Chris Ekk had his eye on the top job at the Hanford Fire Department for a long time. As far back as 2003, when Ekk was promoted to engineer after three years as a firefighter for HFD, he was thinking about his far future with the department. “I made the decision this is something I […]
Judge Valeriano Saucedo is one of Tulare County’s longest-serving family law judges. Saucedo became Tulare County’s first Hispanic judge when he was appointed to the bench in 2001. His wife Teresa concurrently served as Tulare County Counsel during her husband’s reign “of power”. Judge Saucedo’s infamous rise to office as a California judge ended (for all […]
Get ready for a captivating discussion on current events and news makers when Mark Keppler, the CEO and Director of the Maddy Institute, is the special guest of the Annual Meeting for the League of Women Voters. The League Annual Meeting will be Tuesday, May 19 at noon in the LampLiter Inn. Keppler will be […]
The Sequoia Cycling Classic returns to downtown Visalia, Sunday, April 26 with 400-500 riders expected to participate. “Everything is on track,” said Eric Henson, event organizer. And, as in the past, the Sequoia Cycling Classic “is more than a race,” Henson said. “It is an event!” In general, when cyclists compete, they are on a […]
At the April 7 Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting, Jean Rousseau, county administrative officer, presented the county’s mid-term budget. The General Fund Fiscal Outlook for 2015-16 looks cautiously positive as the county is steadily recovering from the Great Recession. Rousseau attributed Tulare County’s positive financial position to its conservative approach to spending and saving […]
With the worsening drought much on the minds of Californians, Visalia has added another voice in the state’s approach to water regulation with the appointment of Maria Herrera, 32, to the California Water Commission (CWC). “I’m very excited,” Herrera said of the announcement by Gov. Jerry Brown’s office late last month. “I’m honored to be […]
On April 6 the Visalia City Council held a marathon city council meeting that included several public hearings, increased developer’s impact fees and rejected a change to a city ordinance. The meeting took place at the convention center in anticipation of larger-than-normal crowds for the public hearing about dividing the city into voting districts. That […]
A passion for gardening and for teaching sparked an idea for Judy Wait that developed into a learning center and visitor’s destination for the whole community. Retired from full-time teaching, Wait continued to teach through school gardening in Hanford elementary schools. She considered the possibility of opening a community garden across from Martin Luther King […]
Tulare County Planning Commission met on April 8 to continue the public hearing and consider the settlement progress made between CEMEX and the neighbors of its Stillwell mine whose wells have gone dry. Mike Spata, Director of the Resource Management Agency (RMA), started the hearing by informing the commissioners that the lawyers were present to […]
At the Tulare County Supervisors’ meeting on April 7, the supervisors voted on sending a letter of support to Mathis’ assembly bill 954. The bill establishes a pilot program that will provide low interest loans or grants to private residences whose wells have gone dry. Up until now, all the funding has been earmarked for […]