Outspoken Porterville City Council Member Greg Shelton has declared his candidacy for Tulare County’s Fifth District Supervisorial seat. Shelton is 52, single and self-employed with real estate interests. He says he “lives a spartan existence.” His involvement in local government started when he wanted to buy an abandoned railroad property adjacent to property he owned. […]
The Visalia City Council took major steps this week to combat the effects of the worst drought in California’s history. After discussing how to respond to the drought during two February meetings, the city council took its initial vote to implement a modified Stage 4 Water Conservation Ordinance. A final vote could come as early […]
At its February 25 meeting, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors had three proposed options regarding county participation in the Tulare County Economic Development Corporation for the 2014-15 fiscal year. They could vote to not participate, vote to participate at the reduced level of $20,000, or vote to fully participate, which was done at a […]
The plan to remove non-native trout from some higher elevation lakes in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks appears to be heading for approval later this year. The goal of the plan, which was designed by local national park staff, is to restore the original aquatic ecosystems and the populations of the original wildlife, including […]
Last year was a good year for the national job market, maybe not the great year that some people needed, but a good one. The U.S. economy added 2.2 million jobs. Cautious optimism reigned for most of the year. Then the final monthly employment numbers for 2013 were released. The national economy added only 74,000 […]
On Monday, February 10, staff and students were told that after a year’s work, the College of the Sequoias was taken off of ‘show cause’ status and put on ‘warning,’ a much less severe status. The ‘warning’ status is the least serious the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) is able to give; […]
Four years ago, deep in a recession and in the face of prevailing anti-incumbency, Tulare County Supervisor Steve Worthley won re-election by only 109 votes. “There was a tremendous amount of negative publicity,” Worthley said, “primarily engineered by the Visalia Times-Delta. We were in their paper practically every week.” But Worthley also credited his then […]
In a political race that already has more than its fair share of drama, Tulare County District Attorney candidate Ralph Kaelble has the endorsement of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, the Tulare County Corrections Association and police officer associations in Visalia, Exeter, Lindsay and Dinuba. “It is a difficult move to back a challenger against […]
About 11 months ago, on February 11, 2013, College of the Sequoias was notified that it was being placed on “show cause,” the highest sanction from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, for being significantly noncompliant in key areas required for full accreditation. The ACCJC never questioned the quality of education, the rigor […]
When I took over as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors in 2013, I wanted to address four broad areas that I believed would help improve life in Tulare County. Those areas included: Health & Wellness, Public Safety, Investing in Youth and Building Communities. Although I cannot say that all challenges were completely addressed over […]