Adult School Partners with Habitat for Humanity
By Claudia Elliott
Tulare - As Crystal Franklin hammers nails three mornings a week, she's doing more than helping build two of seven Habitat for Humanity homes under construction in Tulare, she's nailing down her future, as well.
With residential and commercial construction booming throughout Central California, contractors are struggling to find qualified help. Crystal and her fellow students in the Tulare Adult School's new Building Trades Program are gaining marketable skills while helping meet housing needs of low income families.
“It's a win-win-win situation,” said Susan Pasquini, adult school director, who noted that the partnership was the idea of Tulare Mayor Richard Ortega, who is a regular Habitat for Humanity volunteer.
“He heard about a similar program in another county and approached us with the idea,” Pasquini said. Soon after, Betsy Murphy, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County and Diane Vessels, ReStore Manager, addressed the school board, and the new building trades training course was approved.
“Students gain necessary job training, give service to the community and to Habitat for Humanity, and provide more homes for low-income families. This is a way for people to get involved in their community who otherwise might not know how to do that.”
Students attend classroom session on Monday and Friday mornings; Tuesday through Thursday mornings are spent at the building site, getting hands-on experience while actually helping build homes for low income families.
The first session of the building trades class began in October with eight students, including Franklin, who was the first to sign up. Another student, San Juanita Flores, works full-time and attends class because she wants to build her own home someday.
The instructor, Al Bonds, is enthusiastic about the new class; “This class is probably something I've worked for all my life. This is going to be a good hands-on class.” Bonds has previously taught and worked in construction and remodeling.
The Tulare Redevelopment Agency has pledged more empty lots so the building of houses for low-income families can continue. Eventually Vessels hopes to be able to build homes on a 12-week schedule.
The class is offered free of charge and Vessels encourages anyone 18 or older who would like to gain construction skills to enroll.
“Whether they want to become involved in construction, start a handyman service, or just learn skills for taking care of their own homes, the class is valuable,” Vessels said.
For more information call Tulare Adult School at 686-0225.
Nearly a third of proposed new home construction is on Tulare’s westside
By Claudia Elliott
Tulare - Build it and they will come. In the case of city infrastructure and residential housing, that certainly seems to be the case in Tulare as a planned sewer line expansion has spurred a Westside housing boom.
According to the city's Senior Planner Bonnie Simoes, about a quarter of the proposed residential construction is for the Westside, and more annexations are in the works.
Not counting numerous new homes and subdivisions already completed, the city has a list of projects with proposed maps and finaled maps, Simoes said.
These lists include 5356 single family units and 481 multiple family units and of those, 1322 single family and 99 multi-family units are on the Westside, Simoes said.
Tulare's Westside, which includes some of the oldest parts of town, has not had much new construction in recent years. But that's about to change.
James Harris of Vicarea Real Estate, Inc., was involved with Cottonwood Construction's acquisition of Westside land for Christiania Homes which is now building Pleasant Oak Phase V near the corner of Cross and West Streets. He said lower land costs were an important factor in the decision to build at that location, in addition to the new sewer line.
“People are really surprised at the features we have with these homes at a lower price than in other areas,” Harris said. “Lower land costs make a difference.”
Pleasant Oak V homes range from 1541 to 2341 square feet and have up to five bedrooms. Tile roofs, ceramic tile floors and counter tops, and rounded wall corners are just some of the desirable features included with prices in the mid-$200,000's to mid-$300,000's, he said.
Pleasant Oak phases six and seven are on the city's “proposed” list and will include multi-family homes, Simoes said.
She added that many builders have been attracted to the Westside, in part because of the sewer line extension.
Lennar Homes is already building its Westgate Estates on the Westside. Centex is wrapping up grading on Sherwood North along Pleasant Avenue. Other builders with Westside projects on the proposed for finalized map list include Blain Construction, Del Valle, Grupe, Hidden Oak Development, Lafferty, Mello, and Pinmentel.
The pace of development has city planning staff hopping, Simoes said. The city's building department has added two part-timers to help with inspections, she noted.
And one of three annexations to the city in progress, the 45-acre Bender property, is on the Westside, Simoes added. If approved as proposed another 200 single family lots would be created and added to the city.
By Staff Report
Tulare - A year after being shot and seriously wounded during a traffic stop, two TPD police officers are continuing to recover from their injuries and have yet to speak publicly about the incident.
But on the one-year anniversary of the incident, the TPD issued a press release from Tulare Police Chief Roger Hill stating: “Trishun and Jeremy are still recovering from very serious injuries and the date of January 17 is still very painful for them and for our department. We know the public is very concerned about these officers and eager to hear from them. While we are in awe of their courage and determination, we do not feel it is appropriate to ask them to speak with the media at this time.”
Corporal Trishun Jackson, a field-training officer, and Officer Jeremy Jones were shot on Jan. 17 last year after pulling over a vehicle in the 2100 block of South Laspina Street. At the time, Jones was undergoing field training after recently joining the department.
Jackson suffered a shotgun blast that shredded her left shoulder; Jones was shot in the face and lost his left eye.
An outpouring of support for the officers from the community immediately after the shooting resulted in dozens of fundraisers and public displays of concern for the injured officers.
A citywide fundraiser held last February and spearheaded by TPD volunteer Melody Tucker and Aero Dogs owner Don LeBaron raised more than $60,000 to help defray the two officers' medical expenses.
“The whole community was wounded,” said LeBaron. “We just wanted to do something to help.”
A still-recovering Cpl. Jackson stopped by Aero Dogs over the summer. “She had her arm in a sling, bought some dogs, said hello to everyone,” said LeBaron. “She didn't say anything about the incident or how her recovery was going.”
Two Earlimart brothers with alleged gang connections were arrested in the incident. Jesse Barbosa, 19, and Jeffrey Barbosa, 18, are awaiting trial, charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder of two police officers and aggravated mayhem. If convicted, the brothers could each be sentenced to life in prison.
Citing the pending criminal case, Chief Hill said: “Our department and our officers will reserve comments until the trial is complete...Our primary concern is the officers' health and well being, properly conducting our investigation, and professionally managing the subsequent responsibilities regarding the eventual criminal trial. The media's restraint in contacting the officers is appreciated.
Blame Katrina for Expensive Westside Sewer Line Extension
Tulare - The city of Tulare will move forward with plans to extend six miles of sanitary sewer line on the west side of town despite the fact the lowest bid came in $1.5 million above the engineer’s estimate, according to Public Works Director Lew Nelson.
Nelson said the city let the actual low bidder, Rising Sun Company of Exeter, off the hook when they made a mathematical err5or on their bid.
“It was clearly a bidding error,” said Nelson, noting that it’s no use to demand a contractor stick to a bid when they made a $1 million mistake on their spreadsheet.
Instead, the city’s public utilities commission accepted the bid of Bay Area based Mountain Cascade for $5.3 million to do the job at the commission’s meeting January 19.
Nelson said consultant Quad Knopf made the engineer’s estimate.
You can blame Hurricane Katrina for the sky-rocketing cost of black polyethylene pipe. The hurricane demolished a manufacturing plant in the Gulf region.
“Even at this high price the material is still a fraction of the cost of clay sewer lines that require more labor,” Nelson said.
Nelson said the city has money left over from bond issues to pay for the cost of the project and the extra cost will mean the next bond issue will be needed sooner. He said rapid growth on Tulare’s west side forces the city’s hand.
The new line will run from the sewer plant north of Enterprise to Pleasant Avenue and east on Pleasant to West Street. The project also includes replacing a deteriorating milk wastewater line for West Street west of the sewer plant.
Store Opening is ‘Homecoming’ for Home Depot Manager
Tulare - Last week’s Home Depot opening in Tulare was bright with orange balloons and included a presentation of an orange Home Depot employee apron to Tulare Mayor Richard Ortega, who cut the ceremonial board, but it was perhaps even more special because for store manager Brenda Boggs, it was a homecoming, too.
Boggs didn’t move to Tulare to help the fast-growing company open a new store, she already lived in Tulare. As a Home Depot employee for the past 11 years, she’s traveled to work various assignments at stores throughout the valley.
With a new store opening somewhere every 48 hours, on the average, the world’s largest home improvement retailer has the business of new store opening refined to an art.
A pre-opening celebration to which family, friends, and community leaders are invited is part of the drill, along with a ceremonial “board-cutting” with a painted plank and a power saw used instead of a ribbon and scissors to signal the launch of a new business venture.
Looking around at the sea of orange-aproned employees and others gathered for the pre-opening celebration on Thursday evening, Jan. 26, Boggs had a slightly tearful sparkle in her eyes as she shared how much the event meant to her.
“It is so nice to be able to work in a place that I love so much and now in my own community,” she said.
Boggs’ daughter Alexis, was part of the crowd of about 100 people present, and gave her mom a hug before the ceremony began.
Ortega complimented company officials on locating in Tulare.
“You were wise to locate here,” he said. “With 32 subdivisions in process and 5500 lots scheduled to be built on in the next 5-8 years, you’re going to have a lot of customers for your goods.
Last week’s ceremony also included presentation of two $1,000 contributions from Home Depot to local schools. Principal Brian Hollingshead accepted the donation on behalf of Garden Elementary School and Tulare City Manager Darrell Pyles accepted the contribution on behalf of Tulare Christian School.
Boggs said the new store, which is located in the Del Lago Shopping Center on Prosperity Avenue, encompasses 102,000 square feet indoors plus a 35,000 square foot garden center.
She added that most of the store’s 122 employees are from Tulare.
“They’re great people,” she said. “I think you’re going to like then all as much as I do.” Store hours are from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.
Mineral King group provides expanded radiology at
Tulare District Hospital
Tulare - Tulare District Hospital has taken a giant step forward with the recent affiliation of Mineral King Radiological Group, Inc. The group, consisting of ten radiologists, is now providing medical guidance for the hospital’s radiological services.
The new partnership will allow TDH to expand the radiology services available to hospital patients by adding a number of new interventional capabilities.
Radiological services include X-ray, CT scan, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, Ultrasound and several other imaging modalities. The group will assume the medical directorship of imaging services at TDH as well as those of Family X-Ray Center.
Mineral King Radiological Group brings many years of experience and significant expertise to Tulare. The organization has held a contract with Kaweah Delta District Hospital for many years and also operates its own full service imaging center, Visalia Imaging And Open MRI in Visalia.
“Our radiology department will be second to none in the country,” boasted Dr. Parmod Kumar, a member of the hospital’s board of directors.
“It’s a great day in our district,” he added.
The new group began their practice at the hospital on January 1, said Duane Iwamura, director of imaging services at TDH.
“This affiliation will serve to greatly enhance the radiological services available to Tulare District Hospital patients,” said Iwamura. He explained the new group will allow the hospital to do many more tests and procedures that were not done here in the past.
“Let’s face it, most patients prefer to remain in their own community when they have an imaging procedure or test done,” he said.
Of the 10 radiologists, four are qualified to do interventional radiology, which in some cases, employs image guidance through veins and arteries in order to examine specific organs.
The new group will also conduct stereotactic breast biopsies, which is a procedure capable of pinpointing small to medium sized lesions that can be extracted through the use of a biopsy needle. This will be available at TDH later this year.
Doctors will also utilize the hospital’s modern cath and vascular lab to do procedures not done at TDH before, including a procedure known as Vertebroplasty.
“We certainly are pleased to be working with TDH and hoping we can progress together in a beneficial fashion,” said Dr. Michael Bowers, head of the group.
“This is a real step up in the types of services we can provide,” noted LeRoy Trippel, another member of the hospital board.
Mineral King Radiological was founded in the 1950s and each radiologist is board certified by the American College of Radiology.
Founded in 1946, Tulare District Hospital is a 112-bed facility providing 24-hour care to the district that encompasses southern Tulare County and its 75,000 residents. Located at 869 Cherry Street, the hospital offers the most up-to-date and finest health care and personalized services including respiratory therapy, sleep lab, cardiology, oncology, physical therapy, medical imaging, laboratory, pharmacy and more. For more information on Tulare District Hospital call 688-0821 or visit the hospital website at www.tdhs.org.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
February 1, 2006
