On Monday July 7, Tulare County employee negotiators and Shelline Bennett, the lawyer representing the county, returned to the negotiating table. All the employees’ hard work, outreach and testimonies paid off as the county offered a one-year contract with a 3% raise. The county employees then made an undisclosed counteroffer that Bennett was supposed to […]
Tulare County employees turned up the heat last week on the Tulare County Board of Supervisors (BOS), conducting a protest march outside the council chambers and taking their message to Sacramento. During a special evening session of the Tulare County BOS on June 24th, the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 521 organized a march […]
For a second consecutive year, Visalia will have a balanced budget. On Thursday, June 26th, the Visalia City Council held a special meeting to review and approve the city’s budget for fiscal years 2014-15 and 2015-16. After Amy Sing and Renee Nagel, from the finance department, presented the budget council, members took turns sharing their […]
Pete McCracken – More than a City Council Member It was a sad day in Porterville when Renaissance Man, Pete McCracken, passed away June 21st. Mr. McCracken had just been re-elected to his third term on the Porterville City Council. Being on the city council, and having served as mayor, were just two of Mr. […]
A wise man once said that you teach what you need to learn. Michelle Tedrow is the poster child for that saying. After her brother died, she had a spiritual awakening and decided it was her calling to become a medium. She read the best books on the subject and sought out the advice of […]
Tulare County employees, represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Tulare County management are engaged in heated negotiations. If the two sides cannot agree on a contract by June 30th, the represented employees will have the option to call a strike. The SEIU is asking for a three-year contract with an 8.74% raise. Their […]
For a few days after the June 3rd primary, Tulare County Supervisor Mike Ennis managed to fend off three District 5 challengers and stay just above the required 50% plus one vote to avoid a runoff. But after the final count tallied last Friday, June 13th, Ennis came up short by only 21 votes. Porterville […]
This is Part II of the series “Speaking to the Dead – Are Mediums Real?” Losing a husband or wife is one of the main reasons that someone will seek out a medium. The following is Valeria’s session with medium Michelle Tedrow. Valeria lost her husband last November, and then the grandmother who raised her […]
Primary Predictions In the May 15th issue of the Valley Voice, I published my predictions for the June 3rd primary. I made predictions for the first and second place winners for six races, and first place winners for District Attorney and Sheriff. Out of my fourteen predictions I got twelve correct. Of the two predictions […]
The June 3rd primary election ushered into office heavily favored candidates, but also produced a few surprises. The biggest surprise of the night was the race for Tulare County District Attorney. In a duel that was difficult to call during its final days, Tim Ward pulled off a solid defeat of former Assistant DA Ralph […]