The Hanford City Council conducted one of its most consequential meetings on November 2, making sweeping decisions that will change the course of the city. The council voted to annex seven city islands, abolish a zoning ordinance criticized as archaic, and reverse the zoning on an undeveloped 18 acre patch of Hidden Valley Park from […]
The Hanford City Council agreed to continue the city’s subsidy to the Hanford Chamber of Commerce through the June 30, 2022 — but permanently end it after that. This fiscal year the chamber is to get $40,000. It has already received $20,000 and will get another $20,000 by the end of June 2022, said Amory […]
The Hanford Planning Commission rejected a staff and council recommendation to approve zoning changes such as optometry, medical, and dental offices to operate at 12th and Lacey Boulevard and the Costco development at Highway 43. By a 3-0 vote on Tuesday, with one abstention, the commission approved a motion to have a citizens’ group, the […]
A new state law effective next year would effectively ban single family housing lots in an effort to ease the state’s housing crisis. While the law would allow more units to be built on a single family parcel, local cities are pushing back against the idea. The Hanford City Council September 21 unanimously passed a […]
Rayvn Cullor, a reporter for a five-day-a-week newspaper, filed a complaint against besieged Council Member Art Brieno for ‘inappropriate’ comments following a July 21 interview, according to a copy of the complaint filed with the City of Hanford. The alleged comments were ironic because the topic of the interview was Brieno’s interactions with Darlene Mata, […]
After a long and winding road, Caliva finally opened its Hanford storefront dispensary on August 1. Their official ribbon cutting on August 13 where officials from State Senator Mellissa Hurtado’s office, Representative David Valadao and Hanford Mayor Francisco Ramirez were in attendance to welcome Caliva’s long awaited opening. “We are thrilled with the location and […]
Former Hanford finance director Paula Lofgren’s explosive discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit pulls back the curtain on what she describes as a toxic workplace where a moody and autocratic city manager Mario Cifuentez made sexual advances toward her and describes Community Development Director Darlene Mata as a “nasty” and “rude” person. Lofgren also […]
Although the city of Hanford’s attempts to silence an outspoken planning commission member may be interpreted as a violation of his free speech, the city attorney Ty Mizote said Jason Kemp Van Ee was reprimanded for inaccurate and possibly biased statements on social media. Jason Kemp Van Ee decided to resign without taking legal action. […]
The City of Hanford will celebrate its 130th birthday over a three-day event on July 29th, 30th and 31st. The celebration will take place in and around the historic Civic Park. A Storied History In 1877, when the Southern Pacific Railway laid lines from Goshen to Coalinga, their path crossed through a Chinese sheepherder’s simple […]
The appointment on June 3 of political neophyte Amanda Saltray to the Hanford City Council generated positive buzz about the infusion of new blood into the council and having a majority of women on the board. But the honeymoon was short lived as accusations of impropriety swirled around the city council’s selection process. Three independent […]