High School District Modifies Two-Mile Rule

Tulare - Tulare Joint Union High School District found a solution to both cut transportation costs in the coming year and to still be able to offer bus service to students living within two miles of their campuses.

New Transportation Supervisor Robert Zamarripa showed the school trustees a revised policy that both reduces the number of stops buses will make within two miles of each campus, but places those stops at strategic areas where they will serve the most students, all the while reducing costs and freeing up buses to serve Mission Oak High School, the district's third campus that opens this fall.

Officials pointed out it was never the intention of the district to completely eliminate bus service in town, only to reduce the number of bus stops. However, the first presentation of those stops did not take into account where students live, and thus were met with some opposition.

“This is doable,” said trustee Karen Hill of the new proposal presented Thursday. She added it addresses safety concerns.

“We have to make do with the buses we have,” said Zamarripa, explaining the district is not adding more buses or drivers to handle the third high school that will open with freshman and sophomores.

He explained the idea was to keep buses running on time, to not greatly change bus schedules and to still be able to pick up students in town. Rural bus routes – those outside of the two-mile radius – are not affected, although there are some minor adjustments to the route schedules.

“We can still pick up students at the same time and service the new high school,” said Zamarripa.

For Tulare Union, the number of bus stops in that two-mile radius have been reduced from 14 to six and in Tulare Western from 15 to nine. Western serves a larger area than Union.

“We're not making all those kids walk,” stressed trustee Steven Lessley. “They might have to walk a few more blocks to their cluster (stop).”

Lessley stressed it was never the district's intention to completely eliminate bus service in the city, but to more closely meet the district's policy of not providing rides to students living within two miles of their campus.

The two-mile rule has been district policy for years but never enforced.

Zamarripa said the new bus stops were based on new software that allowed the district to determine where students live. The stops were then adjusted to make them closer to the greatest concentration of students who are likely to ride the bus.

“There are some significant changes,” said Zamarripa of the new maps compared to what was originally proposed. One is the stop in the Mission Oak area that one parent raised concerns about at the last meeting. That has been moved to an area that is safer for students and closer to where most of the students live.

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Tulare Firefighter Saving Lives in Many Ways

Tulare - He has served his country in the armed forces. He is serving the community as a Tulare City firefighter/paramedic. He has served his fellow man by providing bone marrow to a young boy with leukemia.

Tulare City Firefighter/Paramedic Rodnie Roberts donated his bone marrow June 23 and returned to work July 11, but his thoughts continue to be with the 12-year-old he never met and to this day, still does not know his name.

“No news is good news for me right now,” he said while on duty last week. The young boy is still in the hospital in Washington, D.C. and it will be several months before it is known if the transplant works, but as long as he has not gotten any bad news, so far so good. If not, Roberts is ready to make the trip to DC and donate again. Or, because he was such a good donor and bone marrow is replenished by the body, he could be asked to donate again for another recipient.

“Oh, heck yes, in a second,” was his answer to if he would go through it again. “It was great.”

The Tulare firefighter for three years signed up to be a bone marrow donor when he was in the Air National Guard unit out of Fresno. He signed via the C.W. Bill Young Marrow Donor Program eight years ago.

“A few of us signed up. They said the chance of us being called was slim. We didn't think too much about it. We never thought we'd be called.”

For eight years, he wasn't. Then in March, his mom got a call. At first, she thought something had happened to her son, before it was fully explained to her.

He was part of a group of 10-12 whose DNA was a possible match for the young recipient. Out of the group that was tested they determined who would be the best match. “I was the best match,” he said.

While he could back out at any time right up until a couple of days before donating, he was committed. He went to the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University in DC for a physical about three weeks for he donated.

“I was all excited about it,” he said of the prospect, adding that the donor registry paid for all expenses and, “luckily, I work for a great department and I could take time off.”

He returned to Georgetown and the surgery was done early on the morning of the 23rd. Small holes were made in his lower back to remove the 6 cc of marrow – half of what would be needed for an adult. “The surgery lasted 35 minutes,” he said, during which time he was put under sedation.

He was able to leave the hospital that night and for home two days later. Although weak and with some back pain, he said he felt pretty good. The young recipient got his new bone marrow the next morning.

The law does not allow him to know the identity of the boy, nor does the boy know his transplant provider. However, after a year has passed, both will be able to know the other's identity if they both agree. Roberts already decided he wants to know whose life he has helped.

Co-Workers Chip In

Fire Chief Michael Threlkeld said many of Roberts' co-workers wanted to help him out, but city policy did not address such a situation, so the city council passed a resolution allowing city employees to donate vacation time or to cover the more than 140 hours he would be off of work.

“Many of the guys donated leave time. Some worked shifts for him,” said the chief, adding he was very pleased to see a person in his department do such a wonderful thing.

“They basically were 100 percent for it,” said Roberts. “Every single bit of my time was covered. I want to thank everyone out there. They made it so easy to go donate – the city council, the firefighters.”

He said the success rate of the transplant for kids is fairly good, but only time will tell. He said he is in constant contact with the donor center to keep track of the condition of the boy he has given a second chance to, even if he does not know his name yet.area that is safer for students and closer to where most of the students live.

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City Offers Up-to-the-Minute Weather Information

Tulare - Residents of Tulare can now go to the City of Tulare website to find out what they already know – It's hot.

Thanks to a grant, the city has just installed its own weather station atop Fire Station 1 on South Blackstone Street and that new system now automatically posts up-to-the-minute weather information on the website.

“I thought it would be nice for citizens to have access,” said Fire Chief Michael Threlkeld of the new system that automatically records temperature, rainfall (when there is some), humidity, wind speed and direction, barometer, dew point, heat index, wind chill and more.

“It updates every minute,” pointed out the chief.

The system will note the high and low temperature of the day and the time they occur and it will record and compute rainfall for the season. It even gives the forecast.

“It pretty much does anything you'd expect,” said Threlkeld.

The fire station on Blackstone has been the city's unofficial weather station for years, but staff had to manually read the temperature and rainfall and then record it. Now, that is all done automatically.

The state-of-the-art Davis Industries Weather Station was purchased with a grant received by the Tulare Redevelopment Agency (RDA) designed to go towards health-monitoring activities.

The chief explained that in the event of a hazardous spill, officials will be able to determine by using the weather station which direction the wind might take any airborne contaminants and how quickly those might spread due to humidity.

“Where this comes in handy is in a hazmat incident. We can access the information from any computer in the field with internet access,” said Fire Capt. Kenny Dodson.

“Wind direction is extremely important and in high humidity ammonia does not dissipate as fast,” added Threlkeld. Ammonia is one of the biggest threats in the city because of the many large refrigeration units used in the milk processing industry.

“During a fire or hazardous materials release, weather is critical in determining which direction the smoke or chemical will travel and if it will dissipate,” he added.

Threlkeld said Betsy McGovern, project manager for the city's redevelopment agency was key in securing the funds.

Residents can access the city website by going to: www.ci.tulare.ca.us and clicking on the "click for detailed weather conditions" in the Weather box on the left side of the main screen.

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Ruthie's Offers a 'Dab' of Everything

Tulare - Blossom Stock of Ventura says she does a lot of shopping and looking and it doesn't get much better than Ruthie's Treasures, Antiques & More in Tulare.

“I think it's just lovely and the prices are good,” praised Stock, going through the store at 253 North L St. last week with other members of her family. She said the store carries a good variety – “a little bit of everything” – but couldn't stop saying the prices were excellent.

Ruthie's opened the first week of June along historic L Street. It is two doors down from Hazel's Kitchen, where owner Alicia Dorn's mother, Ruthie, works.

“I call it Ruthie's because Ruthie is my mom and she is my inspiration,” said Dorn.

“A little dab of everything,” best sums up the store located in one of the refurbished old and historic houses on L Street. That “everything” includes antiques, glassware, pictures, giftware and furniture.

“I did 25 years of antique shows so some of this is just 25 years of going to shows,” explained Dorn of the items she offers for sale.

She is especially pleased with the mahogany Indonesian furniture she offers – everything from small stands to tables and lamps.

“A lot of it is handmade. I like the fact they hand do it - the hand carving. They're very talented people,” said Dorn.

“A dab of everything,” is how she described her collection of antiques that includes a doctor's bag from years ago, complete with some of the antique doctor's instruments.

She said most of the antiques come from California, but she has collected from all over the United States as well. There is even a small box of old cooking utensils upstairs and a collection of magnifying glasses downstairs.

“I just keep looking and when I find something unique, I just buy it. I do have new items coming in all the time,” she said.

She also offers a book collection about antiques that customers can use to reference items.

While she has dabbled in antiques for years, this is her first venture of running her own store. Ruthie's is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The phone number is 688-1746.

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Couple Cruise to Wedding

Tulare - Fred and Judy Williams enjoy their time with their Small Town Cruisers gatherings so it just seemed natural to hold their wedding in front of their fellow cruisers – at a cruising event.

The couple, which has been together 22 years, tied the knot at the July Cruising Night event at Aero Dogs. “We've been together 22 years and we've never made it legal,” said Judy. “It just never seemed like we found the time.”

On July 12, they found the time. Surrounded by family, friends and fellow cruisers, they exchanged vows. “It was fun,” said Judy.

The couple decided to wear pink for their wedding. Judy explained they did that in honor of breast cancer awareness, saying that cause is important to both of them.

Also, because they have been together so long, she said they did not want gifts. So, anyone wanting to could donate money to the pediatric ward at Tulare District Hospital. More than $250 was collected.

The couple then drove off in their restored 1949 Chevy Business Coupe.

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Illegal Fireworks to Get More Costly

Tulare - In the wake of confiscating the most illegal fireworks in many years, the Tulare City Fire Department is recommending the city council increase the fines for possession and use of illegal fireworks in the city.

Over the Fourth of July holiday period – July 3-5 – the department issued 42 administrative citations for the possession or use of illegal fireworks in the city. That is an increase of 19 citations over last year. Each citation carries a $100 fine, but Fire Chief Michael Threlkeld sees a need to increase that fine, and the council indicated it agreed.

“You've got to charge them enough to hurt,” said Councilman David Macedo in response to the chief's recommendation.

Threlkeld reported that 675 pounds of illegal fireworks was collected this year.

Much of that came in one large package of illegal fireworks he believes was purchased in Nevada that does not have the same “safe and sane” standards as California. Threlkeld estimated that package alone may have cost as much as $1,000.

The chief said 512 hours of manpower was spent patrolling the streets, responding to complaints or contacting residents where illegal fireworks were used. The most citations were issued on the Fourth – 34. He also reported they had seven fires, all vegetation or trash, they believed were caused by fireworks. Luckily, no damage or injuries were reported.

One problem they encountered were block parties where residents received permission to close the street for their fireworks displays. However, he many often those resulted in the firing of illegal fireworks. There were 16 such parties this year.

“Access into those areas was difficult and many used the large number of attendees to conceal the actual violators,” Threlkeld told the council.

Macedo suggested the city go after the person who obtained the permit to close the street, or at least make them responsible for the use of the fireworks. Threlkeld said they do note where illegal fireworks were used and won't allow a block party in that neighborhood next year.

As for fines, the chief said he is still researching the matter, but it looks like they will range from $100 for minor offenses – such as firecrackers – up to $1,000 for more serious offenses, such as altered legal fireworks or those that go airborne. It is illegal to discharge any fireworks into the sky in California.

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