Valley Voice Issue 141 (16 May, 2019)

Where to Have Your Baby

Inside: the complete guide for Tulare and Kings Counties — pg. 7-10

Valley Voice

Prom night condom giveaway works to address teen pregnancy problem

St. Paul’s warming center reports a successful season CATHERINE DOE

catherine@ourvalleyvoice.com

DAVE ADALIAN

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

A group of Visalia activists is turning prom night into an opportunity to help solve Tulare County’s staggering teen pregnancy problem.

As hundreds of teenagers gathered in their finery at the Visalia Convention Center the night of May 11, many of them were greeted by volunteers from ACT for Women and Children bearing giveaway “safety kits” intended to help young people make better reproductive decisions.

“Tulare County has always been one of the highest teen pregnancy rates,” said Michelle Rivera, program coordinator and sexual health educator for ACT. “There’s been a decline (statewide), but it’s still one of the highest even though there’s been a decline.”

To help that rate continue to shrink, ACT volunteers aimed to hand out some 2,000 condoms to those who turned out for the prom in a program known as “Don’t Let a Hot Date. ...”

Healthy Resources

The safety kits, however, didn’t just provide prophylactics.

“Safety kits contain condoms, and then they have packets of information on how to use a condom correctly, as well as resources on suicide awareness, access to reproductive health services that are teen-friendly, LGBTQ resources and so forth,” Rivera said.

CONDOM GIVEAWAY continued on 13 »

Volume XXXIX No. 10 16 May, 2019 ourvalleyvoice.com

State Assemblyman Devon Mathis, Tulare County Supervisor Pete Vander Poel III, State Senator Shannon Grove, and Tulare Mayor Jose Sigala Courtesy/Tulare Chamber

Tulare Chamber holds State of the City luncheon

STAFF REPORTS Tulare Chamber of Commerce held its State of the City Luncheon May 10th at Edison Energy Education Center. Tulare Mayor Jose Sigala presented the State of the City Address.

In addition to Mayor Sigala, Tulare County Supervisor Pete Vander Poel III presented the state of the County and included State Legislative updates presented by Senator Shannon Grove and Assembly Member Devon Mathis.

Sigala started with his and the council’s priorities for the year which include: developing polices to help balance the City’s annual budget without diluting city services, maintaining a focus on the growth of the City in order to attract more employment and retail businesses, developing a framework to maintain the long-term financial health of the City, creating a planning process for the land uses surrounding the Cartmill/99 and International Agri-Center interchanges in order to

maximize the growth of the City and finally pushing the city toward a new image; and generating new revenues.

Supervisor Pete Vander Poel gave an update on the county budget, road improvements, and retirement pension and liability.

Senator Grove and Assembly Member Mathis gave updates on key Senate and Assembly bills that are positive and negative for the valley. Senator Grove spoke to a bill that she worked on with Sheriff Boudreaux to help combat ag theft and discussed issues surrounding Dynamex, the supreme court decision concerning independent contractors.

Highlights of Assembly Member Mathis’ speech included the water shortage and the homelessness and housing crisis.

After the luncheon City Council members and city staff were available to answer questions from the audience about local issues.

Despite an appeal made to the Visalia Planning Commission to stop St. Paul’s Warming Center from opening, the center operated for 65 days and sheltered hundreds of homeless for the 2018/2019 winter.

In January of this year the city council voted to donate $10,000 to the warming center. The center also received a $35,000 grant from the Kings Tulare Homeless Alliance. The donations were primarily used to pay for professional security, janitor services, supplies and utilities. The Reverend Suzi Ward volunteered her time to operate the warming center and was aided by other church and community volunteers to run the center each night.

At the Visalia City Council May 6 work Session Ward presented the center’s accomplishments.

The Warming Center opened the day after Christmas and closed February 28. The center had an average of 58 guests in December and January, and according to Ward, the rainy cold weather in February brought in an average of 105 individuals.

Ward said that even though the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) only allowed for 100, there were 21 nights where the center housed over 100 people, and on February 11 there were 125, Ward got emotional during her presentation when she explained to the council that she didn’t have the heart to turn anyone away.

In the first year of operation, in 2018, the center was open from January 14 to March 17 and the average occu-

ST. PAUL’S continued on 14 »

Kaweah Delta seeking better feedback DAVE ADALIAN

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

Leaders of the Kaweah Delta Health Care District (KDHCD) want better feedback from the people they serve and more of it, and they’ve formed a small army of advocates to help them.

In the wake of the failure of Measure H--a $327 million bond initiative intended to fund expansion of Kaweah Delta Medical Center--those responsible for the future of KDHCD decided they had to find a better way to get their message out to voters.

“Measure H, we blew it,” said KDHCD CEO Gary Herbst. “We did a poor job of communicating with the community.”

Volunteer Effort

The outcome of that failure is a new effort to establish a two-way flow of information between the District’s administrators and board members, and those who turn to KDHCD for care. Rather than relying on advertising alone, the administration decided to turn to the community’s natural leaders, placing them in handful of advisory committees and communication groups.

This month, for the first time, all of the nearly 300 volunteers working to get the word out came together in one place.

“This is the absolute outcome of (Measure H’s failure),” Herbst said of

the massive gathering in the cafeteria at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts West Coast Distribution Center in Visalia’s Industrial Park.

Diverse Voices

The renewed effort to get the message out is a two-pronged approach.

The first part of the push is a series of committees directed toward creating a vision for the growth of KDHCD, with names like the Hospital of the Future, Healthcare for Today and Tomorrow and the more mundane Community Relations Committee.

With dozens of members with wide-ranging backgrounds on the committees, those in charge at KDHCD hope to discover approaches to

healthcare that those in the industry have never before considered. The prime task of the committees, KDHCD Director of Community Engagement Deborah Volosin said, is to discover what changes to operations, practices, services and facilities those who live in the district would like to see.

“Anytime you have a diverse group with a common goal, you’re going to see great changes,” she said.

“The goal is to better educate the community and for Kaweah Delta to listen and make the hospital better for the community.”

Getting the Word Out

The second part of the effort in-

KAWEAH DELTA continued on 14 »

16 May, 2019 Valley Voice

2

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK

An Unusual Luxury

No alarm sounds unless--heaven forfend--I have to appear in court by 8:30 in the morning. Customarily, however, I am off that particular hook myself, and rarely is there a case for the paper to cover. So we routinely awake, without rising, and drowse for an hour or more.

Every day. It’s an unusual luxury.

“Shall we drowse,” I ask the Chief, “or have coffee?”

“I’ll drowse,” she says, “while you make it.”

To drowse--perchance to dream. This twilight seems to favor the most numerous, vivid, and often humorous episodes. Typically, I’ll have three or four short dreams and remember each of them. The Chief says I sometimes laugh in my slumbers. It’s during this time, during these vignettes. What the dead of night and deep REM sleep hold is truly beyond me.

It’s an unusual luxury, too, during this fraught era. Just to forestall the relentless 24-hour news cycle for, literally, a spell and replace it with, say, something akin to the Marx Brothers verges on the miraculous. I’ll take it. Every day.

Of course, it wasn’t always like this. We’ve been through the mill of school, work and children. I consider it a fringe benefit of having emerged on the other side. Like at long last having a mostly quiet house--although I must admit silence is no replacement for the raucous, joyous cacophony five happy children generate. I imagine it’s part of getting old--but I’ll take that, as well, every day, because I remain too young to endure the alternative. Hope I always will be.

Don’t get me wrong: We’re not “empty nesters.” We’re fiesta nesters. That’s because we’ve raised them well, they’re out in the wild doing well in their own lives--are good, happy and responsible people--and because we’ll always make ourselves available to help them. They can always come home to live--and all at once, if need be, for however long. If there’s any “empty” in this nesting equation it’ll be because the Chief and I will finally be traveling. At length, abroad and in style.

Which might seem like another unusual luxury--at least for us--until you consider this: The ability, as a species gone extinct, to re-evolve your kind back into existence.

It’s not that I want a household of five kids again. Not at this stage of my life. It’d likely kill me.

I’m just imagining if our whole species could ever re-evolve itself.

10 May, from CNN: A previously extinct species of bird has re-evolved back into existence, according to a new study. The Aldabra rail first went extinct around 136,000 years ago. Now, it’s reclaimed its home island.

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The Aldabra rail, CNN According to a study published Wednesday in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, sediments from the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean show that the island has been completely submerged multiple times, wiping out all species inhabiting it. Every time, every species on the island went extinct — but the Aldabra rail has returned, again and again.

The rail is an example of iterative evolution — when the same ancestral lineage leads to repeated evolution of a species at different points in time. The rare phenomenon means that species can re-emerge over and over, despite past iterations going extinct.

Given what we’ve done with the place, maybe a complete re-evolution

LUXURY continued on 15 »

Valley Voice

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Valley Voice 16 May, 2019

POLITICAL FIX

3

will be back next issue

Free Life Hope Centers clinic serves hundreds in Tulare STAFF REPORTS By the end of the two-day Life Hope Centers health clinic this weekend at Adventist Health Tulare, more than 350 patients had received free health-care services, including vision checks, dental treatments and basic health screenings.

A small but mighty army of volunteer doctors, optometrists, dentists and technicians saw patients under a massive tent on the hospital’s west parking lot. Inside was a full dental clinic with six treatment chairs and two exam chairs, three vision screening stations and eight blood-pressure checkpoints for patients with little access to health care. Other free screenings included body composition and carotid artery ultrasounds.

Most patients left with at least one basic need fully met – perhaps a vision screening and an order for a free pair of glasses, or relief from a troublesome tooth – and with the knowledge that the community is working together to help them stay healthy.

The Life Hope Centers clinics are a humanitarian service of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Central California. Events such as this are done in partnership with local community organizations and in Tulare that list in-

cluded the Family Health Care Network, Altura Centers for Health, South Valley Vascular Associates, the Tulare Hospital Foundation and Threads of Love.

More than 225 Adventist Health employees and community supporters wore bright yellow volunteer t-shirts and performed basic screenings, helped register patients, escorted them to the various stations, provided demonstrations, and passed out water to patients and providers.

Ken Pierson, a dentist at Happy Bear Surgery Center in Tulare, said he volunteered to be part of an important outreach effort. He performed cleanings, extractions and fillings during his shift.

“There’s a lot of need out there and just being able to help and encourage and support this is very important to me,” he said.

The clinic setup took several days and represented an investment of a half-million dollars in equipment, supplies and materials, according to Dr. Ed Urbina who helped bring the Life Hope Centers event to the Tulare hospital.

“This event is unique and requires a partner like Adventist Health that looks beyond the walls of the hospital to be able to meet the needs of the community,” he said.

Urbina said that medical profes-

sionals appreciate the opportunity to participate in this type of event because the focus is solely on caring for patients.

“When they leave, they are often overwhelmed because most of the time we exceeded their expectations of what they could accomplish,” he said. “This is a first-class operating clinic that is here to serve patients.”

Ed Ammon, Adventist Health’s Mis-

sion Integration Executive for the Central California Region, said this free clinic to Tulare’s underserved population is a commitment to the community in general.

“We’d like to do several of these around our region each year and I’d like to do this annually here in Tulare,” he said.

Doyle Sewell named Visalia’s interim fire chief STAFF REPORTS Doyle Sewell, a retired 26-year veteran of the Visalia Fire Department, will serve the City of Visalia as Fire Chief on an interim basis as Visalia Fire Chief Doug McBee retires and officially ends his tenure with the City of Visalia next week.

Sewell is a former Visalia Fire Department Battalion Chief who joined the city in 1989 as a Firefighter Trainee. Over subsequent years he rose through the ranks of Firefighter, Fire Engineer, Fire Captain, and in 1999 began his service as Battalion Chief, a position he held with the Visalia Fire Department for 16 years.

During his years with Visalia Fire, Sewell served as shift supervisor, Fire Marshal, and Interim Fire Chief. He retired in 2015 after 26 years with the City of Visalia. Doyle is a product of Visalia, having attended Redwood High School and College of the Sequoias. He resides in Visalia with his wife of thirty years, Elaine, and together they have two adult children.

“It’s a pleasure to be coming back to the fire service, particularly in the 150th anniversary year of the Visalia Fire Department,” shared Sewell. “I look forward to once again joining the ranks of the Department and serving the community and the organization that I love.”

Sewell’s appointment will begin next week as retiring Chief Doug McBee ends his 42-year career in the fire service, six years with the City of Visalia, on Friday, May 10th.

City Manager Randy Groom noted, “We are all genuinely sad to see Chief McBee leaving, but he has served this community well, and with great integrity. We wish Doug only the best as he enters the well-deserved retirement chapter of his life.”

As for the appointment of Sewell, Groom stated, “Doyle is well known and respected in the local fire service and

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has a long history with the Visalia Fire Department and the Visalia community.

I suspect that his transition into the interim role will be quick and smooth, as he already has well-established working relationships within the Department, the City organization, and the community. Doyle is well suited to provide a seamless transition as Chief McBee retires and we work to find a permanent replacement.”

The City Manager, City Council, and staff are working to craft and launch a recruitment process to seek a permanent chief.

In the meantime, Sewell will take charge of the department’s six fire stations, staffed by 76 uniformed personnel, and eight non-uniformed personnel, that responded to over 15,000 calls for service in 2018. The Department is an “All Hazard” department, equipped and trained not only for fire suppression and prevention but emergency medical services, investigations, regional hazardous materials response, rescue operations, and disaster response and coordination.

For more information on the City of Visalia Fire Department, visit them online at www.visalia.city or follow them on Twitter @VisaliaFire.

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16 May, 2019 Valley Voice

4

AGRICULTURE

Survey illustrates ongoing shortages of farm employees KEVIN HECTEMAN

Ag Alert/California Farm Bureau Federation

A shortage of employees to do the work of agriculture, especially the intensive hand labor required by California’s specialty-crop sector, is among the various stressors affecting the nation’s farm economy.

Labor, trade policy, commodity pricing, crop insurance and disaster relief were described as farm-economy impacts in testimony by U.S. farmers who testified last week before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.

Representing California, Dan Sutton, general manager of the Pismo Oceano Vegetable Exchange, a San Luis Obispo County-based cooperative that grows crops such as napa cabbage, bok choy and leafy greens, noted that sourcing enough employees is critical for farmers trying to get perishable vegetable crops to market.

“The labor shortage continues to increase and yet we’re still unable to get employees to work on our farms,” said Sutton, past-president of the San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau and chairman of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Advisory Board. “We need to harvest and get our crops to market usually within three days of harvest.”

Subcommittee member Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, asked Sutton to explain the challenges caused by the lack of a sustainable workforce.

“Labor is one of the most concerning issues that we are facing. In recent years, the domestic labor pool has

gone away,” Sutton said. “Our operation is one of several hundred working in the specialty crop industry and our labor needs are pretty intensive. It takes hand-labor to get that crop out of our farm to your dinner table.”

The only solution available to farmers, Sutton said, is a costly one— the federal H-2A guestworker program, which he said is what he uses to source 85% of the harvesting crews that he needs.

“The H-2A program gives us the labor we need, but it is extremely expensive such as we have to provide housing and transportation. Then there’s the California laws such as the increase in minimum wage and ag overtime decreasing,” Sutton said. “When you factor all of these costs that go into one box of production, at times it doesn’t pencil out, so we have to make the decision: Do we harvest this box or not?”

For the long term, Sutton said specialty crop growers are looking at mechanization as a solution to the labor shortage, but he noted that cost of this technology could be a barrier.

Georgia farmer Bart Davis of Davis Family Farms, who grows cotton, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, hogs and beef cattle, said, “This economic situation is the result of multiple factors that have combined to create almost a perfect storm for farmers in most parts of the country.”

Davis cited a variety of impacts such as flat-to-downward-trending commodity prices, trade-policy uncertainties, increased global competition and areas hit by natural disasters.

Texas farmer Matt Huie of Huie

Farms, who grows cotton, corn, sorghum and raises livestock, said, “the farm economy in the coastal end of Texas is lousy; it is bad.”

Huie spoke about a variety of challenges, noting that 2018 tariff issues from trade disputes drove the price of crop insurance down, “therefore it erodes the safety net as we work toward what our ability is to borrow and other things.”

For 2019, he added, farmers have enormous exposure based on the value dropping in crop insurance.

“Despite crop insurance being a great tool, when you have a systemic decline in price, we have a decline in what we’re able to insure,” Huie said.

“Part of the reason I am here is I understand how important farm policy is and I appreciate Washington stepping in in those times and helping us because that’s how we survive.”

Minnesota farmer Mike Peterson of Twin Oaks Farms, who grows corn, soybeans and hogs, said the last five years have been incredibly challenging, adding, “In 2018, median net farm income in Minnesota was at its lowest level in the last 23 years.”

“Unless we get our markets back and prices rebound, many more farmers will be out of business,” he said.

As part of his testimony to the subcommittee, Peterson spoke of the next generation of farmers, noting, “I want my son to have a reason to apply his energy and skills into the family farming tradition. If we want the next generation to get into farming, we have to at least give them a fighting chance.”

Josh Rolph, manager of federal

policy for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said as the subcommittee heard testimony from U.S. farmers about the state of nation’s farm economy, “it was great to have a California witness to represent western issues which are oftentimes different from farmers elsewhere.”

“We applaud Rep. Carbajal for selecting Farm Bureau member Dan Sutton to discuss the state of the farm economy,” Rolph said. “Where other witnesses from outside of California were focused more on pricing, disaster and the Farm Bill, Dan’s testimony hit at the heart of the overarching obstacles many California farmers face: labor, trade, water, and food safety.”

Subcommittee Ranking Member Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-PA, said the testimony “makes it clear that farmers and ranchers from all across the country have been struggling for nearly six straight years.”

“We made some significant improvements to the safety net in the 2018 Farm Bill, but as we heard—Congress has to do more to show support for rural America and our farmers and ranchers,” said Committee Ranking Member Mike Conaway, R-Texas.

“Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi needs to prioritize a vote on the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) in the House, and we need to immediately pass a disaster assistance bill to aid farm families and communities across this country.”

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

Commentary: Save a life by looking for warning signs of stress ZIPPY DUVALL

Ag Alert/California Farm Bureau Federation

Just a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine in Georgia, a longtime dairy farmer, took his own life. I don’t really know what led him to such a dark and desperate place; it could have been several things that have happened in his life. All I know is more and more of us in agriculture are dealing with the loss of a friend, loved one or colleague, or perhaps even dealing with an extreme and damaging level of emotional stress ourselves.

One story is one too many. And unfortunately, the impact is growing.

About half of rural adults say they are experiencing more mental health challenges than a year ago, according to a new survey commissioned by Farm Bureau and released May 1 to kick off National Mental Health Month.

The survey confirms what we already know: The continued downturn in the farm economy is taking a toll.

A strong majority of farmers and farmworkers think financial issues (91%), farm or business problems (88%) and fear of losing the farm (87%) imSALES, SERVICE, RENTAL AG EQUIPMENT & TRUCK REPAIR

pact the mental health of farmers and ranchers. Those stresses are being worsened by the shortage of agricultural labor—which I believe was a big source of worry for my friend in Georgia—the market impacts of our ongoing trade war and, in some cases, continued regulatory pressures.

Farmers and ranchers are some of the most resilient people you will ever meet. It takes toughness to put seeds in the ground, invest tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in buying animals, equipment or fertilizer, and trust that those investments will pay off and keep a roof over your family’s heads.

I don’t have a survey to back this up, but I believe the pressure is even harder on someone who takes pride in carrying on a family tradition of farming and ranching. Farmers who take over an agricultural operation from their parents and grandparents see themselves as caretakers of their family heritage. That responsibility can be heavy.

We can’t snap our fingers and turn this farm economy around. But we can be aware of how it, or other pressures,

may be affecting our family, friends and neighbors. That’s why Farm Bureau commissioned our survey: to increase awareness of the problem.

If more of us acknowledge it’s a problem—and there is no shame in admitting it—then we can begin to help ourselves and each other. We can watch for the warning signs in those we talk with and see around town— things like extreme mood swings, preoccupation with death, getting rid of possessions or withdrawing from friends and family.

Tough-minded, independent farmers and ranchers are not used to admitting they need help or asking for it. It is up to all of us to check in with our friends and neighbors and see how they are doing.

Looking for the warning signs can save a life. Be ready to help by listening and steering someone to a doctor or even the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 (TALK). If you’re wrong, then the worst thing that has happened is you showed them that you care about their wellbeing. I would rather attempt to help

my family, friends or neighbors and be wrong than to risk attending a service in their memory.

The good news is more people are aware of rural stress: Our survey shows that nine out of 10 rural adults say mental health is important to them and their family. And greater awareness can lead to more solutions.

Another survey we’ve done to find out about rural stress resources around the country shows that state Farm Bureaus, state departments of agriculture, Extension centers at landgrant universities, medical networks and farm-safety experts are teaming to provide education, counseling, debt mediation and other resources to benefit farmers, ranchers and rural Americans.

Farm Bureau also is urging Congress to fully fund a new Farm and Ranch Stress Network at the $10 million level authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill. This new program would provide stress-assistance programs that address the increasing financial and mental stress affecting farmers

STRESS continued on 15 »

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Valley Voice 16 May, 2019

5

AGRICULTURE Celebrate Kings County’s agricultural bounty at this year’s Kings Fair STAFF REPORTS The 2019 Kings Fair kicks off at the end of this month, and, as it is every year, the fair is a fun opportunity to highlight the agricultural bounty that Kings County has to offer.

The fair opens Thursday, May 30 and runs through Sunday, June 2.

The fair will be open from 5 p.m. until midnight every night, and each evening will feature special events.

Thursday, opening day, will offer discounted prices. Adult admission is only $3, seniors and kids under 10 get

in for $3, and children 5 and under are free. Carnival ride prices are reduced to only $1.

Performances in the Kings Outdoor Theatre will feature The Next Big Thing Talent Show on Thursday night, country artist David Nail on Friday night, and U2 tribute band L.A.vation on Saturday night, all at 7:30 p.m. Sunday evening will be cultural night.

Other featured attractions include pig races, Circus Imagination, and camel rides, which are new this year. This year’s fair will be welcoming

a number of new vendors both outdoors and in the commercial marketplace building.

Racing events, which include racesavers, IMCA stocks and minis, will be held in the grandstands on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

And don’t forget the livestock barn, always a highlight of the fair for young and old alike, where visitors can get up close and personal with cows, sheep, pigs and goats. It is an opportunity for local FFA and 4-H members to take center stage to show and

sell the livestock projects they have been raising.

The dairy replacement sale will take place on Friday, May 31 at 7 p.m., and the junior livestock auction is scheduled for Saturday, June 1 at 9 a.m.

General admission to the fair is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for kids, and children under 5 are free. Carnival ride wristbands are $25 presale and $35 at the door.

For more information, log on to kingsfair.com or follow them on Facebook.

Westlands Special Projects Manager announces retirement STAFF REPORTS Dan Pope, the Special Projects Manager for Westlands Water District, announced today that he is retiring from the District on September 6, 2019.

Mr. Pope will begin an extended medical leave in mid-May, and the recovery period is expected to be approximately six weeks.

Mr. Pope became an employee of the District in March 2014, as its Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his work at

Westlands, Mr. Pope served as the general manager of the Tri-Dam Project and Tri-Dam Power Authority, general manager of Merced Irrigation District, and worked for 26 years in various positions at Pacific Gas & Electric, beginning as a field engineer at the Helms Pumped Storage Project.

Upon his announcement Mr. Pope stated: “Working at Westlands has been a genuine privilege and very rewarding experience on my career

path. I am grateful for the wonderful opportunities to contribute to District’s continued success given to me

by Tom Birmingham and the support extended to me from the Board. There were numerous challenges, particularly in years when the District received zero or near-zero percent water allocations. But I had the privilege to supervise staff that are talented, innovative, and dedicated. They will continue to serve well farmers in Westlands. I

am proud to have worked with them.”

Tom Birmingham, the Westlands’ General Manager, stated: “Dan has been an incredibly loyal employee, who was committed to farmers served by the District. Every action he took was taken with their best interests in mind. On a personal level, Dan has been a friend for more than 40 years, and I will miss his advice and support.

I wish the very best for Dan, his wife Cathy, and their family.”

Chlorpyrifos to be phased out; research planned KEVIN HECTEMAN

Ag Alert/California Farm Bureau Federation

As farmers deal with the fallout of California’s decision to outlaw chlorpyrifos, the governor’s May budget revision threw them a bone.

Along with the impending ban, CalEPA and the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced that Gov. Gavin Newsom will ask the Legislature for $5.7 million to fund research into alternatives and assemble a working group to evaluate and recommend the best ones.

In the face of pressure from activists citing health concerns, CalEPA announced last week that it would effectively ban chlorpyrifos, a broad-spectrum pesticide developed in the 1960s, by canceling registrations of crop-protection materials containing it.

The product will be phased out expeditiously. Farmers may continue using the material in the meantime, subject to restrictions.

Jamie Johansson, an olive farmer and president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, said that two years isn’t long enough to get new alternatives on the market.

“To get any new active ingredient registered in California generally takes around five years,” Johansson pointed out. “If you want to bring in the replacement product in this two-year timeframe, the actions of DPR in terms of getting this product off the market have actually prolonged its presence on the market, because we can’t get these new products through DPR.” On top of that, new registration regulations were passed last year, complicating the process, he added.

“One of the things that we have long asked for is a streamlined process that is timely from both a public-health standpoint and a farmer’s need,” Johansson said.

As it is, chlorpyrifos use is down as the regulatory lasso tightens. Use of

chlorpyrifos declined from 2 million pounds in 2005 to just over 900,000 pounds in 2016, according to CalEPA. The Department of Pesticide Regulation recommended new interim restrictions on chlorpyrifos applications in November, including discontinuing its use to the extent possible; a ban on aerial applications; a 150-foot setback from homes, businesses, schools and other sites considered sensitive; and quarter-mile buffer zones during allowed applications and for 24 hours afterwards. CalEPA recommended that county agriculture commissioners begin enforcing these guidelines on Jan. 1.

DPR has listed on its website (www. cdpr.ca.gov/docs/enforce/compend/ vol_3/append_o.pdf; see Page 3) “critical use” applications, listing crops and pests for which chlorpyrifos is at present the only viable alternative. These include alfalfa for weevils, blue alfalfa and cowpea aphid; almonds, for leaffooted bug and stink bugs; cotton, for cotton aphid and sweetpotato whitefly; citrus, for ants; and grapes for ants and vine mealy bugs, among other allowances.

Gabriele Ludwig, director for sustainability and environmental affairs at the Almond Board of California, said her employer has been funding research into the leaffooted bug and stink bug.

“For leaffooted bug, the big problem is we currently don’t have any good tools to predict when it will show up,” Ludwig said. “It’s a sporadic pest, but when it shows up, it can be quite damaging.”

A better understanding of the leaffooted bug’s biology, such as where it overwinters and when it might show up in abundance, is crucial to coming up with an effective countermeasure, Ludwig added.

“The reason why chlorpyrifos has been so valuable is because once you see it in your orchard, you need something that knocks it down immedi-

ately,” Ludwig said. “That’s where a nice broad-spectrum compound like chlorpyrifos is very helpful.”

The story is similar for stink bugs, Ludwig said, especially the invasive brown marmorated stink bug. Data from Stanislaus County show the pest spreading through orchards over the past several years, Ludwig said.

“When you get a new pest, having a broad-spectrum material is helpful to control the pest while you do the research to figure out how to do more targeted pest (control),” Ludwig said, adding that the Almond Board plans to work with DPR and the CDFA on research efforts.

Johansson said that under the current regulatory regime, chlorpyrifos has become a pesticide of last resort, and more than one replacement will be needed.

“The substitute for chlorpyrifos, more than likely, will have to be multiple products,” Johansson said. “If they found one to replace it that would work with all 60 crops, it would be a miracle.”

DPR and the CDFA will put together the working group seeking alternatives; the group plans to work with growers on the transition, Cal EPA said in a statement, as the governor’s budget request makes its way through the Legislature.

“We look forward to working with the Legislature through the budget process on the Governor’s proposal to support growers in the transition to alternative pest management,” CDFA Secretary Karen Ross said in a statement.

CFBF and other agricultural organizations reacted to CalEPA’s announcement last week with disappointment.

Johansson said the state’s move leaves farmers between a rock and a hard place.

“Agricultural pests and crop diseases pose a real threat to the food we grow,” Johansson said. “Farmers need

effective, realistic alternatives to fight those pests and diseases, while assuring the safety of people and rural communities. Successful public health outcomes depend on successful pest management.”

Canceling a pesticide, Johansson said, could lead to a smaller California food supply.

“That would leave our state’s residents dependent on food grown elsewhere—and not grown under the stringent rules California farmers follow,” Johansson said.

Indeed, chlorpyrifos is registered in upward of 50 countries globally, with more than 1,000 allowable maximum residue levels, Johansson pointed out.

“Even the EU has tolerances for chlorpyrifos,” Johansson said. “It isn’t just a matter of getting alternative products through DPR but getting our trading partners to allow its use for exports.”

Casey Creamer, president of California Citrus Mutual in Exeter, said he worries about citrus farmers’ ability to combat the Asian citrus psyllid and the disease it carries, huanglongbing, which is deadly to citrus trees.

HLB, also called citrus greening, has devastated Florida citrus groves and could do the same to California’s $2 billion-plus citrus business if left unchecked.

“The once-mighty citrus-producing state of Florida has lost 70% of its production due to this disease, which is expanding exponentially in residential citrus trees in Southern California at this very moment,” Creamer said in a statement. “While our commercial growers will remain vigilant, it is vital that our policymakers recognize the seriousness of the threat and ensure sound scientific procedures are followed.”

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

16 May, 2019 Valley Voice

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Visalia Unified Superintendent Dr. Todd Oto fired JOHN DILLON

john@ourvalleyvoice.com

Amidst jeering and booing from the crowd, Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) Board President John Crabtree read a statement of action taken during May 7’s closed session.

In a 5-2 vote , VUSD Superintendent Dr. Todd Oto was ousted.

Crabtree, along with Trustees Juan Guerrero, Bill Fulmer, Niessen Foster and Walta Gamoian, voted in favor of the dismissal, with Trustees Joy Naylor and Lucia Vasquez voting against.

“Under his leadership, the district has developed a strong foundation for teaching and learning that will bring long term growth in reading, mathematics and college and career readiness,” said Crabtree in his statement.

According to a VUSD press release, “The Board of Trustees intends to appoint Dr. Tamara Ravalín as acting superintendent at its meeting on May 14.

Dr. Ravalín currently serves as the assistant superintendent of Human Resources Development for the District.

She has served in public education for over thirty-five years including as assistant superintendent of Educational Services for the Kings County Office of Education and Dean of Student Services for the College of the Sequoias.”

When Crabtree finished speaking, more shouting came from the audience before it began clapping for Oto, who gave a statement to the attendees.

“This is a tough night for everybody here and I’m sure it’s a tough night for you folks as well,” he began.

“I’ve had an incredible career here in

this organization.”

Oto has spent 32 years at VUSD as a teacher, vice principal, principal, and superintendent.

“Although I am sad to be leaving the district I have called home for my entire career, I know that I will leave behind an organization ready for future challenges and able to meet the needs of the children of Visalia,” said Oto. The Visalia Times-Delta reported that the crowd applauded Oto for almost 20 minutes. “A crowd of supporters — numbering in the dozens —couldn’t save the superintendent’s job. They chanted ‘you’re making a mistake’ as the board announced their decision. Many wept. Administrators sobbed.”

In Crabtree’s press release today he said,“Dr. Oto will continue serving the District in an advisory role until June 11, 2019, his final day of service.

The Board is committed to working with its faculty, staff and all constituents to continue moving forward in a positive direction and strengthening the educational opportunities that our District provides for all of our children. Dr. Ravalín and Dr. Oto will continue to work closely together during this transition phase to ensure the transition in leadership is smooth and focused on the future.”

Ravalin is in charge as an interim superintendent of VUSD as of today.

It was agreed that Oto will be paid through June 2020 even though his contract runs through 2021.

A search for Oto’s permanent successor is anticipated to be a

lengthy process.

Oto’s termination came during scrutiny of the district’s controversial discipline plan, low test scores for elementary and middle schools, and many other public criticisms of the district.

Tulare County Deputy Superintendent for Administrative Services and former VUSD Superintendent Craig Wheaton offered his thoughts.

“I think it’s a really bad time for the community. I feel saddened being a long term member of the community seeing a superintendent and board part ways at a very inconvenient time for the community and for the school district,” said Wheaton. He had hoped the board would take a more measured approach to the problem as opposed to having the superintendent step down.

“School districts always have challenges and it’s a little extreme to meet this challenge and to change your superintendent at this time of the year,” said Wheaton.

He also said that, as superintendent, it was difficult trying to find the right direction with a seven -member board, community members, and parents. Wheaton further emphasized that teachers and administrators respected Oto and his work. He believes that the board created an issue for itself.

“Visalia Unified is in good hands.

There’s not a financial crisis. There’s not any real crisis except for they decided to part ways with their superintendent, which created the crisis,”

said Wheaton. “I hope whatever they do next is something that really does bring people together and constructively tackles the challenges that are there.”

Wheaton had a 14-year career with VUSD before moving to Tulare County Office of Education. Oto took over from Wheaton as interim superintendent in 2016.

Board Member Bill Fulmer provided some clarity about the board’s decision.

“This was not some stroke of lightning yesterday, this has been an ongoing discussion for quite some time, including Dr. Oto. We have terribly low test scores. We’ve had problems with programs and problems with personnel,” said Fulmer.

He was one of the board members who voted yes on Oto’s dismissal.

“I was elected to make decisions and I made a decision. There’s nothing arbitrary about it,” said Fulmer. He also wanted to be clear it wasn’t a personal decision.

“There’s no one who doesn’t like Dr. Oto and there’s no one who doesn’t respect him,” said Fulmer. “He just didn’t get the job done.”

Crabtree wrote, “Dr. Oto also led the District to a stronger career technical education program and successfully passed Measure A, which will bring $105,000,000 in school modernization projects and a new high school to our community.”

The Visalia Unified School Board’s next meeting is May 14 at 7 pm at 5000 W. Cypress Avenue, Visalia, CA

Tulare County supes vote on transparency for raises JOHN DILLON

john@ourvalleyvoice.com

An amendment to the Compensation of Supervisors Ordinance Code struck down a clause tying Supervisors’ salaries to other county elected officials. Instead it gave supervisors a base salary pay instead of using the pay per period model currently in place.

Before the amendment the Board of Supervisors received a pay increase every time it voted to increase other

elected county officials such as the district attorney, sheriff, assessor, and auditor.

The amendment was included in the consent calendar, but Supervisor for District Three, Amy Shuklian, pulled the item to comment publicly on the new model.

“I would like to see us have staff work on some type of formula that works a little bit better than this one has worked in the past,” said Shuklian.

She further alluded to other county’s models that would sit better with the public.

Shuklian campaigned on the issue of changing the way supervisors get raises in order to make the process more transparent. Under the old system the public was mostly unaware when the supervisors were giving themselves a raise. In many instances some supervisors, such as former Supervisor Steve Worthley, would not

accept the raise–especially during the recession.

The amendment was initially proposed on April 9, but the supervisors waived a second reading of the ordinance and approved it unanimously.

Supervisors also proclaimed this May as “Mental Health Awareness Month” for Tulare County. Thirty-four Service Awards were presented to county workers who achieved a timebased milestone in their career.

Voice recognized at California Journalism Awards STAFF REPORTS The Valley Voice was recognized with four awards on May 5, 2019 at the California Journalism Awards.

Nancy Vigran (no longer a staff member) Dave Adalian and Tony Maldonado earned first place in the digital In-Depth Reporting category for a package of reporting on the City of Tulare, aptly titled “Turmoil in Tulare.”

The package included coverage of Tulare Police Chief Wes Hensley’s suspension, Hensley’s firing on the same day as former Tulare City Manager Joe Carlini, lawsuits filed for public records, controversial comments made by former Tulare Mayor Carlton Jones, and the beginning of an investigation into Tulare councilman Greg Nunley — among other stories.

Maldonado separately earned fourth place in the same category for coverage of the Tulare Regional Medical Center (TRMC) and Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA), including reporting on the Tulare County District Attorney’s investigation

into HCCA, a deep dive into Adventist Health’s agreement to lease TRMC, and coverage of HCCA CEO Dr. Benny Benzeevi’s legal battle to regain control of assets seized by the district attorney’s office — including a purpose-built tool to view the proceeding’s court documents.

Both submissions won among publications with an online presence of 40,000 or less unique visitors per month. Judges looked for stories that indicated a “considerable degree of research and/or investigation” and, specific to digital submissions, included elements that set them apart from a standard printed story.

“The Valley Voice provides an excellent example of dogged, hyper-local reporting that demands answers, holds power to account and doesn’t give up. The antics of Tulare City Council are riveting, and Valley Voice reporters Nancy Vigran, Dave Adalian and Tony Maldonado were there to capture every twist and turn in the plot,” a California Journalism Awards judge

wrote, commenting on the Turmoil in Tulare package. “Clearly, Valley Voice is a thorn in the side of the shady operators in town government, exposing backroom dealing and potential corruption. But readers don’t have to take the reporters’ words for it – by posting a steady stream of public records, Valley Voice allowed its readers to make up their own mind about their town government. And that’s what local reporting is all about.”

Adalian separately earned fifth place for digital Breaking News for the article “Nunes flees coffee shop confrontation.” Judges looked for quality of writing, photos, graphics, and an effective use of headlines.

Additionally, Catherine Doe was awarded fifth place for In-Depth Reporting in print for a package of reporting on the Tulare Public Cemetery, including allegations of grave mixups and dissatisfaction with cemetery district board members. In print, the Voice was judged against papers with similar circulation: weeklies printing

between 11,001 and 25,000 copies.

The California Journalism Awards are arranged by the California News Publishers Association, of which the Voice is a member. The Voice joined the association last year, and has previously been recognized for its work, including a first place win by Adalian for writing.

Other area publications were also honored at the ceremony.

The Visalia Times-Delta received eight awards, including second place for In-Depth Reporting and News Photo, and fourth place in Public Service Journalism, all in print.

The Fresno Bee received five awards, including a second place award for Feature Photo and fourth place award for Sports Feature Story and News Photo, all in print.

The Business Journal (Fresno) took eight awards in print, including a first place Breaking News win and a second place win for reporting on Healthcare Conglomerate Associates and the Tulare Regional Medical Center.

Where to Have Your Baby The Complete Guide to Where to Have Your Baby in Tulare and Kings Counties

Written by Catherine Doe

16 May, 2019 • ourvalleyvoice.com

Where to begin?

Life has gotten a little more complicated in the 21st Century when it comes to getting married, buying a house and starting a family. One of the biggest decisions facing new families is where to have your baby.

In the old days expectant mothers would simply give birth where their moms and grandmothers did. But in the modern world, young families don’t live where mom gave birth and they may not know the area.

They also may not realize the number of choices available.

In Tulare and Kings Counties there

are three highly rated hospitals from which to choose, Kaweah Delta, Adventist Health Hanford, and Sierra View Medical Center. There are also four midwives available of varying levels of certification if an expectant mom wants to give birth at home.

With families moving into the valley from urban areas and Tulare moms not able to give birth in their home town after Tulare Regional Medical Center closed, it’s no longer assumed that a family will use the hospital closest to where they live.

Also, the completion of Highway

198 to four lanes between Hanford and Visalia makes Kaweah Delta and Adventist Hanford an attractive choice for the residents of both cities.

When a woman becomes pregnant her first job is to find an OB/GYN (Obstetrician-Gynecologist.) Who she chooses most likely is going to dictate where she is going to give birth. So researching which hospital best fits her needs is an important first step.

Doctors in Visalia are normally going to have privileges at Kaweah Delta and the same is true for doctors in Porterville and Hanford for their respec-

tive hospitals. When Tulare’s maternity ward closed two years ago labor and delivery nurses and doctors split their services between Sierra View Medical Center and Kaweah Delta.

Moms can also request a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) instead of an OB/GYN to deliver her baby at any of the three hospitals. Almost all of the doctor’s offices involved with maternity care have CNMs on staff.

No matter what the mom’s preference is in primary doctor, choice of hospital or home birth, the Central Valley has her covered.

Sierra View Medical Center

Professional portraits are available at all three hospitals. New dad kissing one of his twins at Adventist Hanford

Adventist Health Hanford

When I met Amanda Jaurigui, communications director for Adventist Hanford, I was shocked to see they had a separate building for their birthing center.

Three years ago Adventists Han-

ford opened its new birthing center in conjunction with Valley Children’s so now moms don’t check in at the emergency room but have their own private hospital.

ADVENTIST HANFORD continued on 10 »

The first thing you notice walking out of the elevator on the fourth floor of Sierra View Medical Center (SVMC) in Porterville is the incredible view.

The snow covered mountains and foot hills buttressed by slopping orange groves might make a laboring mom forget for a minute she is in a hospital.

Probably not, but her family and friends will enjoy it.

The hospital’s entire fourth floor is devoted to maternity and the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU.) SVMC’s small and private birthing center makes this the most intimate environment of the three facilities. Ample parking is also definitely a plus.

SVMC is the smallest hospital with 77 acute care beds and 4 ICU beds. But size does not matter and the hospital has a few qualities that distinguish their maternity care from the rest.

Smart Care California gave Sierra View their 2018 Achievement Award for meeting or exceeding the healthy people 2020 goal for low-risk, firstbirth cesarean deliveries. To achieve

this award, hospitals had to have a rate lower than 23.9%. Sierra View hospital’s overall rate of cesarean sections is an impressive 19.9%.

In addition, Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade for episiotomies set a target rate for hospitals at 5%. Sierra View has a rate of 4.8% In partnership with First 5 Tulare County, SVMC is also the only South Central Valley hospital to be designated as “Baby Friendly,” a designation they achieved in 2016 through encouraging and supporting new moms to breast feed.

According to Malynda Parsons, hospital public relations, “In order to receive the Baby Friendly designation SVMC implemented the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding interaction and duration.” These practices include infants rooming-in with parents to maintain 24 hour interaction and encouraging skin to skin bonding between babies with both the mother and father during their stay at

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Kaweah Delta Medical Center

Kaweah Delta is the largest hospital in the South Central Valley, eclipsing Bakersfield hospitals with 407 acute care beds and 41 ICU beds. The sheer size of Kaweah Delta provides the widest range of health services to an expectant mother facing a normal or high risk pregnancy. Handling higher risk pregnancies pushed their c-section rate to 32% and their episiotomy rate is at 6.3%.

Labor and delivery, along with a brand new operating room for c-sections, is on the 2nd floor of the East Wing. Recovery rooms are on the third floor and the new NICU will be on the sixth. The hospital has 21 labor and delivery beds and 42 postpartum beds.

They deliver 5000 babies a year and are equipped to handle VBACs. A few of the recovery rooms are doubles but those are only used when the hospital is at full capacity.

Tracie Plunkett, Director of Mater-

nal Child Health, said that their patient load increased by 20 births a month after Tulare Regional closed.

A newly expanded labor and de-

livery triage area will allow pregnant women to receive faster and more private care when it opens this fall at Kaweah Delta Medical Center.

The expanded labor and delivery triage area, which has grown from four to seven beds, will be unveiled at 4 p.m.

KAWEAH DELTA continued on 8 »

16 May, 2019 Valley Voice

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Sierra View continued from 7

the hospital.

Part of the Baby Friendly protocols include the golden hour where mom and baby have skin to skin contact and waiting at least 12 hours after delivery for baby’s first bath.

SVMC delivers approximately 1400 babies a year and has six CNMs with hospital privileges. SVMC does not accommodate moms that want a VBAC, or Vaginal Birth after C-section.

Their NICU is a level 2 that can han-

dle babies born at 32 weeks gestation or older. Any baby born 31 weeks or younger will be delivered at, or transported to, Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera.

Sierra View’s NICU is equipped with a telemedicine link with Valley Children’s where a doctor can listen to the baby’s heart, check its blood pressure, and can visually observe the baby during the tele- conference with a SVMC NICU nurse. In addition, a Valley Children’s staff person is at SVMC 24/7 to handle any newborn or pediatric emergencies.

Happy first time parents at Sierra View

View from the fourth floor of Sierra View Medical Center

Kaweah Delta continued from 7

on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The area is where women, who are past 20 weeks gestation, receive treatment for a variety of health concerns related to pregnancy – signs of pre-term labor, mild cramping, pain, etc.

“This new area will definitely be a more comfortable and more private area for our patients during their examinations,” said Regina Sawyer, Chief Nursing Officer.

In the new area, patient beds are separated by walls, rather than cur-

tains, Sawyer said. Additionally, when the new area opens, women will continue to be seen by a nurse, but they will also be seen by an obstetrician who will be in-house 24 hours, seven days a week, Sawyer said.

“Having an obstetrician on site will definitely help women be seen faster,” Sawyer said.

Kaweah Delta currently has a seven bed, level 3 NICU, meaning they can take care of babies born at 26 weeks instead of transporting them to Valley Children’s. Kaweah Delta’s NICU and Pediatrics Units are run by Kaweah Delta with medical staffing provided by Valley Children’s Medical Group.

But things are only going to get better in terms of serving the Central Valley’s tiniest patients.

This summer Kaweah Delta’s NICU is moving into the previously unoccupied sixth floor and expanding to a 15 NICU beds and 8 Neonatal Intermediate Care Beds facility where mom or dad can spend the night. Each room features large windows, soft lighting, personal refrigerators for breast milk or formula, and a sofa bed. These single-family units are designed for individualized care and invite more participation from parents who will have 24 hour access to their babies.

“Our goal is to support the care of the entire family not just the infant,” said Felicia Vaughn NICU nurse manager.

Moving to the sixth floor gives the staff more space to have their own nurses’ station, a classroom for trainings, a medication room, and a large

supply area.

Vaughn said, “We’re caring for smaller, sicker babies and keeping our commitment to the community by keeping them close to home.”

There are 24 OB/GYNs that serve Kaweah Delta and three CNMs. Rita Barron, a CNM, has delivered 7400 babies in 35 years and now works out of Visalia OB/GYN Medical Associates. In the beginning of her career she delivered a few babies at home but is wary that some midwives currently practicing in Tulare County are doing home births who have very little medical training and no certification. After becoming a nurse practitioner she received her midwife certification at Stanford.

Barron said some patients request a CNM because they might be afraid of doctors. Also, CNMs spend more time with their patients. “It’s more time spent person to person,” said Barron.

Valley Voice 16 May, 2019

All hospitals

Thirty years ago moms-to-be were encouraged to make a birth plan before they arrived at the hospital. They would outline such things as whether or not they wanted an epidural or natural child birth or who would be their labor coach.

Labor and delivery nurses now say that birth plans are rare, and if a mom did have one, it was the first thing out the window once labor started. One nurse stated that those moms that did arrive with a birth plan usually ended up getting a c-section.

While no two births are the same, Tulare and Kings County hospitals are similar enough that a laboring mom could

Home births

Detreh Hele is a retired Certified Nurse Midwife from Fresno who used to do 30 to 50 home births a year. Of those births, four or five would be in Tulare and Kings County. Her medical partner, Alex Michel, also from Fresno, took over Hele’s practice and will deliver babies at home in Tulare and Kings County. There are two other midwives from Fresno that do home births in our area and a midwife that lives in Visalia that is in the process of getting certified.

The midwives that do home births in Tulare and Kings Counties all have varying levels of certification, and some none at all.

Hele said there were three major reasons women preferred to have their babies at home. One, they had a bad experience in the hospital the first time. Second, a friend or family member had a home birth and finally, some moms have a fear of hospitals.

9

have the same experience at all three.

All offer child birth classes, tours of their birthing center, and encourage breast feeding. A lactation specialist will visit each new mom in their recovery room and all have a lactation resource center, breast feeding classes, a choice of breast pumps, bottles.

All nurses support a mom’s decision whether they choose to bottle feed or nurse. “We are either going to make the baby the best breast feeder or best bottle feeder,” said the head nurse of labor and delivery at SVMC. All hospitals strongly suggest giving the newborn a vitamin K shot in one leg

The one huge drawback to home birth is that no pain relief is available except a hot shower, tea, or a kind hand.

Once you are in active labor at home, as Millennials would say, there are no “take-backsies.”

Also, home births are not covered by insurance and will be paid all out of pocket.

With an experienced midwife the risks of having a child at home are the same as in a hospital. Complications are rare and at Kaweah Delta less than 10% of the babies end up in the NICU. Hele said about three to five percent of her patients end up delivering at a hospital because of complications that manifests before labor starts. Less than 1% of home births are transported to a hospital due to an emergency.

Hele’s overall c-section rate was only one to two percent even

HOME BIRTHS continued on 10 »

and a hepatitis B vaccine in the other.

Nurses also put Azithromycin jell on the baby’s eyelids to avoid eye infections.

For practical and safety reasons the number of people allowed to attend the birth is three or four and only one person besides the mom can spend the night. No filming is allowed during the birth which surprised me after watching about a hundred babies being born on the 1990’s show “A Baby Story.”

All hospitals have professional photography services of your newborn offering portrait packages, birth announcements, and keepsakes. None of the hospitals offer water births.

Laboring mothers will be moved three times and almost all are required to have an IV. The expectant mom first goes to triage, then a labor and delivery room, then are finally moved to a recovery room. This is more for the efficient use of hospital space than for the health of the mother. Kaiser Hospital and Maternity hospitals such as Alta Bates in Berkeley never move the mother and IVs for low risk pregnancies are optional.

For those moms who want to make their own rules, have a water birth, or just don’t like the medical protocols of a hospital, then home births are an available option.

Can I have an elective C-Section?

Elective c-sections scheduled at the mother’s or doctor’s convenience was never wide spread and is no longer practiced.

Cesarean sections carry serious risks of infection or blood clots, require a much longer recovery and women may experience complications with subsequent pregnancies and births.

In the long-term, research shows that c-sections can cause chronic pelvic pain in some women C-sections can also cause problems for babies, like breathing difficulties that may send the newborn to the NICU. Babies born by c-section are also at an increased risk of developing chronic childhood diseases like asthma and diabetes Under normal circumstances, In the U.S., nearly one in three women gives birth by cesarean section. In the

United Kingdom that number is 25% which is still considered too high. Other rates range from 55% in Brazil to 17% in Sweden.

The World Health Organization has long recommended that the ideal c-section rate should be between 10-15%.

When c-section rates in a country move towards 10%, there is a significant decrease in maternal and newborn deaths.

According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, cesarean birth is too common in the United States. The Leapfrog Group found that over 60% of reporting hospitals had excessive rates of C-sections.

That means that far too many women are undergoing a major abdominal surgery without medical necessity.

16 May, 2019 Valley Voice

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FAST FACTS Kaweah Delta

• Births: 5000 a year • NICU: Level 3, can care for babies at 26 weeks • C-Section rate: 32% • Episiotomy: 6.3%

Adventist Health Hanford

• Births: 2500 a year • NICU: Level 2, Can care for babies born at 32 weeks • C-section: 28.7% • Episiotomy: 1.8%

Sierra View Medical Center

• Births: 1400 a year • NICU: Level 2, can care for babies at 32 weeks • C-section: 19.9% • Episiotomy: 4.8%

Adventist Health Tulare

Kevin Northcraft, Chair of the Tulare Local Healthcare District Board, said that getting Adventist Health Tulare’s maternity ward open is a priority this summer.

“Whole generations of families have given birth there,” he said.

According to Melinda Righi, Adventist Health’s Manager of Communications for Reedley, Selma and Tulare, the first phase of renovations to the Tulare hospital valued at more than $10 million has begun in the hospital’s obstetrics department in anticipation of a July re-opening.

“We are giving the entire department a ‘design refresh’ with new equipment, new furniture, new flooring and, most importantly, a new infant security system,” said Associate Chief Nursing Officer Sheri Pereira, who oversees obstetrics services for the Central Valley Network. “We are very excited to re-open the OB and

start delivering babies in Tulare. This is extra special to me because I was born in this hospital.”

When completed, the OB department will have 11 patient rooms and two triage beds, plus an infant nursery.

“Reopening our OB department is essential to the well-being of this community, and one of the service lines we are most anxious to restore,” said Randy Dodd, President of Adventist Health Tulare. “We can’t wait to welcome the first baby born this summer at Adventist Health and future generations born in Tulare.”

Adventist officials recently celebrated the change of ownership for the Tulare hospital, previously known as Tulare Regional Medical Center.

Adventist Health now leases out the Tulare hospital from the district and operates it as a private entity.

HIGHLIGHTS Kaweah Delta Has a Level 3 NICU Sierra View Only “Baby-Friendly” designation in Tulare County Adventist Health Hanford Separate birthing center with fully stocked café.

Adventist Health Tulare Maternity wing and OB services opening in July Home Birth Lowest C-Section rate — and Moms make the rules!

Adventist Health Hanford built a separate hospital for their birthing center three years ago

Adventist Hanford continued from 7

Home Births continued from 9

including those that delivered at a hospital. One reason for Hele’s low c-section rate is that midwives only accept low risk pregnancies, but that’s not the whole story.

As explained above, most hospital deliveries are low risk, but their c-section rates are on average 25% or higher.

Hele believes that most c-sections are doctor induced because the OB/GYN interferes with the labor. Also, a laboring mother’s mobility is restricted by the IV and monitoring equipment.

According to a report in the Jour-

nal of Perinatal Education, 47 percent of women have their labor artificially accelerated with medications, and 43 percent of women giving birth for the first time have labor artificially induced.

When using a midwife interventions are used only when medically necessary.

Hele’s advice to lowering the c-section rate? “Leave the woman alone.”

For any woman considering a home birth, Alex Michel can answer your questions, offer her services, or direct you to the other midwives that do home births in Tulare and Kings County. Her number is 559 760-2282

Hanford is the size of Porterville so I asked Jaurigui how a small rural town could support such a large facility. Adventist delivers approximately 2400 babies a year and Jaurigui said the rooms are almost always full.

She pointed out that unlike SVMC that primarily serves Porterville, Adventist serves an entire county and then some. Adventist serves all of Kings and parts of Fresno County such as Coalinga that recently lost their hospital. Lemoore Naval Air Force Base, with all of their young families, also are regular clients.

Rebecca Mathews of perinatal services said their new state of the art facility creates a soothing peaceful environment. She added, “Our nurses are our best patient advocates. They love what they do. The nurses will make the birth the best experience ever.

Their new state of the art facility also has its own NICU level 2 six bed capacity room equipped with

telemedicine and its own waiting area. Like SVMC only babies 32 weeks or older are born at the hospital. In the event of an extreme emergency Adventist has a helipad available to transport the baby and mother to Valley Children’s.

The birthing center has a baby store with gifts, baby necessities, and all the breast feeding equipment mom will need.

But best of all, Adventist birthing center has their own fully stocked café with baked goods, sandwiches and Starbucks coffee enjoyed not only by families but hospital staff. Mathews says that it’s becoming more often that the first thing a mom asks for after delivery is a cup of coffee.

Adventist Hanford is a medium sized hospital with 151 acute and 22 ICU beds and are happy to accommodate VBACs. They have three CNMs with hospital privileges. Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade has reported that Adventist Hanford rate of Cesarean sections is 28.7% and their rate of episiotomies is 1.8%

16 May, 2019

VALLEYSCENE

ourvalleyvoice.com

Seascapes and Ocean Views set for Exeter Courthouse Gallery STAFF REPORTS Things are happening at the Exeter Courthouse Gallery!

Absolutely Gourdgeous is up until May 26. The show features gourds from Toni Best, Diane Pearcy and Sam McKinney, as well as art work from Wendy McKellar and Nadi Spencer. Jerry Smith also has his photography in the gallery. Drop in Saturdays 1-4 and Sundays 12-4 and check out this interesting show until May 26th!

June will bring Seascapes and Ocean Views. This show is an open call to artists who would like to show their art depicting seascapes and beach life! There is still time to participate! Visit the Gallery’s Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/ groups/312203083684/ and look for the rules and registration forms under the posts or private message us with your email address and we will send the information to you. We will be taking in the art on Sunday May 26, from 12-4pm. at the gallery at 125 South “B” Street. There is a $5.00 entry fee for

each piece and a 2 piece limit. Become a member of The Courthouse Gallery for a yearly membership of $30.00 and your entries will be free! All entries should convey the theme of the show and be seascapes or views of ocean life.

The opening reception will be Sunday June 9, from 2-4 pm. Light appetizers and refreshments will be served and is free to the public. The show will run from June 1-July 28. The gallery is open Saturdays 10-4 and Sundays 124. Our hope is that the seascapes will transport the viewer to a calm and serene place where troubles float away on the tide.

You may visit the gallery during gallery hours, Saturdays 10:00 am 4:00 pm and Sundays 12-4. If you are interested in renting the gallery for your event please contact Michelle Pyatt at the gallery to book your event!

The Exeter Courthouse Gallery is located at 125 South “B” Street, Exeter. For more information please call (559) 592-5900 or email at exeterarts@ outlook.com.

“Monterey Rocks” by Donovan Conway.

Sequoia Shuttle open for seat reservations now STAFF REPORTS The Sequoia Shuttle is gearing up for the 2019 season and online reservations are open now. But act fast! Dates are filling up.

The perfect way to get to the Sequoia National Park, the shuttle departs from various convenient locations throughout Visalia, Exeter, Three Rivers, and Lemon Cove. While reservations are available now, the 2019 season opens on Thursday, Mary 23rd.

Reservations are required. Roundtrip tickets are $20 and include unlim-

ited shuttle service inside the park.

Each 16-passenger shuttle is wheelchair accessible, features comfortable seats, luggage space, and an informative video during the trip. Once inside the park, riders can take advantage of unlimited shuttle service to the parks major attractions. The in-park shuttles run from 8:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. and are completely ticketless, so guests can simply hop on and off at any stop.

Riders can book their trip online.

To learn more about the Sequoia Shuttle, visit www.sequoiashuttle.com or call 1-877-BUS-HIKE.

Students from the Alternative Achievement Program won “best overall” in the middle school category of the Step Up Youth Challenge for their native plants garden. The project taught students how to work together and how important bees are to local agriculture.

Students in AAP program create a winning project TULARE COUNTY OFFICE OF ED To their surprise and delight, middle school students at the Tulare County Office of Education’s Alternative Achievement Program (AAP) developed one of the two “best overall” projects in the 2018-19 Step Up Youth Challenge. The program used the creation of a native plants garden to teach students about the importance of working together and not resorting to bullying or violence. By connecting with local nurseries and farmers, the garden project also helped students see the importance of bees to Tulare County’s agricultural economy.

In their report to the Youth Challenge review committee, the students stated, “Our project addressed the issue of working together even though we did not like each other. By being forced to work together, we had to use our coping skills to not fight back. After a while, we started getting along and working together to get our project done. It made us feel excited and feel needed in the community.” For their efforts, the program received a $2,500 grant from the County of Tulare.

The AAP is the third step on a continuum of behavioral health services provided by Special Services. When a student’s needs exceed the services provided in one of Special Services’ countywide Intervention Resource Classrooms and they require a higher level of care, AAP is considered. At AAP, student mental health services are embedded with core academic curriculum to build the necessary skills to eventually transition back to their general education site.

In this eighth year of the program, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors awarded the administration of

the Step Up Youth Challenge to the Tulare County Office of Education (TCOE).

Last fall, then County Superintendent of Schools Jim Vidak placed the event with the CHARACTER COUNTS! Program as it aligned with the Six Pillars of Character, particularly with the pillars of caring, respect, and citizenship.

The county continues to fund the program and the grant awards provided to the winning schools.

Initially, the Step Up Youth Challenge was developed by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors as a program to engage at-risk youth in positive leadership development and community-serving activities and to deter gang involvement. Today the program is broader, as teams identify needs at their schools and in their communities involving issues ranging from nutrition and literacy to self-esteem and homelessness. This year, TCOE’s University Preparatory High School won its fourth Step Up Youth Challenge Award – the Impact Award – for its creation of a library for the Blue Oak Academy charter school in Visalia. UPHS students hosted a book drive and collected over 1,000 books for the new school to emphasize the importance of literacy among K-3 students.

“We are delighted to support the Board of Supervisors by overseeing the Step Up Youth Challenge,” said Tim Hire, Tulare County Superintendent of Schools. “This program is unique in that it gives schools – large and small, urban and rural – the same opportunity to address a real need and gather resources to address it. It’s an incredible example of 21st century learning.”

For more information on the Step Up Youth Challenge, contact Kelley Petty at kelleyp@tcoe.org, or call (559) 740-4303.

Free summer day camp for underserved children STAFF REPORTS Footsteps of Saint Agnes Home Health and Hospice, an award-winning expressive arts program for children and teens dealing with difficult losses, is hosting a free summer day camp for underserved Valley children.

The Camp Sunshine event, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, is open to children 5 to 18 years old who have experienced a significant change due to death, divorce, separation or abandonment. The event will take place at the Saint Agnes Medical Center, inside the north wing Shehadey Pavilion, at 1303 E.

Herndon Ave. in Fresno.

For more information or to register for the event by June 4, contact Saint Agnes Home Health and Hospice at (559) 450-5608. Admission is free, but donations are gladly accepted. Space is limited. For more information, visit www. samc.com/footsteps.

The Footsteps program also hosts a 6-week expressive arts curriculum for children and parents dealing with difficult losses held at Saint Agnes Home Health and Hospice, 6729 N. Willow Ave., Suite 103, in Fresno. Families can register by calling Maria Berber at (559) 450-5608.

16 May, 2019 Valley Voice

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Calendar

May 1 - May 31: Teresa Getty Exhibition Opening Reception at Arts Visalia Friday, May 3rd from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.Gallery Hours: Noon-5:30 p.m., Wednesdays-Saturdays. Arts Visalia Visual Art Center 214 E. Oak Ave. Contact Janelle Howard, Gallery Director. 559739-0905, artsvisalia@sbcglobal.net May 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 & 18: Sing Off: An Original Musical” in Tulare 72 past and present Encore Kids will put on a Sing-Off competition where the audience can see how their votes compare with the judges. Plus a preshow of adult performers singing selections from “Mama Mia!” 7:30 or Sunday matinees May 5 & 12 at 2 p.m.

Encore Theatre, 324 South N St., Tulare. 559 686-1300 or www.encoretulare.org May 17, 18, 18: Jukebox Cabaret A mix of music from the 60s and 70s with a little bit of country. At the Ice House Theatre, 410 E. Race, Visalia. 559 734-3900 or www.visaliaplayers.org May 17 & 18 at 7:30 p.m.Sunday matinee May 19 at 4 p.m.

May 17 – June 9: Over The River and Through The Woods Enjoy Kings Players Community Theater in a play about Nick who is a single guy from New Jersey who sees both sets of grandparents every Sunday for dinner until he tells them he’s been offered a job that will have him moving away. Thus begin schemes to keep Nick around - which includes bringing to dinner the lovely, single Caitlin O’Hare. Kings Players Community Theater, Temple Theater

May 18: “A Day At The Races!” the Tulare Historical Museum’s annual Springtime Picnic & Reverse Drawing.

Join us for an evening of BBQ, Beer, Big Hats, 5:00-7:30pm in THM’s Ellen Gorelick Courtyard 444 W. Tulare Ave. Tulare. Kaweah Brewing Co. serving their beer. Reverse Drawing cash prizes range from $50-$1,500. A $50 donation prior to May 18th includes 1 Reverse Drawing entry and event admission for 2. Regular ticket $15 per person. Enjoy the 2019 horse racing season and support the Tulare Historical Museum in the process! Info at THM at 559-6862074 or via Paypal at www.tularehistoricalmuseum.org.

May 18: ‘Way 2 Fierce’ Visalia Charter Independent Study Students will perform dance, drama and vocals at LJ Williams Theater Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $7 each and are available at both campuses, 1821 W. Meadow Lane, near College of the Sequoias, and 649 S. County Center, at the former Brandman University building. For information, call VCIS at 735-8055 or visit www.vciseagles.org.

May 18: Audubon Field Trip Tule River Watershed Forest Birding First meeting place at 7AM for 7:15 departure: McDonald’s parking lot at Mary’s Vineyard, 1401 E Noble Ave., Visalia. Second meeting place: 8:00 AM at Springville Memorial Veterans Building 35944 Highway 190. Bring binoculars, hat, sunscreen, food, water.

Depending on the weather and road conditions this trip will focus on either the Camp Nelson area off Highway 190 or the Mountain Home State Forest on Bear Creek Road. Contact, Rosie Bonar fishnknit1979@yahoo.com May 18: Tulare-Kings Writers meeting Visalia library on Oak St in the Blue

Room at 10 AM. Formatting Your Manuscript for Publication will be the focus for this meeting. Bring a commercially published paperback book from your library, any size, any genre, and something for taking notes. See you then.

Marilyn Meredith , Visit me at http://fictionforyou.com/ May 19: Sunday Suppers The series will begin with a discussion on compassionate approaches to homelessness in Tulare County with Adrianne Hillman for the first Sunday Suppers. New monthly series sponsored by CSL Visalia to showcase Spirituality in Action principles and the local activists who are in the trenches.

4:30 p.m. at the Brandon-Mitchell Gallery, 117 S. Locust, Visalia. 559 6225-2441 or www.brandonmitchellgallery.com May 20 – 24: The Creative Center Awards Show!

The Creative Center Players proudly invite you to the 2019 Spring Theater Production, The Creative Center Awards Show! The Creative Center’s Jon Ginsburg Gallery 410 E Race Ave, Visalia.

Enjoy the magical story of The Creative Center’s beginning and its captivating history as a beacon of art and acceptance. For show schedule and tickets on ticketleap.com. Infol 559-733-9329. VIP (front row & table service) $12, General $10, Kids & Special Programs $5 May 20: Larry Micari for Supervisor District 1 Meet & Greet at China’s Ally, Lindsay Candidate Larry Micari for Tulare County Board of Supervisor District 1 would like to invite you to an opportunity to personally get to know him and enjoy an evening of food and fellowship. The event will be located at China’s Ally at 170 N. Sweetbriar Avenue, Lindsay from 5:00-8:00pm. There is no charge to attend the event however, donations are greatly appreciated. You may RSVP to Jolena Cristan at 559-310-2040 or register online www.micari4supervisor@ com.

May 21: Mark Arax launches latest book at League of Women Voters of Tulare Co. Annual Meeting Doors open 11:30am at The Depot, 207 E. Oak Ave., in Visalia. The public is invited to hear acclaimed author and journalist Mark Arax talk about the Valley’s most pressing concern: water and his new book , “Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust across California,” Signed Books will be available for purchase.

Reservations are by check received by May 14, $25 payable to LWVTC. Indicate lunch preference: pork, fish, chicken or vegetarian. Mail to LWVTC, P.O. Box 3011, Visalia, CA 93278. Info phoebet8@ att.net.

May 22: The Wizard of Oz The Fox Theatre in Visalia 6:30 p.m. for the month’s Way Back Wednesdays..

Tickets $5 at ticketfly.com. The first 100 guests will receive a free popcorn.

May 22: Three Rivers Business Showcase and Mixer Three Rivers Chamber of Commerce is hosting the event from 5:00 – 7:30 pm at the Three Rivers Memorial Building.

Learn and share about the businesses, activities, and opportunities in Three Rivers and Sequoia National Park is open to the public. For more info or if interested in a booth space call Julie Gray (559) 561-7000, 561-1323 or jgray@ structuralglass.com May 23: Good Ole’ Fashioned Meet & Greet with Larry Micari for Supervisor, District 1 Mike and Jessica White would like to invite you to a Good Ole’ Fashioned Meet & Greet for Candidate Larry Micari for Tulare County Supervisor District 1. They are hosting the event at 31750 Road 246, Lemon Cove from 5:00-8:00pm. Attendees will enjoy an evening of food, fun and fellowship with Candidate Larry Micari and friends. Tickets are $25 and you may RSVP to Jessica White 559-2886561 or register online www.micari4supervisor@com.

May 25: Pride Visalia, South Valley’s premier all-ages community event For the LGBT+ community and their friends, families and allies, will have food, information and craft booths, live music and more from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Old Lumber Yard, 300 E. Oak Ave. in Visalia. Tickets are $5–$125 at eventbrite. com.

May 30: The Real Mooney Grove Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Sponsored by the Tulare Chamber of Commerce at 10:00 am Arbor #1 by the boathouse and bridge. Celebrating 100 year anniversary Veterans Freedom Bridge and approved Federal 501c3 non profit status. Receive free decal with our logo. Questions or RSVP @ trmgpinc@yahoo.com May 30 - June 2:The 2019 Kings Fair Highlight the agricultural bounty that Kings County has to offer. From 5 p.m. until midnight every night, and each evening will feature special events.

Thursday, opening day, will offer discounted prices. Adult admission is only $3, seniors and kids under 10 get in for $3, and children 5 and under are free. Carnival ride prices are reduced to only $1. Sunday evening will be cultural night. $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for kids, and children under 5 are free. Carnival ride wristbands are $25 presale and $35 at the door.

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Valley Voice 16 May, 2019

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Adventist Tulare commits to $10m in upgrades over 2 years STAFF REPORTS With the Adventist Health license now in place, the first phase of renovations to the Tulare hospital valued at more than $10 million has begun in the hospital’s obstetrics department in anticipation of a July re-opening.

Topping the list of improvements is a state-of-the-art infant security system designed to monitor new moms and babies in real time and from multiple locations.

“We are giving the entire department a ‘design refresh’ with new equipment, new furniture, new flooring and, most importantly, a new infant security system,” said Associate

Chief Nursing Officer Sheri Pereira, who oversees obstetrics services for the Central Valley Network. “We are very excited to re-open the OB and start delivering babies in Tulare. This is extra special to me because I was born in this hospital.”

New equipment includes labor and delivery beds, fetal monitors and related medical equipment. Altogether, OB upgrades are valued at $1.3 million.

Contractors are painting the interior and replacing sinks, counter tops, case work and nearly 4,000 square feet of flooring throughout the entire department.

When completed, the OB depart-

ment will have 11 patient rooms and two triage beds, plus an infant nursery.

“Reopening our OB department is essential to the well-being of this community, and one of the service lines we are most anxious to restore,” said Randy Dodd, President of Adventist Health Tulare. “We can’t wait to welcome the first baby born this summer at Adventist Health and future generations born in Tulare.”

Imaging services

In addition to the improvements in the obstetrics department, the Imaging department is getting a major equipment overhaul valued at nearly $4 million.

The list includes an MRI, two ultrasound scanners, two C-arm imaging scanners, a 3D mammogram machine, two portable X-ray machines and a digital radiography X-ray suite.

“We are so grateful to be able to bring in such a wide array of imaging devices along with the upgrades to house them,” said Deana Hale, Director of Diagnostic Imaging for Adventist Health in the Central Valley. “We believe the Tulare community truly deserves the best quality imaging equipment because it is essential to making the correct diagnoses.”

Construction to house the new equipment is slated to be completed before the end of 2019.

Kaweah Delta Rehabilitation Hospital set to celebrate 25 years STAFF REPORTS When Doug Henderson, of Exeter, accidentally stepped off a roof in 2012, his injuries were so severe, he was told he would never have any feeling from his belly button down. Today, he has regained feeling from his legs to his feet thanks to the care he received at Kaweah Delta Rehabilitation Hospital.

Henderson is just one of the many people who have reclaimed their lives

after catastrophic events such as spine injury, brain injury, amputation, etc. by receiving inspiration at Kaweah Delta Rehabilitation Hospital in Visalia. On Tuesday, May 14, during a small ceremony from 8:30-10:30 a.m., the hospital will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an open house at 840 S. Akers St., Suite 200, Visalia.

Henderson said Kaweah Delta Rehabilitation Hospital gave him hope.

Today, he continues rehab there and

motivates others. “It’s the best thing that has happened since the accident.

To go there and meet the people I’ve met and to work with them,” said Henderson, who’s done everything from therapy in a gym to a pool at the hospital.

At Kaweah Delta Rehabilitation Hospital, patients are cared for by rehab certified and specialty-trained nurses, therapists, and physicians.

The hospital is also home to the only

comprehensive cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation program in the South Valley, the only adult rehabilitation program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) in the South Valley, and the only CARF-accredited stroke program in Tulare and Kings counties. It was also the first CARF-accredited amputation specialty program in the Central Valley.

Help create a more vibrant, walkable Downtown Visalia STAFF REPORTS This month, the City of Visalia will host community workshops as part of a planning project to create a new Traffic Safety Action Plan for central Visalia.

“These workshops will help us gather ideas from the community to make our downtown more vibrant and our streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and motorists,” shares Leslie Blair, City of Visalia Civil Engineer. “We invite residents of all ages to join us, these workshops are going to be very hands on with pre-

CONDOM GIVEAWAY continued from 1

While most of the children attending the Visalia Unified School District’s multi-school prom are not yet sexually active, the statistics show many of them are. In Tulare County, 48.6 out of every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 end up pregnant. That rate is nearly triple the statewide rate of 17 per 1,000 and more than double the national rate of 20.3 per 1,000.

Early and unwanted pregnancies aren’t the only sexual danger Tulare County’s youth face. Sexually-transmitted disease is also on the rise.

“There’s also been a huge incline in chlamydia and gonorrhea here in the Valley,” Rivera said.

Peer-to-Peer Outreach

Many of the volunteers handing out the ACT safety kits are themselves teenagers, adding a peer-to-peer aspect to the effort to stem teen pregnancy and disease. There’s also a concerted effort to educate teens about their sexuality and to encourage healthy decision-making.

“We encourage them to make their own informed decisions. They do hold a lot of power,” Rivera said. “They are very complex beings. They do under-

sentations, discussion and table top exercises.”

Workshops will take place at 210 West Center Avenue in Visalia on Tuesday, 5/21 and Thursday, 5/23. The schedule is: •

•

TUESDAY, MAY 21st

Walking Tour with Design Experts from 4 - 5 p.m. Join us before the workshop to assess downtown’s safety conditions for walking and bicycling.

Community Design Workshop from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Tell the designers what you want to see

stand issues in very multidimensional ways, and so you want to give them that information so they can make those decisions themselves.”

Now in its 10th year, the “Don’t Let a Hot Date...” has been well received by both prom-goers and their parents, said Gina Rodriguez, a program director for ACT who has been involved in the safety kit handout for the last three years.

“I think I’ve had one parent just ask what we were doing,” Rodriguez said. “Most adults and kids thank us.”

Well Received Effort

Yet there still is some shock value associated with handing out condoms, she said, even if there is no hostility.

The response to the giveaway from teens is generally mature, though they are often taken aback.

“For the most part they get surprised,” Rodriguez said.

Originally known as “Don’t Let a Hot Date Turn into a Due Date,” ACT has shortened the name to include non-heterosexuals and to avoid shaming those who have become pregnant as teens.

Making sure the prom night giveaway and other reproductive health programs--such as Teen Success Inc, a support group for teen mothers designed to bolster higher education

happen in downtown Visalia.

THURSDAY, MAY 23rd

•

Closing Community Workshop from 6 – 8 p.m. Share your comments and guidance about the design team’s draft recommendations.

All meetings will be held in both English and Spanish, they are family friendly (bring the kids!) and a light meal will be provided.

“The Traffic Safety Action Plan will identify short- and long-term projects that the City can implement to improve transportation safety and mo-

and child development--are as inclusive as possible is key to keeping teenagers safe. ACT’s emphasis is on factbased sexual education, which is not always available.

“I definitely see the importance of it,” said Rivera. “I didn’t get adequate or comprehensive education until I joined ACT. I’ve seen how it can change and save lives.”

Other Programs

While handing out condoms does acknowledge the fact many of Tulare County’s teens are sexually active, it does not mean ACT ignores other ways of avoiding teen pregnancy, including sexual abstinence.

“We provide services and programs for youth no matter what path they choose,” Rodriguez said. “All people should decide if, when and how large, and have those families grow up healthy.”

Much of the work on reproductive education performed by ACT occurs in area classrooms during weeks-long programs. It’s in these venues that more detailed information is presented to teens and other options besides birth control are discussed.

“We also talk about values. This is where abstinence comes in,” said Rivera. “We talk about how to have conversations about delaying if you’re

bility and create a more vibrant downtown,” added Blair.

This planning effort is funded by a Caltrans Sustainable Communities Planning Grant awarded to the City of Visalia. A design team from the Local Government Commission and Alta Planning + Design will conduct the workshops and develop the final plan.

For more information about the Central Visalia Traffic Safety Action Plan project, contact Leslie Blair, City of Visalia Civil Engineer, at leslie. blair@visalia.city or 713-4633.

not ready. One of the biggest ones has been consent boundaries.”

Overcoming Taboos

ACT’s reproductive programs are also a platform for challenging myths about sexuality and correcting misinformation.

“It’s astonishing what these kids know. Because they get so much information, especially from the Internet, there’s a lot of misinformation,” Rivera said. “It’s (the misinformation) doing things they think will prevent STIs or pregnancies that are actually more detrimental than they would help out.”

The education ACT provides also helps overcome barriers to safe sexual practices and family planning, even acting as a surrogate for sexual and relationship advice that many times is provided at home.

“In a community where it’s very much an immigrant community, it’s (sexual education) very much taboo,” Rivera said. “So, they don’t have an adult or parental figure to talk about how to practice safe sex or anything like that, so they’re talking amongst their friends and it just keeps spreading that misinformation.”

To learn more about ACT for Women and Girls and the programs it offers, visit actforwomenandgirls.org.

16 May, 2019 Valley Voice

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COS Training Resource Center offers social media training STAFF REPORTS The COS Training Resource Center is offering two upcoming classes which are designed to help businesses and non-profit agencies take their social media to the next level by growing their online profile, engaging more customers and clients, reach their marketing goals and analyze data to determine strategy success.

The first class “Advanced Social Media for Non-Profits” will be May 10, 2019 9:00 – 4:00 pm and is $119. This class is open to anyone but it is specifically geared for non-profits who are already working on their social media and want to improve their reach.

The 2nd Class is Advanced Social Media for Business Boot camp and will take place June 14, 2019, 9:00 – 4:00 pm and is $249. This training will be a more advanced deep dive into the tools and strategies that will help companies grow their online profile, engage

more customers on a personal level, develop and reach marketing goals and then develop and analyze data to determine strategy success. This class is novel in that it will include an additional 45 minute individual follow-up session which will allow companies to work one on one with Trainer to zone in on their organizations specific goals, issues and questions.

The instructor, Mason Stewart, brings a wealth of real-world and upto-date information from his experience as an Account executive for a major advertising company in Fresno where he successfully managed many high profile, campaigns for multi-million dollar clients. While receiving his MBA from Cal State Fresno he served in the marketing department and was responsible for developing the “Dogpound” media presence and other successful marketing promotions which increased attendance and fan support.

Mason Stewart will provide social media training.

The Training Resource Center’s goal is to provide valuable training

to Tulare and Kings county businesses, which propelled them to offer this class. This class is more advanced than the previously offered “Social Media Boot Camp for Business”. It will provide time in class to review, critique, and revise each participant’s current social media presence. The class will cover how to better connect with the proper audience, how to grow your presence, content and posting, strategies for engagement, targeting, analytics and more. Students have commented that the “course was beneficial to my online business presence.” and that the class was “definitely helpful!

Thank you for the tips and tricks to starting and maintaining smart, relevant, and useful social media sites!”

For more information on the class call Rose Lacey at 559 688-3130 or to register, please visit our website at https:// costrainingcenter.com/

Kaweah Delta and Visalia Farmers Market Partner to bring a new market to Visalia STAFF REPORTS On Tuesdays, from May 14-Aug. 13, Tulare County residents will be able to stock up on fruits and vegetables and learn about wellness at a third Visalia Farmers Market in Visalia.

Kaweah Delta and Visalia Farmers Market have partnered to bring

KAWEAH DELTA continued from 1

volves dozens of so-called ambassadors who have agreed to get the word out about what KDHCD does and what it would like to do in the years to come.

“They commit to be educated and then share that information into their social spheres,” Volosin said.

Sandy Blankenship, director of the Exeter Chamber of Commerce, is one of those who’s agreed to spread the word about KDHCD as a community stakeholder. So far, Blankenship has been briefed on topics including the national opioid crisis, the district’s demographics, the future of Kaweah Delta Medical Center’s emergency department and the efforts at KDMC to meet the state’s updated seismic standards.

“They teach you things that are going on at Kaweah Delta so you can answer questions,” Blankenship said.

“It’s so we can say, ‘I know about that!’

ST. PAUL’S continued from 1

pancy for February and March was 69.

St. Paul’s made a few changes the second time around at the request of neighbors and to better serve the homeless community. A security guard was hired 14 hours a day to ensure there was no loitering before or after the center was open. This was the shelter’s biggest expense.

Also, the restriction of only being open when the temperature fell under 40 degrees was removed. The restriction was removed in order to reduce confusion among the homeless as to whether or not the center would be open and to accommodate the homeless when it was raining.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church ran a low-barrier shelter. Ward explained that being low-barrier means people are accepted as they are and all are

this Visalia market to the community.

It will take place every Tuesday from 8-11:30 a.m. at 1100 S. Akers St. in Visalia.

“This is a chance for people to get out, stock up on fruits and vegetables and learn about wellness,” said Dru Quesnoy, Director of Marketing at Kaweah Delta. “Health is our passion.

We really want our community to know how to be healthy and well.”

At the first market, Kaweah Delta will have information for market visitors on nutrition education and physical therapy. There will be approximately 15 merchants available, along with weekly hands-on children’s activ-

ities offered by ImagineU Interactive Children’s Museum. The market also proudly accepts WIC Fruit and Vegetable Vouchers and EBT. For more information on Visalia Farmers Markets, visit www.visaliafarmersmarket.com.

when someone is talking about the hospital. I’ve learned a lot.”

The district is already seeing results from its efforts to change how it interacts with those it serves, Volosin said. She points to KDHCD’s increased presence on “non-traditional media” outlets such as Facebook and Twitter as a result of the input of the Community Relations Committee.

“They wanted more social media outreach,” she said. “It’s important because there’s a generation that’s so media savvy.”

erybody money in the long run.”

Lloyd Hicks, who shares chairmanship of the Healthcare for Today and Tomorrow Committee, says the trend they’d like to see the district follow is more cooperation with other community institutions, such as school districts and local governments.

Specifically, Hicks’ committee thinks those who rely on Kaweah Delta

would benefit from increased attention to mental healthcare.

“There’s a shortage of everything in mental health,” he said. “The thing we’re mainly lacking is facilities, especial for juveniles.”

Increasing treatment options for those with mental illness would benefit the district in other ways, like reducing patient load in the emergency department.

“A lot of ER traffic is mental health and substance abuse,” he said.

What’s needed, Hicks said, are additional short-term treatment facilities, mental health treatment programs and, of course, the personnel to staff them. There are currently untapped sources of revenue available to the county that could help, he said, and a cooperative effort could benefit both the county and the KDHCD. “There are funding issues on all of these needs,” Hicks said. “Working with Tulare County, they can save ev-

provided a safe, warm place when they have no other option.

“While some shelters may require a homeless individual to be sober or pass a drug test, this center does not.

An individual experiencing homelessness can show up with a pet in tow and under the influence and they will find a warm place to stay. We simply ask them to be respectful of others,” Ward said.

Only three people were kicked out of the shelter during the three months because of unacceptable behavior.

The Center opened at 9pm and clients were allowed to line up at the door at 8:30. After signing-in they received a numbered wristband corresponding to their belongings that were kept in an adjoining room.

New this year was the acquisition of mats and blankets. When individuals checked-in, they were given a mat and 2 blankets and found a spot on the floor. As a Warming Center and not a

shelter, they were not authorized to provide beds or cots.

Ward said that what the clients appreciated more than anything else was that they had a safe, warm space to stay.

Also new this year was that the Warming Center allowed individuals to bring their dogs. Each dog had their own kennel and individuals usually slept next to their animal’s kennel.

Ward said that more noise emanated from the humans sleeping than any of the animals.

The Warming Center’s CUP did not include providing meals but clients were offered warm drinks and snacks. Occasionally, especially on rainy nights, individuals were given a cup of noodles. Occasionally outside volunteers brought meals to share or pizza for everyone.

Ward reported that two-thirds of their clients came every night. Unlike at traditional shelters, St. Paul’s did not separate families or couples. Peo-

ple such as mothers and her adult son, married couples or gay couples were allowed to stay together, and once word got out, couples and families often returned.

St. Paul’s intends to run the shelter for the 2019/2020 winter if it receives a $50,000 grant from the Homeless Emergency Aid Program. Ward said they should know by the end of May. Even if it receives the grant, the Warming Center most likely will not be at St. Paul’s next winter. Ward said that neither the congregation nor the neighbors want it in the church. A new location most likely will not be in north Visalia, according to Ward, and depends on the grant coming through.

After Ward presented her report each council member commended her dedication to the homeless and supported her in her efforts to provide a warming shelter in the future.

Cooperative Health Care

Preventive Education

Hicks’ committee is also keen to see the district work with schools to educate students about avoidable diseases such as diabetes that are rampant in the area. Keeping patients they serve healthy to avoid hospitalization is a new direction healthcare districts such as KDHCD are being forced, he said.

“The goal now is to keep people healthy up front,” Hicks said.

Volunteers like Hicks and Blankenship provide a critical input for the district, says Nevin House, Secretary-Treasurer of the KDHCD Board of Directors, adding “fresh eyes” in the effort for better quality healthcare.

“Sometimes the people working at the hospital are too close to it,” House said. “Sometimes I see people in administration, and their eyes light up.

They say, ‘We never thought of that.’”

Valley Voice 16 May, 2019

15

VOICES & OPINIONS

Janz to run for Mayor — not Congress?

BRUCE JOFFE Dear Andrew, I enthusiastically volunteered on your Congressional campaign because I believed you were running on principle more than just seeking a political opportunity. You had the integrity and platform needed to unseat a truly malicious congressman who is a threat to our democracy.

Now I learn that you are running

for Mayor of Fresno instead of regrouping your congressional campaign for another battle with Devil Nunes. My unsolicited opinion is Andrew, this is a big mistake, for several reasons: 1. You have the right stuff to beat Nunes, and he needs to be beaten 2. You would show true grit and perseverance by battling him again in 2020; many great leaders had lost previous cam-

paigns yet finally prevailed after showing resolve continue the fight.

3. Sadly, running for a different office groups you in the category of just another ambitious politician, rather than a principled Champion of American Democratic Values.

I guess, with your announcement to run for Mayor, the decision is unchangeable. I am sorry. A potential

hero has stepped down, to let lesser men or women attempt the challenge.

Meanwhile, some local volunteer who has contributed time and effort in unsung service to the City of Fresno might have been pushed aside from running for Mayor because a Big Name Politician decided to step into an “easy” opportunity.

histrionics about the ‘bad hombres’, the violence and the hordes of feelthy Hondurans clamoring for entrance, has made a sad miscalculation of the truth-as well as of years.

What he says about the border in 2019 is a bit misplaced. Its a bunch of racist lies now. However, in 1929 it had a basis in fact. Here’s the story.

In the 1920’s my grandparents migrated from Illinois to southern Arizona. This was still almost a frontier-the last wild Apaches had been sent to Florida less than 40 years before. My grandmother was a teacher, and for several years taught in one-room schoolhouses in various places which have disappeared from the map. In 1928 and 1929 the family-including my mother and her brother-lived in Naco, Arizona.

There wasn’t much to Naco. It was a small cluster of adobe houses smack up against the border. Across the line (I dont know if there was anything separating the two-in the 1980s there was a small barb-wire fence)was a

somewhat larger village. At that time there was a garrison of the Mexican Federal army.

The whole area was in a desert valley, surrpunded by copper-bearing mountains.

A rebellion broke out that year in northern Mexico. The rebels at first had some success. They wanted to control the entry points into the US, and Naco was a target. The Naco garrison dug trenches, and armed themselves with machine guns and searchlights.

Part of the perimeter was the border itself.

The rebels soon arrived. They didn’t have too many weapons, but they had converted tractors into ersatz tanks. Their troops would advance under the protection of the blade. They also had a secret weapon. They had hired a couple of out of work ex-World War I pilots. Their job was to drop-by hand-bombs on the Federales.

For three days the battle raged. My mother would often tell my sister and I that her and her brother would hide

behind a rock near the border and watch the battle. Luckily they were not hit by stray bullets, or I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.

However, the pilots weren’t too accurate either. Several bombs landed on the American side. General Topete’s car-parked in the US-got a direct hit.

(I wonder what the Bozo would say about that if it happened today).

In any event after three days the rebels withdrew. The rebellion itself soon collapsed, and its generals fled for the border. Its a bit ironic that the rebels were given sanctuary without question.

So, yes, the border has seen its share of violence. Today its a lot more peaceful than in the past,at least according to Mr. McCarthy himself. That leads us to question the need for billions of dollars of expenditures for Trump’s glory. How about spending some of that money to reunite the families we have torn apart, and to bolster the economies of countries our businesses have raped?

ocratic institutions murdered so cavalierly by the Trump Administration?

Now that would be an unusual luxury, indeed.

Because I know there are republicans out there who are also appalled.

They pipe up, apparently, whenever they’re not running for re-election. I understand. Still, it’s woefully insufficient. This is a crossroads, this fraught era, and it will require bravery from all sides to haul us collectively in the right direction.

So who’s with me? My act of bravery in this deeply red area is to opine thus while running a free newspaper in an era of newsprint decline. Sure-we’ve lost advertising, and advertising is the very life- blood of this paper.

But needs must. There will be conservative republicans here in the Ag industry who will be hurt by the current ginned-up trade war with China. This is the time for their bravery to shine.

You can be a conservative republican and still bravely strive to regain

your country, especially from the likes of Trump--whose allegiance, clearly, is only to himself. Maybe your act of bravery can be to support another republican not so nakedly recognized as a megalomaniac.

Or should I retreat to my luxurious slumbers, perchance to dream?

Yeah, nah.

and rural Americans to combat stress.

And we’re looking for other ways we can help. If you know of a program or tool that is making a positive difference in your state or region, please tell us about it by emailing ruralstress@ fb.org. If you know of a need that is not being met, please let us know about

that, as well.

There is no challenge too great for America’s tough, resilient farmers and ranchers. We are meeting this challenge head-on, and together we will overcome it.

Let’s pray for peace and healing for our friends, family and neighbors, and

let’s help those who are struggling to carry on until better days arrive—and I know they will.

(Vincent “Zippy” Duvall, a poultry, cattle and hay producer from Georgia, is president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.)

Sincerely, and Sadly, Bruce Joffe

More on the wall STEVE PENDLETON Sorry, Mr. McCarthy, I’m not quite finished with you. In your April column you made a very curious admission, (I quote). “During my recent visit to the border,agents told me the wall was working. Illegal crossings...had dropped by about 70 percent”.

I’m reminded of the old poem-Shakespeare?-”What a web we weave/when first we practice to deceive”. Its pretty hard to keep your stories straight when you are trying to construct an alternative reality. The Big Bozo’s story line for years has been how messed up is the border. Yet here is one of his chief lieutenants basically calling him a liar. Perhaps Mr. McCarthy simply meant to mislead the more gullible sorts into thinking that the Bozo can magically construct a wall that works. No, that barrier had to have been already in place.

I dont know just how much the Bozo-or any of his henchmen-actually knows about the border and its history. I do know that the Bozo, with all his

LUXURY

continued from 2 would be overmuch. Overkill, that is, in terms of how well we’ve managed the diverse ecosystems of our planet.

Maybe we should just hope for the return of, I don’t know, bipedalism or opposable thumbs.

But here’s a notion that doesn’t even require our prior extinction: How about a re-evolution of the dem-

STRESS

continued from 4 and ranchers.

At our meetings, we’re hosting sessions to educate Farm Bureau members about looking for warning signs and providing resources for farmers

Joseph Oldenbourg

Your comments from Facebook

“ “

True but so many in this town would love to see Sherrie Bell and Laura Gadke along with Kumar be held accountable for their costly unethical decision making and blessings that set in motion the Benzeevi/ HCCA takeover (in my opinion).

— Barb McGhee-Kane on Tulare hospital district sues

” ”“

Thats because, THE ONLY thing...The Dems wish to create in Sacramento, is a NEW TAX. Doesnt matter on what. Here soon they will be a tax due to your breathing of air.

— Barb McGhee-Kane on Tulare hospital district sues

“

This is proof that when you see something wrong say something!

And stick to it! Bravo Tulare County.

Hopefully the new rules will be enforced and there will be fewer messed up dogs coming out of Tulare County into rescue. Genetics matter!

— Vicki Hurd on It’s a new day for Tulare County dogs

Hey, I know what Tulare needs: another controversy! That’ll get things back on track for sure! Good grief!

— Justin Estermann on Nunley Demands $16.5M

” ”

16

Valley Voice

16 May, 2019

Strathmore Boys & Girls Club celebrates five years of service STAFF REPORTS Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sequoias is celebrating 5 years of serving Strathmore youth. They have recently celebrated by inviting their supporters and friends of the Club to a Strathmore Open House—consisting of food, Club tours, guest speakers, and family fun.

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sequoias accredits supportive locals, donors, and their Strathmore Community Action Team (CAT) to helping make the dream of a Club in Strathmore come true. As stated by Area Director Mat Keel, the vision is to “help young men and women learn skills they can use throughout their lifetime.”

The idea of a Club in Strathmore came about when locals recognized the need for after school programming for kids and teens in the area.

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sequoias, in collaboration with the Strathmore CAT, raised funds in order to make this Club a reality.

As a result, the Club opened its doors on June 8th, 2014. Thanks to the support of Grace Bible Fellowship Church, the Club has been able to serve youth in an ideal location—directly across the street from Strathmore Elementary School.

To this day, both the CAT and Church play a huge role in the flourishing of the Club, fundraising and volunteering all year-round. Initially, the Club averaged 8 members in daily attendance—now the daily average is 25.

On the evening of the Open House, Club members happily took

leadership roles by cleaning up, and setting up decorations. They greeted guests and toured them around the Club.

Their goal was to familiarize supporters with their site, staff, and daily activities. Members are particularly proud of their beautiful and rich garden, made possible by the Lowe’s Heroes Project. The last stop on the tour was a BBQ meal, served with homemade sides and fresh lemon- Courtesy/Rodarte Media ade. The community sat down alongside one another for dinner as the program began.

Director of Development, Lynn Dodds, took the time to thank all the guests, saying “The community of Strathmore supports each other, like no other. […] Thank you for investing in our community—we need your ongoing support.”

Oscar, a Strathmore Club member, had stated “I feel comfortable coming to the Club if I need help with anything, whether it be about family or homework.”

That is the goal of the Club, to provide a stable, safe place for youth

to be themselves.

The Strathmore Club is open Monday-Friday, 2PM-6PM throughout the rest of the school year and Monday-Friday, 12PM-4PM this summer. Such programs will be offered: Board Game Club, Fit Challenge, Garden Club, swimming, soccer, basketball, and Summer Night Lights.

If you have a child or know one who would like to join the Club, please visit www.bgcsequoias.org/ ourclubs for more information.

Membership only costs a family $15 dollars a year, but it costs $500 a year to provide services for one child.

If you would like to join the

cause by volunteering or donating, please visit the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sequoias website at www.bgcsequoias.org.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sequoias

Today, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sequoias, founded in 1990, serves 1,000 kids per day at 14 clubs throughout Tulare County.

Clubs provide a wide span of activities for local youth, varying from STEM to sports.

For more information, visit www. bgcsequoias.org.

Proudly introducing:

We are pleased to introduce Adventist Health Tulare — now the official, licensed operator of Tulare’s hospital.

Whether your health care needs are big or small, urgent or routine, the expert care you have come to expect from Adventist Health will be here for you and your family in Tulare, today and for years to come.

Learn more at AdventistHealthTulare.org