Valley Voice Issue 145 (18 July, 2019)

Page 1

DON’T MISS TCOE’S NEWSIES

New group helping vets

“..they didn’t go to war alone, they don’t have to heal alone.”

PAGE 5

“You knew Dana the way you did and that’s what you need to remember.”

read all about it

Crash coverage sensationalized, father says

VOICES PAGE 15

in Valley Scene

Valley Voice

Volume XXXIX No. 13 18 July, 2019 ourvalleyvoice.com

Blair arrested, back in jail, suspected of domestic violence

Hotel, bears, AirBNB on Three Rivers meeting agenda

CATHERINE DOE

DAVE ADALIAN

catherine@ourvalleyvoice.com

Lemoore City Council Woman Holly Blair was arrested for domestic violence by the Lemoore Police Department on July 6. This was approximately one month after her June 5 arrest for assault with a deadly weapon. Blair was out on bail at the time of the incident. According to a Lemoore Police Department statement, “officers responded to a possible domestic violence incident that had just occurred at about 1:07 p.m. When officers arrived the victim contacted them in front of the residence. He told officers that his wife, Blair, had threatened to kill him. When the victim attempted to walk away and use his phone, Blair punched the victim once in the back of the head. Blair’s spouse explained to police that with the recent domestic violence, he felt the threat against him was credible, and he feared for his safety as well as his children’s safety. The victim did not have any visible injuries, but he did complain of minor pain and refused medical attention. Blair was contacted inside the house and taken into custody without incident.” Blair was arraigned on Monday, July 8 on two felonies, two misdemeanors and one special allegation. She plead not guilty on all five counts. Blair informed the judge at her arraignment that she couldn’t afford a lawyer and the judge appointed attorney James Baron Oliver to represent her.

BLAIR continued on 16 »

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

Vice-President Pence visits, speaks in Lemoore STAFF REPORTS Exeter resident Vicki Riddle was part of the Vice Presidential pool of reporters at his Kings County event on July 10. Vice President Mike Pence stopped by a family farm on Highway 41 north of Lemoore on July 10 to advocate for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It was estimated 800 were in attendance, mostly in the agriculture industry. Riddle said, “I told VP Pence that he was doing a great job. He then shook my hand and I told him I wanted to be on his volunteer advance team. He told me what to do.” “State Senator Shannon Grove also spoke and was warmly introduced by VP Pence,” said Riddle. Pence arrived around 11:30am at

Locals protest detention of migrant children DAVE ADALIAN

dave@ourvalleyvoice.com

Singing songs and carrying signs, South Valley residents took to the streets last week to voice their concern over the treatment of children at the southern border with Mexico by agents of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The candlelight vigil and protest were held the evening of Friday, July 12, at Memorial Park in downtown Visalia. More than 100 people attended the event, which was held in conjunction with Lights for Liberty, a series of more than 800 similar events held around the globe. The mass protests are a response to conditions at several detention centers ranging along the US border with

Mexico. More than 20,000 children-who have been separated from their families--are being held in crowded and unsanitary conditions, often without adequate hygiene and access to drinking water while being subject to abuse, according to independent observers and official reports from case workers for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

‘Racism and Hate’

Julia Jump Doyal, who organized the Visalia event, said the intent of the protest was “to close the camps, to shine a light on the concentration camps.” It was President Trump’s online remarks, however, that inspired her to take up the cause.

PROTEST continued on 12 »

A proposed 185-room hotel complex will be up for discussion when District 1 County Supervisor Kuyler Crocker hosts a town hall meeting Wednesday, July 24 in Three Rivers. The meeting--which will also focus on short-term vacation rentals, public restrooms and bear-proof trash containers--is scheduled for 6pm in the Three Rivers Memorial Building, 43490 Sierra Drive. “The Three Rivers hotel project will be one of the items we’ll be discussing,” Crocker said. “We’re also planning on discussing short-term vacation rentals and providing an update on where we’re at with county policy. It’s something the supervisors have looked at in the past, and I’m hoping to have some more concrete information the community can review and look at.” However, the discussion will not be limited to those four subjects. “It’s also kind of free-for-all,” Crocker said. “So, if there’s other items people want to hear about, want to know about, then they can discuss those.”

Lemoore Naval Air Station on Air Force 2 and started his visit to the Valley at Harris Ranch for a fundraiser. He then spoke to an enthusiastic crowd at Doug and Julie Freitas & Sons Farms in Lemoore. “We’re not going to allow bad trade deals to hurt American farmers anymore,” Pence declared at the event sponsored by America First Policies. Curtis Ellis was the moderator of a panel of guests including Julie Freitas. Former Congressman David Valadao, a dairy farmer, was a guest but was also seen an hour before the event started, chatting with visitors in the audience. This event was opened to the public at no charge. The mood in the audience was halfChurch, half-4th of July with colors of red white and blue being seen every-

Yet the development of a complex of three hotels on a site east of Sierra Drive (Highway 198) on Old Three Rivers Road will likely be the main topic of conversation. The plan--put forward by Guatam and Hitesh Patel of the Pleasanton-based Patel Group--has become a point of contention among residents of the area.

PENCE continued on 14 »

THREE RIVERS continued on 12 »

Hotel to be Hot Topic

Exeter resident named CA Republican Woman of the Year CATHERINE DOE

catherine@ourvalleyvoice.com

Political activist, community organizer, and Exeter mom, Vicki Riddle, may not be a small town girl any more but she has the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager. When she isn’t covering the First Lady while embedded with the White House Travel Pool, she is organizing fundraisers, working with Exeter youth, and getting out the Republican vote. Her dedication to the Republican Party has not gone unnoticed. Living in a town with only 10,000 souls, Riddle was named Woman of the Year by the California Federation Republican Women (CFRW). Adding to Riddle’s surprise, she was nominated without her knowledge by Exeter resident

Rosemary Hellwig, “I was pretty shocked. It really was unusual,” said Riddle. She explained that the Woman of the Year awards usually go to past presidents of the CFRW, current board members, or from large metropolitan areas. The CFRW, organized in 1925, is a “diverse population of women dedicated to making our world better for all now and in the future through an active program of education, engagement and effective change,” according to the organization’s president. California’s FRW is the largest Republican woman’s organization in the United States, which to some might seem surprising in a state dominated by Democrats. “People say this is a Democrat state

REPUBLICAN continued on 14 »


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