To Kill An Ag Pest - A Microgram Will Do It
Crop Protection Is Goal At Visalia Research Center

Visalia - The world’s largest agri-chemical company, Syngenta, has an important west coast research center just a few miles east of Lovers Lane in Visalia. The 140 acre farm buzzes with PHDs and experimental plots of most of the valley’s crops. The farm has been there 30 years.

“It’s no secret - we’re proud of our open door policy,” says manager Dr. Luis Payan, a nematologist by trade.

That means he studies those microscopic parasitic worms that may be the most damaging ag pest across the crop spectrum. Nematode damage costs an estimated $400 million nationwide each year.

Nematodes literally worm their way into the roots of plants and “turn it into their own egg machine sucking the life out of the plant,” explains Payan.

Nematodes are the nemesis of trees, vines, vegetables and row crops - about everything we grow here.

Against this tough microscopic foe farmers for years have had to use a big hammer historically - toxic WW2 chemicals like methyl bromide, DBCP and organophosphates - what Payan refers to as “the old chemistry”.

The old chemicals require application in range of 5 to 7 lbs. per acre in cotton for example - chemicals that come in tank loads, jugs and bags. Unlike the new chemistry - the old world chemistry has had environmental consequences. We are all familiar with DBCP, a carcinogen that poisoned the groundwater of several Tulare County farm towns.

Contrast that to the new chemistry Dr. Payan is working on. “We’re moving into the range of 100 gram dose per acre of active ingredient,” he says, “like applying pesticides with an eye dropper” instead of by a crop duster.

Dr. Payan has personally developed and tested the company’s latest active ingredient that has been under development for 7 years. This month the $6.2 billion Syngenta put out the word on their latest crop protection product calling it a “breakthrough.” The technology they developed has been approved for use in cotton by the EPA - for use in cotton and its called Avicta.

Payan explains, “We’ve developed a way to coat a seed with a pesticide, fungicide, nematicide or insecticide that follows the root down as it grows protecting the whole plant underground from pests. The technology involves no gene splicing or bioengineering.

In this case nematodes are the target in cotton, tomatoes, peppers and melons. Only the state needs to approve the product for sale in cotton - the valley’s biggest crop - in the 2006 planting season.

Payan worked on testing Avicta five years ago at a Florida research farm and will now see the product come to market.

Syngenta, the Swiss based company analyzes 100,000 compounds yearly. Payan says at the Visalia research center new active ingredients are at the greenhouse and field testing stage. The farm’s local budget is $1.5 million yearly.

Payan describes the tiny dosage of pesticide on a seed at up to 0.6 milligrams of active ingredient.

Compare this one-time application coated on the seed to protect a tomato plant with the current alternative Methyl bromide - a popular fumigant that costs $2000 an acre, needs plastic tarps to work, poses disposal, environmental and regulatory problems and also kills other non target things. To apply this old chemistry material the worker has to be protected and the use of the compound has to be mixed and once applied any drift has to be closely monitored.

The popular anti nematode fumigant - Methyl bromide - is scheduled for phased out because it is alleged to cause ozone damage. These are the old chemistry Payan refers to that new technologies like Avicta are helping to replace.

Payan says the same technology can be used to control seedling diseases or fight early plant growth problems like downy mildew. The old technology would prescribe EDBC’s treatment literally “painted on” the whole plant at 2 lbs per acre compared to 100 grams per acre for the new product.

The difference, says Payan is “the new products target specific problems rather than a broad hit.” And with new technology there is no problem with chemical residues left on your vegetables that have to be washed off.

Besides fungi, Syngenta has a similar product used in seed coating technology targeting insects, like aphids. The seed insecticide Cruiser has a similar effect on the plant that protects it, he says. Again the current alternative is to apply at planting 5 to 7 lbs. per acre of insecticide like Temik. Multiple passes in the field to apply the chemical creates dust, air pollution problems for the farmer and exposure problems for the operator - all under tough regulatory scrutiny right now.

That’s why Syngenta thinks it has a winner with these new very low dose materials.

Inside the packing house Syngenta is working on several other programs to extend the shelf life of fruit using new “reduced-risk” pesticides and a “cocktail” approach to keep resistence down. Pathologist Dr. Alex Cochran applies a mix of three chemicals in a bath wash to protect lemons that without the treatment could mean 30% or more in fruit loss. The cocktail approach - not unlike the way science fights AIDS - allows the extended use of chemicals with lower resistance rate.

Like all the experiments at the farm, the scientists are looking forward to pests attacking the crops and so a drive around the farm will see plants of weeds and damaged fields of young vegetables growing with a patch of strong, healthy plants in the middle. A close look here finds a healthy plant being protected from downy mildew unlike a plant a few yards away.

This time of year is one of Payan’s favorite because the technology is about to be put to the test “with the warm weather coming the pest population is going to just explode” applauds Payan knowing this is crunch time at the research center under real world conditions.

Payan is willing to share information with visitors and often has COS ag students out at the farm learning how the company uses technology to protect valley crops.

Visalia - They are Visalia’s largest private employer. Yet the number of people working at Cigna’s big 150,000 sq. ft. service center on Akers has fluctuated in recent years turning down when it seemed the company’s profit picture clouded. They even shuttered about one third of their big office building in Visalia a few years ago after a corporate shuffle.

In the past year Cigna’s business - it’s one of the world’s largest insurance companies - has been on the upside - and on the stock market the company’s value has risen by about 60% year to date.

Now Cigna is hiring 40 to 50 new workers by next month to add to their 1000-plus employees that service major accounts out of Visalia - one of nine service centers the company maintains nationwide.

“This office services over one million Cigna members,” says VP and service center leader Phil Boucher. No sales happen out of this office - just servicing of customers for both dental and medical policies.

Many of them are in California. There is a state law that says if insurance companies are going to sell managed-care contracts in California, they have to be serviced within the state as well, says Boucher. “It’s a regulatory requirement.”

California businesses like Disney and Safeway/Vons are some of the office’s largest customers.

Boucher says growth in Visalia is “consumer led” as the popularity of medical savings account type products increase. Visalia is only one of two Cigna offices in which a new product - Cigna Choice Funds - is being rolled out.

The fund - that offers some tax advantages - structures payment of health care bills by getting the consumer to pay part of the medical cost to “take ownership” for the cost of their treatment. If they save money because they stay healthy they get to keep some of that. Right now, says Boucher, “medical health care payments tend to be invisible to consumers.”

As the company sells the new product in more locations it means more business for the Visalia service center.

That is why Boucher after the company put their extra 50,000 sq. ft. up for lease last year decided in recent months to pull that space off the market. “We may need that space to grow,” says Boucher. The County of Tulare and Cigna’s real estate division were negotiating to lease the 50,000 sq. ft. last year to relocate employees out of the Downtown welfare building. But last fall - at the urging of Boucher - the company “took the space off the market.”

Boucher says he believes it was the right decision and says he is working on plans that could utilize the space.

Boucher says training of employees is a constant at Cigna because of a 19% turnover rate - actually good in the industry that sees a national average 35% turnover. “We still need 25 or 30 people every quarter just to stay even,” says Boucher.

He notes the average wage at Cigna is above the county average and the company brings in “new money” to the community with the flow of health care dollars paid from all over the West into Visalia.

Cigna has an agreement with the City of Visalia who they purchased the land from for the site that includes keeping employment at the center to at least 1000. But now it appears market forces will help drive that number higher.

Boucher says the company with the employees has got involved in community events and charities in the past year. He has been here including most recently helping to buy team uniforms for the Traver School - one of the poorest in the area.

Visalia - Fresno based Pacific Ethanol is ready to break ground on their 137 acre Madera site on a 35 million gallon ethanol plant after completion this month of its public share offering. That should be wound up March 23, says Tom Koehler, vice president of the company.

The new Madera plant with a 10 megawatt cogeneration plant and a carbon dioxide plant next door, will be operational by June 2006.

Besides making about $50 million annually in ethanol-blended for motor fuel it will make several byproducts - about $5 million worth of distillers grain for cattle feed and some 100,000 tons of CO2 used in the bottling industry. While most Midwest ethanol plants vent their CO2 into the air, the company has formed a “strategic partnership”, says Koehler, with another firm to make the byproduct.

The start up company is the second major ethanol plant to begin construction in central California, with the first being Phoenix Biosystems’ Goshen ethanol plant expected to be operational later this year.

Most important for Visalia Koehler says once the project breaks ground in Madera the company will focus on Visalia where they own over 100 acres across from the Visalia airport on Highway 99. “We plan to make Visalia the first cellulose based ethanol plant in the state - a technology that after years of research Koehler says is ready to take to production stage.

Most ethanol is made form corn distilled like moonshine down to its component parts and used primarily as a fuel and fuel additive. While corn is abundant primarily in the Midwest, its supply is not inexhaustible compared to ethanol made form cellulose - farm waste like orchard prunings or other woody products like corn stalks. This turns what would be waste material, says Koehler, into fuel for the future in large volume.

In California the ethanol is blended in the gasoline at 5.7% and its use has risen to nearly 1 billion gallons annually in the state. That’s why Koehler and others suggest there is plenty of room for growth in the ethanol industry. At least four plants are planned in the central valley right now with total production of under 200 million gallons - one fifth of the current state need.

Ethanol prices have risen as gasoline prices have gone up in recent years having risen some 40% in the past two years, says the Wall Street Journal, helping to stir interest across the Midwest in rural communities to invest in the plants all over the corn belt helping to revive small towns.

While much is made in the US of the fact no new gasoline refineries have been built in the US to produce more gasoline in the past 20 years the number of new ethanol plants making motor fuel is now over 80 with some 40 more under construction. Ethanol production was near zero in 1980 and will reach 4 billion gallons in 2005.

But Koehler says a California Energy Commission report suggests California’s production of ethanol could reach 3 billion gallons in the future - about what might be needed if the state approves increasing the blend of ethanol with gasoline to 10% instead of 5.7%. Koehler has been lobbying the state - the governor’s office and CARB to allow the increase - a blend found across the US but not allowed here as yet. “I predict in the next 12 months CARB will approve the increase,” says Koehler, citing the strong support of the governor for renewable fuels like ethanol.

Motorists are already shocked by gasoline at $2.30 a gallon this March - a number likely to go up substantially this summer with the increased demand in the driving season. Oil companies cite tight supply as the reason. But an increase to 10% means more fuel and cleaner air too, notes Koehler, citing the lower emissions for the fuel including green gas related CO2 emissions.

“If all gasoline were blended at 10% the state would reduce CO2 emission by 6.4 million tons per year compared to standard gasoline,” says Koehler.

In the meantime, ethanol plants can help local economies with Pacific Ethanol promising to use 20,000 acres of locally produced corn per year, creating 30 jobs at their Madera plant, plowing in about $110 million into the local economy each year and being an economic stimulus to other industries.

Near Pixley, Calgren continues work on a $70 million 40 million gallon ethanol facility on 99 at Rd. 120. Matt Schmitt, principal with Calgren says they are nearing completion of their financing negotiations and expect to break ground in June and be running about a year later - the same timetable as Pacific Ethanol.

Schmitt says the plant in between California Milk and JD Heiskell has “certain synergies” with both facilities in that they all have need of water run power. All use steam. “Cogeneration makes a lot of sense for all of us,” says Schmitt, as it would “any user in California of over one megawatt.” California Milk is already installing a cogen adjacent their plant. The Valley Voice has reported the company may expand at the site. Calgren also will market the feed byproduct and the CO2.

California - One of the biggest threats to US agriculture from terrorists could be the introduction of foot-and-mouth-disease, says a new Congressional report. The report calls for beefing up our borders to protect the US food supply in case of a deliberate release of animal diseases like FMD that could cause widespread economic problems. The report found ag inspections at the border fell in 2004 compared to 2002. The Department of Homeland Security suggests hiring at least 500 more ag inspectors.

The threat of FMD prompted California agencies last November to carry out a mock outbreak of the disease in Tulare, forcing the coordination of many agencies, says the head of Tulare’s veterinary school Dr. Jim Cullor. “It was a good exercise,” says Cullor, “that helped us get organized” in the event of an FMD outbreak in the biggest dairy region in the US.

“It’s a problem here because of the larger dairies, the moving of cattle in and out and our central location,” Cullor says. The FBI and GAO and others have suggested “the introduction of FMD was the most likely ag terrorism possibility because the disease is found all over the world, easily transported and highly contagious. Immediate quarantine and killing of animals would be needed. The exercise shut down roads for example.

In England in 2001 FMD devastated livestock causing better than $5 billion in economic loss.

Cullor notes that the prospect of someone carrying out such an act “is worrisome” considering it just takes one angry person to introduce a disease like this.

This isn’t the first time authorities have focused on Tulare as a potential ground zero for an FMD outbreak. A 1999 UC Davis study concluded that “the potential for an extremely fast” spread of virus was great and it is likely that “more than 80% of the susceptible population of both the South Valley and Chino Valley” would be infected in a potential calamity for the local economy because the only solution is to destroy the animals.

Add to this a 1988 study by CDFA that concluded that an FMD outbreak in the state would cost California $6 billion as well as devastate beef exports.

A 1929 outbreak forced the destruction of some 953 herds in the state.

“The goal is to catch it quick and stop all movement” in the case of a positive find. Once introduced the disease spreads quickly to animals with pigs the most susceptible, says Cullor.

The GAO report this month criticized the USDA because vacines needed to fight FMD would not be available quickly because it must be shipped in from the UK.

The mock outbreak in Tulare made it clear, says UC Davis’ Dr. Tim Carpenter - that precise location of animals, vehicles and people are needed to predict how disease might spread. Because of that, UC Davis will be sending a questionnaire to dairy operators at the end of this month.

The project is being coordinated by the Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance (CADMS) at UC Davis. For information about the program call 530-297-4621.

Visalia - Visalia developer Bill Morgan and partner have purchased the old Shell station on Noble and Locust from the Nunn family. Morgan’s company, West Coast Construction, who has several other Visalia projects in the works right now, says he plans a 60,000 to 80,000 sq. ft. office complex rising in multi stories at the 33,000 sq. ft. site.

The purchase includes the old gas station along with the Monster Burger property. “We hope to name the building after the Nunn family,” says Morgan. He predicts the building could begin construction in the next year to year and one half.

Morgan says Teter A&E is designing the building. “The size depends on parking,” says Morgan who has had discussions with the city over whether they might be able to participate in a parking plan.

Morgan is also developing mixed use project on 55 acres on Santa Fe on land he purchased from Musco Olive, is developing a multi family complex on Lovers Lane and a 12 acre commercial project on the northwest corner of Lovers Lane and Caldwell. The developer hopes to attract a grocery store to that location.

Morgan’s medical office complex is the third such building to begin construction or on the drawing board with space for tenants. John Barbis is building an office at Stevenson and Acequia, Buckman Mitchell has plans for a multi story office at Main and Floral and now this project across the freeway from Kaweah Delta.

The activity comes now that the district hospital has committed to a major expansion in the Downtown area over the next few years. The hospital itself has completed construction of its 6 story support service building expected to take occupancy in the next few weeks.

A letter to the editor complaining about parent and student action at a Three Rivers basketball game at Sequoia Union apparently embarrassed someone enough to have them clean out all the copies of Kaweah Commonwealth's March 4th edition in town. 500 to 600 papers were "bought up" says publisher John Elliot who when he found out printed up 800 more and distributed them around the community. The letter referenced student behavior at a game when a volunteer referee was roughed up and covered with toilet paper.

Visalia car dealers are busy this month with Frank Surroz breaking ground at the Visalia Auto Plaza. "We're just waiting for the ground to dry out," says Surroz, to build his relocated Nissan dealership across from Giant Automotive. Groppetti is likely working on plan for his new Honda dealership next door to the Nissan showroom. The Nissan showroom should be open this fall. Groppetti says he will relocate his Pontiac-GMC dealership to the old Nissan site at the corner of Ben Maddox and Mineral King. Relocation of the Pontiac and Honda dealerships from Burke St will leave that acreage, also owned by Groppetti, available for other uses, perhaps as early as 2006. Could be a place for offices, some believe.

Pinnacles Sports Center the old Early California Foods Olive plant on Tulare Ave. keeps adding venues to their lineup of indoor sports activities. Developer Johnnie George says he is planning an ice rink and a 10 lane bowling alley added to a score of other play activities that will happen at the new center. Construction of the $10 million project could start in 90 to 120 days, he says.

Tulare's Horizon Outlet mall has filed "design review" plans for a 113,000 sq. ft. expansion of their mall on 5.4 acres west of their current mall property with the City of Tulare. The land is owned by William Martin. Martin says there isn't a purchase agreement in place but he says one could be signed in the next few weeks. The plans are expected to be heard by the city planning commission at their early April meeting. Horizon is reportedly hoping to have the outlet mall open in time for the holiday season or sooner.

While most people hail the design and the finished product at the city Transit Center on Oak St., the cost and "change orders" on bids to build the city owned complex are not as popular. With plans to build three new city buildings in the next two years costing millions of dollars, council will soon be wrestling with how to manage the costs. Already the two city police precincts are well over earlier estimates. City council member Don Landers wants to hire a construction manager that is "at risk on cost overruns - motivated by their own bottom line to keep a project on budget. The transit center had a reported 100 change orders during construction.

Visalia leaders are lobbying Sacramento this week for state funding for a study of the High Speed Rail corridor between Bakersfield and Fresno. The High Speed Rail Authority said they would support the study if the state agreed to fund it. This week a budget committee will hear the request supported by local representatives Maze, Parra, and Ashburn. Mayor Bob Link is making the pitch for the city. Visalia wants a station stop between Hanford and Fresno for the area.

Tulare city council gave the nod this week to hire 5 new police officers and one non-sworn officer for the police department after mid year budget projects shows Tulare's income ahead of projections. Sales tax monies are a major factor. The budget shows an extra $500,000 that will be used this year also to fund three new paramedics in town.

Tulare city council is favoring a 160 acre annexation proposal at Cartmill and Mooney - the future development toward Visalia approved by the city. The large block of land at the northwest corner will be a mix of housing, park and commercial use on Mooney. Mayor Richard Ortega says "it's definitely creeping toward Visalia," says Ortega who says he is supporting the city extension nevertheless. "I like the bigger project that can be planned out," says Ortega. The project is being developed by Porterville developer Ben Ennis.

Developers on both sides of the Cartmill interchange met with city officials recently to discuss an assessment district to help pay for the cost of a $10 to 15 million expense to improve the Cartmill interchange. This week the city discussed the interchange wanting to update a project study of what it would take to improve the interchange and increase traffic flow, says city manager Kevin Northcraft. "Likely it will be built with a combination of private and public monies," says Northcraft who says the city realizes CalTrans has no money for the upgrade budgeted. However, there is an existing project planned to widen the freeway to 6 lanes set to begin in 2011, says Northcraft, from Goshen to Prosperity interchange. "We'd like to do some construction well before that," says the city manager. Major retail big boxes are planned on the east and west side of 99 at Cartmill in the near future.

Scenic Airlines may be the winner of the bidding process for Essential Air Service that would serve Visalia. They already serve Merced with EAS subsidy from the government providing daily flights to Las Vegas - their hub. They fly 19 passenger props. The company is the largest sightseeing airline in the US with daily flights over the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas North Airport. Passengers will be shuttled from there to Las Vegas main airport where they can catch flights to most parts of the US. A second airline, Great Lakes subsidy request was too large for the FAA in the bidding to replace Visalia's current scheduled air service. Scenic's new service could start next month.

30 year fixed rates are up in recent weeks, about half a point. But still a bargain at historical averages. Freddie Mac reports the annual average for 2004 was 5.84% at 0.7 points nationally - not far from this month's rate. Back in 2002 home buyers were paying 6.54% and in 2002 we felt we had a bargain at 8.05% - remember? That's because the 90s were full of 10% averages and the 80s at 13% to 17%. That's why analysts say there is still "cheap money" to fuel the home buying market. It's up again in February with the median price of southern California homes up more than 21% from a year ago although the volume of sales is down, according to Data Quick.

Dinuba - Dinuba's and Tulare County's largest private employer, Ruiz Foods, has canceled a planned $40 million expansion of their frozen Mexican food plant in favor of an expansion in the Midwest.

CEO Fred Ruiz says despite the fact that the company held a groundbreaking ceremony last December in Dinuba, no construction work has yet started. "We knew we had a tight time line when we planned the Dinuba expansion," says Ruiz, but "now we need to find a way to begin production in 4 to 6 months," says the son of the founder of the company. "We have some pretty large customers and without a speed up in the time table we are putting our business at risk."

Supplying the entire US from the West Coast had been the plan, at least for the next three years, but an increase in demand and high transportation costs to get refrigerated foods to market have changed the dynamics, he says. "It takes 10 days to deliver food to New York" from Dinuba, says Ruiz.

He says big customers like Walmart want the value of the product at a good price but also need quick service.

The planned expansion would double production of the company who already makes 3 million frozen burritos a day.

The decision to manufacture in the East comes as oil prices are driving up the cost of trucking goods nationwide with predictions of $80 a barrel oil being bandied about. Trucking firms have already added surcharges to their rates of pay for higher fuel costs.

Ruiz says the company will be looking for an existing building that can be remodeled quickly to begin manufacturing product closer to eastern markets. The company currently warehouses in Midwest cities but "it makes more sense for us to make the product and warehouse it ourselves," says Ruiz.

The news means a promised 300 new jobs won't be coming to Dinuba after all. "It will remain our main production plant and corporate headquarters," promised Ruiz. Despite the news a small expansion in Tulare is moving forward.

San Joaquin Valley - Valley school buses, garbage trucks and other municipal fleets will have a local source of liquid natural gas for fueling their vehicles once a new Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) plant is built in the next 2 years at Harris Ranch on I-5. Southwest Transportation Agency, a joint power entity that runs school buses and other public vehicles in the valley has contracted to build a 30,000 gallon per day liquidization plant on Harris property taking supply from high pressure natural gas lines that run along I-5 owned by PG&E.

Harris Ranch itself is a big LNG user with 20 large trucks paying about $1.08 per gallon for its fuel currently. But fuel is now trucked in from Wyoming that costs 40 cents per gallon now. Other users, like the City of Fresno who run their garbage trucks on LNG, will save big time for a nearby supply along with an end to fear of not being able to pick up garbage all over Fresno if those Wyoming truckloads of LNG are snowed in up there. The City of Fresno uses one million gallons per year. They have 7 LNG garbage trucks and are converting the rest of their fleet to the new fuel.

Known as the cleanest burning fossil fuel, natural gas is also a less costly fuel per gallon than gasoline or diesel or other fuels. The problem has been supply on the West Coast. But now this new technology allows production on a much smaller scale, says Lew Nelson Public Works director for the City of Tulare who has adopted LNG technology.

There should be adequate LNG supply for other public fleets, says Lew Nelson, who sits on the San Joaquin Valley Clean Cities Coalition board. Because the project is partially funded with public monies, other jurisdictions use the fuel will get it at below market rates as well, says Nelson.

Tulare made a huge commitment to LNG technology in their $2 million natural gas fueling station that powers the city's buses and other city vehicles.

The Harris Ranch plant, that is similar to a Sacramento facility based on new technology developed by the Idaho National Laboratory. Nelson says the Clean Cities group is hopeful that LNG technology can help move the trucking industry in California to cleaner burning fuel and is applying for a grant to try to fund several milk trucks that use LNG as their fuel source.

The possibility of LNG as a fuel source could take a big jump in the next few months as Honda releases a home fueling station technology, named Phil, that allows you to at least partially fill up at home from your natural gas supply each night. The South Coast Air District promises an incentive of $500 for installation of Phil units.

Besides Fresno and Tulare, Bakersfield uses LNG along with Waste Management.

The US Department of Energy is working to connect a "Clean transportation corridor" that includes I-5 and Highway 99 to encourage the conversion of long haul trucks to much cleaner burning LNG technology. Big companies Ralphs, Vons and American Stores along with UPS and Perrier Arrowhead have vowed to use the natural gas fueling stations available on 99. Fowler and Tulare each have stations available to the public.

Liquid natural gas can be made for as little as half the cost of compressed natural gas and as low as a third of the cost per gallon of diesel. The clear, colorless, odorless liquid must be super cooled to be liquified, but is neither corrosive or toxic, says the California Energy Commission.

Visalia - High School students from across Tulare County will have a colorful option for entertainment on the second Saturday of every month thanks to the Champions for Youth Foundation (C4Y) and Roller Towne. From 9:30pm-12:30am students will be welcome to dance and socialize with their friends in a safe and positive environment hosted by Visalia's beloved skating rink.

Dubbed "The Remix" Project, this night for high school students has been given an enthusiastic thumbs up from Visalia's Police Department, Vice Mayor Jesus Gamboa and the Tulare County Office of Education, among others. According to C4Y, this night will, "promote positive messaging, provide adult mentorship, and allow for community and education agencies to set up information booths providing valuable resources that support youth development." It is hoped that having a safe place for students to gather will help cut down on gang activity, substance use and decrease teen pregnancy.

C4Y is a group of community leaders and students who meet weekly to discuss current issues affecting young people. It was during these discussions that the idea for "The Remix" project came about. C4Y has collaborated with Reconnecting Youth of the Choices Office of Tulare County Office of Education which brought even more students into the planning process. As a result of serving on the Event Council and being the driving force for the event, "students will learn leadership, communication, and employment skills as well as the opportunity to exercise positive influence among their peers," states C4Y's project overview.

If all goes well with this one night a month, Roller Towne would consider hosting more events. "We're very excited to be a part of this," says Molly Niederreiter who, with her husband Doug, is an owner of Roller Towne. "Being a youth-oriented business we feel it is important to be active in our community. We want to challenge other businesses to become involved too."

The entertainment that will be offered at these events will be far more exciting than your typical Roller Towne skating favorites. On the night of March 12th local performer Sole Prophet performed live. Sole Prophet is currently radio station Q97's number one contender for participation in a nation-wide contest to win a contract with Sony Music. Ideas for future events range from letting students perform and share their own talent to a college night where students will be able to attain information on their post-graduation options. "We're open to ideas. We want the students to have a say in what happens," says Rick Rodriguez, a coordinator with C4Y.

The cost of admittance, which is $12, goes towards a scholarship fund set up for graduating High School students through C4Y. It is stressed that students bring their valid high school identification with them, due to security concerns. Gang colors and jerseys are prohibited and can be stored in lockers in the lobby. Roller Towne t-shirts will be available for sale to offer an alternative dress.

If you'd like to become involved or for more information, contact Frank Escobar Jr., who is a co-chair for the event, at 559-303-8590.

Return to Archive