Tulare County Sued by Former Animal Control Employees

Posted on November 20, 2014November 20, 2014 by Catherine Doe

On November 10, two former Tulare County Animal Control employees, retired USMC Major Paul Grenseman and Julia Jimenez, filed suit in Tulare County Superior Court against five Tulare County employees, including Tim Lutz, Health and Human Resource Services fiscal operations manager. The plaintiffs are suing the county for discrimination, racial/ethnic and sexual harassment, failure to prevent discrimination and failure to prevent harassment as well retaliation for objecting […]

Homeowners Bordering Stillwell Mine Want Compensation

Posted on November 20, 2014November 20, 2014 by Catherine Doe

When Rob and Sissi Morton moved into their Lemon Cove home 12 years ago, they thought they had bought a little piece of heaven. Their 1.5 acres of land had a beautiful view of the foothills and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Regardless of the amount of rainfall, they also had some of the most reliable water in the state, with the water table only […]

CEMEX Fights For Its Life

Posted on November 6, 2014November 9, 2014 by Catherine Doe

CEMEX is fighting on two fronts to continue mining in Tulare County. The first front is defending itself against allegations that it violated its conditional use permit. If found guilty, the company could lose its permit to mine gravel at Stillwell Mine in Lemon Cove. On the second front, it is in danger of the […]

Visalia Approves New General Plan

Posted on November 6, 2014November 9, 2014 by Catherine Doe

After four years of hard work, the Visalia City Council adopted their General Plan. After a three-and-a-half hour final meeting on October 14, the vote was 5-0 to adopt the Climate Action Plan, the General Plan Update and the associated Environmental Impact Report. “This truly is the community’s plan–the community was engaged throughout the process, […]

Visalia Continues Process to Adopt General Plan Update

Posted on October 16, 2014October 17, 2014 by Catherine Doe

A continuance of the September 8 special Visalia City Council meeting on the General Plan took place during the council’s regular meeting on October 6. Due to an emergency, Council Member Bob Link was unable to attend. Any decision on the General Plan was delayed until the following week, when Link would be available. According […]

Political Fix (16 October, 2014)

Posted on October 16, 2014October 17, 2014 by Catherine Doe

The Thrill Is Gone This is the last issue before the November election, but no predictions will be made. Trying to predict who would come in second during the June Primary was fun. Of my 14 predictions, 12 were correct–pretty good for a novice prognosticator. But the fun is gone, and it’s pretty obvious who […]

McKay Point Reservoir Concerns Locals – Part II

Posted on October 2, 2014October 4, 2014 by Catherine Doe

From the Sierra Nevada Mountains flows the Kaweah River. This river can rage through the Valley creating floods, or more commonly, be reduced to a trickle in the summer months even before it was dammed in 1962. About a mile north of Sequoia Union Elementary School and 2.5 miles south of Woodlake is an isolated […]

Tulare County Sues Its Own Employees

Posted on October 2, 2014October 4, 2014 by Catherine Doe

Formal charges were filed on September 17 by Tulare County against the Service Employee International Union (SEIU). The California Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) will begin investigating allegations of unfair labor practices against SEIU Local 521. After a presentation by County Counsel Kathleen Bales-Lange and a public discussion, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors (BOS) […]

Lemon Cove Wells Slowly Regain Water After CEMEX Fills Trench

Posted on October 2, 2014October 4, 2014 by Catherine Doe

Locals lament lack of leadership from their supervisors It’s one step forward and two steps back for the residents who live next to the Stillwell mine in Lemon Cove. In January, several residents’ wells dried up when CEMEX stopped filling the recharge trench that maintained their water levels. The multi-national initially refused to fill the […]

Political Fix (2 October, 2014)

Posted on October 2, 2014October 4, 2014 by Catherine Doe

Dysfunction Junction Former Woodlake City Administrator Bill Lewis has a bone to pick with State Assembly candidate and Woodlake Mayor Rudy Mendoza. At the September 16 Candidate’s Forum, Mr. Mendoza claimed that, while mayor of Woodlake, he converted a $1 million dollar deficit to a budget surplus and completely replaced the city’s dysfunctional staff. “As […]