Why are Walnut Trees in Political Fix? Visalia City Council just voted April 4 to appropriate $105,000 to plant walnut trees in the city’s Scenic Corridor. This is in addition to the $58,000 that has already been spent. There are very good reasons to plant walnut trees in Visalia’s Scenic Corridor and there are some […]
At its March 7 Visalia City Council meeting, members voted 5-0 in favor of a project to beautify the city. The project was the brain child of Elaine Martell, executive director of Downtown Visalians, and Mary Jo Eastes, of Arts Visalia, who had both seen, while traveling out of state, large electrical boxes turned into […]
On March 10, the day before filing closed, Rudy Mendoza declared his candidacy for California State Assembly District 26. In an election year that has already produced many surprises, a rematch between Woodlake Mayor Rudy Mendoza and Freshman Assemblyman Devon Mathis could inject some welcome excitement into local elections. Ruben Macareno, Tulare County Democrat Central […]
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors got an unexpected treat when Sheriff Mike Boudreaux showed up to its March 8 meeting to demonstrate the department’s newest piece of law enforcement equipment. Officially referred to as an unmanned aerial system (UAS) Boudreaux displayed a demonstration model of a drone the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department plans on […]
Falling Asleep on the Job Republican Assembly Member Devon Mathis was not a happy camper when he heard that fellow Republican Woodlake Mayor Rudy Mendoza filed to challenge him for State Assembly District 26. Mr. Mathis’ response when interviewed by The Fresno Bee was, “resources that the Republican caucus would use to help Fresno Republican […]
The highly anticipated grand opening of the Woodlake Valley Cultural Museum took place on February 27. After a blessing by the Four Directions Native American drumming quartet, the crowd was treated to an educational repository of Woodlake’s Native American heritage and the town’s last two centuries of history. “Until now people have kept their memorabilia […]
The Last Brokered Convention The last brokered Republican convention was in Philadelphia in 1948. It took Governor Thomas E. Dewey three ballots to beat out several formidable rivals to get a majority of the votes. My grandmother, Florence Doe, was one of those delegates, and late in life she pined for those days when conventions […]
On February 11th, Judge James T. La Porte of the Kings County Superior Court ruled that Hanford Environmental Action Team (HEAT) can proceed with its appeal of the Site Plan Review and the Negative Declaration for the proposed Bajun American Properties, L.P. apartment complex in West Hanford. The city of Hanford stated that HEAT missed […]
Devon Mathis’ election to the California State Assembly in November of 2014 was considered an historic victory. The Veterans’ community campaigned hard to get someone elected who would fight for their cause in Sacramento. Disillusioned conservatives were pumped that a young independent resoundly beat the Republican establishment. On election night, Mathis’ campaign team celebrated at […]
Turning The Clock Back The South Carolina presidential debate on February 13 made it abundantly clear that the only potty trained Republican on the dais was Ohio Governor John Kasich. I would have included Dr. Ben Carson on the list, but after he said the Pyramids of Giza were actually grain silos, I haven’t paid […]