Councilman Ortega Won't Run; Macedo Will

Tulare - After spending nearly three decades in public service – including nine years on the City Council – Councilman Richard Ortega has announced he will not seek re-election and wants to spend more time with his family.

Councilman David Macedo, who is also up for re-election, said he will seek a fourth term.

Ortega's decision means election officials will extend the filing period in the Tulare City Council race until 5 p.m. Aug. 11. This will be done in all races where an incumbent declines to run.

“Later this month I will be 78 years old and although I have some health issues that can be somewhat overcome, I believe it's time to spend more time with my wife and family … and offer the opportunity for someone new to serve on the council,”

Ortega said in an announcement addressed to “the good citizens of Tulare.”

He said later his decision had nothing to do with the recent lawsuit filed against him, challenging his right to vote on racetrack matters, or with another filed against the council, charging a violation of the Brown Act and state's open meeting law.

“No, it [this decision] has been coming for awhile,” he said. “I'm getting older and I'm starting to feel my age and I just don't want to be around any longer than I'm able to do my job.”

Ortega said he does “feel a little bit bad because we have controversy and I don't want to leave the impression I'm abandoning ship.”

He has been a strong racetrack proponent and plans to continue to support the project even after he leaves the council, he said.

“This could either be another outlet center or it could be another Ruiz Foods,” he said, referring in the first instance to the city's success in attracting the shopping center and, in the second, its failure to retain a major employer.

Macedo, who has strongly opposed the racetrack project, said he's been getting a lot of pressure from people to run.

“As things unfolded the last few weeks, people who have never called me over the last 12 years have been calling, urging me to run,” Macedo said.

The council has been the target of much criticism over the past two months. In June, eight residents accused the council of both open meeting and Public Records Act violations in a matter unrelated to the racetrack and the Tulare County Grand Jury alleged a possible Brown Act violation regarding actions that led to racetrack developer Bud Long transferring money from a Tulare bank to a Fresno one without the papers that gave the city control over the funds.

The council also fired its city attorney, who had been advising the council to take action against Long. Mayor Craig Vejvoda cited several other reasons unrelated to the racetrack project.

Retired Police Chief Roger Hill and Tulare resident Ray de la Garza have taken out papers to run for City Council, but neither has returned them.

Hill said Monday he expected to meet with his supporters early this week before making a final decision.

In the Tulare Joint Union High School District race only incumbent Adrian Holguin has filed. If either Steve Lessley or Craig Hamilton fail to file by 5 p.m. Friday that race also will be extended to Wednesday.

In the Tulare City Council District race incumbents Phil Plascencia and James Henderson have filed, which means any challenger would have to meet the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.

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City to Pay for Ortega Defense

Tulare - The city will pay for Councilman Richard Ortega's defense in the July 22 lawsuit attorney Mike Lampe filed against him individually, the city, the Tulare Industrial Site Development Foundation (TISDF) and the Tulare Motor Sports Complex L.P.

Meeting in a closed door session on July 28, the council voted 3-0 to unanimously hire special counsel Tim Sabo to defend the city in the matter and 2-1 to provide Ortega with a legal defense.

Neither Ortega nor Councilman David Macedo was present for the vote. Ross opposed the request by Ortega's attorney for the city to pay the cost.

Macedo, who was late to the meeting, was clearly upset when Mayor Craig Vejvoda announced the decision to the public.

“We're paying for his lawyer? Who's going to pay for mine,” Macedo said. “That's crap! That's crap!”

Macedo said he and Ross had to pay for their own attorneys when City Manager Darrel Pyle logged a harassment complaint against them in April and Ortega should pay his own fees too. Ross' attorney Mike Lampe has said no action resulted from the investigation.

Ortega declined to comment on Macedo's reaction.

Lampe, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Tom Drilling, a former mayor, alleges Ortega violated California law when he voted on Nov. 21, 2006, to approve a memorandum of understanding involving the city, TMSC developers and the TISDF, because he was a member of the foundation board, which had a financial interest in the outcome.

Lampe first raised the issue at the council's July 6 meeting, when the council was to vote on extending the TMSC deadline for reimbursing the city for the $1 million it had spent on the racetrack's environmental impact report.

He reported then that TISDF was to receive $250,000 when land transactions are completed.

After Lampe's comments, the council delayed action on the requested extension for four months to give Ortega time to check with the Fair Political Practices Commission about the matter.

Ortega said later he had sought advice from then-City Attorney Steve Kabot before the vote to make sure he could legally vote. Kabot has said he does not recall the conversation, which Deputy Chief City Clerk Roxanne Yoder said occurred before the meeting, but that he accepted Ortega's word they had spoken about the matter.

The lawsuit seeks a court ruling that the 2006 MOU and any other contract signed by the parties in which TISDF had expected a financial interest be forfeited and TISDF be required to pay the amount to the city of Tulare.

While a TMSC attorney could not be reached for comment, attorneys for Ortega and the other defendants said they were not prepared to comment about the specifics of the lawsuit.

“The city's going to sort through the matter and figure out the appropriate next steps,” interim city attorney Seth Merewitz said.

Tulare attorney Dennis Mederos, who represents TISDF, said the board will be meeting to discuss what action to take and a response will be filed with the court.

In the meantime, Tulare resident Philip Mattingly said he has filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission about Ortega's vote on the MOU and other TMSC matters.

Mattingly also alleges Ortega failed to declare a financial interest in TISDF on this financial disclosure statement.

Ortega has said he owns no stock in TISDF, which is a for-profit foundation, and does not get paid for serving on the board.

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Nashville Musicians Perform at Church

Tulare - Musicians Reggie and Jenny Lynn Young have impressive credentials as he has played guitar with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and many other major recording artists and she the fiddle and electric cello with, among others, Vince Gill and Jewel.

But on Sunday, July 25, the Youngs were playing in quite a different venue – the First Congregational Church in Tulare.

The couple was there because Reggie Young had given his wife exactly what she had requested for her 50th birthday – a trip from their home in Tennessee to Tulare where she lived from 1968 to 1976 when her father, the Rev. John Hollowell, was pastor of the church.

“I just had such a happy childhood growing up in Tulare and the church and going to Garden School,” Jenny Young said.

And it was in Tulare where she got the opportunity to develop her musical talents, thanks to a Tulare County Symphony Orchestra scholarship that allowed her to take private cello lessons for about three years from Priscilla Lowery Hawkins, who then lived in the Porterville area.

“That was such a great program for kids,” said Jenny, who later won a youth concert contest and performed with the local symphony as a result.

Pat Hillman, a church member and one of the founders of the symphony, was the one who had encouraged her to apply for the scholarship, said Jenny, who is a classical cellist in addition to a fiddler.

For the recent Sunday service she borrowed a cello from Hillman's son, Scot.
“Scot was one of the first cellists I'd ever heard,” Jenny said, adding that the first time she played the cello in church she performed a duet with him.

“I was 10 and he was 12,” she said.

Jenny also recalled the influence that her fifth grade Garden School music teacher Greg Morrelli had on her.

“He was probably the first one to get me started playing outside the box,” she said. “He would tell us to 'just play along' even though we didn't have any music. He'd say, 'just play what you hear.'”

Her family left Tulare in 1976 when she was 16 years old and moved to Prescott, Ariz., where her father became pastor of a church. She finished high school there and then enrolled at Arizona State University in Phoenix, where she earned a classical music degree in performance cello.

After graduation she began playing electric cello and fiddle in bands and clubs throughout the southwest and even had her own band, Jenny Lynn and the Men, for eight years.

When she was 22, she was performing at a club, where country great Waylon Jennings heard her play. He told her that when she had matured more as a musician, he would come back to get her, Jenny said.

And he did 16 years later in 1999 when he was putting together the Waymore Blues Band, which included her future husband Reggie Young.

For her it was love at first sight, but he recently had lost his wife and was still going through the grieving process, Jenny said.

Their friendship grew over the three years they played with Jennings. They were married in 2004.

“I married my best friend,” Reggie said.

“I married my soul mate,” she said.

'Nashville Legend'

Premier Guitar magazine did a story on Reggie Young in 2007, calling him “a Nashville legend” and “one of the best players that you may not even know.”

He is well known as a studio musician, but also has traveled and played with more than a few big names.

At the tender age of 19 he joined Eddie Bond and the Stompers, whose “Rockin' Daddy” was a hit and led to a contract with Mercury Records and tours with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Horton, Johnny Cash and others.

He later joined the Bill Black Combo (“Smokie”), which opened for the Beatles in 1964 on their first U.S. tour, which opened at San Francisco's Cow Palace.

His early studio career included work with Atlantic Records in New York City and American Studios in Memphis, where he helped form the Memphis Boys, the studio's house band.

It was in Memphis that he played with Elvis on such numbers as “Suspicious Minds,” “In the Ghetto” and “Kentucky Rain” and with Neil Diamond on “Sweet Caroline” and other numbers.

In 1973 he went to Nashville, where he worked with such famous artists as George Strait, B.B. King, Paul Simon and Merle Haggard.

He joined the Highwaymen, which included Cash, Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, in 1990 and played with them for five years.

Reggie said the closest he had been to Tulare before last month was when he played with the Highwaymen in Fresno, but he did play guitar on Merle Haggard's recording of “Tulare Dust.”

In 2007 he was inducted in the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville and the following year was honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame for being a “Nashville Cat.”

In addition to playing with Gill and Jewel, Jenny recently has done studio work with Patty Griffin and Kristofferson.

The Youngs live in Leipers Fork in middle Tennessee and her parents, now both 88, live only 15 minutes away in Franklin, Tenn.

Two years ago the Youngs recorded “Be Still,” a collection of soulful music, which can be previewed at www.cdbaby.com/cd/rjly.

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Hospital Launches New Patient-Friendly Website

Tulare - After almost a year of work, Tulare Regional Medical Center has unveiled a new Internet website that offers computer savvy patients and their families a host of convenient options that are just a click away.

Area residents can now find a doctor on-line, pay their bill, pre-register for surgical and other procedures, send an e-greeting to a patient, register for classes and perform other tasks.

Members of the Evolutions Fitness and Wellness Center, which the healthcare district also operates, can even find gym hours and class schedules on the site.

“This is one of the most frequently downloaded items at the moment,” marketing director Sherrie Bakke told the Tulare Local HealthCare District board at their regular meeting July 28.

The website went live on July 1 and before the end of the month at least 117 users had navigated the site in search of a physician, Bakke said. Doctors determine how much information they want to put on the site.

Grandparents and other relatives and friends who can't wait to see that little newcomer to the family can now go to the “Our Babies” segment of the site for a good look.

Users will have to know the mother's name and the child's birthday to access photographs that the hospital has arrange for Essence Photography to shoot. For security reasons, the photos won't post until after mother and child have been discharged from the hospital, Bakke said.

Tulare Regional, as part of its on-going effort to get patients to prepare for the possibility that at some point in their lives they might not be able to communicate their wishes regarding their own health care, the hospital also has put advance directive forms on line in both English and Spanish.

Residents also will soon be able to go to their home or office computers and get a “real time” look at the construction of Tulare Regional's new tower, Bakke said.
“We're the only hospital in our area with [website] video capabilities,” she reported.
The website address is www.tulareregional.org.

Foundation Revamp

Also giving a special report was Linda Wilbourn, chair of the Tulare Hospital Foundation board of directors, who said the foundation has had an “extremely busy” year and is in the process of revamping itself.

The foundation is in the very early stages of a capital campaign to financially support the expansion.

Members of the hospital's auxiliary and Tulare Regional's employees are the first the foundation has asked to become involved, Wilbourn said.

Employees were asked to pledge an amount equal to one hour of pay per month, she reported.

“They're amazing; they have just run with it,” she said.

Employees Trish Hitlin and Kim Hughes are co-chairpersons of that effort.

Reviewing other activities over the past year, she reported the foundation:

· Hired DeLauro and Associates Consulting of San Diego to do a feasibility study to determine if the community would support a capital campaign for the expansion project. Wilbourn said the study determined it would.

· Developed a new logo that is complementary to Tulare Regional's logo.

· Developed new mission, vision and value statements, agreeing that the foundation will strive to be “the charity of choice for the greater Tulare region, acting as ambassadors for Tulare Regional Medical Center and inspiring trust and confidence among its constituents.”

· Agreed to conduct an official audit that will position the foundation to quickly respond to opportunities to seek grants or corporate money.

· Unveiled a new donor wall to replace the one that had to be removed from the hospital's lobby to meet hospital safety codes.

Board member Dr. Prem Kamboj said it is very exciting to see the foundation move to a new level of involvement.

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Horseshoe Play Popular with Locals

By John Hobbs

Tulare - Horseshoe pitching: Is it a sport or simply a leisure time activity?

The answer to this not-so-perplexing question seems to depend upon who one asks.

Ask Jaymie Nunes, co-chair of the 24th Annual St. Aloysius Invitational Horseshoe Tournament, and you'll be told: “It's a little of both, with some taking the competition very seriously and others approaching it as no more than an enjoyable way to pass the time.”

Jaymie's husband, Eric Nunes, another co-chair of the August 8 tournament to benefit Tulare's St. Aloysius Parochial School, is more emphatic and firmly-convicted in his answer: “It's a sport; definitely a sport.”

In any event, the St. Al's tournament is one which horseshoe pitching enthusiasts have looked forward to every summer for nearly a quarter-century. In fact, it has become a generational thing with families now being represented in the competition by sons and daughters whose parents “threw shoes” in the late 1980s.

As an invitational tournament, St. Al's organizers extend invitations to about 125 potential participants with a view toward building a field of players consisting of 88 men and 36 women.

Not everyone receiving an invitation is able to accept, but that's not a problem because the tournament is so popular that it has developed a long waiting list of players eager to fill openings created for whatever reason.

In addition to Eric and Jaymie Nunes, Danny Tristao and his wife, Karen, also serve as co-chairs of the tournament's 2010 edition. Together, the foursome has planned an event which also will include a deep pit pork barbecue with salad, bread and a beverage for $7.

Cold beverages, ice cream and T-shirts also will be available for purchase.

The event is supported through sponsorships with a full-pit sponsorship pricing out at $200 and a half-pit at $100. Businesses and individuals interested in sponsorship or tickets are asked to call Eric and Jaymie Nunes at 686-6109 or Danny and Karen Tristao at 684-0970.

Local Legend

The Nuneses and the Tristaos are anticipating the presence of local horseshoe pitching legend Donald Henry, as well as nationally-renowned competitors such as Robert and Diane Cocagne to be among the field of players on Sunday.

Affirming horseshoe pitching's claim to bona fide sport status is Tularean Robert Cocagne, who currently is fourth vice president of the Northern California affiliate to the National Horseshoe Pitching Association (NHPA) and president of the Tulare Horseshoe Pitching Club.

Cocagne's passion for the sport has prompted him to focus his efforts on renewing local interest and participation in horseshoe pitching.

To that end and with considerable assistance from the Tulare Parks and Recreation Department, Cocagne and the Tulare club will be forming a fall league, which plans to “throw shoes” in Centennial Park every Wednesday evening from Sept. 22 through Oct. 27.

It just so happens that with the Cocagnes horseshoe pitching is a family affair. In fact, Robert, his wife, Diane, and 13 year-old daughter, Baylee, each have excelled in regional and state competitions.

On any given weekend, they can be found anywhere from Madera to San Jose and from Turlock to Exeter pitching horseshoes and winning trophies.

To reach the level of play maintained by the Cocagne family, Robert estimates “at least 30 minutes of practice at least three days a week” is required. On average, Robert and Diane participate in 10 to 12 tournaments a year, while Baylee throws in five or six.

Cocagne is quick to provide assurance that getting started in the sport is not at all difficult or complicated.

“All you have to do is come up with $27 for your NHPA membership and then set aside enough time to throw 100 shoes in order to set your (the player's) handicap.” This is something with which Cocagne said he is more than happy to help prospective players.

Moreover, Cocagne swears by his claim “the best players are almost always the most friendly players in a tournament and they're known to be glad to offer coaching, critiquing or encouragement to anyone who asks.”

Fertile Ground

California's San Joaquin Valley is apparently fertile ground for growing championship caliber horseshoe pitchers. Three-time state champion Rick Birmingham hails from Sacramento. Bakersfield's Danny Kyle is also one who has obtained superstar status and Cocagne's recent trip to San Jose yielded a first place finish in “Class A” competition with a field of competitors from all over the Golden State.

It is the nature of the endeavor – throwing a horseshoe in the direction of a stake, with a bale of straw as a backstop, in an effort to ring the stake with the shoe – which leads it to be considered quaint, “country” and even bucolic.

Spend a day with someone who knows what they're doing in a horseshoe pitching pit and you'll learn that it requires a steady hand, a knack for concentration, a touch of rhythm to go with a modicum of coordination, a certain amount of self-confidence and – most importantly – patience in order to excel in the time-honored sport of horseshoe pitching.

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