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Focus on Gangs Paying Off

By Rick Elkins

Visalia - While Lt. Jason Salazar of the Visalia Police Department says that so far this year gang violence has declined, he stressed it is no time to let up.

“It's one of those knock-on-wood things. We're approaching it just as vigorous as if it was just as bad,” said Salazar, head of the department's special enforcement bureau that consists of the gang and narcotics units.

Still, the momentum to combat the growing presence of gangs in Tulare County that began with the Step-Up Summit in December is continuing, said Salazar and Bob Carden, chief of police.

“We're going to maintain our momentum. We want to make sure the public maintains its momentum,” said Carden. “We have to continue on, drive through to make sure we achieve success.”

So far, there appears to be success. For the first six months of the year, gang violence is down, especially drive-by shootings. And, officers have been making arrests and seizing weapons – 27 so far this year from gang members. Salazar said in the first quarter of this year, compared to the first quarter of last year, gang violence was down 50 percent. He expected a similar decrease for the second quarter, but knows the biggest challenge is during the summer months.

Carden and Salazar said the task to curb gangs is threefold: Suppression, Prevention and Intervention. They say there have been successes on all three.

Intervention

Work has already begun on the Summer Step-Up Gang Summit. Patterned after the very successful December summit, this one will be targeted at the youth.
However, pointed out Carden, much more has been accomplished to keep youth out of gangs.

Last week, the police hosted a Police Academy for young children and in the next few weeks, the Police Activities League building should open to give youth a safe place to go. The PAL building is the old Caltrans headquarters on Burke, and Carden said it will offer many activities for young people.

PAL, established in 1991, serves youth with activities designed to enhance self worth and community involvement. The completed facility will house a boxing ring, computer lab, an area with table games, outdoor basketball courts, a literacy center and a barbeque area.

After a spike in gang violence last summer, not only did Visalia step up, but the county as a whole stepped up to address the growing problem. Gang summits have been held in Cutler and mini-summits have been held in other locations.

“We've developed new approaches. The biggest part of that was the gang summit and many good things have come out of that, like the faith-based community working to combat gangs,” he said.

This summer, Visalia raised $40,000 to support a Step-Up Jobs Program to give jobs to at-risk youth in the community. “We have kids waiting for jobs. These types of things work,” said the chief.

Another key component of the intervention aspect is the youth counselors. The city received a grant to place five more youth counselors at youth centers throughout the city, giving Visalia a total of seven.

Getting youth to those centers has been the Loop Bus route that offers safe transportation to and from the centers.

Parents are also being informed about the gang problem – how to recognize if their child is involved and what to do – through the Gang Watch program. That program has representatives of the police department holding seminars in neighborhoods.

Suppression/Prevention

“It all goes hand-in-hand. Can't do intervention without strong suppression,” said Carden.

Salazar said police remain diligent in their approach and they have several more tools at their disposal.

One of those tools was the injunctions against two gangs – the Northerners and the Oriental Troops. He said that has helped police to identify those gang members, the two largest and the two gangs responsible for much of the gang violence.

“We have seen it is having a positive impact in the safe zones,” said Salazar. The injunctions prohibit members of those gangs from being in certain areas and while no one has been arrested for violating the injunction, Salazar said, “Our gang unit has seen a lot less presence of gang members in those safe zones. They know we are watching.”

Having a probation officer assigned to the gang unit has also sped up the checking of suspected gang members and has led to the arrest of several on parole violations.
Visalia has 10 officers assigned to the gang unit and five more to the narcotics unit.

The two are combined, because Salazar said many gangs are also involved in narcotics.

Both Salazar and Carden said the cooperative effort between the local police agencies and the sheriff's office has had a “huge impact.” They said that the gangs really don't have any lines, but 80 percent of the problems in Visalia are caused by Visalia gangs.

The Tulare County Multi-Agency Gang Intervention Task Force Committee, made up of representatives throughout the county, was created, and the city worked with the Tulare County Sheriff's Department to create the Multi-Agency Gang Network Enforcement Team – MAGNET. The police also partnered with the Tulare County District Attorney's Office to have a witness coordinator and prosecution assistant at the Police Department to increase efficiency between the two agencies.

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Ag in 2030
Hope Is Industry Is Better Off

By Rick Elkins

California - Avision of agriculture 20 years from now should be better than the picture of agriculture today, a group of farmers, processors and farmworker advocates told a state commission looking into the future of the state's No. 1 industry.

More than 40 people who spoke before the state Ag Vision commission said the future must include an adequate supply of water, sustainable income for farmers, a preservation of farmland, better thought-out regulations, public education on the importance of ag and improvements in the quality of life for farmworkers.

Many of those who addressed the committee headed up by Al Montana, president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, and A.J. Kawamura, California Secretary of Agriculture, also said the public needs a better understanding of agriculture and how important it is for America to never have to depend on other countries for food, much as it does for oil today.

The committee is made up of representatives of both the CDFA and the CBFA, including Dan Dooley of Visalia, recently appointed as vice president for the University of California's division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR).
Kawamura explained that there is no state plan to preserve agriculture. “Our strategy has been every year we're going to negotiate to lose less,” he said. However, he said ag and a sustainable food supply is a national security issue and there must be a plan to keep agricultural viable and supplying that food.

“It's all in our best interest to put a plan in place. It will not sit on a shelf. It will be implemented,” vowed Montana.

However, the listening sessions that have been held around the state will be compiled into a report, but what happens with that report no one could say for sure. Hopefully, organizers said, the report will be used to guide the Legislature and the Governor to implement sound farm policy.

One such policy many of those who spoke suggested was a California Farm Bill, one to guide farm policy, regulations and to ensure an ample supply of water for irrigation, land to farm and workers to harvest the crops.

“Many of our issues today are not coming out of the fields, they're coming from the Legislature, the courts,” said Richard Montoian, executive director of the Western Pistachio Association.

Many spoke of the need for the preservation of farmland, noting that tens of thousands acres of prime farmland are lost to development every year.
“It is hard to envision a bright future for ag without adequate farmland,” said Michael Darnell of Americans Farmland Trust.

Shirley Batchman, director of industry relations with California Citrus Mutual, said the time is now to come up with common-sense policies to preserve farming.
“We are coming to a critical juncture of this industry,” warned Batchman, adding the focus should be on the next five to ten years. “Long-term planning will become moot if we don't have short-term solutions.”

Batchman said over-regulation - especially regulations that are not based on sound science - lack of water, costs for water and fuel, and the taking of farmland for development are endangering agriculture. “These are today's issues, not tomorrow's.”

Jennifer Hernandez of the California Rural Assistance League encouraged the panel to keep the farmworker in mind when formulating new policies. She was especially concerned with living conditions, citing the lack of safe water in many communities where farmworkers live.

Other farmworker advocates spoke of needs for better regulations regarding the application of pesticides to protect field workers.

Tony Souza, a dairyman near Tulare, was pleased to see the focus on ag and is hopeful it will have a positive outcome, but for now it is just talk. He was pleased with the turnout that officials said by far was the most they had had at any of the previous listening sessions.

“How effective it will be, I don't know,” he said, adding it is nice for ag to have a voice.

Holly King, director of Agricultural Programs with the Great Valley Center, said finding solutions and answers will not be easy.

“It will take out-of-the-box thinking and out-of-the-box actions,” she stressed.

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Visalia's Music Scene Keeps Building

Visalia - Fresno can keep its Save Mart Center. Visalia's budding music scene and its growing reputation are being built in smaller venues, such as the 1,280-capacity Visalia Fox Theatre and intimate clubs like The Cellar Door and Howie and Son's Pizza.

These venues showcase such cutting-edge touring bands as Pinback, Grand Ole Party, Helio Sequence, Art in Manila, British Sea Power and the Cave Singers.

They attract national acts such as ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, quirky Seattle-based singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson, two-time U.S. fingerstyle champion Don Ross, the world's most downloaded YouTube artist Andy McKee, ex-Stray Cat Lee Rocker and guitar legend Leo Kottke.

Musical notables including Pat Benatar, Peter Frampton and Kenny G have headlined the Fox Visalia. And the top names in Christian rock are frequent performers in town.

“For a town of 100,000 people, it's extremely active,” said music promoter (and managing partner of an insurance agency) Mike Cavale, who has brought in such notable acts as Foreigner, Kenny Loggins, Amy Grant and B.B. King. “We have a lot of major artists coming here. The Cellar Door is doing two or three acts a week. The Christian music scene is pretty active as well at the Convention Center and at different churches.

“This town has been extremely supportive of the music scene,” he added. “I've only had one show that actually lost money and that was my fault because I paid too much for the artist. Most of the shows have been within 10 to 50 tickets of a sellout.”

So why is Visalia becoming the hottest tour stop between Los Angeles and San Francisco?

“One reason is Visalia's prime geographic location,” said Paul Lerma, a 25-year-old employee of the Visalia promotion company Sound N Vision. “Besides being nestled between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Visalia is right between Fresno and Bakersfield. This makes Visalia a desirable stop for musicians that want to pick up a show between their big city dates. And Fresno and Bakersfield music fans frequent Visalia venues and increase the attendance, since it is less than an hour away.”

Paul Fry, general manager of the Visalia Fox Theatre, agreed that being midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles was a factor in helping a music scene to develop in Visalia. However, he gave more credit to the promoters who have been bringing a wide range of performances to the Fox and other venues in the city. He credited Cavale, as well as David Shaw, who brings four or five shows a year to the Fox. He also had praise for Aaron Gomes, the owner of Sound N Vision, who recently started booking some of his acts into the Fox.

“I think he's created a Visalia music scene with the acts he has brought here,” Fry said. “As these acts grow, they come to a venue like ours.”

“Aaron Gomes is so well respected in the international music world that he often gets bands to play here in town for far less money than any of their other stops, due to the respect they have for his reputation,” said Kenny Hildebrand, Howie and Son's Pizza venue owner. “We just sit back and wait for his calls. The whole thing is so exciting.”

“I believe that a majority of Visalia's music success is due to the fact that the city officials are so supportive,” said Gomes. “City officials, along with the general community, seem to value the arts and music in Visalia. That is why we have such a vibrant downtown, with galleries, a variety of music venues and multicultural events. City officials have been very supportive of our efforts.”

Visalia City Manager Steve Salomon said that the city has an interest in “the continued vibrancy of the downtown, to cater to as diverse a group as possible.” He sees Visalia's emerging music scene as an important part of its growing cultural and performing arts.

“Cultural arts and performing arts are one of the things that make a difference from one community to another,” Salomon said. “When you think about Los Angeles, there's the Music Center and the new Disney Center and the Pantages. I'm not trying to compare Visalia to Los Angeles, but there is an energy and a dynamic that is created.”

He noted such downtown venues as the Ice House, the L.J. Williams Theater, Café 210, the Fox Theatre, the Main Street Theater and The Cellar Door, as well as galleries such as Arts Visalia, Montgomery Square and Design by Arenas.

“It's about what's good for the community and what makes a community vibrant and a place people want to be.” Salomon said.

Salomon has been working with local music promoters to help bring more live shows to the city. He has met with Gomes and other promoters to encourage more shows at the Fox Theatre, and is accessible when a promoter like Bruce Butz is organizing a musical event on Main Street. “It's the kind of thing where he's got my phone number,” Salomon said.

Downtown a Destination

Downtown Visalians, with a membership of more than 600 businesses, professionals and associations in the downtown area, also sees the value of developing the growing reputation of the city's music scene.

“It makes downtown become a destination,” said Vernon Barr, president of Downtown Visalians. “It creates 'people traffic' downtown, especially with younger people. Hopefully, those people will think this downtown is a neat place and will come back for other events and for dining out.”

Two weeks ago, Downtown Visalians announced that its second Visalia All Music (VAM) Festival would be held Oct. 3-5, and that Gomes would coordinate it. With this second VAM Festival, the reputation of the city's music scene will continue to grow.

Gomes remembers his high school and college weekends in the 1990s when things were quite different and local musical options were much more limited.

“Being huge music fans, my friends and I would pile into my dilapidated Jeep Cherokee with hopes to make it all the way to San Francisco or Los Angeles to see our favorite bands play their music,” he said. “We'd save our money for weeks, buy our concert tickets in advance, and spend the remainder of our money on gas, fast food and lodging to watch our favorite up-and-coming bands.

“We'd see Nirvana and like-minded bands perform in tiny rock clubs that were mainly advertised by word of mouth or in small independent magazines. We prided ourselves on catching the best bands before they were playing huge and disengaging large venue and arena shows.”

Gomes and his friends appreciated the reciprocal energy that an audience shares with performers during an up-close and intimate small-venue performance. Now, as a 32-year-old professional educator, husband and father of three, he can no longer easily plan a lengthy road trip to go see a music performance with friends.

“Fortunately, these days, I don't have to leave Tulare County to see the newest up-and-coming performers from around the world,” he said. “Nowadays these performers are stopping right here in Visalia.”

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County Outbid on Rail Deal

By Miles Shuper

Tulare County - Although they were outbid in initial efforts to buy 30 miles of railroad from the San Joaquin Valley Railroad by a company specializing in rail salvage, Tulare County officials are keeping a close watch on negotiations while attempting to save the line.

Last week, SJVR officials told Tulare County they had accepted a $1 million bid from Tulare Valley Rail Road to purchase a 30-mile stretch from Strathmore to Ducor. Tulare County had offered $550,000 following a ruling by the federal Surface Transportation Commission approving SJVR abandonment of the segment.

But the county's offer was a net $550,000 while the Tulare Valley Rail Road offer was a gross sale not reflecting the line's net worth, minus cost of ripping it out, says County Supervisor Allen Ishida. “Our offer is higher,” Ishida said, “because it offers a net value of what the line is worth.”

Tulare County has hired an appraiser of railroads and an attorney as it continues to keep the line in operation, an action seen as crucial to not just meet but expand industrial and commercial rail needs.

On Tuesday, Supervisors received the appraisals, but figures were not released because they were generated upon the request of attorneys involved in negotiations, said County Counsel Kathleen Bales Lange. Ishida and others, including Supervisor Mike Ennis, point out that TVRR would be required by law to operate the line for two years before it could seek abandonment approval. TVRR, based in Salt Lake City, owns the line from Ultra to Ducor and company officials say it makes sense to connect it to the Strathmore-to-Ducor segment.

Although the county doesn't want to own and operate a rail company, officials, including those from the County Economic Development Corporation, view the offer as a way to ensure the line stays open and operational. Ennis expects a surge in interest by several companies, especially in Southern Tulare County, to use rail service rather than trucking as fuel prices and other costs continue to surge. He and others are quick to point to the air quality problems along with road and highway costs as incentives to increase rail usage. But Ennis, Ishida and Paul Saldana, executive director of the Tulare County EDC, which has been steering the anti-abandonment campaign, see the pending sale to TVRR as just a way to eventually rip out the line for salvage value.

“San Joaquin Valley Railroad and Tulare Valley Railroad have worked together before,” Ishida says, adding that has mainly been on salvage projects.

Ennis of Porterville has been adamant in his contention that salvage has been the sole goal of TVRR. “They're a salvage company,” he has said several times in public meetings. He has also been citing the potential increased business along the line, especially from the Tuff Stuff Company near Terra Bella adjacent to the Ducor spur. The company recycles agricultural plastics to produce chairs, buckets and numerous other items.

If the sale to TVRR goes through, Tulare County officials say they will keep very close watch on the operations, especially if TVRR attempts to impose a surcharge for those using the rail line. That, according to county legal staff and others, would allow the county to step in again to negate the deal.

Previously, SJVR imposed a $950-per-railcar surcharge on firms using the railroad, a factor which abandonment foes said was an intentional step to discourage business and make the line unprofitable, justifying the abandonment plan. That surcharge subsequently was lifted, but not before usage of the line was decreased significantly.

The federal STC ruled the 30.59-mile segment could be abandoned, but rejected SJVR's bid to abandon a second, 9-mile segment between Exeter and Lindsay. Officials from SJVR have indicated they will re-apply at a later date to have that segment abandoned.

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Second Front Page

What's New

Reimer's Candies in Three Rivers has opened a new store in Avila Beach. Lynn and Mary Anne Bretz, owners of the Three Rivers store and manufacturing operation, purchased a business located at 324 Front Street in Avila Beach. They have converted the space to Reimer's “over the top” old-fashioned candy shop concept. This is the second location for the 51-year-old candy store.

How bad do people need jobs locally? Consider what happened at Visalia Community Bank recently which advertised for one open position as a clerk teller. The bank got 500 applications for the one teller job, says President Tom Beene.

A Having Our Say Coalition report found that Tulare County has the highest need for health-promoting resources in the state. The report, The Path to Healthy Communities: Mapping California's Priorities, ranked counties throughout California using key factors known to be related to health, including poverty, chronic diseases, health insurance status and access to open space for physical activity. Seven of the ten counties with the highest need for health-promoting resources and infrastructure are in the San Joaquin Valley. Also, according to the 2005 California Health Interview Survey, 65 percent of San Joaquin Valley adults are overweight or obese. The consequences of obesity are seen in rising rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, stroke and hypertension.

Building activity in Visalia during June was the second weakest so far this year. For the month, total valuation was $19.2 million, down from $26.7 million in May and just $6 million better than the poorest month, February. There were 59 permits issued for new homes and just seven for new commercial construction. The value for the homes was $13.3 million, while new commercial had a value of $3.5 million. For the year, the city has issued 321 permits for new homes, compared to 490 at this point last year.

The state's Public Works Board has approved the site where the Porterville Fairgrounds sits as the one for a new superior courthouse. The state has announced plans to construct a new courthouse in Porterville to replace the outdated and inadequate facility that is being used now. The new site will force the fairgrounds to relocate, a process the fair board and the city have been discussing for a while.

Centex Homes announced it will include a standard suite of energy efficient features in all homes nationwide by January 2009. The builder commissioned the NAHB Research Center to study homes equipped with features included in the initiative - dubbed Centex Energy Advantage - and the results revealed an improvement in energy efficiency of up to 22% over comparable homes. In addition, when compared to the energy efficiency of a typical 10-year-old home as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program, the Centex Energy Advantage homes in the study were shown to be up to 40% more energy efficient.

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Visalia Looking to Strengthen Water Conservation Rules

Visalia - The Visalia City Council is expected Monday to get a look at recommendations from city staff to strengthen water conservation rules in the wake of the second dry year in the Central Valley.

The city has been looking at ways to reduce water consumption. Some ideas expected to be presented to the council include drought resistant landscaping, enhanced enforcement of watering rules and even suggestions as to what type of vegetation – including lawns that require less watering – should be recommended to developers and homeowners.

Two Fires Burning on Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia National Forest - More evacuations were ordered this week in Kern County as the Piute Fire, south of Lake Isabella, advanced due to higher winds and higher temperatures. The fire broke out June 28 and as of Tuesday had burned more than 26,000 acres and has cost more than $12 million to battle.

The evacuations were on the western edge of the fire that spread quickly Monday and Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, there were 1,191 personnel on the fire using 84 engines, nine bulldozers and four helicopters. Several roads into the area are closed and an order closing the forest in those areas remains in effect.

Another fire on the forest, the Clover Fire which has been burning since May 31, is more than 70 percent contained. That fire is burning along the crest of the mountains in both Tulare County and Inyo County, including Inyo National Forest, mostly in the South Sierra Wilderness. Full containment of the fire is expected by July 15.

Mooney Work Will Move Bus Stops

Visalia - Stage 1A of the widening of Mooney Boulevard to six lanes through Visalia began Monday. The project will be done in six phases, with phase one consisting of the widening of southbound Mooney Blvd. on the west side from Meadow Avenue to Walnut Avenue. Stage 1A will continue through August.

Sidewalks located in the first phase will be closed and city bus stops located between Meadow and Walnut will be temporarily relocated to nearby side streets. For more information regarding city bus routes, contact the Visalia City Coach office at 713-4750 or visit www.ridevcc.com.

Businesses located on Mooney will remain open and access to driveways will be maintained during construction.
For updates and information regarding lane closures, commuter alerts and construction schedules during the length of this construction project, call 1-866-740-9230, or visit www.dot.ca.gov/dist6 and click on the Mooney Blvd. logo.

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