylie Van Houten.

That means earlier detection.

According to the ABUS website, approximately 40% of American women have dense breasts and that can

increase a woman’s risk of develop cancer by 1-6 times. “ABUS has been proven to find 55% more invasive cancers after a normal or benign mammographic finding.”

Before the 3D breast ultrasound, a technician had to use a hand held transducer more known for prenatal exams. Each breast exam done with a transducer would create a different image making it difficult for the doctors to see changes in the breasts from the year to year.

Another option for dense breasts, or younger patients with the breast cancer gene, is the MRI. But that is a large dose of radiation for a young woman of 25 to be exposed to every year.

Ultrasounds have no radiation.

Mammograms use radiation but Balderas said the levels have come down greatly as the 3D technology improved. When the 3D mammogram scanner first came out about three years ago it emitted a large dose of radiation so Visalia Imaging decided against buying one. The new models now have the same radiation as a 2D mammogram machine.

Balderas also said the new model has a much better design without the sharp corners and flexible paddle

which makes it much more comfortable for her patients.

All imaging exams require a doctor’s order, however the patient always has a choice of where to have their procedure done (regardless of the facility name on the order). Visalia Women’s Imaging Specialists is contracted with all local insurances, including medical.

Visalia Imaging is a privately owned imaging center that is not af-

filiated with any local hospitals. Even though Visalia Imaging is independent from Kaweah Delta their doctors work at both locations.

Visalia Imaging opened its doors in 2002 providing the community with MRI, CT, Ultrasound and X-ray services. In 2005 they expandedand named it Visalia Women’s Imaging Specialist to offer Mammograms and bone density exams.

Tulare-Kings Hispanic Chamber invites public to mini-expo STAFF REPORTS As the Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber celebrates its Silver Anniversary, we would like to invite the public to its signature event, the Annual Mini-Expo.

The Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber and Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino will be hosting its Annual Mini Expo on Thursday, July 26, 2018 from 5:30pm to 7pm. There will be hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, with a number of great opportunity giveaways and vendor

booths providing valuable information.

In addition, the Tachi Palace will be giving out free Tachi Cash (must have a valid ID).

Said Jan Tindal, Utmost P r o m o t i o n a l Gil Jaramillo, CEO of Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber of of last year’s Commerce and Raymond Macareno, Senior CommunicaExpo, “Thank tions Specialist of Kaweah Delta Health Care District.

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you for the invitation and for allowing me to be part of this great event. She stated she enjoyed the business to business since it was easier to talk to people and getting to know them more on what they offer. Mar-

garita Garcia, All Valley Uniform, said,”I Enjoyed the event and being the first time participant was able to get contact with other vendors.”

It is a Free event for the whole community. So, come down will be 30 booths to visit, and enjoy the evening with great information, fellowship and networking.

Thank you to our sponsors, Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino, Wells Fargo Bank, Southern California Edison, Comcast, PG&E, and Kaweah Delta Hospital.

Kaweah Delta expansion changes parking STAFF REPORTS Parking at Kaweah Delta has changed and so has the entrance to the medical center’s Emergency Department (ED) due to an upcoming phase of construction that will nearly double the size of the medical center’s ED and waiting area.

To allow for new construction onto a portion of the hospital’s main parking lot off of Mineral King Avenue this month, Kaweah Delta is asking patients and visitors to enter the ED through the hospital’s temporary hospital entrance at Mineral King Avenue (just south of the emergency department’s original entrance).

Kaweah Delta has reserved the remainder of its main parking lot off Mineral King Avenue for ED and Labor and Delivery patients in addition to those who would like to use the free valet parking service. There is also a 20-minute patient drop off area in the main lot.

During construction, patients and visitors are advised to use Kaweah Delta’s free valet parking service, accessible from the parking lot off Mineral King Avenue. Kaweah Delta has hired additional valet staff, doubled the number of valet parking spots and extended its free valet service hours (9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m.

to 7 p.m. on weekends). It is free, fast, convenient and cars are parked in secure areas.

Additionally, patients and visitors are encouraged to use the City of Visalia parking structures, which are located across the street from the hospital at Acequia Avenue and Locust Street.

Kaweah Delta has worked with the City of Visalia to increase all-day parking in both structures. Kaweah Delta is also exploring options to acquire properties around the downtown hospital in an effort to replace the permanent loss of parking that will result from expanding the ED. The multi-phase project is expected to be complete in the Summer of 2020. It will modernize, expand and improve Kaweah Delta’s emergency medical facilities to help meet the needs of the growing community and better serve patients by nearly doubling patient beds, increasing the size of the ED waiting room, and incorporating a new “fast track” area that will allow patients to be more quickly screened. Kaweah Delta’s ED was originally built to serve 72,000 patients a year, but today, more than 90,000 patients a year are seen there.

For more information or parking updates, call 624-2008 or visit www. kaweahdelta.org/parking.

Valley Voice 19 July, 2018

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AGRICULTURE

River flows: Water agencies, farmers say plan would cause pain CHRISTINE SOUZA, CFBF Saying the state water board appears to have ignored or discounted the significant impacts on people from its plan for stream flows in the San Joaquin River watershed, water agencies, farm organizations and other groups organized opposition to the plan in advance of its potential adoption next month.

The final draft plan from the State Water Resources Control Board, which recommends reducing water diversions to increase flows in the main tributaries of the San Joaquin for native salmon, remained mostly unchanged from its earlier version—despite extensive testimony from people in the affected area about the plan’s predicted economic toll and despite local alternative proposals to increase benefits for fish while reducing economic losses.

The board’s final update, released July 6, affects flows in the San Joaquin and its three tributaries—the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers—and calls for a diversion target of 40 percent of “uninterrupted flows,” with a permitted diversion range of 30 to 50 percent, depending on conditions. Though previous requirements to increase flows have largely failed to recover native fish populations, the plan indicates diversions are necessary from Feb. 1 to June 30 annually. The proposal also updates salinity requirements in the southern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Comments on the plan are due July 27, although affected water agencies

have petitioned the board to extend the deadline. The board has scheduled a meeting to consider adoption of the proposal for Aug. 21-22.

“Farm families and rural communities would suffer from this proposal,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson said.

“It would impose a high cost on rural communities while providing little or no benefit to fish.”

The board also released an early framework document proposing revised flow standards for the Sacramento River and its tributaries, recommending total unimpaired annual runoff in the range of 45 to 65 percent.

“If implemented, farmers and other human users of water are going to take a significant hit from this,” CFBF Senior Counsel Chris Scheuring said.

Scheuring said farm organizations and water districts have advocated for a concept called functional flows, which he described as “the idea that we time water use for environmental and human purposes in a manner that doesn’t present irreconcilable conflict, and that substitutes non-flow conservation measures whenever possible.”

“We prefer a method that frees up water that demonstratively rehabilitates fisheries without damaging people in the affected regions,” he said.

(See Comment) A CFBF analysis of the San Joaquin River plan and of comments from affected irrigation districts showed that farmers in the Stanislaus, Tuolumne

and Merced river watersheds would lose an average 350,000 acre-feet of water per year under the board proposal.

In dry years, losses would increase to approximately 800,000 acre-feet.

The plan would reduce capacity in New Melones, Don Pedro and New Exchequer reservoirs by a combined 1.8 million acre-feet, the CFBF analysis said, and indirectly increase pressure on groundwater in the affected region at a time when state law mandates local plans to halt groundwater overdraft trends.

The Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts, which rely on water from the Tuolumne River, expressed opposition to the board plan, describing it as a “water grab.” The districts estimate up to 240,000 acres of farmland would go fallow to redirect water to fishery uses—contributing to hundreds of millions of dollars in economic and income losses for the region.

“Our communities, our farms, our drinking water, our businesses, our fish—and ultimately our futures—are jeopardized by this unelected State Water Resources Control Board,” MID board president Nick Blom said. “Right now, they’re targeting the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, but the whole state should pay close attention as to what’s coming next on their agenda.”

The Merced Irrigation District, which draws water from the Merced River, called the plan “irresponsible.”

“The district has maintained for years that simply diverting senior wa-

ter rights away from our community for the benefit of others solves nothing. It devastates one of the most disadvantaged regions of the state and does nothing to benefit salmon or other wildlife,” district General Manager John Sweigard said.

The Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts, which rely on the Stanislaus River, called the plan “myopic and scientifically unsupported.”

The affected irrigation districts have proposed alternative plans to balance water needs of native fish, urban users and agriculture, but said the water board staff ignored those alternatives in preparing the final draft plan.

“We want solutions too,” Modesto Irrigation District spokeswoman Michelle Reimers said. “The Tuolumne River is our zone of responsibility and we want a healthy ecosystem, but it has to be balanced with human interest.”

During a conference call with reporters, water board chair Felicia Marcus said the board has a long road ahead before talking about implementation, but added that the traditional approach involves a proceeding to amend people’s water rights.

“We still have to have a robust conversation about how to implement it, which will answer some of the more complex questions about how we calculate things,” she said.

CFBF President Johansson said any implementation plan “must respect water rights priorities and avoid injury

RIVER FLOWS continued on 6 »

19 July, 2018 Valley Voice

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AGRICULTURE

Nutria pose ‘triple threat,’ officials warn KEVIN HECTEMAN, CFBF Could a 20-pound swamp rodent ruin California’s water delivery system and farmers’ crops up and down the Central Valley?

Left unchecked, nutria could well do exactly that, wildlife officials say.

Nutria are semi-aquatic rodents that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has described as a “triple threat”: They can damage crops, undermine levees and other water infrastructure, and wreak havoc on wetlands.

“If they weaken a levee enough, you’re going to have that localized flooding,” said David Strecker, who farms hay and row crops on Roberts Island near Stockton. “But that does impact the state on a much greater perspective. If one of these islands floods, that affects how much water is available for export.

That affects how much water is available for the local farmers and even for the local municipalities that rely on the delta.”

Strecker said he’s aware of two nutria sightings the past two months: one on a ranch a mile from his and another in Lathrop. Since then, the San Joaquin Farm Bureau has been working to spread the word.

“We’ve been distributing that information out to the entire county, but mostly to the people that are located in the delta, where this would be the biggest problem,” Strecker said.

David Passadori, who grows almonds and walnuts in northern Merced County, found about four nutria at an irrigation pond on his property last fall.

“I have berry bushes around the pond,” Passadori said. “They were living in there.”

He thought they were muskrats at first, but after working with his county agricultural commissioner, he trapped them—and hasn’t seen any since.

A nutria has also shown up in Tuolumne County. Gary Stockel, the county agricultural commissioner, said a photo of a nutria was taken near Don Pedro Reservoir in January 2017.

“The community has been notified of the sighting, and we are encouraging folks to either contact us or contact (state Fish and Wildlife) directly,” Stockel said.

Peter Tira, an information officer for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said evidence of nutria damage can be hard to spot.

“What’s tricky about nutria is that they burrow by coming up underwater,” Tira said. “It’s not obvious to the eyes that nutria are damaging a levee or farm canal, because you don’t see the damage until it collapses.”

Besides burrowing, nutria also eat vegetation—as much as a quarter of their body weight each day, according to CDFW—and leave a large swath of destruction in their wake. They’ll almost always be found near waterways, which Tira describes as nutria freeways.

Strecker said those areas will bear close vigilance.

“We’re going to have to watch closely in the smaller sloughs and smaller waterways where the land adjacent is below sea level, and you have a lot of the shallow and tule areas on those waterways, which seems to be a prime location for these to set hold and move in,” he said.

CDFW reports that nutria have been confirmed in six counties—Fresno, Merced, Mariposa, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and San Joaquin. It’s not known yet how many are in the state, and efforts are underway to survey the extent of the problem, Tira said.

If a survey finds potential nutria presence, cameras and hair-snare traps

will be set to catch images and samples of fur. If the hair tests positive for nutria, traps will be set.

Tira said some 200 nutria have been trapped so far, with efforts focused on the northern San Joaquin Valley in hopes of keeping the rodents out of the delta.

“The goal is complete eradication— removal from the landscape,” Tira said.

“They pose a real threat to our agricultural economy, especially if they get up into the rice country, which is perfect nutria habitat. We haven’t found them that far north yet.”

One of Strecker’s concerns is the animal’s rapid breeding habits.

“The rate at which these can reproduce is staggering,” he said.

Nutria can reach sexual maturity at the age of 4 to 6 months, according to CDFW, and produce their first litter by 8 months. They can have as many as three litters per year, with anywhere from one to 13 baby nutria. Tira said nearly every female nutria trapped so far has turned out to be pregnant.

CDFW wants to know about all potential nutria sightings, and is sending 7,000 letters to property owners along the San Joaquin River, from Merced County to the delta, requesting access to survey for nutria.

“If we’re going to be successful in eradication, we’re going to have to get the cooperation of landowners (and) farmers to assess their property and trap any nutria they may have,” Tira said, noting that CDFW has received a lot of support from farmers, including one in Merced County who donated sweet potatoes used to bait traps.

The recently enacted 2018-19 state budget includes $400,000 allocated to the Department of Food and Agriculture to survey the extent of the problem

and help CDFW with eradication efforts.

Noelle Cremers, who works on wildlife and environmental issues for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said it will be helpful to have CDFA involved.

“Farm Bureau would like to ensure that there is a coordinated effort to eradicate nutria before they become established,” Cremers said.

Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau, said he would like to see federal funding directed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services program.

“They’re the ones that are the most trained, and appropriately trained, to address the issue,” he said.

Nutria often are mistaken for muskrats, beavers or river otters. CDFW has a spotters’ guide and more information on its website at www.wildlife.ca.gov/ Conservation/Invasives/Species/Nutria/ Infestation.

Anyone who believes they’ve seen a nutria or evidence of its presence should take photos and report the sighting at www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Invasives/report; email invasives@ wildlife.ca.gov.; or call 866-440-9530.

CDFW advises that if a nutria is captured, it should not be turned loose, and CDFW or the county agricultural commissioner should be contacted as soon as possible.

Nutria are already established in 30 states, including Oregon and Washington. They’ve shown up in California before but were eradicated by the 1970s.

It’s not known how the rodent made its way to the San Joaquin Valley this time.

(Kevin Hecteman is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. He may be reached at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

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

Drought resiliency grant awarded to Westlands Water District STAFF REPORTS The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) announced a $750,000 WaterSMART Initiative grant to the Westlands Water District as part of the Bureau’s drought resiliency response program.

These funds are intended to help communities mitigate future drought impacts. The Bureau of Reclamation awarded the grant to assist drought risk areas in the planning and im-

plementation of actions designed to increase water supply reliability. The WaterSMART grant allows Westlands to move forward with the Pasajero Groundwater Replenishment Project, which includes the construction of a 60-acre groundwater recharge basin and pump station that would be used for aquifer recharge as well as storage recovery.

“This grant will assist Westlands in developing infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of drought and im-

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prove water supply reliability,” said general manager Tom Birmingham.

This grant, and the project for which it was awarded, is particularly important given the anticipated implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). As the designated Groundwa-

ter Sustainability Agency for the Westside Subbasin, The Bureau’s grant for the Pasajero Project will create an immediate benefit to the growers in the District as they invest in infrastructure that will increase water replenishment and develop a groundwater plan for the region.

RIVER FLOWS

“That is the next shoe to drop,” Scheuring said. “I think people on the Sacramento River are watching the San Joaquin River process very closely, to see what’s coming to them next.”

For more information and CFBF analysis of the San Joaquin River proposal, see www.cfbf.com/top-issues, choose Water and look for the tab reading “Unimpaired flow standards.”

(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)

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

continued from 5

to other legal water users. Local communities need to be part of the solution, not a target of regulation.”

In updating flow requirements for the Sacramento River and its tributaries—the Calaveras, Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers—the board recommended flow requirements from 45 to 65 percent of unimpaired flows. A draft proposed plan and staff report analyzing alternatives is expected to be released later in the year for public review and comment.

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19 July, 2018

VALLEYSCENE

ourvalleyvoice.com

July Jackpots of savings available now for Tulare County Fair STAFF REPORTS

The Source LGBT+ Center starts “Over the Edge” fundraising drive JIM REEVES, THE SOURCE The Source LGBT+ Center, serving Tulare and Kings County, announces it’s next big fundraising program, and the beginning of a new Visalia tradition. Visalia Over the Edge (www.visaliaovertheedge.com).

On November 10, 2018 people from all over the Central Valley will take the leap and go Over The Edge to raise money to support The Source LGBT+ Center.

In just 2 short years, The Source LGBT+ Center has outgrown its current space. With your help we can build the foundation to purchase our own building where we will save substantially on operational

expenses, more than double our capacity to serve, expand programing, and open our space up to community use. Go Over The Edge with us this fall and help us continue to serve our community. Our goal is $100,000.

There are 92 slots available, and each participant’s goal is to raise $1,000 or more to support the future expansion of The Source LGBT+ Center. Employees can raise money to “toss the boss” Over the Edge for $1,000! If he or she matches that donation, they can select a team member to take their place. This is a great team-building event that supports an important community non-profit organization.

Everybody wins the savings jackpot when they take advantage of the discounts offered on Tulare County Fair admission and unlimited rides this summer.

The Tulare County Fair recently launched its July Jackpots of Savings promotion, offering $5 admission tickets (regular $9) for those who buy before the month ends.

The July Jackpots also feature a pair of unlimited ride wristbands for just $40, regular price $70 for two.

“The July Jackpots promotion ensures over 40% savings on fair admission and unlimited rides” said Pamela Fyock, chief executive officer of the Tulare County Fair.

“But to win the savings jackpot, our fair guests need to buy online in July. Discount prices increase in August, and fair time prices will be at full value,” Fyock added.

Also on sale is the Wow Express Front-of-the-line Unlimited Ride Wristband, which includes unlimited rides plus front-of-the-line benefits for all carnival rides and is good any

one day of the fair. Wow Express wristbands are $50 in advance, available online only. Beginning in August, the Wow Express wristband will be $60.

Wow Express wristbands will not be sold during the fair.

The July Jackpots discounts conclude July 31 and are only available at tcfair.org.

One of the highlights of the Tulare County Fair is its free concert series. This year’s headliners are Sheila E. (Sept. 12); Clay Walker (Sept. 13); Con Funk Shun (Sept. 14); Queen Nation (Sept. 15) and Smash Mouth (Sept. 16).

The Tulare County Fair’s mission is to showcase agriculture and create family fun. The five-day fair opens on Sept.12 and runs through Sept. 16, 2018. The annual celebration includes scrumptious food, celebrity entertainment, interactive children’s activities, hundreds of animals, a wildlife adventure, a thrilling carnival, exciting motorsports, a rodeo, an impressive Junior Livestock Auction and more.

The Tulare County Fair has been a community tradition for more than a century. For more information visit tcfair.org.

Spin for a Cure set for July 21 at The Lifestyle Center in Visalia STAFF REPORTS The Lifestyle Center and Scarlett Parks Foundation will host a Spin-aThon benefitting Rett syndrome on Saturday, July 21, in Visalia.

The event, which will take place from 8:30am to 12:30pm at The Lifestyle Center will include a spin workout, opportunity drawings and special guest appearances from Visalia Rawhide’s Tipper, Valley Children’s George and the International Agri-Center’s Aggie AgVentures Cow. Proceeds from the Spin-a-Thon will benefit the Scarlett Parks Foundation and Valley Children’s Hospital.

“We are excited to be the host location for this year’s Scarlett Parks Foundation Spin-a-Thon. Those who sign up to spin can expect a great workout from four of our awesome instructors, motivating music and a fun and exciting day benefiting this amazing cause,” said Irma Lunsford, The Lifestyle Center Aerobic Coordinator. “All fitness levels are welcome, come ready to spin for a cure!”

Rett syndrome is a debilitating neurological disorder diagnosed almost exclusively in girls and occur-

ring in one of every 10,000 female births around the world. Typically girls are born healthy and early development phases seem normal.

Generally around 18 months, regression in development appears, particularly affecting speech, hand skill and coordination.

Rett syndrome can be best described as the perfect storm of Autism, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease all wrapped in one. Girls with Rett syndrome are smart, they understand everything you say, but are literally trapped inside a body that does not work.

The Lifestyle Center’s Director Patrick Tazio said he hopes that hosting this event will help raise awareness for Rett syndrome and educate the community about this neurological disorder and those it impacts.

Tickets are $20 per hour ride or $25 for an hour ride, t-shirt and water bottle. Space is limited. Participants can purchase Spin-a-Thon tickets and reserve their spinning time at The Lifestyle Center Front Desk. For more information, call The Lifestyle Center at (559) 624-3400.

Burgerim Grand Opening to be held July 27 STAFF REPORTS Come join in the fun of a Red Carpet Event put on at the grand Opening of Burgerim. The first 300 guests will receive a free burger.

The Ribbon cutting will be July 27th 1pm at 2226 S. Mooney Blvd Suite A-5 in Visalia.

Burgerim is a Franchise that started in Israel and came to the U.S.A about 3 years ago, The US alone has over 270 locations and it is a worldwide chain. Try out a new concept in gourmet “burgers

by the pack” where there is always more than one.

Attending the Red Carpet event will be Mayor Warren Gubler and the Visalia Police and Fire Department.

Bring your kids for fun and photos.

Also at the event will be Rock 104.1 broadcasting the event live!

If you would like more information about Burgerim, please contact Rose V. Oganesyan at 559400-5716 or 559-802-3028 or email visalia@iburgerim.com, Website: Burgerim.com

19 July, 2018 Valley Voice

8

Book Notes

Empire Falls NEWELL BRINGHURST newellgb@hotmail.com

Through the pages of his Pulitzer-prize-winning novel, Empire Falls, Richard Russo paints a stark portrait of a fictional down-in-theheels Maine industrial town of the same name, populated by a cast of unforgettable, colorful characters.

The story’s central character is Miles Roby, the mild-mannered, middle-aged manager of the Empire Grill. Miles, having spent his life trapped in Empire Falls, is an active witness to its steady decline following the closure of its textile and lumber mills. The town is ruled by the assertive, strong-willed Francine Whiting who owns the recently-closed factories and numerous other properties, including the Empire Grill. Thus, Miles is compelled to follow the dictates of this mercurial, vindictive woman who took control of the family empire, following her husband C.B. Whiting’s departure from the community years earlier.

C.B., both kindly and week-willed, sought to escape both a miserable marriage and a host of other family problems.

Miles Roby also endured his share of adversity. His growing up years were made difficult by the antics of his frequently-absent ne’erdo-well father, Max. By contrast, his saintly mother, Grace, protected and nurtured young Miles. She, moreover, urged her son, as he came of

age, to escape the dying town to attend college. But, alas, Grace’s frail heath leading to her untimely death compelled Miles to return to Empire Falls.

Equally evocative are other family members. A less-than-positive figure is Janine Roby, Miles’ exwife—a vain, narcissistic woman who left Miles to marry Walt Comeau, the extroverted, arrogant owner of a local fitness club.

Closer to Miles is his troubled, teenaged d a u g h t e r, Christina “Tick” Roby who is both sensitive and shy. Tick is adversely affected by the breakup of her parents’ marriage. She despises her mother’s new husband, causing their completele estrangement. Also close to Miles is his younger brother David, the chief cook at the Empire Grill—a former alcoholic and car crash survi-

vor, who is assertive, willing to take risks to ensure the survival of the struggling diner.

An array of other noteworthy characters, provide added context.

Important is the mysterious Charlie Mayne, with whom Miles’ mother, Grace, had an extramarital affair prior to her death, but whose true identity is revealed only years later.

Further complicating Miles’ life is Cindy Whiting, the disabled daughter of C. B. and Francine Whiting who has over the years maintained a long-standing infatuation for Miles. Miles, however, does not harbor similar feelings.

The precise cause of Cindy’s crippled condition—a crucial element of the story—remains a mystery until revealed near its conclusion. A completely malevolent character is

James “Jimmy” Mindy, a dull-witted, unscrupulous police officer, who in asserting his authority continually harasses Miles. An even more problematic figure is teenager John Voss, the awkward, introverted classmate of Tick Roby, whom she attempts to befriend. But Voss is emotionally damaged beyond repair, due to childhood abuse suffered at the hands of his drug-addled, dysfunctional parents. The youth’s resulting unpredictable behavior sets the stage for the novel’s shattering climax.

Revealed throughout Empire Falls is the author’s genius for loosely episodic storytelling, and in presenting a vivid cultural snapshot of life in a declining mill town—in many ways a microcosm of an economically struggling post-industrial America in the twenty-first century. Russo’s skill in bringing to life a compelling cast of complex characters is manifest throughout his riveting, fast-moving tale. The author’s effective use of wry tonguein-cheek humor, provides an element of much-needed comic relief, throughout. In sum, the volume’s cast of memorable characters will stay with the reader long after completing the book.

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

Valley Voice 19 July, 2018

Calendar

Weekends through July 28: Vintage Hitchcock At the Porterville Barn Theater. A Live Radio Play. Styled in the form of a 1940’s radio broadcast featuring 3 of the master of suspense earlier films, “The Lodger”, “Sabotage” and “The 39 Steps” this live radio play comes complete with vintage commercials,through the magic of live sound effects and musical underscoring. times and tickets, call 559-310-7046.

July 13, July 20: Summer Night Lights 7-10pm - At Murry Park in Porterville.

Featuring a local free resource fair, movie under the stars, bounce houses, raffle prizes, food, games. Movie starts at dusk. For more information, visit the City of Porterville website or call (559) 782-7521.

July 20: Visalia Parks & Rec Presents Movies in the Park 8pm - Coco will be shown on our giant inflatable movie screen at dusk. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, picnic dinner and snacks. (No alcohol allowed.)

July 28: Visalia Parks & Rec Community Pool Party Series 12-3pm - Free swim during this lifeguard supervised pool time.

July 18, July 20: Events at the Dinuba Library July 18 at 2pm – Journal Making with Rosie and Friends, Teen Event, ages 1319, July 20 at 3pm – Teen Painting Takes You Everywhere Workshop. (559) 5915829, July 19: Events at the Ivanhoe Library July 19 at 3:30 pm – Rock Talk with Debbie Havner (559) 798-1264 July 18: Events at the London Library July 18 at 3pm – Family Movie Day (559) 591-1017 July 18: Events at the Orosi Branch Library July 18 at 2:30pm – Tulare County Sheriff. (559) 591-5830 July 20 - 2nd Annual Dream Big Golf Tournament at Valley Oaks Golf Course.

Benefit students participating in The PULSE Afterschool Program at VUSD middle schools. For registration details, contact Frank Escobar at 730-7570 or at fescobar@vusd.org.

July 27 - August 19 -The Kings Players present Little Women Every Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Temple Theater, 514 E. Visalia St. in Hanford.

9 July 28: Boots, Brews, & Bacon Festival at the Visalia Convention Center 6 - 10 PM, Unlimited beer tasting, live music, local restaurants featuring their best bacon bite samples, cash prize for the best bacon bite as voted by attendees, bacon eating contest, and pub games. VIP: $75; general admission: $30 July 28: Small Town Cruizers Car Club breakfast fundraiser at the Applebee’s Restaurant 8-10am. Meal ticket is $10. located on 3400 S. Mooney Blvd., in Visalia. call Bob at 559-303-6650 or visit www.smalltowncruizers.org July 29: Inaugural Quinceañera Expo 12-4pm, featuring: Quinceañera Fashion Show, Hair & Make-up Demos, Live Performances, Giveaways, and the top Quinceañera vendors in the Central Valley. Admission: $7 | Quinceañeras are FREE Children 10 and Under FREE July 31: Blood Drive Visalia Public Cemetery District 7:30am to 11:30am at the cemetery chapel,Cindy Summers, 559-734-6181 Office August 3: The Creative Center is hosting the Open Mic / Art Market The Creative Center, 410 E Race Ave, Visalia, 5:00 – 8:00. $100 prize. The winning musician or band will be determined by a panel of judges. An array of talented, local artists with handmade gifts available for sale. $3 cover charge.

Spots are limited, Sign up early by messaging the Creative Center on Facebook / Instagram or calling 559-733-9329.

August 4th: Visalia Gadabouts celebrating 50 years of traveling 10:00 - 12:00, 210 N Locust Street. The Gadabouts meet the first Saturday of each month at the from 10: to 12:00.

September 28th: The Visalia Chamber and Vossler Farms will host Oktoberfest 5:30 – 9:00 pm. Tickets go on sale July 1st and include entrance a mug for samples, tasting from more than 20 restaurants and live music. $40.00 in advance, $50.00 the day of and can be purchased at www.visaliachamber.org/ oktoberfest.

Every Tuesday/Friday: Visalia Duplicate Bridge Club 12pm Tuesdays, 7pm Fridays - $6 on Tuesdays, including lunch. $7 on Fridays. At First Christian Church, 1023 N. Chinowth St. Mondays: National Alliance on Mental Illness, 5:45pm Education Meeting: 7pm Support Group St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Visalia, 120 N. Hall, Corner of Center and Hall. For more information call: (559) 627-1306

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“Pancakes for Law Paws” to fundraise for local K-9 police units TERRY FELLOWS Applebee’s Restaurant, Friends of Visalia Police K-9 Division and the Small Town Cruizers Car Club of Tulare County have teamed up for a very special breakfast fundraiser to benefit our local law enforcement canine heroes. This delicious and all-important event will take place on Saturday, July 28, 2018, from 8 – 10am at the Applebee’s Restaurant, located on 3400 S. Mooney Blvd., in Visalia.

Key representatives from all three organizations tell us, “this is a great opportunity for our community to come together for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning and raise some much-needed money for our law enforcement K-9 agencies in Tulare County,.”

Friends of Visalia Police K-9 is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that has been raising money to support the Visalia Police Department K9 Unit since

2004. The initial cost of a new canine is approximately $10,000. The average service life of trained canine is 5-6 years.

That said, it is vital for the canine program to continue providing support to our local patrol officers.

President of the Town Small Town Cruizers Car Club, Bob Riggi, states,“Unquestionably this will be a very impactful event, raising some funds for some new law paws, while enjoying a delightful breakfast with friends. The cost of a meal ticket is only $10 and will help support our local K-9 agencies, which will enhance the quality of our safety in our neighborhoods and help save lives.”

For more information about this fundraising event, call Bob at 559303-6650 or visit www.smalltowncruizers.org.

We hope you will join us on Saturday, July 28, 2018 at Applebee’s on Mooney, and don’t forget to invite a friend!

19 July, 2018 Valley Voice

10

Visalia Gadabouts to celebrate 50 years of traveling STAFF REPORTS On August 4th, the Visalia Gadabouts will be celebrating 50 years of traveling at the Visalia Senior Center from 10am-12pm.

President Barbara Davis says everyone is welcome to the party even if you are not a member. Davis joined the group about six years ago after she retired. “You don’t have to bring anyone on the trips. Just sit next to someone on the bus and make a new friend. We go all over and just have a lot of fun.”

Davis says the group has been selling $5.00 raffle tickets since the beginning of the year in preparation for their celebration. “We have great raffle prizes to win and cake and other goodies to eat.” The plan is also to share stories of their favorite trips.

One of Davis’ favorite trips started out ominously traveling through a fire in Yosemite. “The smoke was so thick it was coming underneath the door and you could smell it.”

But their destination was Iron Stone

Winery where the sky was blue and not a trace of smoke was to be had and everyone ended up having a marvelous time, and the wine didn’t hurt either.

Gadabouts started in August of 1968 when a group of seniors joined together to create a non-profit travel group. “They have a simple mission,” said Davis, “to travel.” Another goal of the group is to keep the trips as affordable as they can to fit a senior’s fixed income.

Gadabouts started small but quickly expanded in membership beyond Visalia to the surrounding communities, even Fresno, whose city does not have a senior center.

The group also expanded their itineraries to go to further travel destinations for longer stays. The group goes on day excursions, overnight and up to a week.

To join Gadabouts all you have to be is 50 years old or over. You don’t even have to come to the meetings to go on the trips. Members are encouraged to bring their grand children or other family members

when they go to Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm or visit museums such as the Getty.

“We travel to the coast, baseball games, live theatrical shows, sightseeing and cruises in the United States and around the world and of course gambling in Las Vegas, Reno and Laughlin,” Said Davis.

A charter bus service, mostly Orange Belt, drives Gadabouts to their destinations with buses that can accommodate walkers, lightweight scooters and wheelchairs. All trips are planned by A-1 Tours and Travel.

The Gadabout meet the first Saturday of each month at the Visalia Senior Center, 210 N Locust Street in Visalia from 10am to noon. That’s where they pick up the new trip sheets, share stories about the most recent trips, and just basically have al lot of fun said Davis.

“We hope to see all of our faithful travelers. Newcomers are always welcome. Come join us for our 50th Anniversary party and make new friends.”

Gadabouts upcoming trips for July and August July 21 - Genghis Khan exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library!

July 23-24-25 -Pageant of the Masters, gondola adventures in Newport Beach, Roger’s Gardens and Huntington Library, then 2 nights at the beautiful Dana Point Marina Inn. July 28 - Muir Woods National Monument, Marine Mammal Center, and Sausalito August 5 - see “Into the Woods” at Roger Rocka’s in Fresno August 11 - King Tut Exhibit and California Science Center August 15- the Huntington Library, art collections & botanical gardens and a tour of the gamble house August 18 - National Steinbeck Center / Carmel Mission / Carmel Plaza August. 25 - Pismo Beach and Avila Valley Barn

Arts Visalia to host Young at Art exhibition in August ARTS VISALIA August 2018 brings Arts Visalia’s annual Young at Art Exhibition, which features a variety of artwork from our Young at Art Children’s Summer Program. The exhibition will also showcase artwork from students in our Art Program in Goshen, in partnership with Family Services.

The Young at Art Children’s Summer Program hosted seven weeks of classes, highlighting the seven elements of art: line, shape, form, texture, value, color, and space. Works featured are those of three age groups: 5-6, 7-10, and 11 and up and present a diverse collection of 2-D and 3-D projects.

We are excited to present an ex-

hibition in which the students have learned about different techniques, artists, and approaches to creating and displaying art. This exhibition truly utilizes our gallery space and is not limited to only hangings on the wall or the use of pedestals. Be sure to look up, as student work will be hanging from the rafters as well, creating an immersive experience of what our Children’s Summer Program is all about.

This exhibition runs from August 1st through August 31st. The opening reception is free to the public and will be held on Friday, August 3rd, from 6pm to 8pm.

With kind support, the exhibition is sponsored in part by Bueno

Beverage Company, United Way of Tulare County, Southern California Edison, City of Visalia, Measure N City of Visalia Grant, Valley PBS, Step Up, Visalia Breakfast Lions Club, the Carolyn Kruse Foundation, and the Sence Foundation.

In September, Arts Visalia will host artist, Eryn Williams, in her solo exhibition in which she will display an impressionistic body of painted storyteller works that demonstrate vibrant colors and thick brush strokes.

Eryn Williams was born and raised in Visalia and went to Mt. Whitney High School after which she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design and Art Studio from UC Davis. She cur-

rently resides and has an art studio in downtown Fresno and is part of the Thursday ArtHop. Arts Visalia’s adult and children’s arts classes will resume again in the fall, starting in October and ending in December. Adult participants can look forward to oil painting, figure drawing, cyanotype printmaking, and pencil drawing. Participants in our children’s classes will learn about different techniques utilizing drawing, sculpture, and paper.

For more information and class descriptions, please go to artsvisala. org, call us at (559) 739-0905, or visit us at the gallery at 214 E. Oak Ave., Visalia, CA 93291.

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Valley Voice 19 July, 2018

Visalia Chamber brings industry experts, knowledge to Emerge STAFF REPORTS The Visalia Chamber of Commerce Emerge program helps new and future business owners connect with local business resources and industry experts in order to help participants launch or strengthen their new businesses.

Emerge was created to give local entrepreneurs a hands on learning experience, while walking them through the complex steps required to start a successful business.

Over the course of six months

CONTRACTS continued from 1

issues because it would lease the hospital to Adventist and effectively not have any involvement in Adventist’s Tulare operation.

“There are churches built on leased county land,” Wynkoop said. “Because of this being a lease, you are not operating this facility. You are only owning the land under the facility.”

He went more in-depth: the district currently owns and operates Tulare Regional. Once it leases the facility, it will cease to be operated as a public hospital.

“Tulare Regional Medical Center will no longer be a public hospital,” he added. “It will be a private hospital owned by Adventist Health, leasing land still owned by the district, which the district is receiving revenue from,” he said.

Wynkoop said that it was his opinion there were no 1st Amendment issues and that he could write a memo advising the board of the same; but, given the complexity of the issues involved, such a memo could cost $20,000.

“As an attorney at McCormick Barstow, I’d really like you to pay me $20,000 to write that memo,” Wynkoop said. “But as your counsel, what I’d tell you is it’s not $20,000 you should spend.”

He said that during the period between the hospital’s re-opening and Adventist assuming the lease, it would be “wholly appropriate” to ask Adventist to operate the hospital as a secular institution.

“We have not had that discussion,” he said.

Caplan also asked whether Adventist would potentially decline to serve certain groups of people -- such as LGBT individuals -- or decline to provide mental health, birth control, or oth-

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er services.

Randy Dodd, Adventist’s Vice President of Business Development, was on hand at the meeting to respond to those concerns.

“I think like many hospitals in our country, we have a religious foundation. There are Catholic hospitals, there are Methodist hospitals, there are Adventist hospitals. We do not turn people away because they don’t share the same faith that we have. In fact, we work very closely with ministerial associations that allow all faiths in to our hospital to care for those religious interests of patients in the hospital getting medical care,” Dodd said.

“It certainly doesn’t change, if you will, the types of services that we provide to all people that come to our facility,” he added.

Responding to a question from the crowd, Dodd said Adventist’s services are only limited by the level of care that each of its facilities could provide.

“We’re not limited by religious directive, if you will,” Dodd said.

If the ballot measure were to fail, and voters did not approve Adventist’s lease of the hospital, its management would end November 30. Day-to-day management of the hospital would revert to the district.

Members of Adventist’s management team are already on the grounds of the hospital preparing for the reopening, Interim CEO Larry Blitz told the Voice last week.

“Adventist Health has a presence here at the Allied Building in Tulare, and we’re working with their point guard so to speak Randy Dodd, and almost everything we do we want to run by them,” he said. “Even though the district still has the responsibility to run the hospital until the vote happens, we still want to run things by them because we don’t want them to have to make any changes.”

“They’re there in good faith, dedicating a lot of resources to this project, and we’re basically working with them on a minute to minute basis for them to have the kind of data they need, and us to get the kind of support we need,” he said.

Meetings were being held to discuss needed repairs, salary structures, benefits structures, recruitment, and staffing needs, Blitz added.

tirely offset against repayments on a $10m loan that the nonprofit would provide Tulare.

The second year’s rent, and each year thereafter, would have 50% of rent payments offset against the loan.

The draft agreement provided to the public also allowed Adventist the option to purchase the hospital.

Board President Kevin Northcraft said it wasn’t part of their original pitch to the board.

“One of the things -- our RFP process in which Adventist Health responded made no reference to the sale of the hospital,” Northcraft said. “We’re in discussions to try to resolve that issue -- don’t panic over the feeling that we’re losing our hospital.”

Another key provision relates to the perpetually-stalled hospital tower expansion: if the tower wasn’t finished within 10 years, and/or the hospital was not considered seismically compliant on or before January 1, 2030, the Adventist could exit the agreement with 270 days’ notice.

If the board accepted a loan from Adventist, and/or entered into the Interim Management Services Agreement with the nonprofit, and the lease were not approved, Wynkoop told the board that certain consequences would result.

“Adventist [would] no longer operate the hospital [under the Interim MSA], the line of credit becomes due in five years, and operation and liability responsibility reverts to the district,” he told the board.

“So, we have a short reopening and closure of our hospital, among other things,” Northcraft responded.

Xavier Avila, a member of the board, said that he wanted to impress upon the public the importance of the lease being passed.

“It’s vital that this lease gets passed, overwhelmingly, on November 6,” Avila said.

Interim Management Services Agreement

Adventist Health would initially administrate the hospital, according to the provided draft of the Interim Management Services Agreement.

That agreement, once finalized, would govern until voters approve a November ballot measure that would allow Adventist to lease the hospital.

Under the terms of the agreement, Adventist would manage day-to-day operations of Tulare Regional Medical Center and provide an executive leadership team, including a CEO, CFO, Chief Nursing Officer, and vice-presidents.

The nonprofit would keep the net income earned while it was managing the hospital under the agreement, and take over billing/collection services as well.

Lease Agreement

That lease would be for five years, with five initial five-year increments, for a total of 30 years. Requirements in the lease would force Adventist to keep the hospital as an acute care hospital throughout the term of the lease, ensuring that acute care services could not be abandoned for more lucrative, or convenient, forms of operation.

Under the agreement, Adventist would pay a fair market value rent, increased yearly to account for the Consumer Price Index -- a measure of inflation.

The first year’s rent would be en-

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Brian Poochigian to run for Visalia City Council District 3 STAFF REPORTS

Brian Poochigian, a born and raised resident of Visalia, has entered the District 3 City Council Race with a promise to make a positive and significant impact on Visalia to ensure it remains a great place for generations to come.

District 3 is currently represented

by Mayor Warren Gubler, who has announced his retirement.

Districts 4, represented by Greg Collins, and District 5, represented by Steve Nelsen, are also up for re-election in November 2018. Nelsen has decided to defend his seat while Collins is making his decision at press time.

Poochigian was a student of the Visalia Unified School System. He attended Crestwood Elementary School, La Joya Middle School and Mount Whitney High School. After graduation he attended San Diego State University where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Science with a

Minor in History.

It was when he met his future wife, Adrienne Skaff, that he decided to move back to Visalia in order to raise a family in a town he knew best. Brian and Adrienne were married in 2011 and currently have two children.

Once back in Visalia, Poochigian began his career with Cal-Tex Transportation and works there currently as the manager of logistics in produce transportation across the nation.

Poochigian takes pride knowing his career has had a direct and positive impact on local businesses in Visalia and it is because of this hometown pride mentality that he has decided to run for City Council.

Since moving back to the Valley he has been involved in numerous community committees and activities.

He is a current member of the Visalia Citizen Advisory Committee, where he serves as the co-chair of the City of Visalia Public Opinion Survey. He

is an avid member of Trex Fraternity Sequoia Chapter service club and has held many offices including Club President. He also recently spearheaded a Christmas Toy Drive benefiting pediatric patients at Kaweah Delta Hospital.

Poochigian and his family are

deeply rooted in this community and are passionate about keeping it safe, fun, and thriving. Their passion to keep it a “great” town where their Grand-Children can grow up in someday is the driving force in why Poochigian chose to run for City Council.

Open house set for second Kaweah Delta urgent care on July 25 STAFF REPORTS Kaweah Delta will host an open house on Wednesday, July 25, for its second urgent care in Visalia. Set to open this fall this second Kaweah Delta Urgent Care will help serve the healthcare needs of the community and reduce overcrowding in one of the busiest emergency departments in the state.

“This is just one of the ways we are working to reduce overcrowding in the emergency department at

Kaweah Delta,” said John Leal, Director of Kaweah Delta’s Urgent Care Clinics.

“We are giving our community another option where they can go if they are sick and need non-emergency care and their doctor is unavailable.”

An open house with tours will take place from 5-7pm on Wednesday, July 25, at Kaweah Delta Urgent Care, 3600 W. Flagstaff Ave., just north of Demaree Street and Riggin Avenue, in Visalia.

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Construction on the $4 million project began in summer 2017 and was completed in May; Kaweah Delta is waiting for state approval to open.

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The new Kaweah Delta Urgent Care is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm at 3600 W. Flagstaff Ave., just north of Demaree Street and Riggin Avenue, in Visalia. Walk-in patients are welcome. Most insurances are accepted. For more information, visit www. kaweahdelta.org/urgentcare.

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Valley Voice 19 July, 2018

TULARE

continued from 1 then Will just told me he didn’t know if Carlton was going to make it.”

Macedo and Sigala sat alone on the council dais awaiting the arrival of any of their missing colleagues for some 15 minutes before the Mayor officially moved the meeting back one week.

The Devil and the Hospital

After giving word of the new meeting date, Macedo asked those who had gathered for the evening’s business to pray for the city council. The ongoing infighting on the council, he said, was an open invitation to evil.

“So, we can’t ask for God to come into our meetings, and then once we start our bickering and fighting among ourselves, the only one we’ve allowed in is the Devil,” Macedo said. “So, let’s pray about that for next meeting, and we will be here a week from Tuesday night.”

The mayor, as he asked for divine help, also pointed to trouble at the Tulare Local Health Care District and Tulare Regional Medical Center as the origin of the city’s ongoing trouble at the leadership level.

“I would ask each and every one of you to go home and pray about this,” Macedo said. “You know, we pray before every meeting to invite God into our meetings, and it just seems like the city of Tulare--and it goes back for many, many years, starting with the hospital--has had a lot of dissension.”

Timely Business

The agenda for the evening was fairly routine, with the exception of the hiring of a new city attorney, the approval of a handful of items dealing with Councilman Nunley’s property developments, and a time-sensitive agreement between the city and the county.

It was the third item that prompted the scheduling of a meeting on July 24.

“There’s a deadline for the city to set assessments for landscaping in special districts with the county,” said City Engineer Mike Miller. “It takes two meetings, and we only have two meetings (before the deadline).”

One of those meetings was the quorum-less meeting of July 17, and so the decision on landscaping assessments will be taken up at the rescheduled session. So too will the hiring of a new city attorney. Epps, the interim city manager, said the Council appeared ready to hire the Hanford-based law firm Griswold, LaSalle, Cobb, Down and Gin. “I sensed that it would go,” he said.

Attorneys from the law firm have already begun working as the city’s interim legal council. About two weeks have passed since the city’s new counselors began advising staff at City Hall.

All is going well, Epps reports.

“Things have really been good for us,” he said.

Non-Standard Hiring Procedure

The vote to remove the law firm representing the city, Goyette and Associates, came by a 5-0 vote during the closed session portion of the council’s meeting on June 19.

Heather Phillips, who served as Tulare’s city attorney, had no previous experience with municipal law, a reason cited by Macedo for voting to remove Phillips and her firm. It also appears standard city practice was not followed when Goyette and Associates was originally hired in April of last year.

Minutes of the council meeting from March 21 show a closed-session

13 review of the performance of then City Attorney David Hale, who abruptly resigned his position without explanation just 10 days later at a special meeting on March 31.

It appears the Council then directed former Mayor Jones to find a new attorney. He chose Phillips, who served previously as counsel to the Fresno-area firefighters union Jones once headed. She first appeared as a member of city staff on April 4.

Phillips firm was paid a flat $30,000 monthly for its work for the city, a figure that brought some criticism for being too high. It also appears a formal request for proposal (RFP) asking for bids from competing law firms was never issued by the city. RFP are required by law for high-dollar items and contracts.

Nunley Called for Review

The review of Phillips’ performance as city attorney was requested by Councilman Greg Nunley, who found himself on the defensive last month when he was accused of possible state fair election law violations.

The accusations--made by attorney Michael Noland, who represents Visalia-based investors and land developers the Lagomarsino Group--include Nunley using his position to gain favorable treatment for his real estate developments.

The possible violations--ones Nunley strongly denies--stem from the councilman’s attempts to negotiate an extension of a development agreement with city for his Tesori subdivision. By attempting to influence the council’s decision, Noland says Nunley has run afoul of Section 1090 of the state Government Code. The action, which was eventually approved by the council, is the second such extension Nunley has received.

“Remember that you provided an extension of the subdivision agreement for the Tesori subdivision last year at this time, and the amendment to that agreement ... constitutes a violation of government code section 1090, because it creates a new agreement between the City of Tulare and Councilmember Nunley’s company,” Noland told the Council at its June 19 meeting. “Section 1090 of the Government Code strictly prohibits that type of agreement between a sitting councilmember or other member of a governmental body and that governmental entity itself.”

Nunley’s call for a review of Phillips’ performance came after the attorney provided documents about Nunley’s dealings with the city to attorneys investigating his behavior.

Last-Minute Action

Despite the agreement between Nunley and the city being in place for nearly a decade, the move to extend it came at the last possible moment. The council, with Nunley abstaining and Councilman David Macedo absent, eventually voted 3-0 to approve an extension of the agreement, provided Nunley could prove he holds bonds that will cover the cost of street improvements should Nunley fail to cover them. Nunley provided a letter from Cavignac and Associates detailing the terms of the bond to the council.

Had the council failed to act, the agreement with Nunley would have expired that night. Councilman Jose Sigala was the first to comment on the coincidence of timing.

“I guess the question is how long have we known about this,” Sigala said.

“Did it just come up yesterday, or was there enough time to put that stuff in place?”

City Engineer, Mike Miller said City Hall began working on the extension about 30 days ago, which is the normal procedure.

Vice Mayor Castellanzo saw the lateness of Nunley’s request for an extension of his contract as a problem.

“We are put in a bind here with the timing,” she said.

Citizen Nunley

Nunley, who had recused himself from the debate and vote over the contract extension at the June 19 Council meeting, took a seat in the audience but didn’t stay there long. Following comments by Noland, Nunley addressed the Council from the side of the podium usually reserved for the public, claiming he was “speaking as a citizen, not as a councilman.”

Nunley told the Council a letter from the Fair Political Practices Committee (FPPC) says the law allows him to make agreements with the city regarding his real estate development projects.

City Attorney Heather Phillips confirmed the letter’s existence to the council, as well as its content.

“I just want to make the council aware that we have checked with the Fair Political Practices Commission, the FPPC,” she said. “They’ve provided us with a written opinion that the councilmember (Nunley) is allowed to enter into contracts with respect to subdivisions.”

Conditions of Participation

What neither Nunley or Phillips revealed were the conditions under which Nunley could do such business.

Besides disclosing directly his financial interests, Nunley was also advised by lawyers for the FPPC to recuse himself from the vote, and to leave the room for any discussion of matters involving his business interests, which Nunley did not do at the June 19 meeting.

The letter from the FPPC covers very specific circumstances under which Nunley may form a contract with the city. He may only “submit formal requests to the city of Tulare for zoning changes and general plan amendments applicable to property he wholly owns,” it reads.

The letter does not cover the renegotiation of developers’ agreements.

It also does not make allowances for properties Nunley owns in partnership with others. Del Lago Place LLC, the company which owns the Tesori Subdivision, is not owned by Nunley alone.

At least two partners are listed with the state.

Criminal Penalties

Substantiated violations of 1090,

depending on the intent of the individual who violated the law, can result in both civil and criminal penalties.

Visalia-based attorney Michael Lampe, who was also on hand for the debate at the June 19 meeting, denied the letter from the FPPC allowed the city and Nunley to extend their current agreement.

“I would think--I don’t think, I know that this is a new agreement. It’s not a subdivision agreement under 1090.1,” Lampe said. “And it would be a violation of Section 1090 of the Government Code to enter into such an agreement.”

Agreement Envy

At the June 19 meeting, Nunley also launched into a lengthy complaint about what he says is the city’s failure to issue a reimbursement agreement to his company.

Nunley says some $700,000 in improvements to the area around Tesori subdivision should be paid out of the city’s portion of the State Highway Fund. Nunley’s company has yet to make the improvements required by the state.

Nunley also mentioned what he apparently views as unfairly good treatment by City Hall of developers of the San Joaquin Valley Homes subdivision, which sits in the same area as Tesori.

San Joaquin’s ownership received a reimbursement agreement from the city within six months of requesting one, according to Nunley, and the Councilman seemed seemed to imply the involvement of Lagomarsino Group owner Fred Lagomarsino helped influence the quickness of that action.

“I believe Mr. Lagomarsino was part of (San Joaquin Valley Homes) ... in some way,” Nunley said.

Despite Nunley’s assertion, it appears the ball is actually in his court when it comes to a reimbursement agreement with the city.

“The reimbursement agreement has been prepared by city staff, has been reviewed by the city attorney, has been forwarded to the applicant,” said Tulare’s Community and Economic Development Director, Josh McDonnell.

“The applicant has reviewed it and asked a number of questions. Staff has responded to those questions within the last week, and we are awaiting a response from the applicant.”

Had the meeting scheduled for this week been held, Nunley would have found himself missing more votes as the council again took up matters dealing with his business interests.

Conditional approval of final documents for the Quail Creek subdivision will have to wait until the council reconvenes at its special meeting on July 24.

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TOP DOG continued from 1

complaining have never even seen my kennels and some of the comments are from outside the county.”

“These people are just like the activists who protest dairies because the cows are confined and the calves are taken away,” said Abbott.

Patrick Hamblin, Director of Tulare County Animal Services, allegedly advised Abbott to ignore the group, but Abbott has been considering legal action.

Abbott said the group conducts protests in front of his home, and that they have threatened to paintball his billboards and break into his kennel and let all the dogs go. “They leave messages on social media saying that there is a special place in hell for people like me.”

He said the group even leaves nasty comments on his church’s Facebook page, such as “do you breed your daughter also?”

“It’s too much. It needs to stop.”

Top Dog Kennel is within the Code

According to Tammy Weyker- Adkins, Tulare County Public Information Officer, an unannounced kennel inspection was conducted at Top Dog Kennels on December 23, 2017 by Animal Services along with a Veterinarian.

Abbott was found to be in violation of not having a breeder’s permit and was issued a citation. He resolved the issue

by January of 2018 The veterinarian conducted a general assessment of the animals and found the oveall health of the animals to be good.

Hamblin said that Abbott has a license allowing 45 adult dogs (four months or older) but has been in violation in the past and was notified.

Kennels housing more than five dogs need to renew its license and have an inspection every year, with which Abbott has complied.

Currently, the breeding permit allows an operator to breed a female dog twice in a 12 month period, and there are no regulations concerning the age for when to start or stop breeding, the size of the enclosure, amount of exercise, or human contact.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, breeding dogs may be confined to spaces only six inches larger than their bodies, not including the tail and they may be caged 24 hours a day for their entire life. Unwanted animals may be killed.

Hamblin says that under California codes and Tulare County Ordinances Abbott’s kennel meets the minimum standards. He said that the Tulare County Animal Services Advisory Committee is currently reviewing these ordinances which may affect Abbott’s ability to comply in the future.

“Updating the ordinances is a lengthy process to implement. Once we get a draft there is community outreach, then the necessary changes are made, and then the suggested ordinances are presented to the Board of Supervisors,” said Hamblin.

Abbott says even though he has a license for 45 animals he tries to keep the number just under that.

In regards to breeding, Abbott explained that in the wild a female dog would be pregnant at six months and then have a litter every six months after that. But Abbott says he doesn’t start until the dog’s second heat when she is about one and a half years old. Abbott also said that he only breeds his females once a year.

In terms of an age limit, he said he breeds them for five to six years “or not even that long” depending on the condition and breed of the dog.

All of his dogs exercise everyday he says, and that he has three employees who are in and out of the kennels socializing the puppies. He also does genetic testing on his Labradors and German Shepherds for any genetic disorders before he breeds them.

Personal Accounts Contradict Abbott’s Claims

Abbott’s employees, volunteers, but mostly his customers, wrote of their first-hand experiences with Top Dog Kennel. Their testimonies range from 1999 to 2018. Here is a small sample.

Laura Hamilton wrote on February 15, 2016: “……(Four months after Laura sold Abbott one of their puppies for breeding) my husband received a call from Ron ... He was leaving town and the dog we had sold him was ill and at the Vet ... Could we pick her up!!! She was only 9 months old and the vet took 6 pups by C section. Our dog was emaciated, you could see the bones in her face and hips. She was covered in ticks, fleas and feces. We took turns sleeping with her in the barn. Our dog did not move for 5 days.

“Ron had the nerve to call us and state that he wanted his dog back. He said he needed to sell her because he had a big vet bill to pay!! I told him in no uncertain terms that he would never see this dog again and if he gave us any problems I would turn him in to the authorities. We never heard from him again, but now I wish I had turned him in anyway.”

Kimberley Lindley wrote of her November 23, 2013 visit: “It had rained recently and the kennels for the dogs without puppies were on dirt and they lived in the mud. The kennels for the moms and pups were smaller. ….They (the moms) were so skinny you could see their ribs. Their teats were out of proportion to their body. I recall thinking that one teat was almost the size of the mama’s paw. Her puppies were playing and rolling in feces. I saw a pup with fees on his head then put his head in the water bucket to drink then another pup went to drink from the same water.”

Buyer who wants to withhold her name, February 2018: “We went to pick up an older dog that Ron could not breed any longer. She was 10 years old and had had a litter about six months ago. She had scratches and facial scars. She was very hand shy which is a symptom of being hit. She does not like to be around people and is not used to humans being nice to her. It took me over an hour to finally get her though the back door back into the house then another hour trying to catch her in my living room. Once she felt she was cornered, she dropped to the ground and wouldn’t move. Challenging is an understatement.

Absolutely everything is overwhelming to her. Windows, mirrors, normal house noises, moving too quickly, the sound of a TV, water running, etc. A quiet environment is what she needs for a while and a lot of patience and to understand humans can actually be good too.”

Judy Summers wrote of her experience in December of 2014: “The first thing we noticed was that Ron had a huge number of animals on his grounds. Everything from peacocks to guinea hens. Ron advised us that he bred and sold all kinds of game fowl, numerous breeds of dogs and horses…. My husband chose a blonde male puppy (Rowdy) and Ron placed a band around his neck.

The total price for a male labradoodle was $1200.

Rowdy had a severe seizure in July of 2015 and quit breathing…..We took him to a veterinarian who wanted to wait until

Rowdy was 2 years old to put him on an anti-seizure medication. We asked what caused Rowdy to have seizures and the vet said it is almost always bad breeding techniques. He told us to watch Rowdy and to bring him back if he had another seizure.

Shortly before Rowdy’s 2nd birthday, we lost him to another massive seizure.”

Ellie Blankenship, December 14, 2017: “The filth and stench was hard to overcome. I’ve been to many animal shelters and I know what to expect. I requested a female chocolate lab puppy and was led to a kennel. ….What I saw was an emaciated woeful mama with severe hair loss, not mange, and possibly a yellow lab/or weim…..Several kennels in that area were full of various sizes and kinds of dogs.

Filthy labradoodles, doxies., labs and a black shepherd. Sad state of things at this place. These animals were cold and wet and begging for some socialization. This place needs to be shut down.

Bryce was 17 years old when he worked for Abbott. The following is an excerpt from an interview.

“All the kennels were full of sh*t. They were about five foot by ten foot kennels full of dogs that lived right on top of their poop because there was no space.”

Bryce said that besides cleaning poop, he was supposed to try and socialize the puppies. He was the kennel’s only employee so didn’t have much time for the puppies after his cleaning duties. He said the puppies would run away and wouldn’t even let him touch them because they were so scared of people.

Bryce recounted that when Abbott was going to breed a dog he tied the female to a post with a rope in a pen then put the male dog with her. On one occasion Bryce heard loud yelping and saw Abbott grabbing the female by the back of the neck and shaking her. Abbott then threw her down. He grabbed the male dog and put him on top of her until they mated.

Bryce said, “That’s when I quit. It’s obvious the dog did not want to mate or be pregnant.”

Organizing Protests as a Last Resort

On July 4 of this year Shut it Down held a protest in front of Abbott’s house where he keeps his kennels. Their slogan was, “Happy 4th of July! Unfortunately, it won’t be a good one for the dogs trapped in Ron Abbott’s Top Dog Kennels,” high -lighting the fact that while most dogs get to go inside a house when fireworks explode Abbott’s dogs are stuck in their kennels outside.

The protests are their last resort after years of trying to shut down the alleged puppy mill by working with the county.

On November 23, 2013 Lindley visited Abbott’s kennels. She was so upset by what she saw she immediately contacted Tulare County Animal Services (TCAS), Health and Human Services and Supervisor Pete Vander Poel, because the kennel was in his district.

On hearing his constituents concerns, Vander Poel organized a meeting with Timothy Lutz, former director of Finances, Patrick Hamblin from TCAS and someone in code enforcement.

After the meeting Lutz wrote Lindley in January of 2014, “they are working on an unannounced visit. We are ensuring that we have capacity at the shelter, should we need to detain a large number of animals; that piece obviously is extremely important and essential for the animal’s well being.”

By February everything seemed to fall apart. According to Lutz in an email written to Lindley, “First, please understand that this is a complex situation and we’re actively engaged in an

investigation. In January, both Animal Control and the Building Department have gone to the facility on separate occasions. No significant violations were identified, but that is, in part, a product of Mr. Abbott having some level of awareness that we were coming out. That does not mean that this case is closed.”

But because Abbott was always maintaining the minimal standards, there was really nothing more the county could do.

That string of events started the county’s efforts into changing the ordinances.

What Can Concerned Tulare County Residents Do?

Animal Services has been working with the Advisory Committee, County Counsel, and the Humane Society of the US on developing new “Commercial Kennel and Breeder Permit Minimum Standards that will significantly improve the overall conditions of the animals and place additional restrictions on the number of times an animal may be bred in a 12 month period,” said Weyker – Adkins.

To find out how to get appointed to the advisory committee go to their website or attend the meetings. tcanimalservices.org/animalservices/index.cfm/services/get-involved/advisory-committee/ TCAS Advisory Committee meets the second Thursday of each month.

Meeting locations vary. The next meeting is August 9 at 1pm in the Resource Management Agency Conference Room 5961 S Mooney Blvd.

Weyker-Adkins strongly encourages residents to contact Animal Services at animalcontrolsupport@tularehhsa. org with any concerns or negative experiences they’ve had with the purchase of an animal from a breeder. She also suggests that if you are at a kennel that seems to violate the California code on sanitary conditions to contact Animal Services immediately at 559 636-4050.

To file a complaint go to tcanimalservices@tularehhsa.org. All photo evidence of unsanitary conditions needs to be current. Animal Services conducts unannounced visits of permitted facilities during the year and based on any complaints received.

One and a Half Million Animals are Euthanized a Year

Abbott says that the people protesting his kennel are a bunch of animal rights activists who hate anyone who breeds dogs or cats, no matter what the code says.

In a sense he is right.

According to the ASPCA, 1.5 million animals are euthanized a year. Animal activists believe that people shouldn’t ever buy a dog when they can rescue a dog from a shelter. But Abbott says those who want to buy a purebred aren’t the type of people to go to a shelter to adopt an abandoned animal.

Abbott feels he has a sympathetic ear in Supervisor Vander Poel because he owns a dairy. But Vander Poel’s first priority was listening to his constituents’ concerns while maintaining that, “We need to make sure that what the accusers say is happening is actually happening.”

Vander Poel ended the conversation saying that he is not “In tune with how to purchase a purebred animal.”

“For myself I have a rescue dog from Tulare County Animal Services and it’s such a pleasurable experience now since the revamp of the facility to go to the shelter and pick out a family pet.”

Valley Voice 19 July, 2018

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

Letter: “Life” versus “Choice” - Beyond the Rhetoric With the recent nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the US Supreme Court, the political spotlight of the nation has once again focused on the great, seemingly-endless, cultural battle of “Life” versus “Choice”.

Activists of all flavors are out in force, and media is flooding us with strong opinions, virulent rhetoric and exaggerated tales of oppression.

Each side jockeys for airtime and prevalence. But with all the messages grabbing our collective attention, are we missing the real life stories of the people bearing the consequences of our abortion-as-a-political-football mindset?

What are we losing sight of in this conflict of “Life” versus “Choice” in our culture? At Tulare-Kings Right to Life, we frequently hear firsthand the tales of those are being affected by abortion. Sometimes, all we can do is offer help and healing resources to those that have been devastated by their abortion decisions. But every so often, we encounter those that are actively considering whether they should have

an abortion.

I first met Jodi in a Facebook group for women and men seeking help because they regret their abortions and don’t know how to move forward from the trauma.

Most are at least two-five years past their abortions, and have had significant time to think through the consequences of their actions. They don’t use words like ‘freedom’, ‘right choice’, ‘fetus’, ‘best thing’ and ‘clump of cells’; they use phrases like ‘killed my own child’, ‘never forgive myself’, and ‘just wish I could hold my baby’.

Jodi was no exception, and had followed the sound bite advice of the culture.

Faced with raising four children during a bitter custody dispute, extreme morning sickness 24 hours a day through all nine months, and no local support, she chose abortion. As with most women, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder soon followed. More than a year later, she finally reached out for help online.

We were doing everything to help Jodi process her abortion trauma. She

was depressed on her best days, and considering suicide on her worst.

Then, during a failed attempt to reconcile with her ex-husband, she became pregnant again. Her situation hadn’t changed. Feeling foolish for becoming pregnant, fearful about how it would affect her custody battle, and already facing debilitating nausea, she scheduled another abortion.

The only thing that had changed was her connection to a group of twelve hundred complete strangers on social media. Jodi told us her plans three days before her scheduled abortion.

We didn’t condemn her - we had all been there ourselves, and she was already condemning herself. We didn’t offer her empty platitudes and assurances that everything would be okay we knew she was facing difficult odds.

We certainly didn’t give her the absolving advice of a sound bite culture.

Instead, we first offered Jodi our prayers and support. Then we found her local assistance, and clinicians specializing in extreme nausea during pregnancy. Jodi was given referrals for

legal aid. She was encouraged to reach out to friends and family. We Listened.

Sympathized. Comforted. We did what every decent and kind human being naturally wants to do to help a scared pregnant woman: We offered our help, and our hearts, to see her through it.

The time for Jodi’s abortion appointment came and went. Another day, another week, another month.

The other day she posted a picture of her first ultrasound, along with her thanks to the people that talked her through it. No idea what single thing helped change her mind. I just thank God we were there for HER, and not for our politics.

— JP Pritchard

JP Prichard is the Executive Director of Tulare-Kings Right to Life, a community benefit organization dedicated to restoring societal respect for human life of all ages. To learn more about TKRL or their 23rd Annual Making A Difference For Life fundraising banquet featuring Christian Author Lee Strobel, visit them at www.tkrl.org.

Letter: Tulare County could be leader in styming youth tobacco use On May 22, 2018, tobacco control advocates from all over California came together to educate our legislators on how the tobacco industry targets and markets its products to our young people by using sweet flavors.

Research has found that 80% of adolescents ages 12 to 1 7 who reported ever experimenting with tobacco started with a flavored product.

I had the opportunity to represent the Tulare County Tobacco-Free Coalition and the Unidos Por Salud tobacco control program. As tobacco control

staff for the past three years, I participated in local data collection and analysis to determine how the retail environment impacts our youth.

The Healthy Stores for a Healthy Community 2016 data collection found 73% of tobacco retailers in Tulare County sold flavored products and 64% of these stores are located near schools. To entice youth to purchase different flavored products, the tobacco industry uses brightly-colored packaging to appeal to youth and sells them individually or in smaller pack

sizes to be more affordable. Because the products taste sweet and resemble candy, youth and young adults believe they are less harmful. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of all middle and high school students using tobacco use two or more types of products like little cigars, JUULs, or electronic cigarettes. With over 15,500 e-cigarette flavors, it’s easy to see why they are so addictive to youth.

There are several solutions individual cities or the County could take

to counter tobacco ‘s targeting of our youth, including banning the sale of flavored tobacco products or limiting the number of tobacco retailers in youth-sensitive areas, such as schools and parks. Tulare County could be the leader in the Central Valley to help prevent youth from starting to use tobacco.

— Jennifer V. Acidera

Coalition Member Tulare County Tobacco-Free Coalition

Your comments from ourvalleyvoice.com

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The old med staff bylaws will go back into effect, unfortunately means Dr Kumar could come back because old bylaws don’t require him to be board certified. Once hospital up and running the Med Staff (doctors)could change the bylaws — Smarterthanaveragebearbooboo on TRMC settles with MEC The board meeting was very long, but worth it. The board had a very hard decision to make after both presentations. I truly think they made the correct choice. The hospital has now been closed for 8 months. Long enough. CRMC would have the hospital stayed closed until July of next year. Too much of a risk for the community.

— Want to work again on Adventist Health slated w/ TRMC

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Yes Barbara, I believe everyone will be overly cautious when negotiating the lease, but I believe AH will be fair and honest, and ALL WILL BE TRANSPARENT. Refreshing….

— Jan on Adventist Health slated to manage TRMC

I feel the board as usual bungled and made terrible choice of selecting Adventist health. I strongly feel it is too dangerous to continue this board and immediately start the proceeding to call back this board. It is just too dangerous to let them continue a single day as they keep repeating the mistakes one after other and follow wrong with terrible decision. Why can’t they contact stanford to start their setelite facility to have quality care.

— Ethical voice on Adventist Health slated to manage TRMC

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I don’t know why I’m still surprised at the ignorance invested in the immigration process. This President inherited this debacle from Obama. I don’t recall reading a scribe such as this during those years, but maybe you did. The glaring thing to be noted here is a complete lack of facts. Those ‘cages’ were built

by Obama and his folks. Trump is trying to abide by the laws as written. Something O never did. We are a nation of laws..if you don’t like those laws, address your Congress to make better ones. But in the meantime, you don’t get to pick and choose which laws you find palatable. You are a journalist for goodness sake, speak truth and state facts. Emotions are not facts.

— Tularevava on The Old College Try

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Can’t wait to vote this down! Let north and west side parents pay for their kids as a true cost of having them. Why should I pay more?

— Nonewtaxes on VUSD board sends bond measure to ballot

Absolutely, positively no! Take it from your administrative salaries! That is what a business would have to do. Last night, those of us in Visalia witnessed first hand, the poor investment that our taxes are.

I was also treated horribly by the tax collector’s office last year.

And what of all the other bonds we are still paying off?

The answer should be a rousing no!

— Dave M on VUSD board sends bond measure to ballot

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16

JOBS

continued from 1 gone on to find better wages outside of the project. Participants have found jobs paying above minimum wage at supermarkets, driving companies, as cashiers, and at customer service retailers. We were able to speak for with two people who have gone through the program and one who is currently in the program.

Rudy Medina is currently working for Downtown Visalians, a business working to upkeep and improve Visalia’s downtown area. Before ECO, he had been struggling with addiction for 15 years. For two years now, he’s been clean and he thought it was a good opportunity to get himself together and start working again. “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,” he said chuckling to himself.

After Level I, he worked alongside the Employment Development Department to help him find fulltime work. “It was a month before we were supposed to end and I knew it was coming up and I said to myself ‘I don’t want to stop working.’” That drove him to work hard at finding a

19 July, 2018 full-time job.

Beverley Luttrell and Michael Gonzales, who are currently undergoing and have gone through the program, respectively, shared the same sentiments. Beverley’s house burned down a while ago and she had been homeless since. She is now going through ECO and renting a room with her daughter. Michael was the former Operations Manager for the Hanford mall and when the economy tanked, he lost his job. Now, he works for the Solid Waste department at the City.

While working through ECO, members of the initiative have also been able to obtain housing. Individuals have found their own apartments or a place at the Rescue Mission. City Councilman Steve Nelsen said that, “it’s hard [to arrange housing], but you have to give them that opportunity.” He also likened it to a puzzle, as many pieces have to come together in order to find housing for a person who has been homeless for a few years.

ECO was conceived by the Visalia City Council after seeing several similar endeavors succeed in different areas. Councilman Phil Cox gave examples of the trailblazing initiatives to which they looked for inspiration. He

specifically cited a southern California CalTrans campaign that allowed homeless people to work for them and go through a similar job training program. He also mentioned a project in Texas that inspired them to try to implement a similar measure in Visalia.

The city council put the program into motion last year and renewed the program for another year during its June 18th, 2018 meeting. They authorized allocation of funds from the Solid Waste department at the City in the amount of $182,182. The Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County will match the payment for a total of $364,364, which is needed to operate.

This money will go towards paying the participants fair wages, providing work supplies, transportation to the work site, clothing both for work and interviews, and drug screening/physicals among other expenses.

When asked if the cost of the project matched the benefits, Councilman Cox stated that he was initially skeptical, but after seeing the successes of ECO, he says it’s well worth it.

The program is slated to remain active for as long as it continues to be beneficial, said Visalia Mayor Warren Gubler. “Our council is committed

Valley Voice to continuing [ECO] at the level it is currently.”

By all accounts, this program is beneficial not only for the participants, but for the community as a whole. However, one glaring issue is the gender imbalance in the participant population. Currently, all who have gone through the initiative are men, but; as stressed by each council member interviewed, there is nothing prohibiting women or non-binary people from joining the endeavor.

Administrators are not targeting any specific gender.

Aside from that, ECO seems to work well with the community. It gives those who have been chronically unemployed the ability to work and earn so that they may not only survive, but thrive. The city and its residents also benefit, as over 200 tons of refuse, litter, and trash have been collected by these crews according to an agenda summary of the council meeting.

If you or someone you know is interested in participating, the recommended method of enrollment is to be referred by the Rescue Mission, Bethlehem Center, or other such shelters. Some have also contacted the City directly at 559-713-4300 to register.