“Future of fun: How are we planning for recreation?” will be the next forum presented by Tulare County voices at 2:10. The forum is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday April 14 at 210 W. Center Ave.

Tulare County Voices @210 is a monthly public forum in Visalia, an evening panel format that has been a space for community discussion for more than 15 years. It is co-sponsored by the Visalia Times-Delta, the Valley Voice and First Presbyterian Church (which provides the venue and live stream).

This month’s form will be more of a listening session. In fact, everyone who attends will be asked to share at least one thing about what they would like to see for recreation in Visalia.

Normally there would be a panel of experts or people with vested interests to present information to the audience. For this forum, we’re flipping the script. We want the audience to share their ideas, including representatives of the city and school district, as well as people representing various sports, exercises and recreation interests.

The germ of the idea for this forum came from the fact that the city of Visalia is beginning to develop its master plan for recreation. That plan would guide the development of parks, fields, courts, greens and other venues for fun and games.

Here’s where the audience comes in. This is their chance to express their preferences for their favorite leisure pursuits:

Do you like to play tennis? Bowl? Golf? Swim? Play bocce, cornhole or pickleball?

Do you think our community needs more tennis courts, bike lanes, softball fields, polo grounds, pools, dog parks, disc golf courses, walking trails, basketball courts, BMX tracks, skating rinks …?

And why isn’t there a nice park for tai chi?

Or maybe you think our community spends too much money on creating and maintaining its recreation resources.

Where ever you are on the recreation spectrum – this is the forum for you.

Think about it: How often will the city of Visalia embark on a master plan to determine how it will develop its Recreation and Park facilities over the next four or five decades?  This is probably it for your lifetime.

Make the most of it. Let your community and leaders know what you are interested in. Because how would anyone know to build a bocce court in Visalia If no one knew that there were people interested in playing bocce? For that matter, how would it have been known that there was interest in pickleball, BMX racing, skating, or disc golf, if no one had ever spoken up about their interest in those sports?

It was only a couple of decades ago that there weren’t any places for those sports in Visalia. Those sports are available now because people expressed their interest.

The future of fun is now. This is your chance to let your leaders and your fellow community members know what you would like to see in a playground.

You better show up because it might be another 25 years before anybody asks you again!

Be there Tuesday April 14, 7  p.m. at 210. And join the community conversation.

The post Visalia wants to know your idea of a fun time. appeared first on Valley Voice.

“Home prices have gone up quite a bit in recent years, but thanks to Proposition 13, most property owners are protected from big jumps in their assessed values. Even with rising property values, most owners will see only a 2% increase in their assessments this year, which helps keep property taxes more predictable and manageable,” Freitas said.

The certified assessment roll is submitted each year to the Tulare County Auditor-Controller’s Office and becomes the basis for annual property tax bills issued by the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office. Property tax revenue funds vital services throughout the county, including law enforcement, fire protection, public health, education and infrastructure.

“I’m incredibly proud of our dedicated staff for completing this work on time and with such a high level of professionalism. Their commitment ensures that Tulare County property owners receive quality service and dependable information year after year,” Freitas said. “We want property owners to know we’re here to help, and that our work directly supports the essential public services communities rely on.”

For questions about property assessments or how values are determined, contact the Assessor’s Office Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at (559) 636-5100 or by email at Assessor@tularecounty.ca.gov. Additional resources and detailed roll information are available at tularecounty.ca.gov/assessor.

The mission of the Office of the County of Tulare Assessor/Clerk-Recorder is to prepare a fair and accurate property tax roll in accordance with the laws of the state of California in a timely manner, as well as safeguard important public documents. Essential to that mission is a commitment to providing excellent service, practicing fiscal responsibility, and operating efficiently with the best interests and wellbeing of the public in mind. Learn more at https://tularecounty.ca.gov/assessor/.

The post 2024/2025 Assessment Roll tops $52.95 billion appeared first on Valley Voice.

Doors open at 6:00 PM. Forum starts at 6:30 PM.

The LWV is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political candidate. The League’s purpose is to inform voters of choices they have through forums that reflect a variety of perspectives and interests.

Lindsay native Joe Soria is challenging incumbent Larry Micari for Tulare County Supervisor District 1. This district includes Exeter, Farmersville, Lindsay, Poplar, Strathmore, Woodville and a part of North Visalia.

For Tulare County Board of Supervisors District 2 Benny Corona, a life-long resident of Tulare County is challenging incumbent Pete Vander Poel.  Vander Poel had declined LWV’s invitation to participate in the forum but Corona will be available to meet the voters.

Meet the Candidates

Tulare County Supervisor District 1 candidates Micari and Soria enthusiastically accepted the LWV’s invitation to the forum and are looking forward to sharing their vision and meeting their constituents. The following information originated from their campaign websites.

Micari was born and raised in Tulare County and is a graduate of Tulare Union High School, attended College of the Sequoias, and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Management from Union Institute and University. He lives in Exeter with his wife and their two daughters. Micari is a retired Tulare County Deputy Sheriff with the rank of Captain. Before working for the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department Micari was an Emergency Responder and a Farmersville Police Officer.

His website states, “I’m a common-sense public servant, our economic development continues to be important to Tulare County and I have always focused on making the right decisions to provide opportunities for all residents.  We need elected officials that look at the practical side of running the county not the political side.  My vision for the growth for the future of this county is simple, smart and practical growth.  Bringing jobs to Tulare County where ON THE JOB training is the norm will put our residents to work!”

Soria was born and raised in Lindsay and is the proud son of immigrant farmworking parents who instilled in him the value of hard work, perseverance and the importance of being civically engaged. Soria graduated from UC Berkeley and obtained a Masters in teaching from USC. Returning to Lindsay, he coached youth sports, served as a librarian and taught 3rd and 4th grades. Currently Soria runs a small trucking business with his wife and three kids.

He states on his website, “When elected, I will deliver opportunities for growth in our communities. I will ensure the vulnerable populations have the resources they need to prosper and I will fight for clean water and air. As a servant of the people, I will deliver accountability and transparency. It’s time a blue collar voice sits on the Supervisory Board of Tulare County. My dream is that the county leadership reflects the population as a whole.”

What to expect

The forum will be moderated by Melinda Morales, former Opinion Page Editor for the Visalia Times Delta and current Director of Outreach and Communication for CASA of Tulare County.

Each candidate will have 1.5 minutes to introduce themselves. Candidates will then be asked prepared questions from the Forum Planning Committee, followed by screened questions from the audience. As this is a forum and not a debate, participants are not allowed to refer to a rival candidate when answering the questions.

Ballots for the 2024 primary will be mailed February 5, 2024 and Election Day is March 5, 2024 from 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

“Hearing and seeing candidates engage in healthy debates before an election is an important part of our democracy. Candidate debates and forums help us determine which candidates align with our values and which ones we want to support with our votes. Due to our deep roots and long history of nonpartisanship, communities across the country have put their trust in the League to host these events.”   League of Women Voters California

The forum will be streaming live on The Valley Voice Facebook page.

This forum is presented by the Tulare County League of Women Voters in collaboration with the Tulare County League of Mexican American Women, the Association of American University Women, the League of United Latin American Citizens, The Visalia Times-Delta and The Valley Voice.

The post League of Women Voters Tulare County Supervisors’ Forum January 31 appeared first on Valley Voice.

You shift nervously in your seat and consider going to the restroom until the subject changes, but it’s too late. The family gaze is already upon you and even though nothing is said aloud, you still hear their questions—their judgment.

What about you? They prod. When are you moving out? When are you getting a career? When are you getting married? When, for the love of God, are you getting your life together?

It’s enough to make you sick, but you swallow it all anyway. You pretend it doesn’t bother you. You smile. You pass the mashed potatoes. And you eat that damn turkey.

If this scenario doesn’t sound familiar, then you’re lucky. Because this is what it’s like to be a young adult in the 21st century. And despite popular belief, it’s not because our youth are lazy. According to one developmental psychologist, the real cause has roots tracing back to the ‘60s and ‘70s, and more recent events may be making things worse.

The Four Historical Influences That Prolonged Young Adulthood

While all the other boomers were wondering why millennials were so unmotivated, developmental psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett was asking a different question: Why does it take so long to grow up today? The answer he found was a cultural one. He identified four key influences during the ‘60s and ‘70s that led to a new period of prolonged youth he coined “emerging adulthood”.

1: The Technology Revolution

The technological shift during the ‘60s and ‘70s changed the national economy. Gone were the days when you could graduate high school and find a manufacturing job at a steel or car factory that would sustain you and your family. All those jobs were shipped overseas. And they were replaced with careers in technology, information and services instead, all of which required higher education. As a result, the time period between leaving high school and entering adulthood was extended, because young adults now had to spend four to six years in university just to have a chance at finding a good job.

2: The Sexual Revolution

If you think of the ‘60s and ‘70s, you’ll probably picture a particularly flowery persona with long hair and bright clothes. Or perhaps they are wearing nothing at all because this time period revolutionized how people viewed love, relationships and especially sex. According to Arnett, contraception, porn, homosexuality and premarital sex became more normalized, not to mention the birth-control pill, which became an instant hit after its release in the early-’60s. All of this created a culture that no longer had marriage and children at the forefront. Sex and relationships became less about commitment and became more about experimentation. So instead of settling down, young adults began to spend more time exploring their sexuality in the years following adolescence.

3: The Women’s Movement

The shift in gender roles also shifted the young adult landscape. In 1963, Harvard awarded its first degrees to a woman, and in 1964 the Civil Rights Act banned discrimination on the basis of sex. Thus, the archaic status quo that expected women to be homemakers or receptionists started to quickly crumble. This not only helped level the playing field between sexes, but it also opened women’s minds to future possibilities. So instead of searching for a husband and trying to start a family, young women began to spend their youth getting a higher education and working on their careers, once again prolonging the time leading up to adulthood.

4: The Youth Movement

The final historical influence that has extended young adulthood, according to Arnett, is the shift in ideas about age itself. During the ‘60s and ‘70s, people started to idolize youth and began to view adulthood with more dread. We know these sentiments are still alive and well today because we can see it in pop culture and in phrases that have gained favor the last couple of decades, such as “Thirty is the new twenty” and “You only live once” (YOLO), which exploded in popularity back in 2012. This modern, youth-obsessed culture has created an environment in which young adults are more inclined to cling to their youth and prolong the inevitable entrance into adulthood as long as possible.

Recent Influences Prolonging Young Adulthood

While Arnett covered the four big ones, the factors extending young adulthood didn’t end in the ‘70s. The economical strain from the Great Recession resulted in students spending even more time in university and getting paid less while doing it.

The skyrocketing cost of university tuition, which saw a 106% increase in net tuition between 1987 and 2010, didn’t help things either. It’s no wonder that the average debt accrued after university last year was around $30,000.

Slap a housing crisis on top of all that, and you have a recipe for an economically handicapped young adult who can barely afford rent, let alone markers of adulthood such as home-ownership and starting a family.

And then of course there was the pandemic, which has increased unemployment for 20- to 24-year-olds to 1.5 times the national rate and forced more than half of all young adults to live with their parents, a number that has not been seen since the Great Depression.

Is this Good or Bad for Young Adults?

Psychology professor Josh Muller at College of the Sequoias has done research on emerging adulthood and teaches his students on the subject. According to him, this extended stage of young adulthood is a mixed bag.

On the one hand, delaying entrance into adulthood gives young adults “more time to explore and figure things out.” It helps them become better employees, better partners and parents, because they have more time to mature and gain experience before taking on adult ventures.

The downside, according to Muller, is that an extended young adulthood sometimes means a lowering of responsibility during a time that is notorious for risky behaviors. A nasty mix that may lead to irreparable mistakes that can haunt young adults forever.

So what’s the solution?

From the parent’s perspective, Muller recommends a similar approach to guiding an adolescent. He believes it’s a “balancing act” of promoting independence versus providing a safety net.

“When you have a 13-year-old,” Muller explained. “You try to promote a little independence and a huge safety net. For emerging adults, it should be a lot of independence and a little bit of a safety net.”

But Muller also understands that lofty goals such as acquiring a career, buying a home and getting married can be intimidating prospects for young adults. So, he encourages them to take one thing at a time, to break up the big goals into a series of baby ones.

“If you want to be prosperous and be successful,” Muller said. “You have to create a cycle of mini-achievements. If you build a pattern of achievement, then the sky is the limit.”

But most importantly, Muller wants young adults to know that they are not alone and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’re all working on ourselves,” he said. “I think I was about 35 when I was finally comfortable in my own skin. … It’s a marathon, not a sprint. It gets better over time.”

The post Emerging adulthood: why it takes so long to grow up today appeared first on Valley Voice.

There are close to 1,800 total 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) entries in the Tulare County Fair this year. A small niche of those come from the Fernandes family, members of Oakdale 4-H in Tulare.

The Fernandes’ are a family of dairy farmers. It is only natural that their children are involved in the dairy division of 4-H and FFA. But this does not mean they have any advantage over other children, as they have to follow the same rules, regulations and procedures as anyone else.

Each year, the Fernandes fathers and uncles select 25-30 young cows and then it is up to the children to choose their own project cow. The same is true for other 4-H Oakdale members who participate in dairy livestock.

Maddie Fernandes, 13, and her brother, Frankie, 10, each chose a Jersey calf to begin their new project. Dairy projects are two-year stints–actually 18 months–in which the 4-H member raises a calf into a young cow, gets her bred, and eventually sells her either while pregnant and ready to calf, or having just calved prior to sale.

Many of those involved in dairy projects have more than one project cow at a time – one in the first year and one in the second. They may also have cows of more than one breed. However, they must choose one cow to show in showmanship; that cow and the others may each be shown in their perspective breed class.

The Fernandes family dairy houses Jerseys and Holsteins. Maddie chooses Jerseys, she said, “Because the Holsteins are just too big for me.”

She has been in 4-H since she was in kindergarten and has shown for the past four years, having sold two of her cows at auction to date.

Maddie and Frankie’s older sister, Hayley, was also involved in 4-H and has now become quite active in FFA since starting at Mission Oak High School.

Unlike her younger siblings, Hayley chooses Holstein’s to work with, although they are a little harder to keep clean, she said.

Starting a new cow takes quite a bit of time.

“During the summer, we come out (to the dairy) all most every day,” Hayley said. “Now that school has started, we come out twice on the weekend, and as much during the week as we can.”

Starting around the first of July, those involved in Oakdale 4-H and Mission Oak FFA dairy projects start getting their new project animals used to them. A good bonding time is bath time, Hayley said. While some baths are just a hose-off to cool the animals down, Holstein’s take more shampooing time to keep their white areas from staining.

The animals are walked for about 30 minutes per session to get them accustomed to the procedures that will be required in the ring for showmanship, as well as breed and age competitions. They are also taught to stand properly to show off their best features.

Hayley has become quite involved in showing and plans a future in the dairy business as well as maintaining a show string of her own. She has started her own prefix name “Haisley,” and her future calves will use that prefix in their registered names.

“I most definitely will be in some aspect of the dairy business,” she said.

Cousins Luke Fernandes, 11, Jacob Fernandes, 13, and friend Arie Prins, 13, also show.

Prins said he started showing after his sister showed one of Maddie Fernandes’ cows.

“I thought I’d try it,” he said, and he has become hooked.

He was not new to cows, as his family has a business building specified machinery for dairies, he said. But he was new to working with them and showing them.

Like many 4-H members, Prins is into other aspects of the club, including metal working, for which his father is leader.

“I like 4-H,” he said, “because you get to choose what activity you get to do.”

As such, Luke Fernandes enjoys shooting sports more than most other activities, he said. Shooting sports have their own competition and is not offered at the fair.

Jacob Fernandes is very active in showmanship and won the showmanship class for his age group at the 4-H Fair in April. He then competed against other age group winners in a round-robin, in which the group winners show other types of livestock beyond what they had exhibited on their own. Jacob also won the Supreme Championship Dairy Cattle division at the 4-H Fair, which was held during the Antique Farm Equipment Show.

It is important, Jacob said, to avoid getting infraction points.

A slight infraction could be putting a halter on incorrectly, walking the course incorrectly or carrying a cellphone in your back pocket, he said.

A moderate would be hitting an animal inappropriately and a severe infraction resulting in disqualification would be doing that repeatedly, he said.

“There’s a lot of responsibility and there is a risk,” said Jerod Fernandes, Jacob’s father. “Something could happen to the cow, or she may not become pregnant, or could abort (at which point she could not be offered for auction).”

Each 4-H member must purchase their own livestock. In dairy, that is about a $1,200 investment. Then, they are responsible for feeding the animal and any veterinary costs. By the time the cow is ready for sale, there is $2,000 or more invested in her, and she may sell for around $2,500. With any luck, the 4-H member may make a small profit.

Natalie Mederos has been community leader of Oakdale 4-H for 25 years. She and her husband became quite active when their children were involved and have remained so, now seeing their grandchildren following in their footsteps.

Oakdale has close to 100 members, Mederos said, of which about one-third participate in the Tulare County Fair and one-half participate in the 4-H Fair. Most are involved in livestock including dairy, cattle, hogs, sheep and rabbits. Many have an interest in shooting sports and photography. Still others participate in other indoor activities including scrapbooking, jams and jellies, cake decorating and other baking and crafts.

Her granddaughter, Michaela, is involved in hogs, photography and cake decorating.

“4-H is great for the kids,” Mederos said. “and they put their all into it.”

There is a lot of community service involved in 4-H too, she said.

“If they really put themselves out, they really benefit from it,” she said.

Tulare County 4-H had 14 active clubs with 832 children for the year 2014-2015, said Rochelle Mederos, 4-H program representative for Tulare County. Adult volunteer involvement is 270. Children must be between 5-19 years of age to be a 4-H member. Adult volunteers must be 18 or older and cannot still be enrolled as a member. Chaperones are 21 years and older.

“The upcoming Tulare County Fair is an opportunity for 4-H member to show off what they learned and produced during the past (2014-2015) 4-H Youth Development Program year,” Rochelle Mederos said.

Enrollment information can be found at: http://ucanr.edu/sites/4-H_Tulare/ Interested youth and adults should contact the local club leaders for more information about projects offered, meeting times and enrollment procedures.

Entries for the Tulare County Fair have closed. There are 592 total 4-H entries for the fair, 495 of which are in the livestock division. There are 1,201 FFA entries, 1172 of which are in the livestock division, according to fair staff.

Judging of livestock and indoor exhibits starts on Wednesday, September 16. The Junior Livestock Sale will be held on Saturday, September 19 at 9am. For more information, visit www.tcfair.org.

The post 4-H and FFA Members Ready to Show at the Tulare County Fair appeared first on Valley Voice.

Some may think that umpiring in the minors is easier than in the major leagues. Others feel it is more difficult. While there is no instant replay, nor umpire review, there are fewer umpires to judge plays at the minor-league level.

Jeff Gorman and Chris Graham are a two-man team who umpire the California League of Class A-Advanced teams, which includes the Visalia Rawhide. One of them is behind the plate, while the other has to cover the entire field. They are employed by Minor League Baseball Umpire Development, which provides their schedule that takes them up and down the state.

Gorman, a bay-area native, got the umpiring bug from his father who umpired Little League. Gorman played Little League and umpired his first game alongside his dad at 13 years of age.

It was while he was attending college and umpiring Little League and college games, he realized, “I really had a passion for umpiring,” he said.

He earned his degree and then applied, was accepted and attended one of the only two umpiring schools in the US, the Wendlestedt Umpire School located in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Graham, a native of Toronto, Canada, followed a similar path.

He too learned about baseball from his father. Graham played baseball in Canada as much as he could, but realized, in part because of the shorter playing season there, he just was not going to make it into professional ball. Graham became a police officer, but continued to long for the game and decided to apply to the same umpire school.

Both graduated from the school, although at different times. The umpire school is only held once a year and is an intense five-week, six-day-a-week course, they said.

“It’s tough because you have to lose bad habits,” Graham said.

The “bad habits” Graham referred to are habits each of them learned while umpiring Little League and other games prior to attending professional school.

Acceptance into the two umpiring schools is quite limited and upon graduation each school selects 20-25 students to move on to the evaluating course. All of this takes place before spring training for the ball players starts. The number of umpires hired depends upon the number of vacancies, Gorman said. Some may make it into the minor leagues, others may get hired to independent leagues.

Gorman and Graham each were selected into professional minor league ball, and just like the ball players, they aspire to umpire in playoffs and championship series, and to make it into the major leagues.

“Umpires have to progress through every level,” Gorman said. “You can’t skip any level.”

While a good player may advance from A level to AAA and on to the majors fairly quickly, a good umpire must take each and every step.

“It’s a longer road for umpires,” Graham said. “And there has to be a certain amount of luck and timing.”

The “luck and timing” come in as to when and who may opt out or retire, or may be injured.

Injuries are a definite concern, as with players. Umpires are on their feet during the entire game.

Concussions are the biggest concern, said Graham.

And, umpires are watched and graded all through their way to the majors. They are judged on attitude, judgement and accuracy, mobility and knowledge.

On their way up, they learn about pressure.

Gorman said he feels there is more pressure in the majors because of all the cameras and instant replays. But that doesn’t mean the players are always accepting of an umpire’s call.

“There’s always going to be close calls and someone’s not going to be happy,” he said. “It’s not personal, it’s just part of the game.”

And the next game, “it’s always a new day,” he said.

But trying to be perfect in his calls is one of the most difficult parts of the job for him, Gorman said. You have to be able to accept that you might have made a mistake, go on and perform at your best.

“It’s a bad feeling when you miss a call,” he said. “Every umpire, that I know, wants to make the right call all of the time.”

And that is just not possible.

For Graham, the most difficult part of his job is being away from home and family. But it is worth it, he said. Umpiring only lasts the length of the season, so professional umpires return home during the off-season and find other employment to supplement their income.

The profession of umpiring is, “to protect the integrity of the game,” Graham said, who simply loves the game of baseball, he added.

“Any umpire will tell you they umpire because they love the game,” he said.

These two umpires spend their time around games doing “healthy things,” such as working out at local gyms and sometimes taking in a round of golf. And while they always represent the game and their profession, their actual workday starts about 1 ½ hours prior to game time, when they arrive at the stadium. They get their uniforms and gear ready, and prepare 6-8 dozen baseballs for the game by muddying them. All professional balls, from the minors to the majors, are rubbed with professional Baseball Rubbing Mud, which allows pitchers a firmer grip and better control.

Then, like players, umpires will stretch out and warm up prior to the game.

The umpires are generally through for the day at the conclusion of the game, unless they have to file an incident report due to grievances, or a player/coach being thrown from the game. They have a rental car throughout the season, and drive to and from each of their designated game locations. The same umpire team will umpire throughout the length of a particular game-play pairing of generally three games. They trade position from behind the plate to outfield for each game.

As the levels increase, so do the number of umpires in a game. In AA ball, there are three umpires for each game.

“Every day we learn, and if we’re not learning every day, there’s no point in being involved in it,” Graham said.

“You have to be in in the moment to do the job well,” Gorman added. “You never know what is going to happen – you have to be focused and on.”

The post Umpiring in the Minors Requires Dedication, Hard Work appeared first on Valley Voice.

The walls of Monte Moore’s home tell stories. The photos, awards and other memorabilia speak tales of his days in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri broadcasting college sports, to his career as a television broadcaster for the Oakland A’s and NBC sports, and on to his radio station-owning days broadcasting local high school games to Tulare County listeners.

Moore has spent much of his life on the air, helping fans route for the home team. And, his life has been more than he could have hoped for, he said.

Moore grew up in the small town of Hollis, Oklahoma, which did not have a radio station. He played high school sports, but was sidelined by rheumatic fever being confined to bedrest for three months. He listened to the radio to pass the time, and thought, “I might like to do that.”

His father bought a PA system and Moore started announcing to the fans at hometown games.

During those high school days, Moore enjoyed playing basketball, but also became a fast pitch softball catcher, and a good one, for which he became quite well-known in the Mid-West.

At the University of Oklahoma, Moore studied broadcasting. He hoped to play college basketball, which was not in the cards, however, he won the won the bigger prize in meeting the coach’s daughter and later taking her hand in marriage.

While on his way for a stint in the Army, Moore was offered a job in radio, right out of college. One of the top softball pitchers in the country, Leo Morris, who recently became a station manager. Morris asked Moore to catch weekend games for him, while also DJ’ing for the radio station during the week.

“I had a summer job being a DJ and catching for him,” Moore said.

Following a couple years in the army, Morris had switched stations and took Moore with him, this time to a station where Moore broadcasted Sooner State League Class B Pro baseball.

Job Offers Kept Coming

From there and every station-step beyond, Moore was called on because someone had heard him on the air.

“I never auditioned, never sent in a tape,” he said. “Every job I got, except for being a catcher, was because someone heard me.”

Moore kept climbing the ladder. He received a call from a station manager in Hutchinson, Kansas who wanted him to broadcast news as well as the National Junior Basketball Tournament. He took the job.

From there a sports network which carried University of Kansas called wanting him to broadcast sports.

“I didn’t even ask how much they’d pay me,” Moore said.

This was during the Wilt Chamberlain era at the university, Moore said, with a twinkle in his eye.

Not long after, Moore was approached by a Kansas City, Missouri station for radio and television to do news and sports, professional basketball coverage of the Kansas City Steers. This was a big step. It launched him into the professional sports scene.

Charlie Finley, who had acquired the Kansas City A’s a year prior, heard Moore on the air, while driving with the A’s general manager, Parke Carroll, Moore said.

“He asked Carroll, ‘who’s that?’ I like his enthusiasm,” Moore said, Carroll had told him later.

Shortly after Moore went to cover a news conference, where he met Finley and Moore in an elevator. Carroll introduced them.

“Finley said, ‘Nice to meet you, how would you like to be my broadcaster?’” Moore said.

When they spoke again by phone, it was a Saturday and Finley gave Moore until Monday noon for a reply. The season started Tuesday and Moore had already missed all of spring training.

“The A’s were playing the Baltimore Orioles and I didn’t even hardly know a player,” Moore said of his first A’s broadcast.

When the A’s moved west to Oakland in 1968, so did Moore and his family. Moore covered the team on radio and television through 1977.

The most exciting game he called, he said, was the last game of the 1972 division playoffs in Detroit, he said.

Detroit had won two, Oakland had won two, and there was only one game left to decide who would go to the World Series.

The Detroit manager, “Billy Martin, had that team so riled up,” Moore said. “It was a high tension-type day.

“We beat Detroit in Detroit to go to the World Series.”

Added to Moore’s excitement was that this meant it was the first time Moore would cover games nationwide on NBC.

“I can’t tell you how excited I was,” he exclaimed.

Nationwide Audience

Moore’s nationwide broadcast debut was with Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek. And, as the first game was about to start, “Curt Gowdy put his hand on my leg and said, ‘OK kid, just relax now, nothing to worry about, only 32 million people are watching.’

“There I was, working alongside Gowdy, doing the World Series . . . nothing could be better,” Moore said.

During his A’s broadcasting career, Moore earned six World Series rings with the team. He called Catfish Hunter’s 1968 perfect game, one of 23 perfect games ever thrown in the sport of baseball.

But, he wondered about where to go from there. Broadcasters did not make what players did, he said. He had always wanted to own a radio station.

Moving to Porterville

Hearing of two stations under one ownership brought him to Porterville. He had never heard of the town. But, he liked it. He liked the size of the town with a population of 17.000. He brought his wife down and then their children to have a look. He made and offer and found himself the station owner of K-TIP (AM) and K100 (FM) in 1977.

Moore immediately put his sports’ experience to work and started broadcasting local high school games of all sports. He hired young college grads interested in sports and news as interns and they covered everything live that they could on K-TIP, airing taped games on the FM station. The station covered band concerts, parades and elections. And, in 1994 when Porterville was named an All-American City, K-TIP was in Oakland to cover the event live.

“It was very successful and a very good business decision,” Moore said.

But Moore’s large-stage days were not over. NBC offered him a weekend job covering the game of the week with Wes Parker and Maury Wills. He took a five-year contract and traveled from Porterville all around the country, every weekend of the season.

At Christmas time in 1986, the A’s called on Moore again. A television station covering the team wanted him to call just 31 games the next season. He took a five-year contract. Another station, also covering games wanted him to call just 31 games for them as well, this put him at 62 games for the next five seasons. An agreement was made that he could bring along his youngest son, Donnie, as part of the crew.

It was during this time, Moore’s associated was Ray Fosse, a current broadcaster of the team today. Fosse had worked alongside Moore a few times during the ‘70s when he was the A’s catcher, but on the disabled list due to injuries.

Many A’s pitchers and players worked as color analysts alongside Moore at that time, Fosse said. A color analyst works alongside the broadcaster, often being a former player, who interjects often through their own experience what is happening or what should have, or could have happened during a game.

It was during those few times on air, which turned Fosse to the profession once his playing days were through. Fosse attributes much of his love for broadcasting and his success to Moore.

“It was great . . . for him to mentor me, it was very special,” Fosse said.

“Everything with Monte is up front,” he said. “I could not have had anyone better for introducing me into announcing baseball.”

Fosse’s first day on the air with Moore was interesting, Fosse said.

“We were playing the Boston Red Sox,” he said. “I was just sitting there with Monte and then from behind third base, here comes this guy, streaking – Monte said to me, ‘well, you’re the analyst, Ray.’”

Most everywhere Moore has gone, he has made lifelong friendships. He is often called by University of Kansas staff and remains in touch with fellow broadcasters and players he has met during his years in sports.

“We have stayed in touch over the years, and I played in many of his Porterville golf tournaments with him,” Fosse said.

Giving Back

The golf tournament Fosse referred to was the Big League Golf-O-Rama, which Moore started and managed for 25 years in Porterville. During those years more than $850,000 were raised for local school athletics and the Porterville Youth Center.

Moore’s personality, enthusiasm and hard work has been coveted wherever he has gone, but nowhere more than Porterville. Through his nearly 40 years in the community, he was been named Porterville Man of the Year, won the Alan Coates award, received the Friend of Education recognition twice, and earned recognition from the Tule River Indian Reservation, the Tulare County Executive Council and Proteus, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors and the Porterville City Council.

Moore has a Little League field named after him, he served on the Porterville College Foundation Board, the Parks and Leisure Services Commission and as an elder at the Church of Christ.

He sold his radio stations after 10 years and he wasn’t quite ready to retire yet, for the next 15 years he worked in public relations and marketing for Porterville College.

But, through all his careers, being a husband and father, have been the most important to him. He and Deonne have three children, Bruce, Deonna and Donnie. The youngest, Donnie, is superintendent of Porterville Parks and Leisure.

“It has all worked out very well,” said Deonne Moore. “I am very proud of him. He is very close to his children and grandchildren.”

“I think back as to how lucky I am,” Monte Moore said. “I was gone much of the summer and she took care of the kids.”

“In baseball,” he said, “there are always 161 new days. No other sport has that. Every day, another pitcher and a new team, and I got to broadcast every day.”

The post Moore Scores from Small Town Sports to the Big Leagues and Back appeared first on Valley Voice.

It is fair to say that the California drought has affected numerous businesses and people in the South Valley. While Woodlake’s Monrovia Nursery operation has felt some effect, it really has no major complaints due to lack of water.

The 650-acre nursery has been affected to some degree, said Reiner Kruger, technical services coach for Monrovia, admitting that the nursery has cut back production a bit. But, the fact that the nursery has recycled its water since developing the land in 2004 has aided it through the drought quite well.

The Monrovia Nursery business was originally started in Southern California in a town of the same name in 1926. Thirty years later the business moved to nearby Azusa. Through its decades of development, the business has expanded nationwide and now maintains growing locations in Oregon, Georgia and the Woodlake facility. The former 545-acre Azusa facility was closed and the property sold, as Woodlake came into production, although the corporate offices are still there.

The water table at the Woodlake nursery is pretty high, Kruger said. It sits alongside Road 196, north of Highway 198. The land here was once a lake, he said.

But, “the Governor (Brown) is expecting people to cutback, and we feel it prudent to cutback as well,” he said.

Monrovia has water rights to the St. John’s River, and also has 18 functioning wells that were part of the property when the nursery purchased it.

The nursery in Azusa implemented a recycled water program when management saw legislation coming regarding water runoff, Kruger said. The company spent $1.2 million to develop the system and actually realized $250,000 savings in production costs the first year, he said. The recycling development was paid off within a few years.

It was the intent to set up a recycled water system from the get-go in Woodlake.

“It was not even a question, we were going to do it here,” Kruger said.

Each greenhouse has a drain system that feeds into a pipe carrying water to a pumping station. Pumping stations add chlorine to the water for disinfection and feed the water into one of two 4.5-acre-feet reservoirs on the property. There the amount of pH and fertilizer in the water is measured to assure proper levels for usage.

“It’s efficient to recycle water here,” Kruger said. “It captures the nutrients and brings them back.”

Eventually though, nitrates and sodium build up too high for the recycled water to be used again on nursery plantings, so Monrovia has a 170-acre adjacent farm where that water is used on crops such as feed corn or oat hay.

During regular, non-drought years, Monrovia would take fresh water from the river. But, with the drought it is using its wells to replenish the water supply, Kruger said.

Currently, the pumping stations run on electricity or diesel fuel. A lot of watering is done at night, and during particularly hot spells, the pumps run on diesel as to not pull on the power grid, he said.

Many of the plant houses have Rain Bird systems because it is just not feasible to put an emitter onto one gallon pots, he said. The Rain Birds also cleanse the plants washing dust off the leaves.

Monrovia is looking into solar as an alternative power source for the future and may begin to add it by the end of this year.

“Our goal is to make the facility as self-sufficient as we can,” Kruger said.

The nursery also uses “beneficial insects” as much as it can rather than pesticides, he added. It also respects the native bee population and during pollination season, does any spraying at night as to not bother them.

“We seem to have a good population of them,” he said.

As for drought-resistant plants, Monrovia has increased production of succulents, agaves, aloes and yuccas, somewhat. But, since only 30 percent of the Woodlake facility production goes to the California market, it still maintains its regular production which is often shipped to the Mid-West and Texas.

The Monrovia Woodlake nursery has 540 employees and posts $33 million in sales per year as a wholesale producer for independent nurseries and Lowe’s Home Improvement stores.

The post Monrovia’s Recycled Water Program Helps Nursery Continue to Thrive appeared first on Valley Voice.

It was December 31, and my 15-year old daughter, Mercedes, and I arrived at 12-noon sharp for her tarot card reading at the Cosmic Corral in Hanford. Far from being in a spiritual crisis, Mercedes wanted to get a reading because she thought it would be cool. She also had a burning question and hoped that Crystal Ravenwolf, in her capacity as a medium, could give her the answer.

Ravenwolf hails from eight generations of tarot card readers and has always been in touch with the spirit world. Her mother was a witch who read cigar ashes and her father is Native American. In addition to doing tarot card readings at the Cosmic Corral, she does guided meditations, psychic readings and teaches belly dancing every Tuesday.

Most clients get readings not just to be entertained, but because they have come to a crossroads in their lives. It can help give clarity to clients who have hit a wall or who can’t seem to get on the right track. It can also help people heal from old wounds.

Despite urban legend, tarot card readings can’t predict the future, because the future is subjective and can change moment by moment due to free will. But it can shed light on the path you need to take and help you understand who you are.

“Everyone can use a little guidance and that is what a reading can give you,” said Ravenwolf. But she also added, “It is very important to remember that a reading is not the ultimate fix all. You are still responsible for your own choices.”

Ravenwolf removed a well-used, but not terribly old, set of tarot cards from her purse. Experienced readers own several sets of cards, but each reader has their favorite. Ravenwolf has been given decks of tarot cards passed down through her family for generations, but her favorite to her came while she was attending a Renaissance Faire 20 years ago. It is her favorite deck because the cards “speak” to her. She keeps them wrapped in a cloth she acquired at the faire.

Before giving the deck to Mercedes to shuffle, Ravenwolf removed about 10 cards that would not be appropriate because of her age. She then placed the deck on the table.

“As you shuffle think about what you want the cards to tell you. Don’t ask me, ask the cards. The cards will tell you everything you need to know.”

Mercedes awkwardly shuffled the cards and handed them back. Ravenwolf warned her that the cards will tell her everything so if there was something she did not want to talk about (i.e. in front of Mom) she better let her know now. As far as Mercedes was concerned, everything was on the table.

Ravenwolf said that the cards will tell a story, so as to not interrupt the flow Mercedes should save any questions for after the reading. She then placed about 13 cards in an open box layout with one in the middle and another to the left side. The number of cards and layout can vary according to the kind of reading she is doing.

Overall, she said this was a strong reading and that Mercedes has the strength to pursue in life what she wants. She then put her focus on the left row of cards, picking up each one and describing what it meant. The left row is the feminine side and is what pushes the reading. The row of cards on the feminine side showed that, even though Mercedes was a shy person, she had a voice and wasn’t afraid to use it. She said that activism will be a really big thing for her.

“You see a lot of injustices in the world and they touch you. As you grow older you will want to stand up and do something about it.”

Further down the left row she could see that “you are very close to your mom and sister and you look to them for guidance. You have strong women in your family so this is a good thing. They have a strong voice and they use their voice.”

She said that the Prince of Swords card was really pushing the reading and that family was very important to Mercedes. Although her family is her foundation one of the cards said that she will not always be with her mother. Ravenwolf said that could just mean that she will be leaving home for college. When Mercedes does leave home she told her that “every experience is a building block, bringing one more feather to create your wings and then you will fly away.”

The King of the Sacred Circles card showed that one of Mercedes’ greatest fears is being left alone. Ravenwolf said that she should enjoy her own company and become her own best friend. “Then you won’t be afraid of being alone,” she said, adding that Mercedes will never be alone because she has a strong family that will always be with her.

Ravenwolf told Mercedes never to let anyone tell her to keep both feet on the ground. “It’s definitely OK to fly. Just keep on flying and following your dreams, express yourself, dream big.” She said that Mercedes had a very strong creative aura about her. She should never fear expressing her creativity and feel that she won’t be accepted.

“Do it all, write, draw, paint, sing, dance, act. You will be good at a lot of them and will know when you find your niche. There is absolutely nothing in this world that you cannot do.”

The Nine of Cups on the far left indicated that, “expectations are going to be a hard one for you.” Ravenwolf explained to Mercedes that expectations are not real. They are what we set up in our head. Then, when we don’t reach our expectations we view our lives as a failure. It’s the journey that counts, and part of that journey is to write down your dreams and expectations. Then your expectations become goals. And when you put the work behind your goals they become real.

“You can’t just have expectations, you have to put in the work. “

But to realize these dreams takes a lot of work. “Dreams do not come for free,” she said. Mercedes’ eyes grew wide and she slumped in her chair as Ravenwolf told her that she practiced belly dancing five hours a day. At first, Mercedes thought Ravenwolf was paid to dance five hours a day and was shocked to hear that was the amount of work she had to put into staying in shape to get the paid performances. “I’m a 47-year old competing with 20-year olds for the same jobs. I have to work twice as hard.”

She encouraged Mercedes to enjoy whatever work she chooses because she will be doing it for the rest of her life. “If you enjoy the work, then you know that you are following your dream. If you don’t enjoy the work, you are following someone else’s, or have chosen the wrong dream.”

In fact, Ravenwolf was squeezing in three gigs on New Year’s Eve, and expressed her profound gratitude for having so much work. She said that gratitude and working hard is the key. “I get to do this forever, it’s not that I have to.”

Toward the end of the reading, Ravenwolf lifted up the Temperance card sitting on the bottom row. “One of your biggest life lessons is going to be learning patience.” Mercedes’ lesson will be to learn how to handle this characteristic.

The reading took about 40 minutes, and Ravenwolf wanted to know if Mercedes had any questions–and because Ravenwolf is also a psychic medium, Mercedes had questions that went beyond the tarot cards. She had been bothered by the fact that an aunt had not treated her well and didn’t seem to love her. Ravenwolf said that the aunt was carrying around a lot of secrets from herself and from those around her.

“When you carry around secrets they hold a lot of power over you and it leaves the person walking in shame.” Ravenwolf said, that the aunt was walking in shame and cannot recognize the sparkle Mercedes brings into her life. As a result she pushes Mercedes away and sabotages all of her good relationships. “She feels that she doesn’t deserve you. She loves you. She just doesn’t love herself.”

Ravenwolf added that the aunt’s nuclear family had profited from this individual’s low self esteem. For someone who walks in shame “bad attention is better than no attention” and a family member close to her had knowingly used this aunt’s unfortunate situation to their own advantage.

There was a time in her own life when Ravenwolf had secrets and walked in shame. “But,” she said, “once you share your feelings and your secrets they hold no power over you.” Now she is an open book and her world “sparkles all the time.” “Anyone who comes into my space that doesn’t add sparkle to my world,” she explained, “they don’t get to come in.”

We ended our session with a discussion about spirit guides and guardian angels, a common theme on which Ravenwolf lectures at the Cosmic Corral. She said that Mercedes has had a gentleman with her since she was born. He is in his 40’s and is her spirit guide. She may have more guides but he is the only one who presented himself that day. He was present during the reading to make sure that Ravenwolf told Mercedes everything she needed to know. We talked about the way in which she “saw” spirit guides and the differences between guides and guardian angles.

Ravenwolf began seeing spirits when she was 16-years old, and has spent her entire life honing her skills and working to achieve peace for both the living and dead. She is known internationally for her psychic abilities and has been working with Raksalot Entertainment on a DVD series that will be released in 2015. This will consist of a series of lectures about Soul Retrieval, animal totems, spirit guides and tarot, among other topics. To find out when her DVDs will be released check her website www.crystalravenwolf.com.

As for Mercedes, her questions were answered and she was ready to start a new year.

The post Tarot Card Reading Can Give Clarity and Entertain appeared first on Valley Voice.

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 other mediums. “There was no one around to teach me in the beginning so I did a lot of reading and taught myself.”

While honing her skills she got the overwhelming feeling that it was her mission to teach. “In a dream, my guides laid out the coursework for a six-week class on how to be a medium,” said Tedrow. So she used that dream to teach a very popular course at Fresno City College on intuition. Because of the cutbacks experienced by all local colleges, the course was discontinued. She now leads a psychic development circle every month at the Cosmic Corral in Hanford, where she continues teaching the tenets of mediumship. “I think everyone has the ability to open up to their intuition and discover their guiding angels,” she explained.

The circle, which meets the third Saturday of each month, usually consists of about six people who get together to improve their intuition. Darcy Bellows-Macorro, author of Finding Vern, explained that there is a huge advantage to developing and listening to your intuition. “It helps you in relationships and job decisions, or with your business. It’s our natural ability to make the right decisions for ourselves, but you need to go by how it feels, not by what you think.” Getting in touch with your intuition also is the first step of becoming a medium.

Everyone has a different interpretation about hearing messages from the dead. Christians would say it’s the voice of God, mediums would say you’re
having a spiritual awakening and atheists would say you are crazy.

A former large who is now a medium.

For the last ten years, that’s what Tedrow has been doing every day, tuning in. The number one way to tune in to your body is to meditate, even if it’s for ten minutes a day. If you don’t know how to meditate, find a good youtube video and do a guided meditation. Meditation helps synchronize the right brain to the left brain. Intuition is a right brain function, so the left brain needs to slow down and put logic aside. All we are taught growing up is to think, but mediumship, and many other aspects of life, requires feeling. That is our natural guidance system, and it is the language of the soul.

Tedrow has her own exercise to get into her body and away from her left brain. She doesn’t necessarily have to do an entire meditation session. “Anything you can do to get your left brain quiet and get into your body works.” Before she does a reading, she sits quietly and imagines an empty box. Then she puts all her chores, worries, house, kids and her job in the box; in other words, anything that reflects who she is–so she doesn’t come through in the readings. She then closes the box and puts it away, such as under a bed or in a closet. To prepare herself for a reading, Tedrow used to need just the right room, lighting and surrounding, but now she can put her stuff in the box in a few seconds, clear her mind and open up to whatever spirit is ready to come forward. It just takes practice.

During one of the development circles, Tedrow brought a friend so her students could have a chance to to do a reading themselves. Stacy Smith was a childhood friend of Tedrow and was happy to be the first guinea pig. After taking about 15 minutes to meditate and put aside all of their “personal stuff,” the group was ready to focus on Smith. They sat quietly and wrote whatever came to mind first. “Just listen to your gut,” said Tedrow. She suggested that if they hit a block to just scribble in circles or lines or whatever is comfortable. Just like writing or journaling, scribbling can release the flow of thought. When everyone was done they took turns doing a reading on Smith. Everyone touched on some small aspect of Smith’s life, but the owner of the store, Tom McGuire, was amazingly accurate. He said he felt a lot of sadness surrounding her and could see many babies that had passed. In fact Smith had experienced seven miscarriages at different stages of pregnancy with one nearly full-term baby that was stillborn.

Tedrow said that this gift is not limited to any one person. Everyone has the gift. Some people can talk to spirit from the time they were children and some people have to learn it. But everyone has the ability to be their own medium. “Every reading I’ve ever done, they already had the message before we even sat down together.” Tedrow explained that unless someone is really skeptical and does not believe in an afterlife, they already have that connection. To make your own connection you have to listen to your own intuition. You don’t need anyone to do that for you.
An awakening usually follows some sort of personal loss, but not always. It could be the loss of a loved -one, a divorce, or near-death experience. Bellows-Macorro lost her fiancé, Vern, three weeks before they were to walk down the aisle. She came from a cynical point of view and was very involved in the material world. She doubted Heaven was real. But when Bellows-Macorro lost her fiancé in an auto accident it shook her world. That’s when she began her spiritual journey.

Her first reading was done by a medium who had written a book called Widowed Too Soon. Bellows-Macorro contacted the author, Laura Hirsch, and, because Hirsch lived in another state, they arranged to conduct a reading over the phone. Bellows-Macorro was surprised by how much more she enjoyed being on the phone versus a face-to-face meeting. Hirsch explained that she preferred the phone because, by not seeing the person, she can’t make any assumptions about their life attributed to age, race or appearance.

Within the first few minutes of their session, Hirsch told Bellows-Macorro that she saw a wedding ring on its side. Hirsch said, “I’m so sorry we didn’t make it to the altar.”

A few months later, Bellows-Macorro lost her job and couldn’t afford to pay for readings. But Hirsch told her that we are all mediums. We can all tap into our intuition. That’s when Bellows-Macorro decided to learn how to do her own readings. She had to work through her own doubts, but soon linked with like -minded people and formed a psychic development group called the Lightworkers Foundation in Fresno. One of the first people she connected with interested in forming the group was Tedrow.

When Tedrow explains how one receives messages from spirit, she describes the four major senses where information can come through. Spirit can talk to you through clairvoyance, which literally means “clear see.” This is what you see in your mind’s eye. You can strengthen this sense by practicing visualizing objects or facial expressions.

Another sense used when doing a reading is clairaudience, which means “clear hearing.” Clairaudience is a stream of thought, but it’s not your own thought. It’s coming from somewhere else. Tedrow said the more she practiced doing readings, the clearer the words and phrases became and the easier she could tell if it was her voice or spirit. “I turn into an open channel and just listen and get the information I need for the reading.” Journaling is the best way to get the messages flowing. “I call it inspirational writing. That’s the most important thing I teach in my class. I give everyone a note pad and tell them to write, doodle and draw. If you get stuck and feel like you are not getting anywhere, you can just scribble to get the messages flowing again.”

The third sense is clairsentient, or “clear feeling.” This is the strongest sense of all. The more empathetic you are, the more you will pick-up on it. With this sense you feel how things are, instead of how you think they are. You have to be in tune with your body and listen to your gut. This is best accomplished through meditation or making a conscious effort to pay attention to how you are feeling. Addiction can interfere with this process because the substance, whether food, alcohol or drugs, prevents a person from feeling. That’s usually the desired goal of taking substances in the first place, to not feel. To be a medium you need to pay attention to your feelings and use your emotions as a guidance system. After practicing, it becomes second nature.

The last sense is Clairecognoscente, or “clear knowing.” This is the strongest sense for Bellows-Macorro. This sense comes in flashes of intuition. It comes in and out quickly so you can’t put your own logic on it. That’s one way you can tell the difference between your own thoughts or clairecognoscence. But it’s subtle, and Bellows-Macorro had a hard time differentiating when it was intellectual or something coming from spirit. She wondered how she would know if she was just making it up. “The way you can tell between your own thoughts and spirit is if the message comes and goes quickly and would be forgotten if you weren’t paying attention. That is a message from spirit. Once you practice being aware and use it, the stronger your claircognoscence gets. But it takes dedication. It’s like a muscle and you have to use it every day,” said Tedrow.

The post Anyone Can Be a Medium appeared first on Valley Voice.