Groundbreaking for Medical Tower Wednesday
Evolutions' roof to get fixed

Tulare - Groundbreaking for the new five-story medical tower and helipad at Tulare Regional Medical Center will take place at noon Wednesday at the hospital.

The public is invited to attend the groundbreaking and about 200 dignitaries, including past board members and chief executive officers, are receiving a special invitation for lunch.

“We're actually going to have a backhoe out there' none of this shovel stuff,” project manager Mike McGuire said. “We're actually going to break the ground.”

McGuire and Chief Executive Officer Shawn Bolouki told the Tulare Local HealthCare District board of trustees on April 28 that the $34.35 million contract with Harris Construction of Fresno has been signed and the first meeting with Harris President Tim Marsh and others was held to discuss the good communication that will be needed throughout the project.

McGuire reported what he described as “really good news” about the steel needed for the project, telling the board that the milling of the major steel parts – including columns and large beams — is expected to occur in June on the East Coast.

“Our original projection was it would take three to four months to get that done, but we will get something rolled in less than two months,” he explained later. “The faster we get steel out here, the better.” The target date for completion and opening of the 115,000-square-foot tower is in late 2012.

Officials said the new tower will feature state of the art care and equipment. A new Emergency Department with its own laboratory is part of the project and will be 400 percent larger than the existing one.

The tower will also give the hospital more operating rooms and an additional 27 private patient rooms.

Harris will take control of the construction site, which is on the south side of the hospital on May 13, the day after the groundbreaking and will focus on utility lines before it begins digging a hole in the ground, McGuire said.

The hospital will have three inspectors on the project who will work out of a portable test lab that will be erected behind one of its buildings off of Terrace Park, McGuire said.

The existing hospital building won't be affected until much later in the project when the connections between the two structures are made.

Evolutions' Roof

Hospital board members decided at their recent meeting to move ahead and either make extensive repairs or replace the roof on Evolutions Fitness and Wellness Center.

The hospital alleges the problem with the roof has existed since Evolutions opened five years ago and has filed a lawsuit in Tulare County Superior Court against a company involved in its construction.

Although the lawsuit has not been resolved and temporary repairs have addressed the problem for now, the hospital wants to have a permanent solution in place by next fall, attorney Kris Pedersen said in explaining why she was recommending the board give Bolouki permission to seek requests for proposals to fix the roof.

Bolouki said action was needed to prevent further damage to the building.

The board gave him permission to move forward in a 5-0 vote.

Several Evolution members went to the board this past winter to complain about the leaky roof.

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Hillman Takes Seat on Superior Court Bench

Tulare - Shortly after native Tulare resident Bret Hillman was sworn into office, the new judge joked about having a captive audience of dignitaries to whom he could speak for as long as he wanted.

But Hillman kept his remarks short, thanking members of his family, including his parents, Dale and Patricia, and his wife, Tamara; his clients; and others who had helped him achieve his goal.

The real insights into the newest Tulare County Superior Court judge came from family, friends and colleagues who know him well and who spoke about him in both a serious vein and a humorous one as well.

“I don't know anyone who's worked harder,” Judge Jennifer Shirk said.

Shirk, who is credited with introducing Hillman to his wife, also recalled how his “usually reserved demeanor” evaporated one day when he arrived early at a location where trial jurors were to view a property.

As he waited, he began petting a horse and by time the jury arrived he had pulled up his shirt and “was examining the most impressive equine bite mark,” she said.

Judge Brett Aldredge praised Hillman, calling him a “standup guy” who has integrity and respect for others. “We are fortunate to have him,” he said

Assemblywoman Connie Conway, R-Tulare, spoke of Hillman's “dedication to his family, service to the community and deep respect for the law.”

She also shared information gathered from family members that she said might give some perspective on the new judge.

When his brother was growing up, Scot Hillman had told her, he would sit at the family's breakfast table and stare at his food, obviously in a “foul mood.” As he got older, not even coffee would help.

To the attorneys in the room, Conway said: “When you appear in Judge Hillman's court, you may not want to be first on the docket.”

When Hillman turned 16 and was charged – as were his older siblings before him – with the job of getting his younger brother, Kent, to school on time, he would leave him behind if he wasn't ready.

His older siblings had threatened to do this at times when they were in charge, but he was first to follow through, Pat Hillman told Conway.

Expect no mercy, Conway told the attorneys.

“He won't wait for his own brother, he won't wait for you,” she said.\

Hillman's daughter, Brooke, a Tulare Western High School student, spoke about her 10 top fears regarding her father's new job, including one that he might hold her “in contempt of court” if she didn't do her chores.

Hillman credited his parents for their hand in shaping him into the person he is today.

His mother, a teacher, emphasized the importance of education and his father, an agri- businessman, would hand him a shovel and put him to work on the farm when he wasn't in school, he said.

When he finished his undergraduate work, Hillman's father offered him a job in the family business, J.D. Heiskell and Co., but he declined, explaining the company could only have one president and brother Scot was in line ahead of him.

“I think my mother was the first one to tell me I should go to law school,” he said, adding that was probably because he was the most argumentative of her four children.

Patricia Hillman said later she was not sure he was the most argumentative, but he was “probably the most stubborn child I ever dealt with.”

Asked for an example, she recalled how she and her husband had taught their children to say, “Please excuse me from the table,” when they were finished eating.

One day at a family gathering, the then 2 ½-year-old Bret refused to ask for permission and sat in his chair for 90 minutes, ignoring the pleas from family members to comply, she said with amazement still in her voice after all these years.

“I was afraid he was going to fall asleep and off the chair,” she said.

Her son always had a way with words, a good sense of humor and a tendency to be well-organized, she also said.

Hillman, 49, began his new job on Friday, the day after the swearing in ceremony at the courthouse in Visalia. Retired Judge Patrick O'Hara will mentor him. He previously was a partner in the law firm of Hillman and Lew. He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he studied English literature, and has a law degree from the University of Santa Clara.

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Jason Oliveira Inducted into SOPAS Hall of Fame

Tulare - KFSN-TV sports anchor Jason Oliveira has become the fifth person inducted into the SOPAS Hall of Fame in Tulare.

Oliveira, a 1994 graduate of Tulare Union High School, was honored Sunday during Society of Portuguese-American Students' annual Gala and Most Valuable Portuguese American Awards ceremony at the Tulare Community Auditorium.

“I was very surprised and very humbled by the award,” Oliveira said in an interview prior to the ceremony. “Both of my parents are from the Azores and this has special meaning for me and for them.”

Oliveira joins in the Hall of Fame past inductees Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare (2006); retired Tulare County Superior Court Judge William Silveira Jr. (2007), Dr. Lucia Noia (2008) and Dr. Deolinda Adão (2009).

Born in Connecticut to Dominic and Jacinta “Jessie” Oliveira, Jason Oliveira moved to Tulare with his parents when he was 4 years old. He attended local schools and also played soccer and “pretty much every sport” offered.

And all the while he harbored a dream.

“Since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a sportscaster,” Oliveira said, adding he had a good memory for sports statistics and started reading the sports pages at a young age.

“At first I wanted to play pro-basketball, but I knew at an early age I wasn't going to grow very tall,” he said.

When he got older, the problem he encountered was nobody seemed to know where he should go to college or what his major should be to achieve his dream.

But research on his part and encouragement from his parents to pursue that dream led him first to College of the Sequoias and then to California State University, Fullerton, where he earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism in 1999.

He began his career in college at FOX Sports in Los Angeles and from there did a six-month stint at KTEN-TV, an NBC affiliate in Ardmore, Okla. From there he moved to Palm Springs, where he spent 2 ½ years at KESQ-TV, an ABC affiliate.

Returning to the Central Valley in 2004, he joined KFSN-TV, where he is now sports anchor for the ABC affiliate's Action News Live at Five, Action News at Six and Action News Live at Eleven.

Oliveira enjoys his job and doesn't have a favorite sport.

“I do like every sport,” he said.

The most memorable event he has covered was the 2008 College World Series, an 11-day event in Omaha, Neb., where Fresno State University became the lowest ranked team to ever win an NCAA baseball championship.

“It was such an exciting thing to be there for that,” Oliveira said. “I'm not sure there's really anything I could do in Fresno to top that. People still come up and talk to me about it.”

Oliveira lives in Fresno with his wife and their two sons.

SOPAS also presented eight Community Awards to the following:
· Portuguese-American Business of the Year, Portugal Imports and Café.
· Portuguese-American Dairymen of the Year, Joaquim Mattos Dairy.
· Portuguese-American Teacher of the Year, Nilza Bettencourt.
· Portuguese-American Organization of the Year, Tulare Angrense Athletic Club.
· Portuguese-American Volunteer of the Year, Irene Santos.
· Honorary Portuguese-American of the Year, the Rev. Richard Urizalqui.
· Portuguese-American Inspiration of the Year, Daniel Macedo.
· Portuguese-American Artist of the Year, Alcides Machado.
Portuguese IV honor students received medals at the ceremony and the following awards also were made:
· Portuguese I Students of the Year: Jonathan Parreira, Tulare Union; Jilaine Martin, Tulare Western; and Cole Martin. Misson Oak.
· Portuguese II Students of the Year: Justine Ávila, Tulare Union; Jennifer Sousa, Tulare Western; and Chelsey McPhetridge, Mission Oak.
· Portuguese III Students of the Year: Julianna Fernandes, Tulare Union; Michael Vieira, Tulare Western; and Hector Perez, Mission Oak.
· Portuguese IV Honors Student of the Year: Jeslyn Moules.
· Portuguese V Student of the Year: Vanessa Gomes.
· Honorary Portuguese-American Student of the Year: Keenan Reveles, Tulare Union.
· Portuguese Language and Culture Student of the Year: Joseph Rocha.
· Tulare Union SOPAS Officer of the Year, Luís Rebelo.
· Tulare Western SOPAS Officer of the Year, Victoria Simas.
· Mission Oak SOPAS Officer of the Year, Serena Silva.
· Tulare Union SOPAS Alumnus of the Year: Tyler Veríssimo

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Sell Suspected in Fair Thefts

Tulare - State Department of Justice agents who raided Citizens Business Bank and branch manager Jeri Sell's home on April 21 were looking for evidence related to at least three thefts, including the loss of nearly $17,000 in Tulare County Fair proceeds, according to a search warrant affidavit returned late last week to Tulare County Superior Court.

In addition to two fair thefts – one in 2005 and the other in 2006 – the warrant alleged Sell took $47,527 in deposits from VIP Pizza owner Gloria McCauslin over a six-year period and $1,800 from Tulare Pet Store owner Sheri Barnes in the summer of 2006.

Barnes closed her account shortly after her loss and told police later that Sell had accused her of not making the deposit and told her that if she filed a claim against the bank, it would be her word against the bank's, the affidavit said.

No arrests have been made and Tulare police officials, who requested assistance from the DOJ's Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence because of its expertise in financial matters, said they believe it will take considerable time to review information collected in the raids.

Those making theft allegations against Sell cannot prove them, her Fresno attorney Salvatore Sciandra said.

“It's only their word that the deposits are stolen,” Sciandra said.

“The only reason they [investigators] are focusing on her is they believe she has a gambling problem and I think they're just looking for a scapegoat,” he said, adding the alleged losses could be the result of bad accounting or internal theft at the businesses.

“I also think there's a real attempt to try her in the press, because it is such a weak case,” he said, explaining investigators could have requested the court to seal the search warrant affidavit until an indictment or complaint were filed, if ever.

The affidavit indicates the investigation by Tulare police into allegations Sell had embezzled funds from merchants banking at Citizens began in December 2005 – the month fair officials contacted the department about nearly $15,000 in missing receipts from the September fair.

Tulare police attempted to conduct a polygraph test on Sell over a three day period in March 2008, but she canceled two appointments and didn't show up for a third, investigators said.

On one of the occasions she told police she had a dentist appointment, but a detective said her car never left the bank's parking lot during the time of the supposed appointment.

The DOJ became involved in the investigation in March 2009 and in April obtained printouts from the Financial Crimes Information Network about Sell's personal and related accounts and found several large financial transactions between January 2004 and December 2007.

Tulare Police Det. Brian Haney obtained a search warrant in early May 2009 to obtain the financial records of Sell and her husband from area banks and turned them over to the DOJ for analysis.

That analysis, according to the affidavit, found one account had more than $500,000 deposited into it that could not be explained.

Deposits and credits deposited into the account between Jan. 1, 2005, through April 27, 2009, totaled $995,781, but wage deposits during the same period totaled only $437,180, the court record said.

Investigators said they identified cash deposits totaling $302,313 during that period and automated teller machine withdrawals at the Tachi Indian Gaming Casino that amounted to $379,084.
Because cash withdrawals exceeded cash deposits, a DOJ financial investigator said he believed “Sell has a gambling issue and she is losing money,” according to the affidavit.

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