San Joaquin Valley - State Senator Dean Florez has intro-duced SB 1549, a bill that would repeal the exemption from smog checks of pre-1976 cars in the San Joaquin Valley air district.
The district, struggling to improve its air quality in recent years, has given the seldom driven classic collector cars a break until now – based on the assumption the small number of vehicles exempted make little difference in the overall smog problem in the Valley.
The proposed regulation heard by a Senate committee for the first time this month has rattled the classic car collector clubs statewide which are mounting a letter-writing campaign to defeat the bill.
Visalia is a big car collector town and the rule change is unpopular in the place that spawned the motorsports festival a few years back.
Visalia car collector and former festival organizer Eric Coyne calls Florez' bill misguided. “I'm all for clean air but this targets a very small percentage of air emission problems from the guys who pride themselves on keeping their '66 Mustangs fine-tuned. There would be minimal air pollution gain. It seems more like a revenue play or window dressing,” remarks Coyne.
The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee has
set a hearing for April 15.
The bill would require any new owner of a pre-1976 car to get it
smog-tested every two years. It would go into effect January 2009.
Collectors complain the problem isn't the cost of the smog test but the fact the older cars would probably not pass and be taken off the road. Prior to 1963, cars had no smog equipment.
Florez has said cars driven fewer than 15,000 miles a year are already exempt and that he isn't going after the classic collector cars.
Coyne says Florez ought to support Assemblywoman Nicole Parra's bill that would have far greater impact on Valley air. That bill – AB 2063 – would mandate all cars in the state undergo a biannual smog check like we in Tulare County have been doing for several decades.
Because of the opposition, Coyne says he understands Florez may modify his bill, remembering the statewide reaction in 1998 when hundreds of classic cars descended on Sacramento to fight successfully for the current exemption.
“Car clubs from all over the state are upset knowing that if they pass a rule for the Valley, it is just a matter of time before they too will be hit.”
“Take a look at lawnmowers,” Coyne notes. “That's a far bigger problem than a handful of classic cars.”
Restrictions on Fireplace Burning
San Joaquin Valley - Keeping warm by the fireplace may become less of an option as the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is proposing more restrictions on the cold-weather practice.
On April 30, the board will consider plans to lower the pollution threshold when “fireplace no burn” days will become mandatory, said Scott Nester, director of planning with the pollution board.
The proposal is part of the “district's PM2.5 plan to clean up the fire people breathe in the San Joaquin Valley,” he said.
PM2.5 is particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or less in diameters. It is so small it can not only enter the lungs, but the blood stream, causing serious health problems.
It has been linked to aggravated asthma, irrigation of the airways, coughing, difficult breathing and decreased lung function in children. The matter is so small that 24 particulates could fit on a single piece of human hair.
Jenny Bard, assistant director of advocacy with the American Lung Association of California, says the association strongly supports controls on wood smoke pollution.
“There is very strong scientific evidence that links wood smoke to lung disease, heart disease and early death,” said Bard. “People are suffering health effects from it. People become prisoners to their neighbors and wood smoke pollution,” she added.
Besides obvious breathing impacts, the matter can lead to heart attacks and plaque buildup in the blood.
She said vulnerable people are most susceptible on a daily basis, “But mostly it is a cumulative effect, especially on children. It is important to reduce exposure to children, to really protect their lungs,” she stressed. “When the air is unhealthy to breathe, we should not be adding any additional pollution to the air,” she added.
Nester said the new regulations would be phased in over the next three years. The plan will bring the Valley into attainment of the PM2.5 standard. Besides the increased wood burning restrictions, the plan includes more limits on emissions from industrial sources, controlling dust and limitations on prescribed burning and ag burning.
Nester admitted that the fireplace restriction is the biggest proposal on the table. “It has been a pretty big rule for us,” he said.
Last year, the district issued only four mandatory no burn days in Tulare County, the same for Kings County. While Nester said it is not certain how many more days will be added under the stricture rule, it could be two or three times as many. The district issued 28 voluntary curtailment days in Tulare County last year, 15 in Kings County.
The rule applies to all types of wood-burning devices, including those that use pellets, unless the fireplace is the only source of heat for a resident or the residence is above 3,000 foot elevation.
The air board uses a combination of weather conditions and pollution levels to determine if wood burning should be prohibited. “The main thing is if the wind is blowing,” he said, explaining that wind is a good thing in that it disperses the smoke and allows for wood burning. Stagnant air, which the Valley is known for, would make it more likely wood burning would be banned.
The wood burning season runs from Nov. 1 to the end
of February. The fine for violating the mandatory no burn rule is
$50. Last year, the district issued 87 citations in the eight-county
region, but only one in Tulare County and none in Kings County.
The plan will go to air board for implementation in the third quarter
of 2009 and go into effect in 2010 or 2011.
“There are quite a few new control measures for boilers, steam generators and commercial charbroiling operations,” said Nester. Charbroiling is commonly used in restaurants.
He said the plans also calls for feasibility studies on cotton gins and even Fourth of July fireworks. “We do find concentrations (of particulate matter) go up significantly on July 4. We want to look to see what can be done.”
As for the future of fireplaces, Nester does not expect them to be banned altogether. “I do not see any outright ban on fireplaces in the San Joaquin Valley,” he said, adding there are restrictions on the number of fireplaces that are allowed in “dense subdivisions.”
Support for the proposals, so far, has been positive. Nester said. “Some folks want stronger restrictions. Some folks want an outright ban on fireplaces.”
Bard said one point the lung association wants to make, “is there is no support for wood smoke pollution because it is so harmful.” However, she added, there are choices. She strongly urges people to only use Environmental Protection Agency-certified stoves, those built after 1992. “There are stoves out there that are very, very clean. There's a magnitude of difference of pollution from these stoves.”
She added she hopes the air board considers an incentive program to encourage people to switch to the certified stoves.
People can view the plan on the board's Web site, www.valleyair.org. The April 30 meeting will be held at the district office, 1990 E. Gettysburg Ave. in Fresno. It will begin at 9 a.m.
Tulare County - Being pulled over by a police officer for speeding or some other traffic violation is enough of a problem, but that is only the beginning. Dealing with the citation and likely fine is whole another set of problems.
The officer writing the ticket will put down a date to appear on the violation, but that is really only an estimate and if you think you can just forget paying, you better think again.
“They eventually pay for it,” said Sgt. Bill Blankenship, head of the traffic division of the Visalia Police Department. And, eventually can be much more expensive than just paying the ticket on time.
Within a few weeks of getting a ticket, the court will send out a notice of the violation and the fine. You can pay, appear on the date put on the notice and contest the fine or beg for mercy from the court, or you can ask for an extension to give you more time to decide what to do.
According to a clerk in the court, the notice from the officer writing a ticket is considered the first notice. It is the violator's responsibility to meet the date on the ticket, even if the second notice from the court has not arrived by the date on the ticket. If a violator has not received the second notice, they must call the court and ask for a 30-day extension. If you don't, the court will consider the violator delinquent, and that is costly.
If you don't pay, the ticket is sent to collections, said Alicia Alvarado, court manager for traffic. Being sent to collections automatically means you have 10 days in which to pay. If not, another $310 is added to the fine. Collections are actually handled by an arm of the court called Access Capital.
“They do what they do. They make sure you pay,” said Blankenship.
Not paying has other consequences. One is a person's license can be suspended, said Blankenship. “Then, if you are stopped, you can be hit with driving with a suspended or revoked license. Your car can be impounded for 30 days,” he said, adding that nine out of ten traffic stops where a license is suspended wind up with the vehicle being stored.
A hold can also be placed on a person's license. That means when it is time to renew your license, it will come up and you will have to pay the fine and other penalties before you can renew the license.
“It's surprising how many people have suspended licenses,” said Blankenship. He said at a recent traffic detail they towed 17 vehicles for the drivers not having a license or having a suspended license. The sergeant added a city of Fresno study recently found a direct correlation between driving with a suspended license and crime.
Moving violations are expensive, beginning at $158
and going up from there. Running a run light begins at more than
$400, one of a few violations the state has placed a fine premium
on. The other is not obeying the red lights on a school bus.
“It makes sense,” said Blankenship of the increased
fine for running a red light. “It is our job to protect the
public. Running a red light is bad. When you get hit on the side,
your body does not bend side to side.”
He said injuries in side impact crashes are now worse than head-on collisions because of all the protection today's vehicles have for head-on crashes.
According to the court, it takes three to four days for the ticket to get to the court.
The court then takes three to four weeks to process that ticket and send out the second notice with the amount of the fine.
A person can contest the ticket and they can ask to
see a judge and ask for leniency. A person can also express a financial
hardship by mail. Payments can also be arranged, but there is a
$35 additional charge for that. The minimum payment is usually not
less than $50 a month and if you miss a payment, it goes to collection.
If a person wants to attend traffic school in order to keep the
violation from affecting their auto insurance, the court adds a
$34.75 administration fee to the fine. Cost for online traffic schools
begin at $25.
If you want to see a judge, you still need to contact the court before your appearance day and then you will be given a court date to see the traffic commissioner.
If you do want to go before the traffic commissioner, you are told to appear at a certain time on a certain date. The court said the process normally takes about two hours, but can take longer.
“No. 1, don't get a ticket. If you do, take care of it,” said Blankenship. “If you don't, there will be consequences. There will be a fine and you could lose your car for 30 days. You could even go to jail.”
About 175 persons met Monday night in Exeter to muster their opposition, plan strategy and form a steering committee fight the SCE plan.
County Supervisor Allen Ishida called and chaired the town meeting held at the Exeter Memorial Building. Another meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the same location.
SCE plans in May to submit its power line route choices to the California Public Utility Commission, which subsequently will hold public hearings on the plan. The PUC will have to approve the route.
In announcing its decision last week, SCE officials
say an adjusted Alternative 1 would have the least amount of environmental
impact and be less expensive than two other proposed routes. Bill
DeLain, Edison's regional manager, and Dana Bullock, project manager,
attended the meeting answering questions. The new line will connect
an existing 220-kilovolt line between SCE hydroelectric Sierra facilities
and the Springville substation to the Rector station near Visalia.
After delivery to the Visalia station, the energy goes to Southern
California, company officials explained.
Exeter and Farmersville council members and other officials were
also at the Monday night session.
The consensus of those attending was the SCE decision is financially motivated and ignores the impact on property owners, scenic infringements, health, safety and other issues. It was also agreed to push SCE for detailed maps of the proposed route, showing exactly which properties would be impacted. Edison officials last week sent brochures to area residents, but most of those at the meeting had not received them prior to the meeting. Ishida and others told the group they would attempt to get maps as soon as possible.
The Alternative 1 route is estimated to cost $60 million
with estimates for other routes ranging up to $90 million. All three
alternatives will be submitted to the PUC.
Brian Blain stressed that letters or other protests to the PUC,
once the SCE plan is filed and given an official number, need to
focus on the fact the Alternative 1 route will have an impact on
many lives, much more so than other northern and much less populated
routes.
The Alternative 2 route from Lemon Cove to Elderwood connects to another Big Creek source line along Road 148 (McAuliff Road) to the Rector station.
Alternative 3, known as the Stokes Mountain route even further north, reportedly involves only eight property owners. Some observers believed Edison might opt for that more expensive but less intrusive choice. Instead SCE picked an adjusted Alternative 1 path.
Ishida said personal letters, not petitions or form letters, centering on environmental issues have more impact. He said the PUC and other agencies tend to be more concerned over a lizard or squirrel than a hundred people.
Ishida also urged the group to consider hiring a consultant or seek legal assistance to wage its battle against the SCE route selection.
Council Wants More Money for Neighborhood Improvements
Visalia - Washington Residents for a Better Community has definitely gotten the attention of the Visalia City Council.
During a discussion on grant funds Monday night, residents of the community, that have banded together to get much-needed improvements, realized the council has heard their concerns and they heard comments by council members that were encouraging.
“I'm pleased with the council's response. Next is up to them,” said Terry Slinde, one of the leaders of the Washington neighborhood organization that has been working the past two years to improve their section of the community.
Prompting the discussion was a review of the city's plans to spend Community Development Block Grant funds. City staff was recommending designating $50,000 for the Washington School area and $60,000 for the Oval Park area for improvements, but the council indicated it wants more and council members indicated they too are anxious to make improvements in those areas of town.
“We ought to make a considerable investment in the Washington area,” said Councilman Don Landers, indicating he did not feel $50,000 was enough.
Councilman Greg Collins agreed, with both suggesting maybe the city could designate the combined amount of $110,000 for the Washington area.
Mayor Jesus Gamboa and Councilwoman Amy Shuklian both agreed that more money was needed, but they did not want to take away from the Oval Area.
“We ought to try to find some new money and grow the pie,” suggested Gamboa.
Ricardo Noguera, city Housing and Economic Development Director, said the city is looking for more funding sources, but it was a suggestion by resident Bill Huott that the council seized upon. Huott, saying the Washington area is at the tipping point of seeing great improvement, suggested the city borrow money so more can be done immediately.
That idea took hold and city officials agreed to look into borrowing against future grant funds, while seeking other money for both areas.
“Everybody is committed to improving both areas of the community,” said City Manager Steve Salomon, adding that the Washington area in particular has come a long ways in just two years.
Slinde said at the top of the list of needs for the Washington area that is bound by Watson and Edison and Nobel and Tulare, is more street lighting. She said they have not been able to get an estimate as to what it will cost to place street lights in the middle of blocks.
Collins suggested the city look into a company that might want to use the area as a demonstration project for solar lighting, another idea that seemed to stick.
The city will hold a public hearing on the block grant funds at the next council meeting, April 21. Washington area residents will discuss the issue at a meeting tonight.
“For every hundred dollars we were supposed to get, we are getting $98.46,” explained Rod Frese, vice president of academic services at COS.
“Just when we thought we were out of the woods on mid-year budget cuts, we were notified that local property tax income is lower than projected and that the impact on community college budgets will be $84 million statewide,” reported Dr. Bill Scroggins, COS president.
“COS has had $683,403 taken out of our state funding for this year, 2007-08,” he continued. “As a consequence, we have instituted a spending freeze effective April 1 and are reviewing each open position to decide whether or not to hire a replacement. We are instituting a position tracking system to be sure that each open position is analyzed.”
The position tracking form for full-time faculty positions indicates that four teachers are retiring, two are resigning, four are on sabbatical and one is on leave. Similar forms for classified and management are being prepared.
Deciding which job openings may not need immediate replacement is only one way that COS will adjust its spending to meet its reduced state funding. Departments at COS might not be given all of their rollover money, suggested Frese. Rollover money is that which is left over at the end of the school year.
Frese also said that some of the school's plans to fix things around campus – replacing flooring and some repairing and remodeling - will have to wait. “If we don't have the money, we just don't spend it,” he said.
The COS Summer-Fall 2008 Schedule of Classes is only available online (at www.cos.edu) and on campus, and the number of hard-copy schedules printed has been reduced from 107,000 to 10,000. Printed copies of the schedule are not being mailed to households in the community college district this year.
“Previously, we have spent $25,000 for printing and mailing,” said Steve Renton, COS public information officer. “This year, we spent $5,000 for printing. In this difficult budget year, this is significant.”
“We're not looking at laying people off,” Frese said. “If the budget 'goes south' next year, we have to go back to the table and review our assumptions.”
COS is not the only local college forced to cut its budget. The Kern College District, which includes Porterville College, will receive $1,566,506 less than anticipated from property taxes this year. West Hills College, which has campuses in Lemoore and Coalinga, faces a $444,864 reduction.
What's New
Home Depot's appeal of a Visalia Planning Commission denial of its request to unload lumber before 7 a.m. and after 10 p.m. at its new store site at Dinuba Blvd. and Riggin Ave. was denied by a 3-2 vote of the city council Monday.
Pennsylvania-based 84 Lumber has closed 30 stores around the country, including the Visalia outlet near Highway 99 off Goshen Ave. The company has been hurt by the nationwide housing downturn a spokesman says. The stores in Clovis and Bakersfield remain open.
Visalia is recommending to the county's Blueprint planners that it best likes a plan that increases housing density by 25 percent, and the council wants it clear that a buffer remain between Visalia and the cities of Tulare and Farmersville. The county Blueprint, an outline of growth over the next 50 years, will be the topic of a public meeting at the Visalia Convention Center from 5-8 p.m. April 15.
Sierra snowpack above the Central Valley is holding up despite a bone-dry March and warmer than normal temperatures. As of April 7, the snowpack at Farewell Gap, at 9,500 feet in the Kaweah Lake watershed, stood at 89.2 inches of snow containing 44.3 inches of water. At the end of February, there was 113 inches of snow containing 49 inches of water.
Summer school is secure for this year in the Visalia Unified School District. Craig Wheaton, area administrator for the district, said proposed state budget cuts will not impact the summer school program this year, but it could next summer. Wheaton said the district is doing all it can to continue normal operations in the face of the proposed cuts.
Dr. John K. Sullivan of Tulare will co-chair the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry's (AACD) 24th Annual Scientific Session, May 6-10 in New Orleans. Sullivan has spent three years planning the session. The AACD is the world's largest international dental organization dedicated to advancing excellence in the art and science of cosmetic dentistry. Dr. Sullivan is one of less than 300 accredited members worldwide. Founded in 1984, the AACD has more than 8,000 members in over 70 countries.
Chances that the bullet train bond will be on the November ballot have increased in recent weeks after private investors signaled they were eager to back the $40 billion project with private funds in addition to the public monies. The current arithmetic has the state bond projected at $10 billion with private investors and the federal government picking up the rest of the tab. Gov. Schwarzenegger has yet to sign on but Jerry Brown has indicated likely support. County hopes to land a station on the L.A.- to-Bay Area route with trains running in 2020.
Vicorp Restaurants, owners of Bakers Square, closed its Visalia location last week along with 55 others around the country. The company is going through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Visalia location had been struggling for years, say former employees, although the well-placed location in front of the Sequoia Mall will likely attract another eatery.
Speaking of shuttered eateries, landmark Ofelia's Drive-In on the Oval in Visalia closed in recent weeks after the Visalia Fire Dept. (How could they?) told owner Ofelia Mora she could no longer operate without upgrading her cooking hood and other equipment. “It would have cost me a couple of $10,000 bills to stay in business and I figured 45 years was enough,” she shrugged. That will leave hundreds – maybe thousands of disappointed customers all over Tulare County who will no longer be able to get their fix of Ofelia's Mexican food here. The place is for sale.
The Automobile Club of Southern California's 2008 edition of “Your Driving Costs” shows the cost of driving a passenger vehicle in the United States has increased 1.9 cents per mile in the last year and now averages 54.1 cents per mile. In 2008, AAA estimates it will cost $8,121 to own and operate a new passenger car driven 15,000 miles per year. This compares to $7,823 per year in 2007, or 52.2 cents per mile. Costs for maintenance, full-coverage insurance and depreciation are all slightly lower this year.
Chemical Waste Management's Kettleman Hills landfill operation wants to expand its hazardous waste dump capacity. The project proposes to expand the landfill by 11 acres and construct a new 64-acre landfill to continue the hazardous waste disposal.
Gas prices began rising again over the past week, breaking records throughout the state, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.639, which is 3.6 cents more than last week, 18.5 cents higher than last month, and 38 cents above last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.758, up 2.4 cents from last week, 15 cents above last month, and 40 cents more than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average price is $3.637, 2.6 cents over last week, up 18 cents from last month, and 35 cents higher than last year.
A 16-year-old Madera youth was arrested by Visalia police after taking a Visalia fire truck for a short joy ride Saturday night. The ride came to an end when the truck sideswiped a light pole. Only minor damage was done to the fire truck and the driver was not injured.
As previously announced, Sequoia Nursery will be closing its doors at the end of this month. Orders will be taken and filled through April and the nursery will close its doors at the end of the business day on April 30.
U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings increased 27 percent nationwide in the first quarter of 2008 (Jan. 1- March 31) over the same period in 2007, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC). The March consumer filings of 86,165 were up 13.2 percent from the 76,120 consumer filings recorded in February and up 16.6 percent from the consumer filings in March 2007. Chapter 13 filings constituted 31.8 percent of all consumer cases in March, down slightly from last month.
The Air Resources Board approved the allocation of nearly $200 million to replace the remaining 74 oldest school buses still circulating in California, and to replace or retrofit an additional 4,500 high polluting buses serving public schools. The Central Valley was allocated $39 million. Proposition 1B, approved by voters in 2006, provides funding for the ARB Lower-Emission School Bus Program. These monies will allow school districts to replace or retrofit diesel school buses in another effort to reduce diesel particulate matter emissions in California.
‘Downtown Visalia's Living Room' Opens
By Steve Pastis
Visalia - The newly renovated 210 Center, owned and operated by its neighbor, the First Presbyterian Church, hosted its first community events last week, including an open house and ribbon-cutting, a Guitar Hero tournament and a rock concert. The congregation held its grand opening for the center on March 30.
“We had a worship service in the courtyard and we had people surrounding the building,” said Pastor Rich Hansen of First Presbyterian Church, adding that about 400 people joined hands around the 210 Center as he led a prayer from the roof. A similar ceremony took place at the initial dedication of the building site in January 2005.
The center, located at 210 W. Center St. in Visalia, was created to be a gathering place for all ages, but especially for youth and young adults.
“By 2009, half of Visalia's population will be 27 or younger,” Hansen said. “That's 60,000 people. This is the target group for 210.”
The idea of 210 is to create a place where the community feels at home. “'The Living Room of Downtown Visalia' has been our motto,” said Hansen. “What we mean by that is that it's a comfortable place with a number of the things to engage their interest.”
The 210 Center has three main parts. The west end is a multi-purpose room with a large stage and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment that can accommodate up to 220 people for concerts, large meetings and wedding receptions. Plans call for a recording studio for local bands to record their music, either in the soundproof studio or while performing onstage.
“This is a pretty exciting idea because music is a big part of young people's lives,” Hansen said, adding that the cost of the studio is estimated at $30,000. “We're still raising funds for it because it wasn't in the original budget.”
The middle section will feature a café that serves hot and cold beverages and sandwiches. The café will officially open on April 15. The east part of the building has a youth lounge, a library/community meeting room that can accommodate 20 people, and a prayer room that offers a walk-in prayer ministry.
The 210 building has a colorful history. Originally a Studebaker automobile dealership, the property went on to become the site of such bars as Charley Mac's, Shagnasty's and Bogart and Lulu's. The site was the scene of many bar fights and even one killing.
When the owner of Bogart and Lulu's decided to sell the building, the price was set at “far more than we could offer,” according to Hansen. “It was sold for $1.3 million to another buyer. In August 2004, the buyer fell out of the deal.”
The owner decided to cut the price in half and offer it to First Presbyterian Church. The church bought the building for $620,000. Hansen credits the deal to “the relationship we built up with the owner of Bogart and Lulu's over the years.”
“Our people went over there every Wednesday and prayed for the safety of the people at Bogart and Lulu's,” he said.
“We built a strong relationship with the staff from 2002 to 2004. We feel it was an act of God that we couldn't buy the building – then we bought it for half price. We feel God has called us to serve the community in this way. So we believe it's not for us, it's for the whole community.”
The entire project will be in the range of $2.2 million, according to Hansen. He said that the project has used no government funds.
“So far it's coming from our congregation,” Hansen said. “We've had great support already in gifts in-kind. Cal Bennett gave us most of the furniture at their cost.”
He added that some money came from grants and other money was donated from community organizations such as Downtown Rotary.
“The major part of the mission of 210 is to provide a place where people, particularly young people, can come and listen to a band, can have coffee, can do some homework – but also can build relationships with people and if they are interested, can hear about our faith,” Hansen told the Voice last year. He was asked if he expects the new center to increase the size of his congregation.
“We're not sure,” he replied. “We hope that this will bring in people who would get involved in the church, but that was never our goal. It's icing on the cake if this happens.”
For more information about the 210 Center, visit www.enter210.org.
Fire Station 5 Coming
Visalia - City officials gathered Monday afternoon to break ground on the new $6.8 million fire station at Ferguson Avenue and Shirk Road. The station will include the city's fire training facility that will be as “real like as possible,” said Battalion Chief Doyle Sewell. It will also include a classroom that can be used by the city or the community. Mayor Jesus Gamboa said the new station, which should be open in about a year, is the result of the hard work of those who supported Measure T. Vice Mayor Bob Link pointed out the new location will better serve the city's industrial area and the residential growth that is occurring in the northwest portion of the city. Turning the ceremonial first shovel were, from left, Monique Mirou of CM Contractors Service, contractor B.J. Perch, County Supervisor Phil Cox, Mayor Gamboa, Council members Don Landers, Amy Shuklian and Link.
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - A Tulare County delegation of about 40 officials and private citizens was scheduled this week to meet with the San Jose Police anti-gang task force in an ongoing campaign to battle local gang issues.
Tulare County Supervisor Phil Cox, who helped organize the trip, said San Jose has had a gang task force for a number of years and been successful with a variety of programs from which Tulare County could learn in its concerted and stepped-up anti-gang program.
The Tulare County contingent included law enforcement, city and county officials, as well as citizen, business and faith-based groups which have banded together in what has proven to be a major campaign against the mounting gang issues locally. The trip was financed by the county which, along with cities and various agencies, is engaged in a massive anti-gang crusade.
Although San Jose, a city of nearly one million residents, has an annual multi-million dollar gang suppression and prevention budget, Cox said “we hope to learn about some of the grant fund sources they use, as well as get a close look at what works there.”
San Jose, the nation's 10th largest city, is listed as the safest big city in the nation.
Speaking prior to the trip, Cox said he had heard that in some cases, San Jose had been able to reduce crime by up to 55 percent in some areas of the Bay Area city.
Visalia businessman Stan Simpson, who has helped unite various groups, said, “It is always better to talk with someone who has been there” in whatever realm is under consideration. He said San Jose's anti gang and crimes programs are looked as more or less as a prototype method, encompassing not only law enforcement, but business, faith based, civic and educational groups and organizations.
Tulare County is using a similar approach in its stepped-up suppression and enforcement moves.
Simpson praised the degree of local commitment calling it probably in the “top 10 percent” in the nation.
Pitman Farms Plans Traver Feed Mill
Sanger - The Central Valley – where the wide open spaces can allow a body to stretch one's legs. Increasingly, that is what is happening on Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties' chicken ranches where about 60% of the state's broilers – the eatin' chickens – are produced.
Case in point is Sanger-based Mary's Chickens (Pitman Farms) – one of the larger free-range chicken operations in the state.
The company raises it own line of birds from Hanford to Chowchilla on family-owned ranches and contracted farms. In recent years, it took the next step and opened its own processing plant in Sanger.
Now it has plans to open a new feed mill in Traver.
“Consumers want to know where their food is coming from,” says company namesake Mary Pitman. The company offers an array of retail free range and organic chicken, turkeys and ducks.
Allowing the chickens to roam from their enclosed houses is part of an ethic the family says reduces stress on the animals and translates into better taste for the consumer says Mary. Her husband, Don Pitman, began raising free range poultry in 1954. Today, he runs the family turkey operation while son David – a Cal Poly grad – runs the chicken side of the business.
Free-range chicken has been growing in popularity and the company supplies the needs of upscale retailer Whole Foods Market, along with other Western retailers.
In the past two years, the company has been “air-chilling” the chickens after slaughter, a technique pioneered in Europe, only recently becoming popular in the U.S. The air-chilling limits the bacterial growth after slaughter, instead of plunging the bird in cool water as most poultry plants do.
Studies have shown that water-chilled chickens suck up to 12% of their final weight from water and some say that dilutes the flavor.
Of the 200 or so chicken processing plants in the U.S., just a few use the air-chilling method that proponents say has been shown to be superior in cutting bacteria count vs. water chilled birds. It also helps this family farm brand stand out in the marketplace against some pretty big competition.
Now son David has taken on a daunting task – construction of a new feed mill on Highway 99 The project – to be sited right next to the much larger Foster Farms mill – is likely to take two to five years, says David Pitman.
“Our feed mill will look like a little peanut compared to theirs,” says David, who is working with Foster Farms to buy the corn, soybeans and other feed ingredients that will be trucked next door to the Pitman feed mill. The company will employ about 20 at the new site, according to a Tulare County Planning Commission report. The planning commission will hear about the project this month.
Pitman explains the company had a feed mill in downtown Madera, founded by his grandfather in 1947. “We grew up in the feed business” says Pitman. A surprise decision by the city and railroad at the leased site of the mill forced them to change plans to reopen the plant and instead pursue a new site in Traver. He says they had spent about $500,000 renovating the closed mill in Madera before they got the word in recent months.
But with the high cost of feed these days – led by corn and soybeans – the company needs to make its own feed to both cut costs and be fully integrated and in control of its product.
Pitman says despite interest from producers of kosher chicken, Pitman Farms probably won't get into that line of product despite its growing popularity outside the Jewish customer base.
Still, if a kosher chicken plant opens in California as rumored, they will probably decide to locate it in the Central Valley, says Pitman. There are major kosher bird operations, but they are in the East and Midwest.
“Originally, the poultry business came here because of cheap labor and the rail line” notes Pitman. But now it may be more to do with proximity to the large upscale markets in both the Bay Area and L.A. – only hours away.
Between the cost factor and changing lifestyle of consumers reflecting health concerns – consumption of lower fat chicken has grown in recent years vs. other protein sources. Now, with the growing concerns over the treatment of livestock animals on our farms consumers – at least some of them – may feel better knowing chickens have a home on the free-range.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
April 9, 2008
