The Food Freedom initiative has been officially filed and the Urban Farmers for Food Freedom has five months left to gather approximately 8,000 signatures to qualify for the June, 2016 ballot. Fewer signatures are needed to get on the November ballot. The initiative would allow any “family household” to keep up to six chickens and […]
Daniel Lawrence spent a year living on the streets of Tulare, and what he experienced is helping drive a movement to protect the rights of indigent people in the South Valley. The Union of Hope, a newly-formed group championing the plight of the homeless, hopes to become both a guardian of their rights and see […]
After the Tulare County Agriculture Commissioner got done presenting the county’s record-breaking production numbers, Supervisor Pete Vander Poel summed it up, “in less than 10 years Tulare County has doubled its ag value.” Marilyn Kinoshita, agriculture commissioner, made a point to say during her presentation that, in the face of the states’ worst drought in […]
The fate of the undeveloped portion of Hidden Valley Park remains in limbo following a 4-3 finding by the Hanford Planning Commission that the land is not surplus. With the city short on funds needed to construct a new fire station, the city council has been again mulling selling 18.1 acres of open land adjoining […]
On July 31 Assemblyman Devon Mathis kept a crowd of about 50 constituents waiting nearly 20 minutes after the scheduled 5pm start of his town hall meeting. With good reason. After waiting roadside for nearly three hours, having suffered a tire blowout near Selma, Mathis finally got a ride from the CHP to make the […]
Depending upon with whom you talk, e-cigarettes are very safe or very dangerous. That debate broke out at the Tulare County Board of Supervisors July 21 meeting with the discussion of an ordinance change on smoking. An e-cigarette is a device run on batteries that lights up at the end to look like a real […]
Before settling in to hear from representatives of local agencies pulling for the construction of the California High-Speed Rail (HSR) project, the Hanford City Council got an earful of local opinion on the matter from both sides. The HSR project includes a 27-mile stretch through Kings County and has met with some vocal resistance locally, […]
Six months ago, SeaPort Airlines started daily service from Visalia to Sacramento and Burbank. The results have been very good with many flights full or near capacity. Some locals have actually had trouble getting tickets for their preferred flights. “It’s an interesting problem to have,” said Mario Cifuentez, Visalia airport manager. SeaPort flies four flights […]
Lester Snow’s recent editorial, “Drought Serves as Wake-up Call for Major Changes” (Sacramento Bee, July 11), invites renewed focus on “improved urban water conservation.” California statutes mandate re-use of tertiary treated wastewater by urban communities within their jurisdictions. Re-use of tertiary treated wastewater from de-centralized treatment facilities for purposes that do not require potable water […]
At the July 21 Tulare County Board of Supervisor’s meeting, Papich Asphalt Plant in Goshen received its final approval. A special use permit was approved to allow Papich to make and sell asphalt and rock products. An appeal of the permit, submitted by Houston Wells, president of Glen Wells Construction Firm, was denied, and the […]