The Tulare County Elections Office has certified results of the November 3 general election, and two incumbent politicians are on their way out after their races were decided by single digits. In Tulare, Steve Harrell has edged out incumbent City Councilman Carlton Jones by just seven votes, while at the Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) […]
Twenty-eight employees at the Tulare County Department of Child Care Services (DCCS) will lose their jobs one week before Christmas. The layoffs–intended to close a $2.1 million budget gap at DCCS–were announced to workers last week then approved just seven days later by a 4-1 vote of the county supervisors on Tuesday, November 17. An […]
Cases of COVID-19 in Tulare County have spiked by more than 75% in the last two weeks, and officials fear the trend will continue into the winter months. 1,000-plus New Cases The Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency (TCHHS) reported 482 new cases of COVID for the week ending November 9 and 625 for […]
As the final vote count from the November 3 general election in Tulare County is slowly tabulated, a pair of races still remain too close to call on the thinnest of margins. Handfuls of Ballots The contests where candidates are running neck-and-neck are the Area 6 trustee’s seat in the Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) […]
A press release written by Mary Jane Galviso, Director, Rural Communities Resource Center (RCRC). Valley Voice will be doing a follow-up article next week. Every Friday at noon, rural residents from northern Tulare County and southern Fresno County line-up for the weekly drive-through community food distribution. Food, Our Right! (FOR) is a program by the […]
The initiative to save the undeveloped half of Hidden Valley Park will be extended six months. A local citizens’ group was supposed to turn in 2,693 valid registered voters’ signatures from Hanford by October 29. However, October 22 a new initiative was filed with the city clerk extending the signature deadline for six months. This […]
The Tulare County Grand Jury report included some harsh criticisms of the Tulare Public Cemetery District (TPCD.) Even though TPCD Trustee Xavier Avila called the report a “big nothing burger,” emotions ran high at its October 22 meeting as arguments irrupted and Leonor Castaneda, the district’s manager, called the police twice to escort attendees out […]
As Tulare County officials struggle to improve COVID infection numbers and move the area out of the Purple Tier so life can return to normal here, several gyms appear to be operating in open violation of state and county orders. As late as Thursday, November 5, Fit Republic on Noble Avenue in Visalia was allowing […]
The general population of students in the Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) will begin returning to class on the last day of November. Youngest Students Return First The first students to return will be the youngest, with preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first- and second-graders going back to their classrooms on November 30. Grades three through six […]
Tensions have been rising in the Sierra View Zone 1 race between Ela Pandya and Dr. Bindu Sagar Reddy as barbs are exchanged in newspapers, social media, and campaign ads. But Zone 1 isn’t the only election on the ballot. Zone 2 incumbent Dr. Gaurang Pandya, Ela’s husband, is being challenged by Dr. Kuldeep Jagpal. […]