Jean Rousseau, Tulare County’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for eight years, has resigned to accept an offer from Fresno County. Fresno County officials announced October 1 that Rousseau had accepted a job to become their CAO. Rousseau will be replacing Fresno County’s current CAO, John Navarrette, who has been on the job for 31 years. […]
Five days after news broke about a suspected DUI, Tulare Police Chief Jerry Breckinridge resigned. His resignation will be in effect on November 13. On Tuesday, October 6, two hours before the regularly scheduled Tulare City Council meeting, the City of Tulare along with Breckinridge released a joint statement announcing his resignation. Both Mayor David […]
The Central Valley has a slavery problem of which most residents are unaware. It is a center for human trafficking, much of it focused on the sex trade, but now an effort is underway in Tulare County to change that. Centrally located in the state with an entrenched criminal element and a high population of […]
Less than a year after moving to its new west Visalia facility, the Valley Oak SPCA Low-Cost Clinic is in need of a new doctor. For the past month, the clinic has ceased offering vaccination and spay/neuter surgeries to the public, due to the lack of a veterinarian. “We’re in the process of trying to […]
Reporter’s Note: A few weeks back this reporter found a listing on Craig’s List for filing cabinets. The Visalia Rescue Mission had received a donation of an abundance of them. Since the Valley Voice was in need, a reply was made to the listing and an appointment set to check them out. Valley Voice purchased […]
By an interesting quirk of fate, two statistics regarding Tulare County are nearly identical: About 20% of the county’s land is taken up by national parks, and almost 20% of the students fail to graduate high school. While these statistics seemingly have little to do with each other, at least one local educator thinks there […]
A hearing was held on September 24 for Jonathan Smith who was facing possible charges of resisting arrest. This, one month following Smith’s altercation with members of the Tulare Police Department, where, he has said, he was severely beaten, and arrested resisting arrest. The hearing lasted only a few minutes. The lawyer representing the District […]
The whereabouts of Tulare Police Chief Jerry Breckinridge have not been known to the public since May 29. Tulare City Manager Don Dorman announced on June 23 that Breckinridge had been placed on paid administrative leave. Dorman did not explain why the police chief had been put on administrative leave or how long he would […]
Hanford Environmental Action Team (HEAT) won its case against the City of Hanford concerning the Bajun American Properties housing development. HEAT appealed the city’s decision to approve the development’s site plans without an Environmental Impact Review (EIR). The judge decided in a September 22 hearing that HEAT would be given 10 more days from the […]
Hanford is getting a much-needed new fire station and part of Hidden Valley Park will not have to be sold to fund it. At a study session held September 15, Hanford City Council directed its staff to put together a construction plan for a third station the fire department needs to decrease its response times. Construction […]