Valley Voice Issue 71 (15 June, 2016)

Volume XXXVI No. 12 • 16 June, 2016

www.ourvalleyvoice.com

Jury Finds Tulare County Victorious in Animal Control Lawsuit

Julia Jimenez, her mother, and Paul Grenseman in front of the Tulare County Courthouse.

After a grueling three-week trial, it only took 45 minutes for a jury to come to a verdict on a suit against Tulare County, Paula Mendoza and Yessica Ozuna, both employees of Tulare County Animal Control. Paul Grenseman and Julia Jimenez filed suit in Tulare County Superior Court, against the County of Tulare, in November of 2014. The suit against the county was for discrimination, racial/ethnic and sexual harassment, failure to prevent discrimination and failure to prevent harassment as well

Catherine Doe as retaliation.

The jury of 12 unanimously found in favor of the county on all counts.

The Honorable Judge Bret Hillman said that three-week trials were rare, only happening once or twice a year. Concerning the verdict, he said that he has seen juries take five minutes, some weeks, or end in a mistrial--which happens when a jury cannot come to a decision.

LAWSUIT continued on 16 »

Visalia City Council Votes 3-2 on New Sign Ordinance Catherine Doe After 38 years Visalia has new a new sign ordinance. At the June 6 city council meeting, the vote was three to two in favor, with council members Amy Shuklian and Greg Collins voting no.

While Shuklian and Collins voted no they were mostly satisfied with new sign ordinance. Updating Visalia’s sign ordinance has been a topic of discussion at retreats and city council meetings since before 2011.

The purpose of the ordinance is to regulate the size, number and placement of signs. The ordinance regulates all signs, whether they may be for businesses, garage sales, new subdivisions, or mobile or temporary signs such as those used during elections or special events.

Since a 2015 Supreme Court ruling, a sign cannot be prohibited based on its content.

Mayor Steve Nelson was very happy with the final product but said it comes

down to enforcement. Tracy Robertshaw, Neighborhood Preservation Manager, told the city council that the new sign ordinance was in fact enforceable.

For years, many complaints were left unresolved because parts of the old ordinance were not enforceable, such as temporary banners.

“The previous ordinance was too ambiguous, making enforcement difficult. The new ordinance is very clear about how banners are to be used,” said Robertshaw. “Our office will first work on educating the community and business owners about the new sign ordinance. We will then be sending courtesy notices to those that are still out of compliance.”

Robertshaw added that most people comply with the courtesy notice but she anticipates a few people receiving fines.

The last time the sign ordinance was updated was in 1978.

A draft ordinance was completed

SIGNS continued on 11 »

Kings County Incumbents Win, Measure K Loses in Primary Catherine Doe Measure K, the proposed public safety tax, suffered a tough loss during the June 7 primary while both incumbents retained their Kings County Supervisor seats.

Measure K needed two-thirds of the vote to pass but just missed the mark by receiving 66.35%. The measure came within 40 or 50 votes of its goal. A few provisional and mail-in ballots remain to be counted before the election is certified, but Kings County registrar of voters does not expect it to catch up.

Called the public safety tax, all county law enforcement, council members, and supervisors rallied behind Measure K. Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson said that there was no organized opposition to the measure.

Measure K would have preserved the quarter cent sales tax imposed by a statewide tax initiative Proposition 30 passed in 2012. When Proposition 30 expires in 2017, King’s County sales tax

will now go down from 7.5% to 7.25%.

Had Measure K passed it was estimated to bring in $4 million annually. The revenues generated would have been allotted to public safety agencies in the county and then proportionately according to the population to the four cities.

The original sample ballot mailed out to voters mistakenly left out a pro-Measure K argument signed off on

by Hanford Police Chief Parker Sever, Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson, Kings County Fire Chief Bill Lynch, Lemoore Fire Chief John Gibson and Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon. It is speculated that may have made a difference in the outcome.

The company that printed the sample ballots made an error and pro-Measure K argument was mailed out separately to all voters.

Even with the community support, tax hikes are historically very difficult to pass in Kings County.

KINGS continued on 10 »

Amy Shuklian and her campaign manager Karen Tellalian. Joseph Oldenbourg/Valley Voice

Tulare County Voters Elect New Blood to Board of Supervisors Tensions were high as all of the local candidates waited patiently for the primary election returns on June 7. The first of several reports came out at 8:15pm, with the absentee vote, and those results remained consistent throughout the night.

Visalia City Council woman Amy Shuklian won over Tulare County Supervisor Phil Cox by ten points and was the winner of the race for Tulare County Supervisor seat for District 3. She celebrated her victory with family and friends at the Vintage Press.

When asked about her ten point lead soon after the first summary report was revealed–the mail-in ballots–Shuklian said, “It feels good. I’m not calling it yet, now the precincts will come in, but it’s important to get that early lead.”

When it was over, Shuklian said, “From day one, from when I first announced in July, I knew it was going to be a tough race.” Shuklian said that her campaign raised money from 250 donors giving anything from five dollars to thousands.

“I out-campaigned him,” she said.

“I kept it clean, stuck to the issues, and let people know why I was the better candidate.”

Shuklian’s campaign included identifying high-propensity voters and started with walking the districts. High-propensity voters are those who have voted in the last four of five elections. Out of the 13,800 likely voters, her campaign crew knocked on 8,008 doors and spoke with 4,712 residents face to face. Of those residents, 51% said they were voting for her.

Catherine Doe She was grateful for the victory but it was not unexpected.“We walked, walked more and walked some more,” said Shuklian.

Her staff started walking precincts in the rain in January and ended in the 108 degree heat during the weekend before the primary.

“I campaigned until 8pm tonight,” she said on the night of the election.

Because there were only two candidates, there will be no runoff in November. Shuklian will be taking office in January of 2017.

Shuklian’s victory leaves an empty seat on the Visalia City Council, made even more interesting with the newly adopted district elections. The Visalia City Council adopted the district map in May of last year. Districts 1--Shuklian’s--and 2, councilmember Bob Link, will be up for election in November.

District 1 is right in the middle of Visalia and extends north. District 2 is southwest Visalia. The filing period to run for either of these districts starts now.

Smith and Crocker Come Out On Top in District One Supervisor Race

In Tulare County Supervisor District 1, Dennis Smith found himself the winner with 21.7% of the vote. Kyler Crocker finished second, with 19.4%.

The top two go on to the November general election.

SUPERVISORS continued on 11 »

2 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016 FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK

The Museum of Jadedness

is pleased to announce the association of

It’s been something like 35 years now since I first read The Great Gatsby. At that remove it seemed as though Fitzgerald was somehow commiserating with-and possibly consoling--me from the year 1925. Apart from his masterful legerdemain with the English language, quite how he accomplished this still amazes me. As five movies and countless printings attest, obviously I’m not alone here.

But--slowly over those 35 years--I have largely quit reading fiction precisely because I have read so much of it. I’ve become jaded. Let me give you an example.

The Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s 2009 novel The Museum of Innocence piqued my interest because, after its publication, the author actually established a museum in Istanbul that operates as a paean to--and is eponymous with--his book.

SPOILER ALERT: If you plan to read this novel, don’t read the next paragraph.

From the first sentence, I knew the author was going to kill off the protagonist’s love interest, the beautiful and enigmatic Fusun. It’s just the kind of thing I’m attuned to.

“I know what this guy is up to,” I told my wife--although his method eluded me. But does method matter, in a novel, when the outcome is foreknown?

A few days later I told my wife that the day had arrived. And, sure enough, right there on page 488, the event in question occurred. Only there was never any question.

As I say: I’ve become jaded.

To combat--or perhaps celebrate--this, let’s take a stroll through my own museum, The Museum of Jadedness. >>Inside this case is my torn ticket stub from the 1982--a scorched earth of a year--Big Game, the conclusion of which featured a five-lateral kick-off return through the Stanford band and a winning touchdown for California.

One wonders how many now claim to have witnessed this when so many had fled the stands in disgust after an apparently game-winning Stanford field goal. >>In this corner of the hallway we’ve installed a boulder taken--with permission--from the south jetty in Eureka, California. Three of us were washed off it in January, 1982--and only two of us emerged. I managed to get washed off twice. >>In the niche in the far wall we feature a full-sized bust of Murphy, framer of the famous--and eponymous--Law. >>This sofa before you is actually the fold-out bed that our older daughter was born on. The midwife assured us, over the phone, that there was plenty of time for her to arrive before the birth. She was wrong. >>This glass jewelry box contains a loose assortment of lost baby teeth from our five children. As you can see, the Tooth Fairy’s coffers were fairly strained to the breaking point. >>On display here is my dad’s left-handed baseball glove from, I think, the early 1950s. Notice it’s a three-fingered sort of thing with only a small web. I sometimes used it when I was a kid--because I, too, am left-handed--so I can tell you that fielding, and fundamentals, must have been very different in distant eras of baseball. >>And this football was awarded to our oldest son for being the best lineman on his freshman football squad at boarding school. I still can’t see how he accomplished this while refusing to wear the sports glasses we bought him. >>Here’s our youngest son’s destroyed first guitar. It’s an Epiphone Les Paul model that one of our cats knocked over. Cats may have nine lives; guitars, decidedly, do not. >>As we turn the corner here, you can see this entire wall is covered by the political cartoons--a portfolio, of sorts--drawn by our middle son. The irony is that he never votes. >>Which brings us to the inner sanctum, and the pages of this newspaper, wherein, pressed beneath the glass, we can read many articles detailing the inexplicable re-elections of some very disappointing incumbents.

— Joseph Oldenbourg

Brett Schroeder

Vice President/Investments

in our Visalia, California office.

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16 June, 2016

Valley Voice • 3

Political Fix Hindsight is 20/20.

It was an exciting finish to a very contentious primary election. In State Assembly District 26, incumbent Devon Mathis and Democrat Ruben Macareno advanced to the runoff in November.

Dennis Smith and Kuyler Crocker advanced to a runoff for Tulare County Supervisor District 1. Amy Shuklian won outright for Tulare County Supervisor District 3. She and Phil Cox don’t go to a runoff because she received more than 50% of the vote.

As for my election predictions? I didn’t make a complete fool of myself.

After I picked my winners and losers in the June 2 issue, everyone thought my predictions were wrong-- that is, everyone except those candidates I predicted would win. Tulare County Supervisor District 1 candidate John Elliot thought my predictions were right on the money.

When I called candidates to see where they would be as the election returns rolled in, Dennis Smith said he didn’t agree with my analysis and Kuyler Croker said I was going to eat crow. They were both correct.

But they were not 100% correct.

After taking a second look at the final results, I got it half right.

The vote for the state assembly was close enough to consider a recall, as I predicted, just not between the two candidates I had picked. For Tulare County Supervisor District 3, I predicted that Ms. Shuklian would win by a hair. She actually won by ten points. My number one and two picks for Tulare County Supervisor District 1 ended up coming in third and fourth, and were separated from the winners by very few votes.

Out of a roster of eight candidates that’s close enough.

So what did I miss?

Vincent Salinas, a candidate in District 1, educated me that I did not take into account the number of voters in Mr. Crocker’s hometown of Lindsay/Strathmore versus Mr. Elliot’s hometown of Three Rivers. Crocker lives in a fairly densely populated area of 4000 people who know the Crocker name. Mr. Elliot comes from an area of less than 2000 people. Mr. McCauley comes from the only other densely populated area of District 1--Exeter, with 10,000--but we won’t bring that up.

Another criteria I cottoned on to a little late was that my prediction didn’t take into consideration the person being replaced. Tulare County Supervisor Allen Ishida expressed his belief that Obamacare had ‘death panels’ right from the dais during a supervisors meeting. Dennis Smith actually brought up “Agenda 21” at the first candidates’ forum at Cafe 210. Both men share the same political orbit and Mr. Smith could slip right into Mr. Ishida’s seat without missing a beat.

On the other end of the pendulum, everyone in the audience at the last forum kind of groaned when Mr. Elliot expressed his understanding of the value of bike paths.

Looking back on it, I wonder what I was thinking when I predicted Mr. Elliot would win. He neither had the same political beliefs as the sitting supervisor, like Mr. Smith, nor did he come from the same neck of the woods like

Catherine Doe

Mr. Crocker.

Lastly, when so few votes equal a win, reading tea leaves would be more reliable than making election predictions. When I said that Mr. Smith’s loyal group of supporters was too small to propel him into the general election, I didn’t take into consideration that he would only need a paltry 1800 votes to secure first place. Chris Telfer, founder of Tulare County Tax Payers Association, had to win almost 4000 votes just to get on the Tulare County Republican Central Committee – and who votes for central committees?

The very critical lesson I learned about elections in general, and Tulare County in particular, is that it does not boil down to the qualifications of the candidate--it boils down to who is showing up at the voting booth and all the baggage they carry with them.

We Need To Talk About Vincent and Rudy

Because I have heard locals say such things as: they didn’t know who John Kasich is, didn’t know that Ted Cruz was born in Canada but are certain that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and that they will not vote for Rudy Mendoza because he is a Democrat, nothing surprises me anymore about the ignorance of some Tulare County voters.

So I need to wear that hat when analyzing why two imminently qualified Republicans do surprisingly bad running for office in a solidly Republican county.

Tulare County Supervisor District 1 is 63% Hispanic and the 26th Assembly District is 58% Hispanic. So how is that Vincent Salinas and Rudy Mendoza can’t win? For two hard working men, who are well educated on the issues, Mr. Salinas’ and Mr. Mendoza’s election results were no less than shocking.

Of the eight candidates for Tulare County Supervisor District 1, the three Hispanic candidates came in 6th, 7th and 8th, by a lot. Mr. Salinas came in second to last and only garnered 469 votes.

Mr. Mendoza not only managed to lose to a Democrat, but one who is not especially popular among his rank and file. Ruben Macareno has made some controversial decisions as Chair of the Democratic Central Committee, and it has earned him lasting resentments.

Before the primary, the Tulare County Latino Political Action Committee wouldn’t endorse either Mr. Mendoza or Mr. Macareno. They came out and said that Mr. Mendoza “was out of touch with the Latino community” and gave a solid “no” for him for assembly.

Talking about ethnicity and why people vote the way they do is a complicated endeavour. But one thing stands out in the Central Valley: Hispanic Republicans are virtually unelectable.

Republicans are not racists, but if someone is racist, they could find a seat at the table in the GOP. That means that Republicans tend not to vote for Hispanics. At the same time, Democratic Hispanics are not going to vote for a Republican, even if that person is Hispanic.

So who is left to vote for Vincent and Rudy?

Hispanics don’t want to be put in a box, but the over-40 age group can be

very conservative. They are anti-choice, anti-gay marriage, and don’t have the greatest record with women’s issues. This means that a large percentage of Hispanics should be Republicans, and at one time they were.

Then came along Republican Governor Pete Wilson and California Proposition 187, also known as Save our State (SOS) initiative in 1994. Proposed and supported by Republicans, the initiative attempted to keep undocumented families from getting free health care and prevented their kids from attending public schools. Hispanics did not appreciate the idea that the state needed “saving” because they were in it. The measure passed in November 1994 but was ultimately found unconstitutional by a federal district court.

California has never been the same since, i.e. it turned from a purple state to a deep blue where Republicans can’t win a statewide office.

Enter stage right Donald Trump, and whatever Hispanics were left in the Republican Party are gone. That makes Mr. Salinas and Mr. Mendoza as common as white rhinos on the African Serengeti. Not only have Hispanics left the party but legal Mexicans are running to get their citizenship just so they can vote against the Republican nominee, Mr. Trump.

This is not the party of Reagan and most definitely not the party of millennials, and hasn’t been the party for Hispanics in a very long time.

And Finally....

I just got done attending a three week trial that was decided in favour of Tulare County. What struck me during all the testimony was the profound difference between what was happening on the national front and in that court room.

On the same day that Hillary Clinton made history by clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, I listened to witnesses complain how a fellow co-worker wore short skirts, dresses with spaghetti straps, and high heels. It was even pointed out twice, highlighted with a red laser pen on a photo, how the plaintiff’s slip was showing. The way she dressed only played a small part in why she was fired, but the witnesses repeated it with such contempt.

I would call their attitude Old Testament but that would be too generous.

How is it in 2016 we are still talking about women’s clothing?

My kids are millennials and don’t understand what sexism is as they ticked off their ballots for Bernie Sanders in the primary. When I told my 23-yearold son that when I was born women could not be astronauts he said, “Oh, I thought a woman had gone to the moon on one of the space missions.”

It’s heartening to hear my son assume that a woman has been to the moon. It’s also refreshing to see my adult sons not give a second thought to jumping in the car as my 16-year-old daughter slips behind the wheel. They don’t understand how such a simple thing, happening in our driveway, could not have occurred in my mother’s generation or when I was a teenager.

As I watch my daughter drive off to the gym or farmers market, I’m yanked back into the 15th century thinking about the trial. Another witness continued to criticize their co-worker for putting her hand on a married man’s arm or back, and how she came to work with bare shoulders. It was obvious, to them at least, that because of her actions she was having an affair. Actually, make that two.

Did the subject of any of the men’s clothing, tattoos, or chest size come up?

Are you kidding?

Thirty years ago, Congresswoman Pat Schroeder from Colorado declared that she was running for the Democratic nomination for president. By anyone’s standards she was imminently qualified for the job except for the fact that she was a woman. She dropped out of the race a few months later and was excoriated for shedding a few tears during her concession speech.

Now it is 2016, and things are very different--and yet very much still the same. Americans are lucky enough to have the most qualified candidate, probably ever, running for president. More than 100 men have been nominated for the presidency in the last 220 years, and Ms. Clinton just succeeded in breaking into that ultimate of men’s clubs.

I only have one piece of advice for Ms. Clinton to counter the drawbacks of being a woman: choose a female running mate.

In the mean time, while we await her decision, everyone is probably wondering what Ms. Clinton will wear to her first debate.

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4 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

TRMC’s Grand Jury Response Sparks Debate, Further Responses Tony Maldonado Tulare Regional Medical Center’s Board of Directors filed its response to the Tulare County Grand Jury on May 31, writing a full-throated critique of the Grand Jury’s report, which it characterized as a mix of inaccuracies and misplaced blame.

The five-page response — coupled with the run-up to the August Measure I special election — has led to a backand-forth in local media (both print and social) between the hospital’s critics, the board, Measure I supporters, and even the foreman of the Grand Jury.

“Sins of the Father”

The Tulare Local Healthcare District (TLHCD) Board of Directors accused the Grand Jury of presenting biased findings and working to deliberately inflame public opinion against the current board, and claims that the Grand Jury has subpoenaed two board members after the “Tower of Shame” report was released.

“This Report is long on conclusions but short on facts. It is grossly incomplete, misleading and is based in part upon speculation and opinion,” the board wrote. “Moreover, the very fact that this grand jury would entitle a report ‘Tower of Shame,’ and by its own admission release the Report earlier than the customary time, knowing that this would excite the media and inflame the general public, disappointedly shows unmitigated bias against TRMC.” Since the “Tower of Shame” report was released, the body released two more reports on its own and outside of the usual timeframe, entitled “Justice for All?” and “Nightmare in Lindsay.”

The district also points to four accountant’s reports, commissioned by two separate financial firms, which it states “found no wrongdoing” and are proof that the district has been forthcoming with bond-related financial documents.

All four reports the board refers to are “accountant’s reports,” and three car-

ry disclaimers that state: “We [the financial firm] were not engaged to and did not conduct an examination, the objective of which would be the expression of an opinion on the District’s compliance with the provisions of the Bond Documents: we do not express such an opinion. Had we performed additional procedures, other matters might have come to our attention that would have been reported to you.”

While the documents are not accessible on the hospital’s website, the Voice received copies of the four reports, invoices for Fiscal Year 2013-15, bond general ledgers, and an index of invoices from the hospital. These documents are available for viewing and download at ourvalleyvoice.com.

Three Recommendations

The Grand Jury issued three recommendations to the board: undergo training on transparency and disclosure, fully disclose how bond funds were spent, and seat a new Bond Oversight Committee.

The TLHCD Board stated that it undergoes annual training regarding its responsibilities, and that it was well aware of its obligations surrounding transparency and disclosure requirements.

The Voice issued multiple requests to the district that would confirm such training took place, including invoices from outside trainers, training certificates, or training curriculum. The district’s legal counsel stated that it had not been able to locate any such records, though it would continue to search for them.

In its response to the Grand Jury, the board also stated that it does not need to work on further disclosures relating to bond funds, pointing to the four accountant’s reports previously mentioned.

Finally, the board states that it will vote on disbanding the current Bond Oversight Committee at its next meeting, though it will not seat a new committee to oversee the $85m bond, citing the four financial reports and the full expenditure of those bond funds.

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016 11 AM -2 PM

Whose Blame Is It Anyway?

The current board also stated that a number of the Grand Jury findings should only apply to prior boards, and that it did not have the information to respond to five of the Grand Jury’s seven findings, going on to state that the current board should not be made to answer for any “misdeeds” by prior boards.

“This report purports to blame the Current Board for the misdeeds of the Prior Boards. This is manifestly unfair by anyone’s standards,” the board wrote.

“The current Board, consisting of Sherrie Bell, Parmod Kumar, M.D., Richard Torrez, Linda Wilbourn and Laura Gadke (the “Current Board”) has only been seated since May 2015.”

Current board members Parmod Kumar, M.D. and Richard Torrez have been on the Board during at least part of the bond expenditure, and board member Linda Wilbourn previously served on the Bond Oversight Committee.

The response states that the current board has not withheld documents from the Bond Oversight Committee, and that the previously mentioned financial reports were provided to the committee, further stating that its analysis of Bond Oversight Committee minutes show no complaints relating to transparency issues. The Voice requested, and received, all minutes from the Bond Oversight Committee meetings, which are available at ourvalleyvoice.com.

The response also takes issue with the Grand Jury’s analysis of the tower project as “nonfunctional,” stating that “a substantial portion of the Tower Project has been completed, and will be functional if and when additional funds are made available to complete the construction.”

In response to claims that the board failed to understand the cost gap between the $85m original bond and over $100m in project costs, the board states that it has “insufficient information” to address the finding, going so far as to call out a former board member in a thinly-veiled statement: “However, it can be noted that one of the most outspoken critics of the handling of the bond funds was actually on Prior Boards (from December 2002 through November 2008), which includes the time when the bonds were authorized and issued. If anyone should be answering to a Grand Jury, or to the community, it is her as well as the other members of the Prior Boards at that

More than 40 years in Downtown Visalia

Prior Board Members Respond

Martin-Soares, along with other board members that previously served, issued their own response to the TLHCD board’s statement. The entirety of their response is available on the Voice’s website and in this issue’s commentary & letters section.

“The allegation that the current board was not seated until May, 2015 is blatantly incorrect. The present member Parmod Kumar, M.D. has served more than 20 years, Richard Torrez since 2008, Sherrie Bell since 2012, and Laura Gadke since about 2013,” the members wrote. “Dr. Kumar has served as Chairman of the Board for a span of about six years and as Chairman of several important committees during the years in question such as the Bond Oversight Committee and the Building Committee. The current board is populated by several members who had responsibilities and voting rights in the timeframe the Bond was expended.”

The prior board members, Lonnie R. Smith M.D., Prem Kamboj M.D., Leroy Trippel, Martin-Soares, and Victor Gonzalez, signed the letter, which was also published in the Visalia Times-Delta.

Grand Jury Foreman Responds to Response

In a letter to the Valley Voice, available in the opinion section of this edition, the foreman of the Tulare County Grand Jury directly responded to the board’s statement that it should not be held to account for the actions of prior boards.

“It is apparent to the Grand Jury that the members of the TRMC Board of Directors need to be reminded that reporting/disclosure requirements are continuous. In other words, the claim that all misdeeds and transgression were

TRMC continued on 5 »

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time,” the response stated, likely referring to Deanne Martin-Soares, who served during that timeframe and has since criticized the board’s handling of the bond oversight.

The board finally takes issue with the characterization of its settlement with Harris Construction as “court-ordered,” stating the settlement was entered voluntarily, and that the district retained the right to pursue claims against the prior architects and subcontractors involved in the original construction of the tower.

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16 June, 2016

Valley Voice • 5

Mathis Places First, Heads into Runoff Against Macareno Catherine Doe Results, as of press time, for the 26th District State Assembly race showed only a 980 vote difference between second place Democrat Ruben Macareno and third place Republican Rudy Mendoza.

Assemblyman Devon Mathis was the clear winner with 43.7% of the vote. Macareno had 29.2% and Mendoza had 27.1% of the vote.

The top two vote getters proceed to compete in the general election in November.

Woodlake Mayor Rudy Mendoza had a small get-together at a guest house outside of Twilight Park in Woodlake on election night. He stated, “If it took my running to ensure that the incumbent will never again consider voting for a tax increase, then I consider my campaign a success.”

Mendoza wanted to thank all of his supporters and all of those people who voted for him.

The tax increase that Mendoza was referring to was the subject of many hard hitting anti-Mathis political flyers that

landed in constituents’ mail boxes over the two weeks before the election. At issue was Assemblyman Mathis’ vote on February 29 in favor of the Managed Care Organization tax. Mathis said it was not a tax, but conservative Central Valley Republicans said that it was, and that health care insurance premiums will go up as a result.

If Mendoza’s message to Mathis was anti-tax, it’s doubtful Mathis heard it.

Assemblyman Mathis and one of his biggest donors, Dr. “Benny” Benzeevi of Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA), were pictured on the front page of the June 8 Visalia Times-Delta celebrating Mathis’ victory and shaking hands. Mathis’ yes vote for the MCO tax financially helped HCCA’s hospital in Inyo County.

The only surprise of the night for Macareno was “that Mathis did as well as he did.”

Macareno, who believed it was going to be tighter race, said, “I find it interesting that the incumbent needed almost half million dollars to retain his seat in the primary and that a challenger is having trouble securing a spot in the general after spend-

Visalia Seeks Committee, Commission Members The City of Visalia is accepting applications from interested citizens for the following committees and commissions: Citizens Advisory Committee – Acts as a liaison between the general public and the City Council concerning community issues. The committee currently has a vacancy for six regular members and four alternate members.

Disability Advocacy Committee – The committee currently has a vacancy for two regular members and two alternate members.

Environmental Committee – Heightens environmental awareness and conservation in Visalia. The Committee currently has vacancies for two regular members and two alternate members.

Historic Preservation Committee – The Committee currently has a vacancy for one regular member and two alternate members.

North Visalia Neighborhood Advisory Committee – Serves as

a liaison between the City and the North Visalia community.

The Committee has vacancies for three regular members and three alternate members.

Parks & Recreation Commission – The Commission has a vacancy for one alternate position.

Transit Advisory Committee - The Committee has vacancies for four regular members and two alternate members.

Waterways and Trails Committee – The Committee has vacancies for six regular members and four alternate members.

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis and kept for a period of two years.

If you have questions you may visit www.visalia.city and click on City Government – Committees and Commissions to view the informational handbook and application, or call the City Clerk’s Office at (559) 713-4512.

TRMC

board has hired contacted the Voice, submitting a response to the foreman’s response on behalf of the TLHCD board, stating that the foreman’s statements are “grandstanding” criminal acts. The full response is available in the Valley Voice’s commentary & letters section.

“California law makes it a misdemeanor for grand jury members to publicly discuss proceedings and evidence.

Chuck White and John Hobbs, another member of the Grand Jury, have both repeatedly violated this law,” the statement reads. “Every crime has a motive. Mr. White’s motive is very clear: He wants to promote himself and develop a reputation in the community.”

“TLHCD from the beginning has been willing to work closely with the Grand Jury to examine the expenditure of the first bond,” the statement continues. “Now, because of Mr. White’s actions, it is increasingly clear that he is motivated by only one thing – publicity – instead of his very important role as the leader of a body that is supposed to help improve local government.”

Continued from p. 4 ‘someone else’s responsibility’ is at best flawed and leaves the impression that obfuscation as well as outright refusal to provide information are preferred to full disclosure,” Chuck White, the foreman of the Grand Jury, wrote.

“The ‘Blame Game’ is unproductive. It is also unbecoming to those who employ it. The Grand Jury would, therefore, suggest that the TRMC Board of Directors instruct its Los Angeles legal counsel to, ‘without delay,’ respond appropriately to the Grand Jury’s request for detailed information pertaining to how $85 Million in taxpayers’ money was expended.”

TLHCD Board Responds to Foreman’s Response

Shortly before the Voice was sent to the presses, a representative of a Los Angeles-based public relations firm the

ing $426,000 in the primary.”

According to financial reports, Mendoza and a Political Action Committee spent around $427,000 on the primary.

Macareno spent $11,000 on his campaign.

“Being the ‘David’ among two ‘Goliaths’ is humbling and I am happy to Rudy Mendoza and his wife await elections results with friends in have ended elec- Woodlake. Catherine Doe/Valley Voice tion night in the and challenged ballots. The Elections Ofnumber two spot. There are still thousands fice has 30 days in order to certify the fiof ballots to be counted and I am only less nal results. than two percentage points from falling As for stepping up his campaign for out of the general election. However, I am the general election, “If I make the general hopeful the trend will continue to favor election my campaign will be very differmy campaign.” ent from my primary effort,” Macareno The thousands of votes yet to be said. “Fundraising will become a major efcounted are votes by mail, provisional fort as well as building a dedicated team.”

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6 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

Agriculture Tree Mortality Demands Swift, Aggressive Actions Ken Pimlott California is ramping up for what may be another challenging year for wildfires.

Though welcome rain occurred during the winter, it was already too late for the millions of trees that have died due to the historic drought and epidemic bark beetle infestation.

Though natural disturbance agents such as wildfire, drought, insects and disease eventually restore a balance in natural ecosystems, the drastic and periodic disturbances of catastrophic wildfires and large-scale tree mortality from bark beetles are not compatible with a population of 38 million people, many of whom like to live in a forested environment. All depend on forest lands for water and other ecosystem services.

The strong connection between healthy forests and a clean, reliable water source only underscores the need for swift and aggressive actions to mitigate the threat this epidemic poses to our forests.

On Oct. 30, 2015, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. proclaimed a state of emergency, due to unprecedented levels of dead and dying trees in California. Based on U.S. Forest Service Aerial Detection Surveys, it is currently estimated that more than 29 million trees are dead due

to pests, exacerbated by severe drought.

New surveys in the current year are expected to double or triple that number.

Conditions are ripe for this epidemic to spread substantially in 2016, resulting in an increased threat to lives, property, critical infrastructure and California’s precious natural resources.

Immediately following Gov. Brown’s proclamation, a Statewide Tree Mortality Task Force was formed to assist local jurisdictions and implement the governor’s directives. Comprised of more than 80 entities, the Tree Mortality Task Force represents federal, state, local and tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, and utility and energy companies. Task Force members and other stakeholders have prioritized the most critical needs and coordinated the expenditure of funds toward equipment, grant funding to address some of the most pressing hazards, and the redirection of existing state resources to address impacts posed by the widespread tree mortality.

Private, non-industrial land constitutes 25 percent of the 32 million acres of forested land base in California, and the majority of privately owned forest lands. Unfortunately, landowners often do not have the resources or the technical expertise to actively manage their properties. As a result, there continues to be a strong need for technical assistance and funding to assist these landowners with meeting their management objectives, including overall forest health and

sustainability.

Cal Fire has partnered with the American Forest Foundation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, individual counties and others, to reach out to private, non-industrial landowners affected by the tree mortality epidemic.

The effort is focused on providing technical assistance and management planning, as well as grant funding to improve forest health conditions.

Forests in California are comprised of both public and private ownership, often intermixed within single watersheds. A large, landscape-level approach across multiple ownerships is going to be key to making real strides toward achieving healthy forests in California.

Cal Fire, along with the U.S. Forest Service, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and many other partners, is working on implementing cross-boundary projects that leverage multiple programs, initiatives and funding sources. Projects will include a balanced mix of activities such as thinning, reforestation, prescribed burning and fuel reduction, intended to increase carbon storage in forests, reduce wildfire emissions and protect upper watersheds, where much of the state’s water supply originates. This work will involve a multitude of partners, including large and small private landowners, federal and state agencies, conservation groups, the forest products industry and other stakeholders.

Recent interagency agreements will help provide tools and resources for

working across these ownership boundaries. The Good Neighbor Authority, authorized under the federal farm bill, is an agreement between the California Natural Resources Agency and the U.S. Forest Service, allowing the signatory agencies to conduct restoration projects on the landscape seamlessly across ownership boundaries. In addition, a prescribed fire Memorandum of Understanding among the USFS, Sierra Forest Legacy, Cal Fire and other partners has been initiated that will help us apply prescribed fire to the landscape at a meaningful ecological scale.

Addressing California’s forest health issues and engaging in active forest management in a meaningful way requires a long-term investment. No single agency, organization or program is going to solve the wide range of threats to California’s forests alone. It is going to take a balanced approach of all the agencies, funding sources and management options available to address the impacts to California’s forests as a result of an evolving climate.

Although the epidemic tree mortality we are facing is devastating, it has galvanized partnerships at all levels and placed a renewed interest toward engaging in our forests unlike any I have ever seen. With disaster comes opportunity.

(Ken Pimlott is Cal Fire chief and California state forester.)

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

Draft Plans Look at Future Use of National Forests Kate Campbell, CFBF The future of national forests in California and the West is being shaped in the first released plans that could have far-reaching implications for how public forestland is used.

To start, the U.S. Forest Service has released draft environmental impact statements and forest plan revisions for Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra national forests, with plans for other federal forests to follow. The release opens a 90-day comment period.

The notice also listed a schedule of public meetings and tribal forums. Agricultural and forest policy experts urged farmers, ranchers and private timberland owners to attend.

“The plan documents will set regulations that will be in existence for the next 15 to 20 years,” said Larry Duysen of Sierra Forest Products in Terra Bella. “It’s important they’re carefully analyzed and written comments submitted before the Aug. 25 deadline.”

He said the public meetings will be very important, because they provide an opportunity to learn more about the plans and make oral comments.

What the plans set forth will affect future prospects for grazing, timber harvesting, water production and water quality, Duysen said.

Together, the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra national forests encompass nearly 4.6 million acres of land—representing about 10 percent of the state’s total forestland. The USFS calls the three forests “early adopters” of a 2012 Planning Rule, meaning

they’re among the first national forests across the country to implement the new regulatory update requirement that applies to all federal forests.

Forest plans have been required since 1976 under the National Forest Management Act, but plans have generally not been updated for decades.

Draft plan documents identify the Forest Service’s “preferred alternative” for the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra forests. The preferred alternative, known as Alternative B, would replace wildland-urban defense and threat zones with a “risk-based wildfire restoration zone and wildfire maintenance zone” to allow for “strategically located fuel reduction treatments along roads, ridgelines and connecting areas with lower fuels to support larger landscape-scale prescribed burning.”

Under the heading “Ecological Integrity,” the preferred alternative calls for improved habitat for endangered and protected species and old-growth forest areas. It also calls for removal of some large and old trees in areas designated as wildfire-protection zones.

Alternative B emphasizes restoration of sagebrush habitat important to the greater sage grouse in the Inyo National Forest. It calls for continued management of riparian conservation areas and aquatic refuges, for expanding wilderness areas and adding more miles of wild-and-scenic rivers. It also identifies four additional areas—totaling 37,029 acres—for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Kirk Wilbur of the California Cattle-

men’s Association said his organization has a number of concerns with the draft plans, including “reliance on inadequate science” related to sensitive species such as the Yosemite toad and yellow-legged frog.

“We see those same species listed for protection under the draft plan revisions,” Wilbur said, “and that suggests managing for species with incorrect science.”

He said California cattlemen worry about increased restrictions on federal land.

“We have seen time and again that when wilderness areas are expanded and wild-and-scenic river miles are added, there’s a decrease in areas available for grazing in the national forests,” Wilbur said.

The CCA stresses the importance of reviewing the draft forest plans and commenting, because they will have a long-term impact on grazing on federal lands, he said.

“This should be on the radar of all our members using federal forestland,” Wilbur said.

Sean Curtis, Modoc County natural resources analyst and county Farm Bureau leader, said the draft plans represent “the most important thing these forest administrations will do in the next 20 years, because everything they do in the future will be tiered off these plans.”

That means every timber sale, grazing permit, recreational project and conservation project will come under the forest plans now being revised, he said, adding, “If you’re only able to work on one thing, this is it.”

At the California Forestry Association, Steve Brink said forests face the prospect of

continued “megafires and a massive insect and disease epidemic,” worsened by the drought, and noted that as much as twothirds of the entire USFS budget had to be diverted to fire-suppression costs last year, rather than forest management.

Because of increasing tree mortality, lack of wood processing infrastructure, closure of biomass plants and inadequate federal budgets, Brink said, conditions for large fires “the likes of which we’ve never seen before” are building—but he said these conditions aren’t addressed directly in the draft forest plan revisions currently under consideration.

The California Farm Bureau Federation and county Farm Bureaus recommend farmers and ranchers in forest counties pay close attention to a process that now affects three federal forests, but will eventually impact all federal forests in California and the West.

Curtis said county governments in counties that include federal forestland also need to be actively involved in the forest plan revisions, because counties have added interest and administrative weight when it comes to how plans will be finalized.

“Congress conferred additional status to local governments because of the enormous impact federal forests have on local communities,” he said.

(Kate Campbell is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at kcampbell@cfbf.com.)

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

16 June, 2016

Valley Voice • 7

Agriculture Overtime Bill Fails to Advance in Legislature Dave Kranz, CFBF The defeat of state legislation to expand overtime requirements for agricultural workers demonstrates the effectiveness of unified advocacy by farmers and ranchers, an agricultural leader said.

Following the vote by the state Assembly, California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger said the result “shows what farmers and ranchers can do when we work together.”

By a 38-35 vote, the Assembly declined to advance Assembly Bill 2757, which would have imposed higher operating costs on farmers and ranchers and caused reduced work hours and compensation for farm employees. It needed 41 “yes” votes to move from the Assembly to the Senate.

AB 2757, by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, would have required farmers to pay their employees premium pay after eight hours of work in a day or 40 hours in a week.

Current California regulations require premium pay for agricultural employees after 10 hours of work in a day. Agricultural employees also qualify for premium pay for all hours worked on a seventh consecutive day, as do workers in other sectors.

In advocating against the bill, farmers and their representatives said the measure would have hurt both agricultural employees and their employers.

Opponents said the higher cost of providing overtime pay—particularly when coupled with scheduled increases in the state minimum wage—would force farmers to reduce employee work hours to control labor costs. That, in turn, would lead to cuts in compensation for farm employees.

An additional provision of the measure, to require farm employees to take

one day off a week or four days off in a month, could have forced seasonal agricultural workers to miss as many as four days of pay in a month of peak harvest season, opponents said.

Backers of the bill framed it as a matter of equity with workers in other jobs, but opponents noted the wide variety of California employees who also have different overtime-pay requirements—ranging from healthcare workers to ski-resort employees to personal attendants.

Wenger, who spent much of the day of the vote at the state Capitol along with advocates for Farm Bureau and other agricultural organizations, said the hour-long debate on the bill showed its proponents had an inaccurate view of farmers and agriculture.

“California agricultural employees have been eligible for overtime pay since 1976,” he said, “and California is one of only five states in the nation to offer premium pay for farm work. But people arguing for the bill made it sound as though those rules didn’t exist. At times when I listened to the debate, I thought we were in a time warp going back 60 years ago and to another state.”

Wenger said current premium-pay rules for agriculture allow farmers and their employees the flexibility to respond to unpredictable weather and the seasonality of farm production.

“It would really hit farm employees hard to slow their work during peak seasons, and this bill would have forced that,” he said.

In addition, Wenger said, the bill would have had greater negative impact on employers who pay higher hourly wages, forcing them to reduce hours for their employees—and therefore reducing the employees’ overall earnings.

“Overall, we estimated passage of

Fishery Decisions Could Help, Harm Water Supplies Dave Kranz, CFBF Two developments in recent days outlined alternative strategies for protecting fish whose populations drive water-allocation decisions for much of California: A coalition of business and water groups petitioned the state to address a key predator of native fish, while members of Congress asked federal agencies not to force additional water-supply cutbacks on the species’ behalf.

The petition from the business/water coalition asks the California Fish and Game Commission to allow more fishing for the striped bass and black bass, non-native species that feed on endangered chinook salmon and delta smelt in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. If granted, the petition would permit more black bass and striped bass to be taken, and reduce the minimum size of the fish that could be legally caught.

Predation has long been recognized as one of many factors causing decline of native delta fish species, said Chris Scheuring, an environmental attorney for the California Farm Bureau Federation. CFBF is part of the coalition that filed the petition.

“There are many sources of stress in the system,” Scheuring said. “Simply manipulating water flows is not the entire story when it comes to promoting healthy species. There are predators, food supply issues, invasive plant species, compromised oxygen levels—a range of environmental issues.”

Predation ranks among the top dangers to Central Valley spring-run chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead and Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon in threat assessments conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

In addition to CFBF, the coalition involved in the petition includes the California Chamber of Commerce, Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, Kern County Water Agency, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Northern California Water Association, San Joaquin Tributaries Authority, Southern California Water Committee, State Water Contractors and Western Growers.

“The protection of native threatened and endangered fish should be the top priority of the commission,” said David Guy of the Northern California Water

FISH continued on 11 »

the bill would have caused at least a onethird cut in income for many farmworkers during peak harvest season,” he said.

Speaking against the bill during the floor debate, Assembly Member Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, said the measure would harm his farm and employees.

“For as long as there have been wage regulations, the law has treated farms differently, because they are different,” Dahle said. “You can’t spread the work out to fit a convenient schedule and fit it in an eight-hour day.”

Assembly Member James Gallagher, R-Nicolaus, said AB 2757 would have been “bad for family farms and for the workers who are a part of that family.”

Gallagher, who grew up on a rice farm, said farmers must constantly battle time and the elements.

“If it hails, if there’s weather at the wrong time, you could lose the entire crop,” he said.

Expanded overtime rules would encourage farms to go to double shifts when

possible, Gallagher said, in order to reduce overtime costs, “which means the workers will get less hours and less money, and that’ll be worse for them.”

Following the vote, Wenger noted the efforts of individual farmers and ranchers, who sent thousands of messages to legislators urging them to stop the bill, and of representatives of farm organizations who worked together to describe the bill’s potential impact to legislators and their staffs.

“A united agriculture is much more effective in influencing public policy,” Wenger said. “Rather than allowing ourselves to be divided by regional or parochial interests, we must use the same strategies we used in advocating on the overtime bill to affect other issues. This was a great example of what we can do when we come together for a common goal.”

(Dave Kranz is editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at dkranz@cfbf.com.)

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

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8 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

PERSPECTIVE: CHIEF NURSING OFFICER

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16 June, 2016

Valley Voice • 9

What sets nursing care at Tulare Regional Medical Center apart from other hospitals?

We hear from our patients all the time that they feel heard and respected. We make every effort to answer their questions, to educate them on what’s happening, to get the family involved and even to organize family meetings with the physician, if necessary, when there needs to be a discussion about the direction of care. We are not only providing medical care for the patient, we’re also caring for the family because family is an integral part of the patient’s care. Nurses are compassionate and sympathetic because they know both the patient and family are suffering. Every one of us has some idea of what that means and how we can accommodate them. Health care is the most personal level of care you can get and you’re the most vulnerable when you need it.

As someone who has risen through the ranks at Tulare Regional, you’ve witnessed that level of commitment of employees first hand. Where does it come from?

Nurses never waver from wanting access to health care for everyone. In our community, we see barriers to access and I think our commitment lies in being dedicated to the care that a small community hospital can provide. We know the needs of this community, and the community deserves quality health care. This profession is competitive and nurses can go anywhere so it’s a choice to remain in their community. There is money out there and there are positions out there, but nurses stay at Tulare Regional so that they can contribute to their community and the families they serve.

Tell us about your role in developing the nurses of Tulare’s future.

One of my passions is education so as a staff nurse I became a mentor because I wanted to help develop nurses. We have mentoring programs affiliated with College of the Sequoias, San Joaquin Valley College and Fresno Pacific University. We work with student interns in nursing programs, and we also partner with high school medical academic programs so that we can expose students to a variety of health-care roles. By using all of these programs, we have the capability of growing our own within our own community so that they find a place within the various health-care organizations.

“HCCA’s arrival calmed the waters.”

You’ve been employed at TRMC for virtually your entire career. What has kept you here?

There are many reasons why I love Tulare Regional. I had a wonderful role model who led me into nursing; I had my daughter here; when she was very young my daughter became ill and we came here and that was my first real experience with health care in a crisis situation; and my mom was here when she was very ill and had wonderful care and support. So this hospital was both a place of happy times for me, and a place of comfort in difficult times. I see every day the need for health care for vulnerable patients such as those in our underserved population — the elderly, children, high-risk — and I truly believe that it’s our responsibility to care for them.

When you tell others about your nursing experiences here, what comes to mind first?

I think of the acts of kindness and generosity from nurses that go above and beyond: celebrating a patient’s birthday, making sure the out-of-town family has lodging and has eaten, fulfilling patient special requests, and adopting families during the holidays. Everyone has difficult times, but our departments always come together to perform such enormous acts of kindness and generosity that extend far beyond health care.

How has HCCA’s arrival affected nursing care at TRMC? HCCA has brought stability to hire, recruit and retain our staff by offering competitive wages and sign-on bonuses. Prior to HCCA we had been in a hiring freeze for two years and a wage freeze for four years, so as people left we weren’t able to replace them. We had no ability to retain or recruit, and people were leaving because of the instability. HCCA’s arrival calmed the waters. Now that we have wages that are competitive, we can attract and retain the best of the best.

Angie Graziano, RN, MSN, is the Chief Nursing Officer for HCCA/Tulare Regional Medical Center. She

has worked for the hospital in Nursing Services for 28 years. The CNO is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the organization’s nursing department and ensures nursing standards are upheld. Aligning nursing staff with the mission, value and vision of the organization is an integral role.

10 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

Briefly…

TULARE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER RECEIVES PRIME FUNDING TO IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES

HCCA/Tulare Regional Medical Center is closer to realizing its goal of creating an integrated health-care delivery system with the infusion of nearly $15 million from the federal government over the next five years.

HCCA was notified June 1 that it will receive approximately $3 million every year for the next five years under the federal PRIME program.

Under the PRIME umbrella hospitals can target any or all of 18 projects to reach their goals, and HCCA/ TRMC has set objectives for six projects. Funding in the amount of up to $3.1 million for each of five years has been allocated for four of the six projects. HCCA will self-fund the remaining two projects.

HCCA/TRMC’s six projects include: Integrated Behavioral Health, Ambulatory Care Redesign, Patient Safety in an Ambulatory Setting, Million Hearts Initiative, Cancer Screening and Follow-up, and Post Incarceration.

“It is a lofty to-do list, and there is a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built,” said Cynthia Rios, HCCA’s Director of Ambulatory Strategic Planning and Development. “It is within our reach, and we are particularly op-

timistic about how a redesign of ambulatory care will improve our medical offices.”

The goal for TRMC’s medical offices is to achieve patient-centered medical-home recognition through the National Committee on Quality Assurance.

A patient-centered model ensures coordinated care and communication to completely transform primary care.

It makes the patient central to everything the medical office can provide, including outreach and follow-up care so that it delivers true care management.

In addition, TRMC’s behavioral-health objective underscores the significance of the health issues facing our residents, including mental illness or substance abuse.

“There is limited access to behavioral health-care services in Tulare County and the ability to integrate that into a primary-care setting will facilitate access for our patient population,” said Samantha Phillips-Bland, Vice President of Ambulatory Care for HCCA. “The funding total for Tulare County’s three district hospital, equates to more than $110 million over five years, so we can anticipate and expect great health outcomes for the population of Tulare County,” said Phillips-Bland.

A series of meetings, narratives and demonstrated outcomes are required to satisfy federal requirements for continued funding.

PRIME refers to the Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives MediCal

Program which seeks to improve population health generally over a broad spectrum.

It is part of a larger, ongoing health-care project that works to serve the uninsured while providing incentives to safety-net hospitals that provide the care.

Achievement of the objectives creates potential funding sources for designated municipal public hospitals such as Tulare Regional Medical Center, from a pool of $7.4 billion over five years.

For DMPH sites in California, $200 million is available within the first three years alone.

Learn more here: http://www.dhcs. ca.gov/provgovpart/Pages/medi-cal2020-waiver.aspx

TULARE COUNTY HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES HONORS FOSTER PARENTS

The “Foster Parent of the Year” and “Exemplary Service by a Foster Parent” awards were presented recently at the annual appreciation dinner hosted

by Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA).

Dianna Cordeiro was presented with the “Foster Parent of the Year” award in recognition of her commitment to serving foster children. Cordeiro was commended for accepting many placements, often in emergency situations, and for accepting children with severe medical needs, proving to be a “true anchor of stability in an uncontrolled time in a child’s life.”

HHSA Foster Care staff members presented the Exemplary Service by a Foster Parent award to Cynthia and Donald Lamar in recognition of their “endless love and compassion” for foster children and their support of reunification with biological parents. The couple was also recognized for offering themselves as a valuable resource for their fellow foster parents.

The awards were announced in connection with national Foster Care Month.

Today, there are over 1,000 children in the Tulare County foster care program.

These children have been removed from their homes through no fault of their own because they have been abused, neglected or abandoned, or their parents are ill or incarcerated. The ultimate goal of foster care is to reunite children with their biological parents. More foster parents are needed in every community of Tulare County to allow them to stay in their own school.

For information on becoming a foster parent, contact Yessenia Sanchez at (559) 623-0563 or visit tchhsa.org.

SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT ACT WORKSHOP

For landowners in the Tule Subbasin, a Sustainable Groundwater Management Act workshop will be held June 29, 2016 at 4-6pm at the Porterville Veterans Hall, 1900 W. Olive.

For more information call: 4Creeks, Inc. at 559-802-3052 Schafer and Assoc. at 559-734-1348

Mathis Favors Contributors Over Constituents Catherine Doe An email sent to the Valley Voice Friday, June 3 reported that fundraising activities took precedence over constituents in Assemblyman Devon Mathis’ Visalia and Sacramento offices.

The email was sent from Mathis’ Chief of Staff, Sean Doherty, to a half a dozen staff and family in May of 2015.

It states: “I just wanted to reiterate that until July 1 fundraising must take priority over ALL schedule requests and/or needs.

We have multiple events in June and they are all important in order for us to hit our goals.

When considering and/or submitting requests please ask yourself, ‘does this forward our goal for the June 30th report.’ If

it does not then please understand it will take second place to a fundraising opportunity.”

The Valley Voice reached out to one of the recipients of the email for comment. Because of fear of retaliation by Doherty, the recipient requested to remain anonymous.

The email recipient said that each time the email referred to “goals,” Doherty was referring to campaign fundraising goals. It was made very clear that staff was not to schedule any meetings or events with constituents unless those constituents intended to donate to Mathis’ campaign, according to the recipient.

When asked if it is unusual for assembly members to prioritize meetings and events with donors over constitu-

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ents, the recipient said, “Yes it’s unusual.

It’s unethical.”

“Concerning that email, that is something that would never have come out the office when I was Chief because it is borderline, if not outright, illegal,” Cole Azare, former Chief of Staff for Devon Mathis, told the Voice.

Azare stated it is borderline illegal because the office (Doherty) is directing state staff to do campaign work on state time.

“This is the law. Campaign work cannot be done on state time and nor can the state pay for the work,” Azare said.

“It’s also not ethical and actually illegal to direct state staff to schedule meetings with the assemblyman based on whether or not they are donors,” said Azare.

The email recipient pointed out that Doherty used his private email, and not his state email, because of concerns that the content might be illegal or unethical.

“You don’t just represent donors, you represent everyone.” said the recipient.

When Azare was Mathis’ Chief of staff, Sean Doherty was Mathis’ campaign manager. When Mathis fired Azare and hired Doherty as chief of staff Doherty hired his wife, Thanne Doherty as campaign manager.

Finally, Doherty sent the email to the staff and family because if Mathis doesn’t receive donations then Mrs. Doherty does not get paid. In December of 2015, Sean Doherty himself loaned the Mathis campaign $8400. That amount was eventually paid back after several months of successful campaigning.

Kings

He wanted to thank all of his supporters in general and all those who live in the district and voted for him. “This board from Kings County is wonderful and I have learned a lot from them. For the benefit of the county, that’s what we work for.”

When asked about his goals for the next term he said he would like to get rid of High-Speed Rail (HSR), “but I can’t do it by myself.” Fagundes dispelled a rumor that all the suits against HSR have been settled. “When HSR starts using Proposition A money, the Kings County suit will be reinstated.”

“When our governor wakes up, someone will see that is not beneficial to California. What we need is for Amtrak to go to the coast.”

For District 2, Richard Valle beat out Corcoran business owner Debbie Kwast 65% to 34.4%

Continued from p. 1 In 2014, Hanford tried to pass Measure S to create revenue for a new fire station. Not only did the ballot proposal increase Hanford’s sales tax rate from 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent, it did not ensure that the additional revenue would go to public safety agencies. Measure S only received 44% of the vote.

Fagundes and Valle Retain Seats Kings County Supervisors Richard Fagundes and Richard Valle successfully defended their seats in primary election.

Both were first elected in 2008 and this will be their third term, which will start in January of 2017.

For district 5, Fagundes beat former Kings County District Attorney Greg Stickland 61.40% to 37.8%.

“We did pretty well,” said Fagundes.

16 June, 2016

Signs

Continued from p. 1 in May of 2015. At that time, Visalia City Planner Josh McDonnell said that the only constant in writing a sign ordinance was dissent. Because there exists no federal or state regulations, each city is free to write their own rules, and what is reasonable or attractive to one person is an eyesore to another.

In the summer of 2015 a final draft of the sign ordinance was ready for a vote by Visalia City Council when a United States Supreme Court ruling changed everything. The decision was Reed vs. Town of Gilbert, and stated that content could not be considered when adopting a sign ordinance. To ban a sign solely because of its message was ruled to be a violation of free speech.

That means that cities could no longer restrict signs that advertised alcohol and cigarettes, and the category of “political signs” disappeared over night.

The Supreme Court ruling originated out of a dispute between the Good News Community Church and the city of Gilbert, Arizona. The church would advertise its services on signs throughout the town but were banned by that city’s sign ordinance. The Untied States Supreme court ruled 9-0 that the City of Gilbert had violated the church’s first amendment rights of freedom of speech.

After the Supreme Court decision, Visalia attorney Ken Richardson went line by line and adapted Visalia’s document to the new ruling. The newly revised draft was debated at last week’s Visalia City Council meeting.

While the new ordinance was seen as workable by the business community, Chamber of Commerce and the council, there were aspects of it that were contested.

Seen as a quality of life issue by the council members, a sign ordinance is meant to keep a city from assaulting a visitor’s or resident’s senses with clutter.

The difficulty of deciding between what is trashy, and what is acceptable and necessary for businesses to draw in customers, is why the ordinance has been discussed on and off by the council for more than five years.

Bill Balsley, a Visalia resident, protested the fact that every business had the right to one A-frame billboard. He brought up the fact that there are underground businesses and those found on upper floors. Councilmember Warren Gubler brought up that Montgomery Square has 30 business, most of whom do not have street frontage.

Supervisors Continued from p. 1

Smith felt that the support he got from the community was what pushed him over the top. He said that most of his campaign consisted of face to face encounters and sending out mailers, all of which were personally signed by him. Smith was not surprised by his strong performance in the election.

Throughout the entire campaign he felt he held a strong position among the other candidates and that he gave a strong performance at each forum. “I gave well thought out and thorough answers,” he said.

Smith said he ran a very frugal

Valley Voice • 11 “We have the potential for 500 A-frame signs just in downtown,” said Balsley.

Richardson confirmed that all those businesses have a right to one A-frame.

He also brought up the fact that the old ordinance did not forbid those signs and that past behavior could be predictor in the future. Richardson did not anticipate trouble with the number of signs, and if there were, the city could revisit the issue.

Brought back as legal in Richardson’s update were mascots. In the 2015 version, individuals dressed up as a crow to sell insurance or the Statue of Liberty to advertise accounting services at tax time were deemed illegal. In the current version mascots themselves are legal but ironically they cannot be holding any signs.

Collins commented that he counted 35 monument signs on Mooney Boulevard but that overall the main commercial thorough fare looked pretty good. What Collins didn’t like were the blimps and balloons put up in new subdivisions to advertise homes for sale, the many banners and feather signs, and the older signs that had been grandfathered into the new ordinance.

“Feather signs are the worst thing ever,” said Shuklian, adding that she would give in on the banners if Visalia could get rid of all the feather signs.

Richardson said that the feather banners need to be taken down at night, have to be in good condition and need to be restrained in high wind. He added that a business can only have one feather banner or lawn sign per 16 square feet of property. That restriction would make it impossible to have a long line of feather banners that we see today on Mooney Boulevard and at the automobile dealerships.

Councilmember Bob Link wanted to thank Richardson for all of his work in rewriting the ordinance after the Supreme Court ruling and said that he supported the ordinance as is. Gubler agreed, saying that the council could reconsider parts of the ordinance if problems arise. Nelson said that his support of the ordinance has not wavered from the beginning but agreed about the feather signs.

“You could nitpick this document to death and then have to start all over,” he said. “We need to keep our eye on the ball and tweak it if necessary.”

The second reading of the ordinance will be done at the July 20 city council meeting before the new rules will take effect.

campaign and is ready for the general election.

Kuyler Crocker said that he was very humbled by the support he received throughout the campaign. Like Smith, he was not surprised to make it through to the general election. “If I didn’t think I was qualified or had the experience necessary, I wouldn’t have run.”

“In the last six months I’ve met with a lot of great people, from farmers, families and small businesses and received their support.” Crocker said the fight continues for more water, more water storage, clean drinking water for all families, sufficient resources for law enforcement to fight gangs and creating more jobs.

Fish

Continued from p. 7 Association. “The ongoing management of non-native, predatory game species needs to be carefully rethought if we’re serious about recovering salmon in California.”

Scheuring said basing decisions on the health of individual species leads to conflicting demands for water resources and unachievable goals, adding, “There just isn’t enough water in the system to chase every idea we have about every listed species. We need an integrated, multi-layered approach to fisheries and habitat, based on science.”

Concerned that federal agencies might be taking or contemplating actions that would further cut water supplies for farms and cities this year, 15 members of the California congressional delegation sent a letter last week to the secretaries of the U.S. Interior and Commerce departments, warning that the actions would amount to “an overreach” and have “devastating effects” on the state.

“We understand both FWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) are now proposing separate, contradictory actions that will significantly reduce the water supply to Californians,” the members of Congress said in their joint letter.

Although federal officials and the State Water Resources Control Board agreed in March to releases of 10,500 cubic feet per second from Lake Shasta, the members of Congress said they understood NMFS wants to reduce Shasta releases to 8,000 cfs. The letter noted this discussion of further water cuts comes after many crops have been planted, production loans have been secured and farm water budgets finalized.

“We understand the concern about the winter-run salmon, but NMFS’s proposed action is now serving to provide layer upon layer of (species) protection with little measureable return,” the California congressional representatives said.

If the further reductions are ordered, water districts estimate the change would cost the Central Valley Project 400,000

acre-feet of water. The congressional letter said this would leave water contractors north and south of the delta in an unexpectedly short water supply situation, including the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority and wetlands in the San Joaquin Valley.

At the same time NMFS aims to reduce delta outflow through the summer, FWS proposes to increase it, the congressional letter said, requesting to purchase 300,000 acre-feet of water on behalf of delta smelt.

“Our rivers have been called upon to serve too many masters,” Scheuring said, “particularly as development of new supply options has greatly slowed for more than a generation. At the same time, environmental demands and continuing urban expansion have been overlaid onto our water supply framework. The Endangered Species Act in particular has proven an increasing constraint on other beneficial uses of water, and has simply not been workable in managing water systems in the West.”

Erin Huston, CFBF federal policy consultant in Washington, D.C., said she is closely monitoring discussions among the agencies and state congressional leaders.

“These talks about further water supply cuts come at a time when it seemed Californians might experience some relief from water restrictions and supply cuts,” Huston said. “But we are again experiencing cross-purposes in a time of short water supplies—if it’s not one species, it’s another.”

During the past few months, water analysts say restrictions on the federal and state water transfer pumps in the delta have resulted in more than 1 million acre-feet of water flowing uncaptured to the ocean, as part of efforts to protect endangered and threatened species. However, they said, increased flows during the past decade have not solved the problem, as populations of endangered salmon and smelt continue to decline.

(Kate Campbell is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at kcampbell@cfbf.com.)

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

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12 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

Voices of the Valley

The Man Behind the Microphone

Dave Adalian If you’ve switched on a radio in the Central Valley during the last five decades, there’s a good chance you’ve heard Kent Hopper’s voice. It’s deep, mellow and resonant--a lot like the man who owns it.

These days, Hopper, 66, is headman at KTIP in Porterville, a 24-hour news and talk station broadcasting at 1450 on the AM dial. He spends his mornings hosting Hopper in the Morning with PK the Redhead, while the rest of his workday is taken up with running the station as its operations manager. He couldn’t be happier.

After 30 years of keeping up the patter between songs, he was ready for a change. The move to local news and politics 15 years ago was a perfect fit, the cure for a creeping burnout. Pretending excitement for songs he’d played countless times had lost its charm, and deejays were no longer the local celebrities they were when Hopper got into the business.

“I think the good thing about this station is I worked all those years doing music, rock at KIOO, and 13 years before that in the same building at KSEQ,” he said.

The move to KTIP seemed natural, part of the evolution of Hopper’s career.

Playing song after song with little feedback from his audience had become dull, and he’d lost his taste for the repetitive chatter deejaying has become. “So my point is that with age comes, like, I just don’t want to sit through the, you know, ‘What’s up?!’ and doing all that funky stuff, and ‘Here it is!’ and ‘That was. ...’”

The Entertainer

Once upon a time, deejays were some pretty hep cats. When there was no cable TV and the Internet hadn’t been invented, those disembodied voices were the smooth gatekeepers of youth culture, especially in small, rural communities, and Hopper was captivated by the spells they wove. Early on, he knew that was what he wanted to do with his life.

“I remember telling my dad I want to be in the entertainment business of some sort; I think I want to be in radio,” he said.

“I used to listen to jocks, and back then I was in high school. I just thought that was cool.”

Hopper’s father, the Hon. George Hopper, who was appointed to the 5th District Court of Appeal by Gov. Edmund Brown, reacted as one might expect. He freaked out a little bit. He also had some solid advice for his son.

“And, so, my dad said to me, ‘You what?!’” Hopper recalled. “I said, ‘I would like to be an entertainer, maybe do radio, because I really like the radio business, and I think that would be fun.’ And, he said, ‘You’re gonna starve. But, if that’s what you want, you better be the best one around.’ That always stuck with me.”

Spinning Vinyl

Hopper, who was born in Shafter, is a lifelong Valley resident. His first job in radio was at the venerable KNGS in Hanford. Its iconic art-deco studio building, once featured on the cover of an album by the rock band Journey, still stands on Highway 198 just east of town.

“It must have been about 1970,” Hopper said. “Now, it’s Portugeuse radio.

That station is way old. It was country music, and we actually spun vinyl.”

Hopper moved on eventually, working at radio stations up and down the San Joaquin Valley before settling for a long spell in the Modesto area. It was there he got into making his own music, fronting the Kent Hopper Band as a lead singer and guitarist. The band’s name, he says, was intended to play on his popularity as a deejay, and not to feed his ego. For a man who makes a living being the center of attention, Hopper is very down to earth.

In the ‘90s, Hopper hired on at KSEQ in Visalia, where he worked for more than a decade. Unlike many in the industry, Hopper counts himself lucky to have always had an on-air job. His talent and personality may also be a factor.

“Most of my good career, I think, was Visalia and up north in Modesto-Turlock area,” he said. “I spent a lot of time there and made a good name for myself, with the band and I was the morning guy on KMIX at that point. It was FM. It was cool.”

As he’s matured, Hopper’s outlook has changed.

But, he’s still where he wants to be, on the radio.

“I like it behind the mic and I like it on stage, so they kind of jived together really well for a long, long time,” he said of his early career. “And, then of course the last 15 years I really kind of got into politics, local politics and all of that. This radio station has a lot of appeal now.”

‘I’m Just Me, Man’

Hopper’s voice is robust and full, even rich, so when people first meet the man who wields it they’re sometimes shocked.

He has bright blue eyes that shine, smallish elfin ears that narrow to a point, and he stands about 4 feet tall. He’s made all those features work for him, especially his height.

“I have a standard line for that, which is: ‘I’ve made a career out of it,’ out of being this stature or whatever,” he said. “When I first got into the business, I wasn’t thinking about that at all. Then people started saying, ‘What the hell?! You’re just a little bitty guy!’ or whatever. So then I started using it as a schtick, you know, as part of the act or whatever on the radio. If you make fun of yourself, you’ve got it made.”

His stature even won him his wife, Kathy.

“We (his band) were playing the Holiday Inn Mission de Oro, which is over in Santa Nella. She came to see me,” Hopper said. “Actually, I’d met her dad.

He went home and said, ‘You gotta come out and see this little bitty [explitive]. He’s about this high and he sings great,’ and she said, ‘I don’t wanna.’ So, she came, and she goes, ‘OK,’ and ... one thing led to another.”

The couple has four children. They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary this month.

Kathy’s positive attitude about his stature coupled with her quick wit are part of why she and Hopper chose each other, he said.

“My wife is the best wife ever, man.

You go into a restaurant, and (the serv-

er asks) ‘Um, seating for two?’ (She’ll say) ‘Yeah, and I need booster for my baby over here and one for my husband.’ Swear to God. I think that’s maybe why we’re attracted, because she would bust out in things like that all the time with friends and stuff like that: ‘Did you play (sports) in school and stuff?’

And she’d say, ‘Yeah, guess what position he played in baseball? Short (he pauses) stop.’ Right? All that stuff kept going around. She still does it to this day.”

Being short is also one of the reasons he’s in the radio business.

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot in this world that Kent Hopper, radio host and operations manager at in Porterville, poses outside the station’s studios. won’t allow you to do it if KTIP Hopper’s career in radio spans nearly five decades. Dave you don’t look the part, and Adalian/Valley Voice hence comes back around to of something he said on the air. Recently, being short and all that,” he said. “And, the Tulare City Council has been a source it did bother me at times, because it was of strife.

‘What?!’ I never really thought of it like “This just happened last week when that. I don’t have a problem with any of (Tulare City Council member) Craig Vethat. People still do it. Now, the truth, I jvoda called me, and he goes, ‘Do we have think most people know me, so they’ve to have Carlton Jones on the air?’ He’s either gotten over it or they like it. I’m (Carlton) the vice mayor, right?,” Hopper just me, man.” said. “And I said, ‘Why?’ ‘Well, we don’t

In the Middle of the Road

As host of a show dealing daily with local politics, Hopper says he has to maintain a centrist attitude. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an agenda.

“Going down the middle of the road is what I usually do, keeps me out of trouble,” he said. “But, when ... an opportunity affords itself to let me say a little something, I would tell you I think people ought to work together.”

While our leaders give cooperation lip service, Hopper questions their sincerity.

“I mean really deep down inside, don’t you agree, man, that (politicians) don’t work together? ‘Oh, and if you vote for that, I’m going to vote for that!’” he mocked. “Like in the Assembly it’s just ridiculous. But, that’s what it’s all based on, isn’t it? I just wish it wasn’t that way.”

Even those who mean well, who take office to serve their communities, often don’t get it, he says. Hopper, who served a two-year appointed term on the Farmersville City Council in the early 1990s, tells a frustrating story that illustrates his point.

“My main theme is you’ve got to come together, these people,” he said. “I’m not going to say a name, but when you’ve got a mayor sitting there, because they were talking about a library--they needed a library at that point and they just didn’t have anybody to man it or anything like that--and the mayor says, pretty much of a quote, and I can’t remember exact words, but it was pretty much like, ‘Well, I think them little wetbacks need a place to go and read.’ Hello?! What’s going on?!

Can you believe that? He said it just like that, and I just looked, and I... (rolls eyes).

You know, what do you do?”

Sometimes in his business it doesn’t matter what you do. You still end up in trouble. Hopper said someone from Porterville City Hall once tried to get him in trouble with the station’s owners because

like some of the things he’s saying.’ I said, ‘Here’s a problem. You know, you don’t like what he’s saying. Maybe your conversation should be with him, not me.’ Then he said, ‘Are you in charge of all that or...?’

And, I wrote him a note back. I said I’m in charge of all programming here. ‘Well, who makes the decision on who’s going to be on?’ I do.”

It’s this kind of behavior that makes Hopper want people to work harder at working together.

“A lot of it’s pretty sad, because, and I hate to say this, but I question why they get into it,” he said. “Are they doing it because they think it might further their career, or are they doing it because they, you know, they got a heart? And, I don’t know the answer to that, and everybody has to answer that themselves.”

Strumming His Six-String

Hopper doesn’t play in a band anymore. He tried it again a few years ago, but it just took more energy than he could give it. But, he still plays on his own at home. When he’s not talking politics, cracking jokes or making music, you might find him watching football, if the season is right.

“I’ve been a Raider fan forever, man,” he said. “Fortunately, things are turning around a little bit. They’re starting to build a really good football team now after all those years.”

He has no plans to restart his political career, though he won’t rule it out entirely.

He gets an awful lot of that at work, and that’s what he really enjoys, entertaining folks on the radio. He’s got no plan to stop.

“As long as I feel like I can still do it.

I still enjoy it. I get a lot of satisfaction in this end of the business, the news thing, the politics, all of that,” Hopper said.

“Anything on the air is my fault. It’s a lot of work. It just keeps building. It’s so fun.”

16 June, 2016

Valley Voice • 13

Viewpoint

Cowgirl Diplomacy? Foreign Policy Under Hillary Clinton

Mel Gurtov America’s mainstream media, ever attracted to the splashy rather than the serious, has a new topic to occupy the time until Election Day: President Trump. What will he do first? How will he translate his hazy “America First” theme into policy?

Who will be in his inner circle? (Specifically, will he appoint people who really know something about foreign affairs?) There’s just so much room for playful speculation about Donald Trump that something important has been lost sight of: He’s going to lose—big time, as Trump would say.

So let’s get real: We need to be thinking about another Clinton presidency.

Granted, it’s early, but then again, we already know a good deal about Hillary Clinton’s perspectives on the world, the advisers she relies on, and the policies she advocated while secretary of state. We also know she is not going to simply carry on where Barack Obama left off. In fact, on some important foreign-policy matters, we may look back nostalgically on Obama’s record.

Like Obama, Hillary Clinton is a liberal internationalist and a strong believer in American exceptionalism, meaning she is convinced that the world looks to America for leadership, that US involvement everywhere is unavoidable as well as desirable, that US-based multinational corporations are a positive force for global development, and that the US should be ready to commit force in support of humanitarian ideals and American values—but not necessarily in accordance with US or international laws—as much as because of concrete strategic interests. It’s the traditional marriage of realism and idealism that we find in every president (though a Trump presidency would drop the idealism). But each president, as Henry Kissinger once said, inclines somewhat to one side or the other, and in Hillary Clinton’s case, she is more the realist than Obama—more prepared, that is, to commit US power, unilaterally if she believes necessary, in support of a very broad conception of national security.

When Hillary Clinton was a presidential candidate, she strongly criticized George W. Bush’s unilateralism, penchant for resorting to force over diplomacy, and rejection of international treaties on nuclear nonproliferation and climate change.

But her proposed alternative—restoring US leadership—was not really a departure at all: “To reclaim our proper place in the world, the United States must be stronger, and our policies must be smarter. The next

president will have a moment of opportunity to restore America’s global standing and convince the world that America can lead once again.” After listing the multitude of threats facing the US, Clinton proclaimed: “We must return to a pragmatic willingness to look at the facts on the ground and make decisions based on evidence rather than ideology.” Yet later in the same essay Clinton cited the need to couple pragmatism with promotion of American “values that our founders embraced as universal,” precisely the language that Condoleezza Rice was using.

In the name of “smart power,” Clinton at that time spoke confidently about withdrawing US forces from Iraq, “stabilizing” the Middle East, and creating the basis for an Israeli-Palestinian accord. But she also thought it would be possible to “win” the war on terrorism and, with a greater military effort in Afghanistan and cooperation from Pakistan, defeat terrorists there.

She took a hard line on Iran, proposing incentives only if Iran renounced support of terrorism and ended its nuclear-weapons program. On the other hand, she was hopeful about engaging Russia and finding common ground with China, setting a positive example on lowering carbon emissions, promoting deeper international collaboration on energy, and pressing governments on equal rights for women. Thus, she concluded, if the US can live up to its ideals, “we can make America great again.”

Sound familiar?

As secretary of state, Clinton often took positions contrary to those she had taken while campaigning. As is well known, during the Obama administration’s early debate over how to support anti-Assad fighters in Syria, Clinton wanted to arm the rebels and establish a no-fly zone in northern Syria. Later, she would criticize Obama for not acting decisively, arguing that he left the field open for ISIS and enabled Assad to remain in power. But to Obama, ever mindful of George W. Bush’s downfall, Hillary’s hawkishness violated his cardinal rule: “Don’t do stupid shit.” But he did do “stupid shit” in Libya after the overthrow of Muammar el-Qaddafi, intervening on the unwise advice of Hillary Clinton, who saw democratic potential in a few of the feuding factions that are still feuding today. Clinton also sided with the Pentagon in urging more troops in Afghanistan and a residual force in Iraq, drawing “likes” from defense secretary Robert Gates. She urged against inducements to Russia and advocated a hard line on North Korea.

Writing in 2013 on Hillary’s legacy

as secretary of state, Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution stated that though Hillary “cannot claim a signature accomplishment,” she can claim responsibility for the US “pivot” of naval and air power to East Asia, her “work with European leaders to hammer out tighter sanctions on Iran and a new missile defense strategy that would provide greater protection against ballistic missiles while antagonizing Russia less.” But are these success stories?

The “pivot” to Asia was the starting point of China’s uncompromising stance on the disputed South China Sea islands. Pushing for tighter sanctions on Iran only obstructed the difficult path to a nuclear accord. And missile defense (against Iran) seems like quite a waste against a nonexistent threat.

Another observer writes that “Clinton does not seem particularly eager to continue Obama’s rapprochement with Iran and has generally adopted a tougher line on Iranian policies in the region.” But not tougher, this writer continues, when it comes to Saudi Arabia: “Clinton might thus represent an opportunity for some marginal gains in U.S.-Saudi relations; she seems to have a greater appreciation for the value of relations with Saudi Arabia than Obama.” Being too quick to use sanctions against Iran and too willing to cozy up to an unfaithful Saudi ally—not to mention maintaining the usual US support of Israel—leave no room for creating a new Middle East paradigm.

What may most fundamentally separate Clinton from Obama are his much touted doubt and caution. When Obama retreated from imposing his “red line” on Syria’s chemical weapons, he was reportedly motivated by lack of clear support from the US public, Congress, and some allies such as Germany and Britain, and by concerns that air strikes would not only fail to accomplish the job of destroying the chemical facilities but might suck the US into another long-term fight. As Jeffrey Goldberg’s interview reports, Obama endured shock and criticism among his inner circle and abroad for deciding at the last minute not to attack, thus supposedly hurting US “credibility.” But to this day he’s convinced he made the right choice. Hillary Clinton evidently would have gone ahead, not just in order to preserve US credibility and out of belief in the efficacy of military power, but perhaps also because of “pressure to exaggerate her foreign policy experience to establish her ‘toughness’ in the foreign policy arena” (Regina Lawrence and Melody Rose, Hillary Clinton’s Race for the White

House, 2010, p. 74).

In short, Hillary is an armchair warrior, to the right of Trump when it comes to international entanglements. Some leading conservatives who have come out against Trump, such as Eliot Cohen, the hawkish former State Department official under George W. Bush, consider Clinton the superior choice in foreign policy precisely because she “believes in the old [realist-idealist] consensus and will take tough lines on China and, increasingly, Russia” and may well return to supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership. There is every reason to believe he’s right, not only because Hillary Clinton has said she believes in that consensus, but also because her views closely match those of her husband, another liberal internationalist whom she has already told us will be a key economic adviser if she is elected. Indeed, most of Hillary’s top advisers are holdovers from Bill Clinton’s administration, virtually guaranteeing no major departures from traditional foreign-policy commitments and principles.

What to make, then, of her emphasis years ago on energy and environmental cooperation, improvement of relations with China and Russia, and concern about global poverty? What about dramatic reductions in nuclear weapons and the military budget, and raising the profile of human rights in the conduct of foreign policy?

These are worthy elements of a progressive agenda, but Clinton has had very little to say about them during the current campaign. Will they be priorities in her administration, or will she fall prey to cowgirl diplomacy?

My sense is that we have reason to doubt how much Hillary Clinton has learned from events in Syria, as well as from her vote to authorize war in Iraq and her lack of faith in engaging Iran. That doubt leads me to think she will respond incautiously and perhaps audaciously to provocative developments such as China’s military construction in the South China Sea, incidents between Russian and US forces along Russia’s western border, North Korea’s expanding nuclear weapon arsenal, and ISIS advances in Libya. She will also have to address a potentially even more dangerous phenomenon: the deeply disturbing popularity of the far right all across Europe (France, Austria, Hungary, Greece) as well as in Israel and here at home. Fascism will be a serious challenge for the next president. We’ll see how all this plays out soon enough.

Field Report from the Dick Cheney Hunting Instruction Manual Tom H. Hastings I live in a town of suspenders. The police chief is the current best example.

He was just suspended for shooting his buddy in the back and then lying about it. They were out hunting—well, sitting drunk in lawn chairs blasting at squirrels.

One wonders if the Harney County sheriff, Dave Ward, should check suspended Portland Police Chief Larry O’Dea’s cell phone and email records— perhaps O’Dea had just gotten off a call with Dick “Nothing to Apologize For” Cheney before opening fire on his pal.

“Gun safety” might be in line for the Oxymoron of the Millennium Award when police chiefs can’t handle

weapons safely.

Was the victim causing the chief to fear for his life so the chief felt obligated to shoot him in the back? The victim was armed, no doubt, so that could be it.

Was the victim African American?

Then no gun would be needed; Portland police join many other urban police bureaus in routinely shooting unarmed black males.

You remember Dave Ward? He was all over the national news last winter as the local sheriff trying to resolve the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by some far right armed wingnuts.

He was patient with everyone and, with the exception of one armed occupier who repeatedly proclaimed his right

and intention to shoot any and all with his openly carried weapon, Ward got everyone through the situation without bloodshed. He must be truly astonished that people keep coming 300 miles from Portland to commit mayhem in his previously sleepy county. I think we can all see his eyebrows arch as he was initially told that the victim of the April shooting—who was taken by medical helicopter to the hospital in critical condition—shot himself in the back. Riiiiiight. Did the victim sneak up on himself too?

Other sage advice from the likes of Dick Cheney helped O’Dea decide to try to cover it up. Seriously? Chief, did you think that we wouldn’t find out?

Yes, it took a month for it all to spill

into the news, but a helivac to an ER? Interviews by deputies of all parties? You were the Chief of Police, for goshsakes.

It’s time.

Time to repeal the Stupid Second Amendment so the citizens of the US can slowly lose their lethal firearms and police will not have as much justification for packing guns everywhere they go, shooting everyone who might make them twitch.

Time to retrain police to resolve conflict without violence.

Time to begin to disarm more and more officers.

Time for Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward to catch a break and stop having to deal with armed loonies.

14 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

Comments & Letters Grand Jury Foreman Responds to TRMC Chuck White Much has been written lately pertaining to the Grand Jury Report entitled “Tower of Shame” and a subsequent response on the part of the Tulare Regional Medical Center entitled “Sins of the Father” in which the TRMC Board attempts to place all the blame for the problems surrounding its troubled past on previous administrators and Board Members no longer serving as Directors.

It is, therefore, the purpose of this letter to emphatically state that the

Grand Jury rejects the premise that the current TRMC Board of Directors can somehow absolve itself of responsibility for whatever mismanagement of public funds occurred prior to their respective terms of service on said Board.

It is apparent to the Grand Jury that the members of the TRMC Board of Directors need to be reminded that reporting/disclosure requirements are continuous.

In other words, the claim that all misdeeds and transgression were “someone else’s responsibility” is at best flawed

and leaves the impression that obfuscation as well as outright refusal to provide information are preferred to full disclosure.

While the current TRMC Board of Directors may indeed eventually be proven “not guilty” of wrongdoing, the fact will remain that it failed to be forthcoming in terms of producing information (to which the public is entitled) regarding the manner in which proceeds from the issuance of $85 Million in general obligation bonds were spent.

The “Blame Game” is unproduc-

tive. It is also unbecoming to those who employ it.

The Grand Jury would, therefore, suggest that the TRMC Board of Directors instruct its Los Angeles legal counsel to, “without delay,” respond appropriately to the Grand Jury’s request for detailed information pertaining to how $85 Million in taxpayers’ money was expended.

Respectfully, Chuck White, Foreman Tulare County Grand Jury

Tulare Hospital Board Responds to Grand Jury Foreman Let’s be clear about this: HCCA and the TLHCD board are dedicated to transparency. The Board has cooperated with the grand jury every step during its important examination of the $85 million bond, which was used to fund the first stage of construction of our vital new hospital tower.

Instead of using this information to help the Board and Tulare Regional Medical Center serve the public better, the grand jury’s foreman seems more

interested in self-promotion and grandstanding. Why else would he violate state secrecy laws by repeatedly discussing confidential grand jury proceedings in public?

California law makes it a misdemeanor for grand jury members to publically discuss proceedings and evidence.

Chuck White and John Hobbs, another member of the Grand Jury, have both repeatedly violated this law.

Every crime has a motive. Mr.

White’s motive is very clear: He wants to promote himself and develop a reputation in the community.

This is unfortunate because he has undermined the work the grand jury has done and rendered as meaningless any of its findings. If the grand jury is not impartial, then its findings cannot be trusted.

TLHCD from the beginning has been willing to work closely with the grand jury to examine the expenditure

of the first bond. Now, because of Mr. White’s actions, it is increasingly clear that he is motivated by only one thing – publicity – instead of his very important role as the leader of a body that is supposed to help improve local government.

Meanwhile, Tulare Regional Medical Center and its partner, HCCA, are continuing to work to finish the new hospital building and develop an integrated healthcare system that will serve this community for generations.

Former Board Members Respond to TRMC’s “Sins of the Father” The TRMC Board’s response to the Grand Jury is full of contempt against this august body. But we, the former members of the board of Tulare Local Health Care District, are not surprised by this response.

The allegation that the current board was not seated until May 2015 is blatantly incorrect. The present member Parmod Kumar, MD has served more than 20 years, Richard Torrez since 2008, Sherrie Bell since 2012, and Laura Gadke since about 2013. Dr. Kumar has served as Chairman of the Board for a span of about 6 years and as Chairman of several important committees during the years in question such as the Bond Oversight Committee and the Building

Committee. The current board is populated by several members who had responsibilities and voting rights in the timeframe the Bond was expended.

Forensic audits of the District and the Tower Construction Project were voted on and passed 3-2 in August of 2012 for the District finances, (Kamboj, McPhetridge, Smith, in favor, Torrez, Kumar oppose.) in September of 2012 the Tower Construction Project 3-0 (Kamboj, McPhetridge, Smith in Favor). Kumar and Torrez were not present at the meeting; Skip Barwick and Dr. Kumar’s Attorney Mike Lampe were there to oppose the audit. Just like the Bond Oversight Committee we were frustrated by all the delays and change

orders. When there is a question about the expenditure of “Public Monies”, it is prudent to perform a forensic audit. Previous to that the CEO was fired due to ongoing financial losses and delays in the Tower project which he was, the Supervisor. The first act of the new Board under Sherrie Bell’s leadership in December 2012 was to rehire the former CEO and the previously dismissed law firm that was not adequately serving the Board. The forensic audit was then cancelled. It is not known if a vote of the new board was taken or just ordered by one of the Board trustees, carried out by the law firm. It is not known why the new board stopped the audits. Interestingly the CEO and the law firm were

fired about a year later. Members of this current board were seated during this time.

There has been a culture of lack of transparency which has carried on to date. We, the former members of the Board of TLHC District hope for answers to how the monies have been spent. We have always been, and remain Stewards of the District.

Signed the former board members of Tulare Local Health Care District, Lonnie R. Smith, MD Prem Kamboj, MD Leroy Trippel Deanne Martin-Soares Victor Gonzalez

Reader Responds to TRMC: “Vote No on the August Bond Issue” The voters of Tulare passed an $85 million bond issue in 2005 to add a tower to expand our hospital in order to improve care and access. The then powers that be ( one of whom, it seems, is still in charge) hired Shawn Bolouki as CEO to oversee the project and paid him WAY too dearly for the rotten job he did by hiring crappy contractors who then cheated by cutting corners on the construction materials they used, which will wind up costing us millions just to replace and correct those mistakes!! I’m sure he made a lot of ‘side money’ before the hospital board came to their senses and fired him! But later, wonder of wonders, they paid him over $1 million dollars to come back for ANOTHER bite of the apple, before wising up and firing him again, but he still left with a LOT of new lining on his pockets!!

We also wound up paying almost $8 million to the crappy contractor when he filed a lawsuit against the hospital for work he not only did not complete, but because he cheated on materials, will wind up costing us many more million to correct his crap!!

During the time he was in charge, and spending wildly, Bolouki somehow con-

vinced the board that they could not do without the new DaVinci surgical robot, because Kaweah Delta had just bought one and Bolouki’s ego got away with him and he had to compete. So they signed a contract and spent over $2 million for the robot. Unfortunately, there was, and is, no local surgeons who are qualified, or even in training, to use the robot, so it sits at the end of a hospital corridor, covered with a sheet and gathering rust and dust, while we continue to make payments on it.

There is also the matter of over $5 million in medical equipment ordered from Germany, which never arrived, has never been accounted for, and no refund has ever been received. Where did THAT $5 million go?

Now they are spending even more millions of taxpayer dollars to hold a SPECIAL election for a NEW $55 million bond issue that SHOULD have been on the primary ballot OR could have waited for the November election, at little or no cost for us!!

WHY? Maybe because they’re depending on low voter turn-out with a mail-in ballot that could possibly be manipulated, given all the current hanky panky going on in our elections process in various states, as

well as the recent local mishandling of the mail-in ballots?

There is no question that Tulare needs and deserves our own great community hospital, and I support that concept with all my heart!! But anyone with the I.Q. of a soda cracker knows that $55 million is NOT going to do it, not even close, because of all the added expense of demolishing the stupid, FRAUDULENT mistakes and mishandling of the former “construction” that must be done before new construction can even begin!! Mistakes that WE are still paying for on our property taxes!!

The nurses and techs at TRMC are all good people and do their jobs with tender care, just like they’re supposed to do. The problem is with the idiots in charge and the stupid decisions they have made and are STILL making!!

Make no mistake, we need our own QUALITY hospital here in Tulare, with doctors and MANAGEMENT who care about making sure that patients are given the best possible care and attention, as well as listening to a LOT of citizen input before wildly spending money on the whim of the moment!!

I want that tower completed PROP-

ERLY, ASAP, but I WILL NOT give them ANOTHER blank check AT OUR ADDED EXPENSE unless and until I see an EXACT forensic accounting of EACH AND EVERY dollar spent of the $85 million that I have been paying hundreds of dollars for on my property tax bill since 2006!!

I would also like to know if and how much each Hospital board member and hospital official invested in buying those bonds, which have been paying out good interest payments to the bond-holders since 2006!!

Any bond measure I support WILL INCLUDE a clearly laid out oversight committee, with FULL veto powers, made up of Tulare citizens with NO ONE with voting rights from, or in bed with, the hospital board or management. They can sit on an advisory panel, ONLY!! It will also NOT allow any upward adjustments to our tax without full vote of all Tulare voters!!

VOTE NO ON THE AUGUST BOND ISSUE!! IT’S JUST ANOTHER RIP OFF!!

Lucile Oliva

16 June, 2016

Valley Voice • 15

Comments & Letters

Veteran’s Corner

Message from Sheriff Mike Boudreaux

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Update

3. Keep hands visible

Mike Boudreaux In the aftermath and continuing investigation of the nation’s worst mass shooting Sunday in Orlando, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and our communities.

This type of senseless violence cannot be tolerated. Focusing on any group, in this case LGBT, for acts of hate against our freedoms will not be tolerated.

We remain committed to protecting all of our residents here in Tulare County.

Our communities must stand strong. We will not live in fear.

We, at the Sheriff’s Office, do our very best to keep you safe in Tulare County. Every resource will be used to protect you.

One of the tools involves you.

As your Sheriff, I advise all residents to stay vigilant and report all suspicious behavior or activity. All information is important to us.

I want everyone to begin practicing a 3-prong safety strategy: Run-Hide-Fight.

If you are confronted by an active shooter, you should run, hide or fight.

Call 911 when it is safe to do so.

Run if you can get away. Hide if you are safe to do so. Most importantly, fight, do not lay idle. Draw the courage to fight.

Run

1. Have an escape route in mind 2. Leave belongings behind

Hide

Scott Holwell

1. Hide out of view of the shooter 2. Block entry to your hiding place 3. Silence your cell phone

Finally - Fight

1. Fight only as a last resort when your life is in danger 2. Try to incapacitate the shooter 3. Act with physical aggression.

Throw items at the shooter Call 911 when it is safe to do so.

When law enforcement arrives:

1. Try to stay calm and follow instructions 2. Put down any items in your hands 3. Raise hands and spread fingers 4. Keep hands visible at all times

Information you should provide to law enforcement: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Location of the shooter Number of shooters Physical description of shooters Number and type of weapons held by shooters 5. Number of potential victims at the location

I want you all to be safe but understand vigilance must be a part of stand-

ing together against evil.

As a community, the message must be clear.

We will work together. We will not live in fear.

Begin sharing with friends these safety strategies. I pray we never face this type of tragedy within our local communities but practice and repeating safety efforts will prepare us all.

Together as Americans we can defeat this evil and be proud of what we stand for here in Tulare County.

Be safe and God Bless.

To report suspicious activities, contact the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 733-6218 or anonymously at TipNow by calling (559) 725-4194 or by email tcso@ tipnow.com.

Website: http://www.tularecounty. ca.gov/sheriff/

Comments from ourvalleyvoice.com

“

“

I encourage that everyone read the hospital’s explanation to the Grand Jury report. Again it lacks truth. For those that really want to know history look at the attached exhibits to the report. Definitely look at the bond meeting minutes from January 2008 when one board member states that the interim CEO and CFO worked magic with the Evolutions bonds and created $115 million so the project only needed $5 million to go. If that was the case then where did that money go? These are the revenue refunding bonds of 2007 that has debt requirements on the District.

Maybe little points don’t matter but it sets the stage for bigger embellishments or in some situations outright lies. I served on the board from 2000-2008. According to meeting minutes from January 2013 there was 8% of bond money left, not less than 5% as stated in the District ‘s response when HCCA took over.

This board has sat for far greater than presented, Gadke twice since 2013 and Wilborn on the bond oversight for many years – Does that mean she failed?

Just perform an independent, forensic audit and give the community answers.

”

— Deanne Martin-Soares on Tulare Hospital Board Responds to Grand Jury Report

I agree with most of your assessment of the candidates. But knocking Mr Mathis for “taking” his veteran’s disability compensation when he is able to work shows a clear misunderstanding of what that benefit represents and the spirit on which is was granted. That veterans disability payment is a retirement check. Asking Mr Mathis to decline that money is equivalent to asking someone who served 20 years then retired from the military at age 38 to not take that money they have earned if they are going to continue working in a civilian job for another 20 years. A veteran may lose an appendage, have permanent ringing in their ears, damaged vision, night terrors….none of these conditions would preclude them from seeking gainful employment in the public or private sector after separation from the armed forces but that condition did not exist prior to their enlistment and it is a part of their physical or mental wellness they sacrificed in service to their country.

Regarding his wife collecting benefits from the Wounded Warrior project, since I don’t have any idea to what extent Mr Mathis may or may not have been injured (that is between him and the VA) I cannot comment on that.

But otherwise I find your assessment of these candidates to be spot on. Thank you

”

— Kennon on A Private Decision on Assembly District 26 Primary Goes Public

“

First step in the takeover from private property owners? An Un-elected board with way too much power. It won’t get any better especially if they crown Newsome Governor next go around.

Water will be more precious than Gold. The GSA will regulate how much water a land owner pumps out of the ground….. and if we have more dry years, which we will, what then. This will be the push AG out of the valley like those big SF investors want.

But hey….nobody listens to us conspiracy theorists.

” ”

— Concerned on SGMA to Have Major Impact on Landowners’ Water Usage

“

NO VOLT FOR ME TO. I WAS TOLD THER WERE CROOKS I THANK SO TO NOW. THERE HIDING SOMETHING.

— kevin on Tulare Regional Medical Center Stonewalls Information Request

The Veterans Affairs Department has recently determined that eight medical conditions are linked to service at Camp Lejeune, N.C. from 1953 to 1987, and veterans with these diseases who were stationed there are eligible for disability compensation. VA officials have stated the following diseases have been determined to be service-connected to consuming contaminated drinking water at the base: kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, scleroderma, Parkinson’s disease and aplastic anemia or other myelodysplastic syndromes.

The VA has historically provided health care or reimbursement for medical costs for veterans who served at Camp Lejeune at least 30 days during the affected period or family members with 15 illnesses related to exposure to water contaminated by solvents and fuels, but it had not awarded “presumptive status” to any condition until now.

The changes will take effect after VA publishes regulations regarding these presumptions, and will apply to new disability claims. Veterans who have previously been denied on such claims may seek to be re-evaluated. Also, any pending claims that might be denied under current regulations will be placed on hold until the VA issues its final rules. The new rules also will expand eligibility to reserve and National Guard members who served at Camp Lejeune for any length of time during that period.

In order to file a claim, you must be a veteran who was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, and you must have served at Camp Lejeune during the period of contamination (August 1953 through 1987). You must also have a current disease and a medical opinion that states the disease is a result of exposure to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.

The Kings County Veterans Service Office can complete the DMV Veteran Status Verification Form for the new California Veteran Designation on your driver’s license. We can also issue Veteran IDcards to honorably discharged veterans. Contact Scott Holwell if you would like to receive periodic veteran’s information by email.

There are many state and federal benefits and programs available to veterans and their dependents. To find out if you are eligible for any of these benefits, visit or call our office. We can and will assist you in completing all required application forms.

You can get information on the Web from the Kings County Veterans Service Office webpage at www.countyofkings.com/vets.

Scott Holwell, retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer, is the Deputy Veterans Service Officer for Kings County. Send your questions to the Veterans Service Office, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd, Hanford, CA 93230; call (559)852-2669; or e-mail scott.holwell@ co.kings.ca.us.

16 • Valley Voice

Lawsuit

Continued from p. 1 Jimenez was hired in March of 2013 as one of two adoption coordinators.

Grenseman was hired as Tulare County Animal Control Manager in 2011 after having worked for the county since 2000.

On December 5th, 2013, both employees were put on administrative leave. Jimenez was subsequently fired on July 2, 2014, and Grenseman retired on June 5 of that year--two hours before he would have been fired.

Grenseman and Jimenez were put on administration leave after Paula Mendoza, a kennel worker, complained to Tim Lutz, Director of Fiscal Services, who was Grenseman’s direct supervisor. Lutz reported that during their meeting Mendoza was visibly upset, shaking, and appeared fearful of retaliation by her boss, Grenseman.

Lutz asked Mendoza to tell him what was happening at Animal Control and then he asked her to put everything in writing that evening.

The next day, after an early morning meeting with the upper management of Health and Human Services (HHSA) over Mendoza’s accusations, it was decided to put Grenseman and Jimenez on administration leave so an investigation could proceed. Because of the perceived intimidating work environment created by Grenseman and Jimenez, the county felt that an effective investigation could not take place with the two employees still at the workplace.

The county based its final decision to terminate Grenseman and Jimenez on an investigation that was conducted by Wy-

16 June, 2016 lene Luoma, a former lawyer and Human Resources officer for Tulare County. Luoma was chosen to conduct the investigation because she had completed approximately 150 prior investigations.

After a three-month investigation and 400 hours of interviews, Luoma recommended the dismissal of Grenseman and Jimenez. Her findings alleged that Jimenez was guilty of theft, misusing county vehicles, falsifying her time card, drinking while at work, and dressing provocatively.

Grenseman was found to be insubordinate to his supervisors and an incompetent manager. He was also found to have brought a gun to work and was accused of showing Jimenez favoritism to the point it created an intolerable work environment for the other animal control workers.

Luoma based these findings on the testimony of 17 witnesses.

Melo and Sarsfield, the attorney team for Grenseman and Jimenez, considered Luoma’s investigation lacking in merit.

They alleged that Luoma’s investigation did not include witnesses who were supportive of Grenseman and Jimenez. Nor, they contend, did Luoma inquire into the motive why Mendoza might have lied about Jimenez or why Mendoza might have created a hostile work environment for Jimenez.

Specifically, they claim Luoma did not investigate the fact that Mendoza’s husband had been sentenced to prison for an arson where Jimenez’s husband, a firefighter, had been injured fighting the fire. Additionally, it was revealed during discovery that Mendoza drove her husband to and from the arson site at the time of the commission of the crime.

The jurors were never made aware of Mendoza’s involvement in the arson because the evidence was not permitted.

Because the defense successfully convinced the jurors that the arson was irrelevant, they saw no motive for Mendoza to lie about Jimenez.

Melo and Sarsfield also claim that Luoma did not collect corroborating evidence to support the witnesses’ statements, such as cell phone records, sales receipts, video surveillance or photos. One example of this is that Luoma accused Jimenez of counterfeiting Woodlake High School football game tickets but, even though she had one of the tickets, she did not confirm that it was real and assumed the ticket was a fake.

Of all the witnesses interviewed, Mendoza refused to be recorded. All other witnesses were recorded and Jimenez’ recording was used against her during the trial. Mendoza’s reasoning was that she was fearful that Grenseman would get a hold of the recording, even though she was informed that Grenseman would see a written report of the interview.

Melo and Sarsfield considered the investigation a sham because of the lack of supporting evidence of Mendoza’s testimony and the lack of objective corroboration of the accusations.

Luoma’s testimony during the trial concerning her investigation made it clear that she did not thoroughly understand the county’s dress code, did not know that adoption coordinators have irregular work hours, and did not understand the difference between a “hold” and a quarantined animal. She also did not understand that Grenseman had to go through a formal

firearms training to be hired as the Animal Control manager, and that he and the other animal control officers carried guns.

During the trial, Melo and Sarsfield described what they claimed was a hostile work environment created by Mendoza, Ozuna and several of the animal control officers. This included anonymous letters and a fake Facebook page created by an animal control employee that accused Jimenez as being a “slut, a drunk, a bitch” and insinuated she was having multiple affairs. Melo and Sarsfield also allege that Jimenez was sexually harassed by the Animal Control employees. Mendoza, Ozuna and two animal control officers admitted that they regularly joked in the workplace about Jimenez’ breasts, calling them “the Twins” or “weapons of mass destruction.”

Twice, coworkers touched Jimenez’ breast.

During closing statements, lawyers for each side accused the other’s clients of lying. During the trial Mendoza, Ozuna, and two Animal Control officers gave inconsistent and contradictory testimonies, that witnesses at times called false, but so did Jimenez. As for Grenseman’s testimony, many times he could not sufficiently answer because he had suffered a heart attack, allegedly because of the stress over how the county had treated him. As a result his short term memory was impaired.

In the end, it was left to the jury to decide who was telling the truth and who lied. They delivered a decision similar to HHSA management and Luoma, coming down on the side of Paula Mendoza over Julia Jimenez.

The law firm of Melo and Sarsfield is consulting with its clients over the next few days as to whether to appeal.

Valley Scene

16 June, 2016

Hanford Group Shows Art at Brandon-Mitchell Gallery Donna Orozco

The Tuesday Morning Plein Air Painters from Hanford will have a unique show at the Brandon-Mitchell Gallery, located in the Center for Spiritual Awareness in Visalia, during July and August. The show opens with a reception on Friday, July 1 from 5-8pm.

The show is unique because the painters go out every Tuesday morning and paint the same subject. So viewers will see a variety of paintings of the same site, but in various styles, mediums and viewpoints.

Borrowed from a French term, plein air means painting outdoors with natural light.

“We are each drawn to plein air painting because it is an intimate connection with the subject, one that we can’t get from a camera only,” said painter Sharon Banister.

The group meets at the Kings Art Center in Hanford and decides where to paint that day. They each walk around the chosen site, deciding what view they are interested in.

“Sometimes we all paint the same view, but sometimes they are quite varied,” said Banister. “The support and energy we offer each other makes each of us a better artist, and we all truly appreciate the opportunity to paint with a group of like-minded wonderful people.”

Other artists in the group are Tedra Battaglia, Wendy Lewis, Diana Leoni, Ernie Weerasinghe and Susie Willis.

The gallery is located at 117 S. Locust in Downtown Visalia (one block south of Main). The show will also be featured in the August 5 First Friday Art Walk. In addition, the show can be visited Monday-Thursday from 9:30-

Plein air painters Tedra Battaglia, Diana Leoni, Sharon Banister and Susie Willis.

3:30 by ringing the bell at the center.

For information, call 625-2441 or go to www.cslvisalia.org.

Note: There is no official First

Friday art walk in July, but both the Brandon-Mitchell and the Arts Visalia galleries will be open from 5-8pm.

Students Participate in “INTERNNECT” Design Internship/Competition Project

Christian Artists Hawk Nelson and I Am They to Play at Visalia First Assembly Staff Reports

SPIRIT 88.9/100.1 & SAGU SoCal Extension are excited to announce Hawk Nelson and I Am They You will not want to miss their only show in the Central Valley in 2016 at the Visalia First Assembly Church, located at 3737 S Akers St. Reserved Early Entry/Q&A doors open at 5:30pm.

General admission doors open at 6:00pm.

I Am They Hawk Nelson recently released their seventh studio album: Diamonds. This group of four guys has won the hearts of thousands since its debut release in 2004. Originating from Ontario, Canada, they’ve been awarded two Canadian GMA awards, multiple GMA Dove Award nominations as well as a JUNO nomination.

The band was also once voted CCM

Magazine fans voted them as their “Favorite New Artist” in their Reader’s Choice Awards.

Hailing from Carson City, Nevada, I Am They has roots as a worship team based out of a community of various area churches. The band’s 6-piece sound is propelled by versatile musicianship and anchored by three-part vocal harmonies.

The name I Am They is inspired

by John 17 created with the intent to adopt on a personal and individual level. As Jesus prays in this chapter, He consistently refers to His disciples as “they”. It is important to each band member to be the “they” that Jesus referred to.

For further information visit the event at spirit889.com or call 1.800.530.5388 (toll free) 559.651.4111 (local)

Working with the Tulare County Office of Education as a client, students from architecture and engineering academies at El Diamante High School (Visalia), Harmony Magnet Academy (Strathmore), Lindsay High School, Orosi High School and Redwood High School (Visalia) recently designed a theoretical Wellness Innovation Learning Center – a facility for students to learn about personal and community wellness.

The eight-month-long rigorous design competition was a project of INTERNNECT – a program conceived by local architects Mangini Associates Inc. and INNOVATE Tulare-Kings, the regional work-based learning project, in partnership with Tulare County Office of Education and Tulare-Kings Linked Learning Consortium.

Each year since 2011, INTERNNECT has offered an internship experience involving a challenging design competition. According to Mangini Associates partner Gilbert Bareng, “This internship program is a discovery process designed to create meaningful experiences for everyone involved,” he said.

“Students learn life skills used throughout their educational and professional practice. Teachers explore new ways of facilitating the classroom that invokes creativity, communication, and growth.

And professionals interact with clients from a unique perspective.”

“I am continually inspired by the work of all the INTERNNECT student design teams,” said TCOE’s Joy Soares, College and Career director. “Each team demonstrated their ability to create, design, collaborate and deliver a quality engineering proposal that is confirmed by industry and post-secondary partners.

This opportunity is more than many college students are given in their undergraduate education. INTERNNECT is

Tulare County Office of Education definitely a rigorous and relevant college and career readiness approach.”

Student teams were paired with experts from the design, construction, education and healthcare industries.

Students also attended the college’s culminating third-year design studio collaboration, where they experienced a college lecture.

Harmony Magnet Academy submitted the winning project, claiming $3,400 in prizes for the team and the school. Of her experience, team member Kayla Nannette Thibault said, “I have been surrounded by the idea of what it means to build and construct things to work. Architecture became one of my passions and I have learned to see a building as a way to affect people rather than to accommodate. Mangini has exposed me to a way of camaraderie and leadership that I will take to college and my future.”

“What I loved about the INTERNNECT project this year was the abundance of evidence of deeper learning,” said Lesley Taylor, a member of the California Department of Education School Facilities Staff. “I was especially impressed with the team from Orosi High School and the mobile app that they created as a companion piece to their design proposal. I loved that they created a way to transfer information and knowledge to their peers who weren’t involved with the project.”

Posters of the project submittals will be on display in the lobby of the Tulare County Office of Education at 6200 S. Mooney Boulevard during the month of June.

Readers can also see the posters and the students’ project proposals on the homepage of INTERNNECT.org.

18 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

Westlands Water District Announces Recipients of the West Side Scholarships

Eagle Mountain to Hold Father’s Day Hot Seats Promotion Claim your hot seat during Eagle Mountain Casinos Father’s Day Hot Seats promotion to be held Sunday June 19th between 1:00pm – 4:00pm, where you can win a share of $10,000 in cash and prizes. Also, Table Games will have a 20th Anniversary Blackjack tournament from 9:00am – 1:00pm on Saturday June 18th. Don’t forget to stop and dine in the Casino Restaurants for some food specials before hitting the Casino floor for some hot seat action.

On Sunday June 19th between 1:00pm – 4:00pm, guests can participate in Eagle Mountain Casinos Father’s Day Hot Seats promotion. 5 random Guests who are actively playing table games and slots with their Summit Club Card, will be entered into a drawing to each win $300 cash and $200 bonus cash. There will be a total of 5 drawings and a total of 20 winners. A total of $10,000 in cash and prizes will be given away.

If table games are what you prefer, then be present at 8:30am on Saturday June 18th where you can enter to participate in a free $20,000 Blackjack tournament from 9:00am – 1:00pm. The tournament is free to all guests, and all participants will each receive a free play bonus chip for participating.

The Forest Buffet will feature a Smoked Brisket on the carving station, along with smoked baby back ribs, buffalo wings, bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers and more. The special is available from 11:00am – 7:00pm for only $17.99 Guests will receive $15 in free play with each purchase. Fathers will receive buffet for half price and receive $20 bonus cash with their purchase The River Steakhouse will be offering guests a savory hand cut Ribeye special for two for, for just $60. Both guests will each receive $20 in free play with each purchase. The Father’s Day Steakhouse special will run between June 19th and June 21st.

Don’t miss out on the delectable food specials and hot seat drawing happening on Father’s Day weekend at the Peoples Casino.

Eagle Mountain Casino is a full service casino and is owned and operated by the Tule River Tribe. The casino features over 1200 slot machines and 11 table games. The Casino also offers four dining options, the Buffet, Food Court, Yokuts Coffee House and the River Steakhouse. Eagle Mountain Casino is a short drive from Bakersfield or Visalia and is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Six outstanding high school seniors from communities on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley have been selected to receive scholarships offered by the Westlands Water District. The 2016 scholarships are offered by Westlands under a program to recognize and reward exceptional academic achievement and leadership by graduate seniors at area high schools.

The recipients of the 2016 scholarships are: • Kristina Raulino, a senior at Lemoore High School. Ms. Raulino is an honors student who plans on attending West Hills Community College to pursue a degree in Psychology. She has been actively involved in tennis and the Future Farmers of America and has served as the Club Secretary for the California Scholarship Federation.

• Jonathan Sanchez, a senior at Riverdale High School. Mr. Sanchez plans to attend California Polytechnic State University to pursue a degree in Agricultural Engineering. He is an honors student who has received awards for honor roll and student of the month, and is heavily involved in soccer, cross country, baseball and football. Additionally, he is a member of the California Scholarship Federation and AVID. • Delaney Walker, a senior at Coalinga High School. Ms. Walker plans to attend University of California, Los Angeles to pursue a degree in Education/ English. She has been actively involved in basketball and tennis and received awards for honor roll and mock trial.

She is also a member of the California Scholarship Federation.

• Jonathan Guzman, a senior at Tran-

quillity High School. Mr. Guzman plans to attend the University of California, Irvine to pursue a degree in Business and Finance. He is an honors student actively involved in football and basketball and has received awards for bi-literacy and the Principal’s Honor Roll for all four high school years.

• Savannah Rodriguez, a senior at Mendota High School. Ms. Rodriquez is an honors student who plans on attending University of California, Santa Cruz to pursue a degree in Feminist Studies. She has been involved in softball and badminton and received awards for perfect attendance, leadership and MESA. • Fatima Gamino, a senior at Firebaugh High School. Ms. Gamino plans to attend University of California, Merced to pursue a degree in Chemical Sciences. She has received several awards including Senior of the Month, Top Academic Athlete and Superintendent’s List. Additionally, she has been involved in the Spanish Club, cross country and Academic Decathlon.

Each scholarship recipient will receive $1,000 to be used for community college or university expenses. Applicants were judged on their academic performance, school activities and community leadership.

“Westlands is honored to provide this assistance for these outstanding student leaders,” said Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands. “These scholarships represent a small gesture of thanks and support to the communities on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley that make our region such a productive and vibrant place.”

16 June, 2016

Valley Voice • 19

Education Early English Literature: A Very Brief Introduction Joseph R. Teller

When we hear the term “English literature,” many of us think of names like Shakespeare, Milton, Austen, Hardy, Brontë, Eliot, Woolf, Joyce, and a host of others. But unless we were English majors, “English literature” probably becomes murkier to us when we go back farther than, say, Geoffrey Chaucer. But where does “English literature”—and for that matter, “English” itself—come from?

For the next several columns, I’d like to take us on a short tour of several key works of early English literature that range from the beginnings of the English language up to the Renaissance (c. AD 1450-1600). These works are likely less familiar to readers, works that capture something of the flavor of pre-modern English literature—Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and The Canterbury Tales, and Doctor Faustus.

But before I examine those works

in subsequent columns, let’s address a more fundamental question: where does English itself come from?

We can think of the development of English in three very broad phases: Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. The first phase, Old English, begins in the fifth century. In AD 410, the Visgoths sacked Rome. As a result, Rome pulled its troops out of England, leaving it vulnerable to invasion by Germanic tribes living on the northern coasts of mainland Europe. These tribes, including the Jutes, the Frisians, Angles, and Saxons, steadily invaded and settled England, pushing the Celtic natives into what would become Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. By 650, under the domination of the Angles and Saxons, the dominant language of England (“Angle-land”) was what we call Old English—a synthesis of the languages of the Frisians, Angles, and Saxons, a language which sounds today closer to German than modern English. Though Old English looks and sounds alien to us, modern English wouldn’t be possible without the many function words we use from Old English—words like the, and, man, wife, one, two, what,

which, when, with, and to. In the ninth century, the Vikings invaded and settled eastern and northern England, and the subsequent mingling of Anglo-Saxons and Danes simplified Old English and contributed over 1,000 new words to Old English, including words like skull, anger, skin, shirt, die, rotten, and ugly.

English underwent a seismic shift after 1066, when the Norman French under William the Conqueror invaded England and became the ruling class.

French became the official language of government, with English becoming the “vulgar” language of peasants.

In this phase, “Middle English,” English acquired 10,000 new words from French, including our vocabulary of political power: archer, soldier, judgment, court, legal, regal, royal, castle, battle, guard, courage, serf, peasant, sovereign, mansion, paper, felony, verdict, jury, and government all come from French, as do words that describe banquets— not only feast, but also mutton, beef, pork, venison, bacon, and veal. English proved resilient: by the fourteenth century, English won out over French, and became the official language of England. It is in this period that we start

recognizing the language—we might recognize, for example, Oure fadir that art in heuenes, halewid be thi name, as the opening of the Middle English “Our Father.”

Finally, Modern English—essentially the language you’re reading— began to emerge in the late fifteenth century. William Caxton brought Guttenberg’s printing press to England in 1476, and with the increasing circulation of cheap print and the emergence of the modern nation state, English began its long march toward standardization.

By 1600, English was the language of Shakespeare (note he wrote in modern, not Old, English) and would shortly become the language of Milton, Locke, Newton, Johnson, Dryden, Pope, Austen, Hardy, Eliot, and Joyce—the language most of us think of when we think of “English literature.”

In my next column, we’ll look at the great Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf— the first long work in English—and what it reveals about Old English culture, poetry, and values.

Dr. Joseph Teller is Professor of English at College of the Sequoias. Email him at josepht@cos.edu.

A Quick Look in the Rear-View Mirror from VUSD Superintendent

Todd Oto, Ed.D. Summer is a time when schools and districts pause for a few moments to look back and assess the accomplishments of the year. One of the things we do is look at data that helps us understand how the work we have done with kids has helped prepare them for their lives beyond public school. This is important, for school is not an end in itself, but instead a means to an end: a productive life as an adult.

In Visalia Unified, we received data recently from the state that gives us some insight regarding how we are doing in getting kids to graduation—one of the most foundational outcomes by which we are judged. Each year, we receive graduation rate data for the prior year and this year’s data are striking: for the sixth straight year, we have had a continued increase in our graduation rate. For the 2014-2015 school year, our graduation rate was 94.7%--an increase of 14.4% in our graduation rate from the 2009-2010 school year. From any perspective, this is excellent growth for our district.

To provide some perspective through comparison: for 2014-2015, when the VUSD graduation rate was 94.7%, the county graduation rate was 85.4%, and the state graduation rate was 82.3%. It is important to note that these results represent cohort data. That is, the data reflect the percentage of students who enter high school in the ninth grade and who graduate as seniors four years later—not just the percentage of students who start the senior year and make it to graduation.

Our increased graduation rate can be accounted for through four things,

generally. First, our academic program has continued to develop, and it provides students with a more challenging curriculum and better support than ever before. Kids are working harder and learning more than ever before, and performing better than ever academically. Second, we have a district-wide focus on significance and belonging. This means that we are working actively and intentionally to help kids feel that they have a place and are important at school.

This feeling leverages significantly the academic work of the schools. Third, we have a strong and diverse set of alternative education schools that provide options for kids that struggle in the traditional school setting. These schools provide options for independent study, smaller school settings, deeper behavior support, and truly work hard to keep kids on the path to graduation. Finally, it is important to note that the suspension of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) last year had some impact on graduation rates across the state, although our CAHSEE non-pass rate has traditionally been very low.

So, although we celebrated the achievements of this year’s senior class across our district at our commencement events in June, we also have reason to be proud of the achievement of our schools at large.

Graduation is the result of work at all levels of our organization, not just high schools. As we seek to provide an education that affords students limitless opportunities for the future, an important step in meeting that mission is getting every child to graduation.

We are very, very excited that our data show that we are getting closer to that goal every year!

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June 2016 Lunch M

Calendar

Monday

Lunch served 12-1 pm

Please call 713-4481. Reservations m Tuesday

**Sweet treats or fruit will be served daily.

Sunday Nights: Barmageddon Tulareous Open Mic, 9pm12:30am Our weekly open mic has a great selection of local comedians and musicians. Comedians will have approximately 10 mins of stage time and musicians get three songs. Sign ups start at 9 PM, Show starts at 9:30 PM, Ends around 12:30 AM. No Cover.

to the Valley Oak SPCA. For more information, call 651-1111.

Items on Menu are subject to change

3rd Tuesday, Monthly: League of Women Voters Meeting, 11:45am At Sue Sa’s Club House, 699 W. Center in Visalia. Reservations are required and the public is welcome.

Contact Newellgb@hotmail.com or call 732-1251.

6

Wednesday Nights: Barmageddon Game Night Mondays: Bridge Club, 9:30am- Come blow off some steam at our 2pm game night. Enjoy complimentary 210 W Center Street Visalia, gaming on all consoles, TCG’s, CA 93291. Admission is free. For Table top & board games. Happy additional information call: Joan hour will be from 6 PM- 8 PM. Dinwiddie @ 732-0855 1st Thursday Monthly through Mondays: Knitters, 10amOctober: Diabetes Support 12:30pm Group, 5:30-7pm 210 W Center Street Visalia, Kaweah Delta Health Care District CA 93291. Everyone is welcome. will offer a free diabetes support Monday Nights: Monday Karagroup through October from on the first Thursday of the month at oke at Barmageddon, 9pm-1am Get on stage and sing your favorite the Kaweah Delta Chronic Disease tunes on our one of a kind sound Management Center, 325 Willis St., system. New Image has a vast se- Visalia. Information: 624-2416. lection of songs to choose, ranging 1st Thursday, Monthly: Veterans from 70’s classic rock to modern Support Group, 5:30-7pm pop. Karaoke Jockey Miss Sammi Free support group for global war will be hosting from 9 PM - 1 AM. on terrorism & post 9-11 (Veterans No Cover.

Only) at the Tulare Public Library,

475 North M Street in Tulare. Facilitated by: Dr. Lance Zimmerman, Ph.D of veterans Counseling Clinic. “The transition from serving in a combat zone to civilian life can be a difficult one. Combat veterSaturdays: Cup of Jazz, 10amans commonly experience feelings Noon At Cafe 210, at 210 Center street, of depression, isolation, alienation, Visalia. Free. Led by Richard Ga- guilt, anxiety, and anger following roogian. Call 559.730.0910 for their service. If you’re experiencing these or any other emotional probmore information. lems after serving in a combat zone, Tuesday Nights: Barmageddon it’s vital to seek professional help. “ Trivia Thunderdome, 9pm-1am -Veterans Counseling Clinic.

Challenge your friends to the ultimate trivia throw down. Earn some 3rd Thursday Monthly through bragging rights in categories rang- October: Diabetes Support ing from Saturday morning car- Group, 5:30-7pm toons, classic video games, and pop Kaweah Delta Health Care Disculture films. Teams of 4 or solo trict will offer a free diabetes supplayers compete each round for the port group through October on best scores. Winners of every two the third Thursday of the month at rounds will square off in the Trivia Woodlake Manor Apartments, 200 Thunderdome for great prizes. Free E. Sierra Avenue, Woodlake. Information: 624-2416. sign ups at 9:30 PM. 3rd Thursday, Monthly: Gather2nd Tuesday, Monthly: Yappy ing At the Oval, 12:30-1pm Hour, 5-9pm Well-mannered, leashed pets are Lifting up the needs and concerns welcome on the patio at the Plan- of Visalia through individual prayer ing Mill Artisan Pizzeria, 514 East and meditation at Oval Park, 808 Main Street, Suite A, in Visalia. A North Court Street in Visalia. For portion of the proceeds is donated more information, call 967-4065.

Fridays: Women’s Morning Bible Study, 9am-Noon 210 W Center Street Visalia, CA 93291. For additional information call: 739-9010

Chili Verde Pork with corn tortillas, Mexican rice, refried beans and salad Monday

6 Chili 20 Verde Pork

with corn tortillas, Parmesan Chicken Mexican rice, breast, rice pilaf, refried beans fresh veggies and and salad a roll

13 Classic Spaghetti 27

with redPiccata meat Chicken sauce, garden served with bow salad, garlic bread tie pasta, garden and fruit salad, fruit a roll

20

Wednesday

Thu

1

2 Ba

Grilled Vegetable Lasagna, Caesar salad, fruit & garlic bread, and cake

with grav tato vegg

8

9

June 2016 Lunch M

7 Stuffed Jumbo

12-1

$4.00

Lemon Peppered PastaLunch Shells with served pm Past Chicken breast, rice on m spinach, ricotta, fresh with hamPlease & chicken a pilaf, &. Reservations callin713-4481 m veggies & fru parmesan cream sauce, fruit Tuesday Wednesday Thu

13 **Sweet treats or fruit 14 Classic will be Spaghetti served daily. with red meat sauce, garden Items on Menu are salad, garlic bread subject to change and fruit

$4.00

Glazed Ham Slice, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole and a roll 7 Stuffed Jumbo Pasta 21 Shells with spinach, Zucchini ricotta, Cream ham chicken soup,&ham sub in a parmesan cream sandwich and fruit sauce, fruit

115 Albondigas

216Ba

8 Lemon Peppered 22

9 Past 23

Meatball soup Grilled Vegetable with tostadas and Lasagna, Caesar refriedfruit beans, salad, & garlic lettuce, cheese and bread, and cake pico de gallo Chicken breast, rice Baked Meatloaf pilaf, & fresh with mushroom veggies gravy, mashed po-

tatoes, fresh veg14 15 Albondigas soup Glazed Ham Slice, Meatball 28 29 tostadas scalloped Chili Relleno Casse- with Waffles with and refried beans, potatoes, green role with beans, scrambled eggs cheese and bean casserole rice and fresh fruit lettuce, and hash brown pico de gallo and a roll potatoes, fruit and a muffin

21

22

Chic with crois grav crea tato soup vegg fruit

on m BBQ with sand & fru cole

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16 Chic 30

crois Lasa crea with soup spin fruit sauc sala

23

Meatloaf BBQ take placeBaked on Fridays and will run 3rdParmesan Thursday,Chicken Monthly: Zucchini Board Cream breast, rice pilaf, soup, ham sub with mushroom sand for eight weeks, with the exception Game Night, 6-7:45pm and sandwich fruit July gravy, mashed po- 624cole of Friday, 1. Information: Forfresh ages veggies 10+ at the Visalia Branch and a roll tatoes, fresh vegsala Library, 200 West Oak Street. Sign- 5985. ups are not required. For more in- July 12th – August 16th (Every 27 29 30 formation, call 713-2703.28 Tuesday for 6 weeks 10am – Chicken Piccata

Chili Relleno Casse- Waffles with

Lasa

12:30pm)scrambled eggs 3rdserved Thursday, Ladies’ withMonthly: bow role with beans, with tie pasta, garden rice and fresh fruit 4th and–hash brown8th spin October November Night, 6-10pm fruit a roll potatoes, and10am sauc for 6fruit weeks At salad, the Clay Cafe in Visalia, 1018 (Every Tuesday a muffin sala E. Mineral King Ave. $10 studio – 12:30pm) fee with ceramic purchase. Includes If you would like to learn how to betcomplimentary margarita, dinner ter manage your health, sign up for and dessert. Door prizes too! Reser- a free six-week workshop presented vations required: 733-2022

by Kaweah Delta Health Care Dis1st and 3rd Thursdays, Monthly: trict. The workshop is designed to help people with ongoing health Central Valley Tea Party Meetproblems such as diabetes, arthritis, ings, 6pm 819 West Visalia Road, Farmers- heart disease, asthma, or any other chronic condition. Class size is typville. ically around 12-18 participants.

Last Thursday Monthly through Each session lasts 2 ½ hours. TopOctober: Diabetes Support ics that are covered include: dealing Group, 5:30-7pm with difficult emotions, managing Kaweah Delta Health Care Dis- symptoms, goal setting, problem trict will offer a free diabetes sup- solving, nutrition, understanding port group through October on the medications, making informed last Thursday of the month at Sand treatment decisions, and increasCreek Apartments, 41020 Rd. 124, ing strength and stamina through Orosi. Information: 624-2416. better fitness. Participants demonFridays: Dinuba Farmers’ Market strate significant improvements in the areas covered. They also report Grand Opening, 6-9pm Market will take place from 6-9 fewer hospitalizations and outpap.m. and began Friday, June 10. tient visits. The Empowerment for It is located at 289 S. L Street in Better Living CDSMP workshops downtown Dinuba, in effort to will be offered on a quarterly basis fight an epidemic of obesity and at the newly opened Chronic Disits life-threatening complications ease Management Center located at in Tulare County. The market will 325 Willis Street in Visalia.

Menu / Visalia Senior Center

0 Dine In

or Takeout & under 55 yrs:

$5.00

must be made one business day in advance by 12 PM.

ursday

Friday

aked Meatloaf h mushroom vy, mashed pooes, fresh gies and a roll

3 Kung Pao Chicken, broccoli tossed with ginger/peanut sauce, rice & fruit

Weekly Salad Option Garden Salad

with chicken, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, shredded lettuce with ranch dressing

Menu / Visalia Senior Center

10 Taco Salad with Salad$5.00 & Swiss ground 0trami Dine In or lettuce, Takeout & underGreek 55 yrs:

Crisp romaine, cucumbers, marbled rye beef, beans, Kalamata olives, red onion, h corn tomatoes, shredded must bechowder made one business day in feta, advance 12 PM . grilledby chicken with uit cheese & sour champagne vinaigrette cream and fruit ursday Weekly Salad Option Friday

aked Meatloaf cken salad h mushroom ssant with povy, mashed am of potato oes, fresh p and fresh gies and a roll t

317 Father’s Day

Garden Salad Cobb Salad

chicken, lettuce, Kung Pao Chicken, with with Chicken, tomato, avoSlow Roasted Pot cucumber, broccoli tossed with tomato, cado, lettuce and bacon bits Roast with shredded lettuce with ranch ginger/peanut with ranch and feta cheese potatoes, carrots, dressing sauce, rice & fruit roll & dessert 10 Taco Salad with Greek Salad trami & Swiss lettuce, ground 24 CrispSalad romaine, cucumbers, Taco marbled rye beef, beans, Q Pulled Pork Fish Tacos with Kalamata in a tortillaolives, bowl red withonion, hdwich, corn chowder tomatoes, shredded cabbage and pico feta, grilled chicken greens, black beans,with corn, uit cheese & sour eslaw, potato de gallo, spiced champagne vinaigrette shredded cheese, chicken cream and fruit ad and fruit black beans, and and pico de gallo 17 Father’s Day Cobb Salad A cken salad Chicken Caesar with Chicken, tomato, avoChef Salad ssant Alfredo with Slow Roasted Pot agna cado, lettuce and bacon Salad is available with diced cheeses, blackbits am of potato Roast with h chicken and with ranch and feta olives, ham, tomato cheese and Daily andcarrots, may be p and nach infresh alfredo potatoes, hard boiled eggs with tce with Caesar roll served & dessert as a meal ranch dressing ad and fruit replacement

24

Taco Salad Fish Tacos with Midas Clique, Riddy K & SILO in a tortilla bowl with cabbage and pico will be there! Get your $5 Pre-Sale greens, black beans, corn, de gallo, spiced tickets from cheese, any of those artists or shredded chicken beans, and June 16: Visalia black Chamber Annual atand Barmageddon. $8 Door Cover pico de gallo

Q Pulled Pork dwich, eslaw, potato ad and fruit

JUNE

Awards Celebration, 6-9pm A Each year the Visalia Chamber Chicken Caesar agna Alfredo of Commerce honors those busiSalad is available h chicken and nesses and individuals who Daily and mayconbe nach in alfredo sistently go above and beyond served as a mealto ce with Caesar our community.

This year adsupport and fruit replacement dozens of businesses and individuals have been nominated for these prestigious awards. The categories include; Small, Medium & Large Business of the Year, Non-Profit of the Year as well as Man, Woman and Emerging Leader. The event will be held at the Visalia Convention Center.

at 8 PM, Show at 9 PM. $1 PBR &Chef Olympias Salad Drink Specials. 21+ Call/Info 559-656-3634. with diced cheeses, black More Details at www.facebook.com/ olives, ham, tomato and hard boiled eggs with events/229149514135377/ ranch dressing

June 18: Free Entrance to Your National Parks A Day Honoring Buffalo Soldiers (free only at Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs)

tral Valley Horror Club, pies, kittens, reptiles and so much Injustice Tournament. Sign ups at 9 more. $85 per week or $150 for PM. Prizes for 1st place. No Cover. two weeks. Includes daily snack, t-shirt and group photo. Download June 24-25: 13th Annual Visalia Registration form at: http://vospTeen Idol Auditions Are you the next Visalia Teen Idol? ca.org/wp-content/uploads/CritAudition packets are available ter-Camp-2016-registration-form. to teens who live within Visalia pdf Questions: 651-1111 ext. 3 Unified School District (VUSD) boundaries. At audition packet pick-up, participants will select their audition date and time. For more information, please call (559) 713-IDOL. Audition dates are Friday, June 24th from 3 pm to 7 pm OR Saturday, June 25th from 9 am to 12 pm.

June 25: Central Valley Metal Movement at Barmageddon, Tulare Swing by June 25th for CVMM Showcase of Dawning of a Massacre, Serpents Tongue, A Butchers Euphoria, Into The Abyss, Summon The Harbinger, Benson & Affirmative Reaction. $5 Pre-Sales, $7 Door Cover at 8 PM. $1 PBR & Olympias Drink Specials. 21+.

More Details at www.facebook. com/events/1224318000921457/ June 26: Learn How To Help FoodLink Dr. Sarah Ramirez, executive director of FoodLink, will be the special speaker at the June 26 Sunday service at the Center for Spiritual Living at 10:30 a.m. She will talk about how people can help with FoodLink’s mission to end hunger in Tulare County. Following the service at 12 noon there will be a workshop and lunch created totally out of food available in a food pantry box. Suggested donation for the lunch and workshop is $10. All interested persons are invited to attend. Located at 117 S. Locust in Visalia (one block south of Main).

625-2441

June 18: Smashmageddon 3 at Barmageddon, Tulare Join us June 18th for Smashmageddon 3. We will be featuring Melee, PM Singles, & Doubles (pending June 16: Duck Hunt Tournament on number of players.) Come out at Barmageddon, Tulare and enjoy drinks, arcade games, and Sign ups at 9 PM. Prizes for 1st console games with us. We’re going place. No Cover. to record some of the local matches June 16-19: Visalia Rawhide & & upload them to YouTube. 21+.

June 27-30: Horse Camp for BeSequoia Parks Conservancy More Details at www.facebook. ginners Ages 7 to 77, 8:30-11am Join the Sequoia Parks Conser- com/events/260474167641122/. each day vancy at the Rawhide Stadium in June 21: Live Music w/ Art MaFor more info call 559-561-4268.

Visalia, CA as we celebrate Parks chuca at Barmageddon, Tulare All events take place at Wood N & Pastimes. Buy tickets here: www.

Art Machuca will be gracing our Horse Training Stables, 42846 rawhidebaseball.com stage for ONE night only!! Get your North Fork Dr, Three Rivers.

June 17: Mystery Music Show - A tickets at Barmageddon. $7 Door June 27-July 1: Valley Oak SPCA Hip Hop Affair at Barmageddon, Cover at 8 PM, Show at 9 PM. Critter Camp Tulare June 23: Horror Video Game & For children ages 5-7. Valley Oak Join us June 17th for the amazing Movie Night at Barmageddon, SPCA is taking registration for Mystery Music Show - A Hip Hop Tulare Critter Camp: summer fun for Affair. All of your Bakersfield favorHorror Video Game & Mov- youth ages 5-12 featuring guest ites Afta, Dat1Chyck Uno, King ie Night hosted by Cen- speakers, arts and crafts, pup-

June 30: Shaq Fu Tournament at Barmageddon, Tulare Sign ups at 9 PM. Prizes for 1st place. No Cover.

July 11-15: Valley Oak SPCA

JULY Critter Camp For children ages 5-7. Valley Oak SPCA is taking registration for Critter Camp: summer fun for youth ages 5-12 featuring guest speakers, arts and crafts, puppies, kittens, reptiles and so much more. $85 per week or $150 for two weeks. Includes daily snack, t-shirt and group photo. Download Registration form at: http://vospca.org/wp-content/uploads/Critter-Camp-2016-registration-form. pdf Questions: 651-1111 ext. 3 July 14: Valley Oak Quilt Guild Meeting, 10am Valley Oak Quilt Guild www.valleyoakqg.org will meet Thursday, July 14, at Tulare Community Church, 1820 N Gem, in Tulare at 10:00 AM. The program will be “Christmas in July”. Call for information on what to bring: Nanette at 559-625-2541 July 17: Happy Together Tour 2016 at the Visalia Fox Theater A night of 60s and 70s hits starring The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddie, Chuck Negron (formerly of Three Dog Night), Mark Lindsay (former lead singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders), Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, The Cowsills and The Spencer Davis Group.

Send your calendar items to: editor@ourvalleyvoice.com

22 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

Sports “Rawhide Family” Expecting Four Babies in July It’s not considered good planning when you hear about a baseball player expecting a child during the season. Four members of a Minor League team & front office expecting during the season and all during the same month? Now that’s unheard of!

The 2016 season will make the history books for the Rawhide one way or another – of course everyone is hoping for a Championship season. However, as a consolation prize, four “Rawhide Babies” will be a pretty impressive feat in itself!

Who’s expecting?

Team General Manager Jennifer Pendergraft & her boyfriend Clayton Reynolds are due July 9th. Assistant General Manager Charlie Saponara & his wife Brynn are expecting their second child on July 1st. Rawhide

• • •

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Rawhide General Manager, Jennifer Pendergraft: Baby Gender: Boy Baby Name: Maverick Mitchell Reynolds Special Story Behind Name?: We can tell he’s going to be a little outlaw full of personality, and his middle name is both his grandfather’s name & his dad’s middle name – keepin it in the family!

What is your basic routine now?

During the season, for our night games, I’ll arrive at the ballpark between 8 or 9am & will head home post-game typically between 10 & 11pm. In the off-season I’ll get to the ballpark around 7:30am & depending on the day’s projects, head home between 6 & 7pm.

How do you foresee your schedule changing when the baby is born? This might change, but with the blessing of my co-workers, my game-plan is to get back to work as soon as possible & just tote the little guy around with me throughout the day – I’m at my desk during the day, and walk around the ballpark during games, so it shouldn’t be too too bad. The off-season is a bit unknown at this point, but I know I need to get more comfortable with working remotely from home. I have two colleagues who have children & have done a great job transitioning into the new lifestyle, so I’ll attempt to follow their lead. The biggest challenge for me will be starting to say ‘no’ more often to outside opportunities, committees, volunteer work, etc. I’m not the personality to say no to anything if I can avoid it, but I know that I need to now.

What are you looking forward to most about becoming a new parent? This might sound a little weird, but I’m looking forward to the challenge…I like challenges. And I’m also looking forward to having a new outlook on life. When people try to explain how becoming a parent totally changes your life for the better they have a hard time explaining the feeling because I know it’s just something you have to experience, so that will be fun.

Athletic Trainer Chad Moeller & his wife Vanessa are expecting their first child on July 2nd. And closing out the lineup is Rawhide Catcher Tyler Baker & his wife Brooke who are expecting on July 23rd.

All of them are expecting boys!

“True to Minor League Baseball style, we decided this coincidence was something worthy of a quirky promotion.” Pendergraft explained. “We’re all excited about the new challenges to come – we’re not blind to how terrible the timing is for our work schedules – but at the same time it’s going to be really neat to go through this experience all together. So I approached Kaweah Delta Hospital about helping us with a game promotion to commemorate this special event in Rawhide history, and they were incredibly generous with their

• • •

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Rawhide Assistant GM, Charlie Saponara: Baby Gender: Boy Baby Name: Everett Charles Saponara Special Story Behind Name?: We liked the mature feel of the name Everett & it’s sense of strength. The translation, come to find, means, “wild boar,” so maybe we’re in for it! His middle name is named after his grandfather on my wife’s side, just as my first son’s middle name was in honor of my father.

What is your basic routine now?

In-season, I’ll start my morning by catching up on emails, then go outside to set up all of our group areas, making sure seats are in order and the areas are clean. Then, I’ll pop back over to my desk and work on a combination of sales projects, promotion projects, and social media marketing projects.

About an hour before gates open, I’ll do a final check of group areas, making sure they are stocked appropriately for the groups coming in that evening.

Most of the time I am on-field helping with the pregame schedule before first pitch. Once the game starts, I focus on client servicing groups and season ticket clients – and, as we all do, help where needed. During the offseason, my time is largely focused on sales; both group outing renewals and marketing contracts, while also being involved in the marketing planning for the coming season, and assisting other staff members in my department.

How do you foresee your schedule changing when the baby is born?

Thankfully, I have an amazing wife that supports my career by taking care of our son while I’m working 12-15 hour days during homestands. Between daycare and my wife’s care at home, I feel 100% comfortable not having to change my in-season schedule, though I do try not to stay in the office too late on non-gamedays. The one thing that changed for me when my first son was born was my office time during the offseason. Instead of staying at the office until 6-7pm or later, I’ll leave just after 5pm, have dinner and hang out with the family, then, once my son gets tucked into bed, I have some time to work remotely in my home-office before heading to bed

assistance!”

The promotion: ‘Red, White & Due!: A Day Dedicated to Expectant Mothers’ to take place during the Friday, July 1st 7pm game vs. the San Jose Giants.

The details: • Making a Debut: Expectant mothers will be encouraged to submit their baseball-themed photos via Rawhide & Kaweah Delta social media sites to enter themselves for a chance to win a free Baby Shower at the Ballpark’s Hall of Fame Club facility.

• On Deck: The first 100 expecting moms at the game will receive a free baseball themed onesie.

• Adding to the Lineup: All expecting mothers get free seating

in the Hall of Fame Club AC during the game.

• Little Peanut: Discounted bags of peanuts for sale.

• Annnnnd the Delivery!: If a woman goes into labor at the game, her child receives free Rawhide birthday parties for life.

In addition to the festivities, Kaweah Delta will have class information available at the game, as well as delivery nurses who will answer any questions.

They will also be hosting a photo booth in the Hall of Fame Club, and a raffle drawing with tons of great mommyto-be prizes.

More information on the parents-tobe is below!

myself. Of course, for the first month or so after the new baby arrives, I’ll likely have to take a bit more time at home to catch up on some sleep. No one likes a zombie dad at work!

What are you looking forward to most about becoming a parent for the second time? The bonding is the best part – doing all the fun father-son things – and I can’t wait to make that connection with my second child. I’m also very much looking forward to seeing how the two boys interact with each other & how the oldest is able to help and lead by example.

week, rather spending my days seeing him slowly grow up. I will probably work on the weekends when my wife has off and can watch Nathaniel. Similar to during the season, my wife and I will switch off to provide breaks to exercise, clean, etc.

What are you looking forward to most about becoming a new parent? I think that I’m most looking forward to beginning a family of my own and raising a beautiful child with my amazing wife. It will be incredible to have something so special in our lives that is bigger than any gift one could give.

We are excited to share our love with Nathaniel and start a new chapter in our lives.

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Rawhide Team Athletic Trainer, Chad Moeller: Baby Gender: Boy Baby Name: Nathaniel John Moeller Special Story Behind Name?: My wife & I both love the name Nathaniel.

Nathaniel’s middle name is in remembrance of Vanessa’s late Grandfather John Coil. He was a very influential and special person in her life growing up and we wanted to honor him.

• What is your basic routine now?

My in-season routine basically consists of working out/exercising in the morning, relaxing for a bit afterwards, then head to the park around noon where I begin my day with treatments and preparing the players for the game. Wrap-up & reports after the game can last a few hours. My off-season schedule is pretty variable with a great deal more down time. In the off-season I work as a PRN/outreach Athletic Trainer in Phoenix helping to cover soccer tournaments, Pop Warner football, and local high school athletics. I also assist with the rehabilitation of the Diamondbacks minor league baseball players at their spring training complex in Scottsdale a few days a week.

How do you foresee your schedule changing when the baby is born?

In-season, I predict many nights of little to no sleep while attending to Nathaniel. I probably won’t have nearly as much free time to exercise or relax though my wife and I plan to switch off, giving each other breaks when necessary. My off-season will undoubtedly consist of quality time spent with Nathaniel. I likely will not do as much PRN/outreach work during the

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Rawhide Catcher, Tyler Baker: Baby Gender: Boy Baby Name: Liam Sterling Baker Special Story Behind Name?: We just liked the name Liam.

The middle name Sterling is after my fat h e r - i n - l a w.

It’s his middle name also.

• What is your basic routine now? During the season I wake up around 9am then come to the field around 1 or 2pm, depending on the day, and will be at the ballpark until 30 or 40 minutes after the game is over – between 10 & 11pm typically. During the off-season I wake up around 6:30am and then go to work.

I also give lessons 3 days a week, after work.

How do you foresee your schedule changing when the baby is born? The rest of this season my schedule probably won’t change too much for me because I will be away from my family, and my wife will take care of him back home. During the off-season my schedule will change a lot because I’m going to stay home & take care of Liam while my wife is at work so we will save money on daycare.

What are you looking forward to most about becoming a new parent? Excited to start our family and getting to have a son I get to look after and be around as much as I can. We just got a house so I am excited about getting our family settled and seeing where it goes from here. Also getting to teach him all the things that I learned growing up and turning him into a good kid.

Valley Voice • 23

16 June, 2016

TCOE, Rawhide Partner with Play Ball Program the 50 students under 12 to participate from northside schools where baseball is Highland Elementary School no longer offered. “Just after their first sixth-grader Daniel Mendoza has en- game outing and their clinic, I was abjoyed playing soccer for several years. solutely blown away by the students’ atThanks to his involvement in a new titudes and passion to learn,” said RawRawhide Baseball program called Play hide General Manager Jen Pendergraft.

Ball, Daniel’s love for baseball is grow- “It really took me back to when I was a ing. “Soccer and baseball are about equal kid being taught how to play for the first for me now,” he said. “I’ve liked learn- time. The kids were sponges and really responded well to ing how to throw every detail!” better, faster and CHARACTER straighter. I also COUNTS! At a liked learning how recent meeting of to dive for catches.” participants from Daniel is one of Highland Elemen50 Visalia students tary, CHARACinvolved in the TER COUNTS! Play Ball program Coordinator Kelwho began attendley Petty talked to ing monthly skills the students about clinics in April. tr ustwor thiness.

Over the course of “Why do you think the summer and it’s important to be through a total of a trustworthy perfive clinics, the students will learn the Students also reflect on character lessons son when you play asked basics of throwing, and the importance of good sportsmanship. baseball?”

Mrs. Petty. The stucatching, batting and fielding. The students will also learn dents responded by describing players about the importance of good character the coach could depend on – someone and sportsmanship thanks to an ongo- who continued to practice throughout ing partnership between the ball club the summer and someone who supportand the Tulare County CHARACTER ed the rest of the team during games.

In addition to the Play Ball proCOUNTS! Program.

Rawhide partnered with the Wit- gram, CHARACTER COUNTS! parttman Youth Center in Visalia to select ners with Visalia Rawhide each year with Tulare County Office of Education

Students practice their throwing and catching skills at the Rawhide Play Ball clinic.

the Adopt-a-Player program. Schools throughout the county welcome Rawhide players to school assemblies to talk about the importance of sportsmanship utilizing the message of CHARACTER COUNTS! through the Pursuing Victory with Honor Program. In addition, schools have the opportunity to send their students of character to CHARACTER COUNTS! Day at the Rawhide. Hundreds of regular and special education students annually attend a game toward the end of the school year.

The Visalia Rawhide’s outreach clinics have the potential to serve as a national implementation model for Major League Baseball’s Play Ball initiative.

The goal of the initiative is to help individuals who don’t have the resources

to access organized baseball leagues by giving them foundational skills, exposure to the game and basic equipment to continue playing. Utilizing volunteers from local middle and high school baseball teams, the Play Ball program is impacting dozens of students, fostering a love for America’s pastime, physical activity and good character. “I remember when I was a kid, being in awe of the pro players and watching what they do,” said Rawhide pitcher Brad Keller. “It’s awesome to see the kids’ enthusiasm and willingness to learn the game at such a young age.”

For more information on the CHARACTER COUNTS! sportsmanship programs, contact Kelley Petty at (559) 740-4303.

2nd Annual West Hills College Car Show Set for Sept. 10 Staff Reports

Local car and motorcycle enthusiasts will soon have an opportunity to show off their rides while supporting the academic dreams of hundreds of students.

West Hills College’s 2nd annual car show will be held on Sept. 10 at West Hills College Coalinga, with all proceeds benefiting the President’s Scholars Program. The scholarship program provides free tuition and $250 per semester for books to scholarship recipients at WHCC, West Hills College Lemoore and North District Center, Firebaugh.

“This car show is a great way to involve community members in the college and especially in supporting the President’s Scholars program scholarships, which will be awarded to more

than 150 students for the fall semester,” said Ken Stoppenbrink, Deputy Chancellor of the West Hills Community College District and event co-chair.

“This will be our second annual car show and each year we expect it to grow and bring both more cars and more attendance. We’re expecting KISS Country this year, which will add to the festivities and expanded food selections.”

Registration for the event, which will welcome street rods, hot rods, low riders, stock and modified cars, pickups, and motorcycles is $25. Registration will also be available on the day of the show for $30.

Admission for spectators is free and food and beverages will be available. The cars will be displayed along Elm Street in front of the athletic field.

Pre-register online at westhillscol-

lege.com/carshow. For more information about the event, contact event cochair Butch Wright at 559-935-3327 or at 59otsjag@gmail.com.

Set up will begin at 7am and judging will start at 10:01am at the Coalinga campus at 300 Cherry Lane in Coalinga.

Shelby Miller Dazzles with Six Shutout Innings in Victory RHP Shelby Miller, making a MLB Rehab appearance, pitched six shutout innings, striking out 11 and allowing just two hits and 1B Marty Herum went deep twice, driving in four as part of a three-hit night as the Visalia Rawhide extended their winning streak to five in a row with a 5-1 win over Lancaster at Recreation Ballpark on Thursday night.

As part of Miller’s (1-0, 0.00) dazzling performance he was perfect through five innings, retiring the first 15 men he faced until the sixth inning when finally Lancaster’s SS Antonio

Nunez blooped a ball down the left field line for the first hit of the game.

Miller was electric, striking out 11 in six innings while allowing only two hits and throwing 87 pitches in the victory.

Visalia kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the first against RHP Trent Thornton (2-3, 4.50) when Herum belted his first home run of the game and fourth of the season over the left-centerfield wall for a 2-0 Rawhide lead.

C Oscar Hernandez, with two outs in the second frame, got ahold of a

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Thornton pitch and put his third home run of the season over the left field wall for a 3-0 Rawhide lead.

Herum, in the fifth, struck again with his second home run of the game over the left-centerfield wall that gave Visalia a 5-0 lead.

Herum added a double to his three-hit night and drove in a season high four in the win for Visalia.

Thornton pitched 4.1 innings, taking the loss, while allowing five runs (earned) on seven hits, two walks and he struck out two.

RHP Nick Baker came in for the

seventh inning and walked RF Ramon Laureano. Laureano stole second base and moved to third on a wild pitch before LF Jason Martin tripled him home for the only run of the game for Lancaster.

RHP Luis Ramirez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and RHP Jency Solis came on and closed out the 5-1 win with a perfect ninth inning.

The Rawhide held their four game lead in the North Division with the victory.

Print replica edition at issuu.com/ourvalleyvoice

24 • Valley Voice

16 June, 2016

Local Dog Blogger Finalist for International Pet Industry Award Staff Reports BlogPaws, the first and original social media network and conference designed by and for pet bloggers, recently announced finalists for the BlogPaws 2016 Nose-to-Nose Pet Blogging and Social Media Awards. Local resident, Lindsay Pevny, creator of Little Dog Tips, was selected as a finalist in the Best New Pet Blog category.

Designed to honor the best of the best pet bloggers and influencers, 48 finalists in 12 categories have been selected in “Oscar-award” style by a panel of industry professionals. The 12 winners will be selected by judges based on creativity, expertise, and performance in their respective categories.

These are the only pet industry awards on which pet bloggers and influencers are judged on the expertise, performance, and creativity of the entry. Each category is judged by a distinguished panel of professionals, and not by popular vote.

“Our bloggers strive to be some-

thing, at BlogPaws, not just to ‘write’ something or ‘create’ something.” BlogPaws’ co-founder, Yvonne DiVita said.

It’s about learning, growing, and striving for excellence. BlogPaws rewards them with our Annual Nose to Nose Awards, sharing the 48 finalists leading up to our conference, then awarding the winners at a Red Carpet ceremony, at close of our conference.”

BlogPaws hosted its first pet-friendly social media and marketing conference in 2010 and has grown annually into the biggest social media event and conference of its kind with attendees from all over the world.

Finalists receive a blog badge and conference pass. Winners will be revealed in an exclusive red-carpet ceremony at the seventh pet-friendly BlogPaws Annual Conference (http://www.blogpaws. com/), taking June 23 through June 25 near Phoenix, Arizona at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass. The three-day extravaganza culminates with this posh ceremony. All winners receive a trophy, recognition by peers, media spotlight,

Lindsay Pevny and her dogs, Cow and Matilda. Courtesy/Lindsay Pevny

and a prize package.

Little Dog Tips provides science-based positive reinforcement training tips in a way that is easy to understand and apply to real-life situations. Readers can use the highly effective, humane training methods to train fun tricks and eliminate problem behaviors without the

use of force, punishment or fear.

Lindsay Pevny is a freelance copywriter and blogger for pet industry businesses, and started Little Dog Tips when her dog, Matilda, was a puppy.

The blog follows their experiences, mishaps and triumphs in forcefree training.

Valley Oak SPCA Holding Critter Camp, NASCAR Contest Staff Reports The Valley Oak SPCA is holding two events this summer: the SPCA is opening up registration for ‘Critter Camp,’ which it bills as summer fun for youth ages 5-12 featuring guest speakers, arts and crafts, puppies, kittens, reptiles and so much more.

The SPCA is holding the Critter

Camp classes Monday through Friday, 9:00am-12:00pm at Valley Oak SPCA Adoption Center, 29010 Highway 99, Visalia.

The registration deadline for children ages 8-12 has already passed, but parents of children ages 5-7 can register their kids by June 20, for sessions ranging from June 27-July 1 and July 11-15.

Critter Camp is $85 per week or

$150 for two weeks, and includes daily snack, t-shirt and group photo.

For NASCAR fans, the Valley Oak SPCA is also offering a chance to win four NASCAR race tickets while helping the SPCA raise money for a new rescue and adoption van.

Each entry is $25 for the chance to win four tickets to the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Race at the Sonoma Raceway from

June 24-26.

Entries will be accepted up until Friday, June 17, and the winner will be announced on Saturday, June 18.

Anyone with questions can email Trish at pchambers@vospca.org or Lydia at lydia.house@vospca.org.

Enter at https://www.razoo.com/ story/Driving-Fur-Paws-Our-LifeSaving-Cause