a Signature Event
Downtown Visalia will be buzzing
Sept. 9-11
By Marina Gaytan
Visalia - An arts festival that will bring together the art and food that is grown in Tulare County will be held September 9-11 in Downtown Visalia.
The festival, which will be hosted by the Visalia Arts Consortium, will feature many local artists, music and locally grown food.
“It's going to have a lot of everything,” said Caroline Koontz, director for the non-profit organization.
The festival will kick off its events starting Thursday, Sept. 9, with Events Visalia hosting the very popular Waiters Race at the downtown Garden Street Plaza at 5:30 p.m., followed by a dance and a live performance from the local band Mezcal at 8 p.m.
“Members of the Consortium had been thinking about an event that would grow into a signature event for the region,” she added.
Two artists, both University Professors with national artistic careers, Lori Esposito and Duane McDiarmid, were chosen by the Consortium to work on a commissioned art piece that will have over 50 portraits of people connecting with agriculture in Tulare County.
"Where the Fruits of Labor Reside" will be a large art piece, celebrating the diverse individuals contributing to the agricultural industry and will result in a carriage housing over 50 painted portraits of field workers, regional natives, growers, distributors, industry suppliers, family members of workers, regional environmental educators, scientists, social workers and anyone else whose labors contribute to the industry.
Members from the community are invited to help assemble and decorate the piece over the three day event, she said.
Thursday will be family and friends night, with the Ice House Theater putting on a play called, Greater Tuna. This free performance will take place at 7:30 p.m.
The Enchanted Playhouse will be having performances starting Friday. Also Friday, a culinary tasting will be held at the Marriot Hotel, which will have menu items that focus on oranges as the featured ingredient. A Reception at Arts Visalia will be held from 5-8 p.m.
Art drawings by COS Professor Amie T. Rangel will be open to the public at the COS art gallery.
Taste of Mozart, an
opera performance, will be held on Friday at 210 at 6:30
p.m.
“There's something for all ages,” she said.
An art fair will also be held in the Garden Street Plaza on Saturday. Imagine U Children's Museum will be sponsoring children's activities.
An outdoor grand finale will finish off the events with an outdoor symphony performance which will take place at the new transit expansion (Bruke and Center) at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Additionally, the Visalia Teen Idol will also be taking place at the Fox Theatre during the three-day event. After hours brings live music at the Cellar Door showcasing Home Grown Music Friday night and indie rock music Saturday night. Taste of Tulare County will be having an art fair along with a student art competition for Tulare County schools. Art demonstrations, which currently have more than 60 merchants, will go on in the downtown Garden Street Plaza as well as a downtown sidewalk sale.
All main events are free to the public and artist booth rental is still available. For more information about the event or about sponsorships call Koontz at 713-4324.
By Rick Elkins
Visalia - The long-vacant Mervyn's building at the Sequoia Mall may soon be bustling with shoppers again.
Oklahoma-based craft store Hobby Lobby has submitted remodeling plans for permits to the city of Visalia building department, although finals of the lease are still in the works.
Mervyn's closed all of its stores – including the Sequoia Mall site – in 2008. The Mervyn's in Porterville is in the process of being remodeled and soon will reopen as a Kohl's Department store. Tulare's Mervyn's remains vacant.
The old Mervyn's store in the Sequoia Mall is approximately 55,000 square feet – about what other Hobby Lobby stores take up. This would be the first Hobby Lobby in California. The next closest store is in Nevada at Henderson.
The Sequoia Mall has been a target of the city of Visalia for revitalization for some time. The once-thriving center has several vacant stores today. It is still anchored by Sears, Regal Cinema, Border's and a couple of smaller stores. But, big vacancies are Mervyn's and the old Ross for Less. The 100,000 sf of space still available includes Longs, a 24-hour fitness store, Ross, and then smaller spaces.
“It think it's very important for the mall to have that Mervyn's space filled,” said Ricardo Noguera, city of Visalia Housing and Economic Development director, while not confirming that Hobby Lobby was coming to Visalia.
However, the city planning department confirmed that not only had permit applications been filed with the city, they had been approved and were ready to be picked up. An official said the remodeling of the old Mervyn's will be more extensive than what was done by Macy's in the old Gottschalk's store. He estimated it will take three to four months to complete the remodel.
With over 50,000 products in 13 departments, Hobby Lobby is one of the largest hobby stores in the nation. It has 453 stores in 38 states.
According to the company's website, Hobby Lobby offers “the widest variety of crafting supplies you will find in one location with new merchandise arriving all the time.”
Hobby Lobby began operation Aug. 3, 1972 with 300 square feet of retail space, located in North Oklahoma City. This was a retail outgrowth of Greco Products, a miniature picture frame company, founded by David Green in 1970. In January 1973, the operation was moved to a house near N.W. 23rd and Western, and the amount of retail space was increased to approximately 1,000 square feet.
Hobby Lobby offers crafts, hobbies, picture framing, jewelry making, fashion fabrics, floral, cards & party, baskets, wearable art, home accents, and holiday supplies.
Hobby Lobby headquarters are located in a 3.4 million square foot manufacturing, distribution and office complex in Oklahoma City. Other affiliated companies are Hemispheres, Mardel and Mart Green.
Noguera said he hopes to see renewed energy at the Sequoia Mall site.
“Bringing more retail into the mall and encouraging shoppers to return to the mall are key to success of all retailers and continue revitalization along the Mooney corridor,” he said.
Adding that with positive news on Merles and other prospects along South Mooney, “Over the next six to 12 months we'll see much of Mooney empty spaces filled.”
He said there is about 400,000 square feet of big box store space along vacant along the shopping Mecca of the county. “Our goal is to fill at least half of that in the next year,” he said.
“It's re-energizing and solidifying Southern Mooney corridor as the regional shopping hub of Visalia and Kings counties,” he said, along with bringing new jobs for residents.
Kaweah Delta Magnet Application
By Rick Elkins
Visalia - A Magnet hospital is stated to be one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution.
Kaweah Delta Health Care District feels it is ready to be called such a hospital.
Last week, with great fanfare that included a full-sized hot air balloon, the hospital sent off its 2,500-page application to become one of a few select hospitals that have achieved magnet status.
The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) grants the status to hospitals that meet a long list of criteria regarding nurses. Kaweah Delta has been working on the application for five years.
Chief Nursing Officer Linda Pruett made that a goal when she joined Kaweah Delta in early 2005.
“She set that as a goal,” said Mary Laufer, magnet program director and who holds a masters degree in nursing. She said staff attended a meeting in San Francisco in December of 2005 to learn what would be needed. “That's what helped up develop our step by step plan to build the infrastructure,” said Laufer, who got a very brief ride in the hot air balloon last week, symbolic of the sending off of the large application.
Less than 5 percent of hospitals in the United States have achieved Magnet status – only 367 to be exact. It is not something that comes easily and the application must be duplicated every four years. The only hospital in the Central Valley with such status is Children's Hospital of Central California in Madera County.
“We're striving for nothing less than excellence at Kaweah Delta,” said Hospital CEO Lindsay Mann during last week ceremony. “This Magnet Initiative is not just external recognition. Our patient care will continue to improve,” he added.
Laufer said there are 88 criteria that must be met in order to be given the designation. “One is to set goals and meet them to get designation. Others are how nurses are involved in patient care; are nurses able to make decisions; are nurses active in the community; are nurses set in self scheduling; are nurses involved in budget. How are nurses encouraged to be leaders,” she said.
As a result, Laufer said more Kaweah Delta nurses today have bachelor degrees and more are seeking both bachelor and master degrees.
“All nursing directors must have a master degree. That's actively happening. All nursing managers must have a bachelor degree in nursing. So we have people in school,” she said.
Kaweah Delta has more than 1,100 nurses at its campuses.
Better for Patient
Research has shown that patient outcomes at Magnet Hospitals are better than at non-designated hospitals, said Laufer. “From a research angle it has shown that patients receive a higher quality of care in magnet organizations because you attract stellar nurses and employee satisfaction is higher.”
And, she added, better nurses helps to attract better physicians.
“Wouldn't you want to work at a hospital that has high employee satisfaction,” she said. “You're going to be surrounded by people who are satisfied where they work and focused on you,” she added about the patient.
The hospital hopes to know in a few months if it will move along in the designation process that next calls for an on-site visit. Laufer hopes to know if the hospital is successful in its application by next March.
“I have every confidence (in getting it ). I think our chances our excellent,” she added.
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - Rules for dividing land in agricultural zones in Tulare County have been changed, a move seen as a compromise in the wake of the county's halting of variances for new home sites.
County Supervisors Tuesday approved the amended Homesite Parcel Ordinance which had been approved by the county planning commission in June.
Essentially, the changes
prohibit unnecessary parceling and close loopholes in the
existing ordinances which have allowed numerous home site
variances to be granted.
Major changes impose a five-year residence status instead
of the current separate three and five year residence requirements,
sets the maximum homesite at 20 percent of the original
parcel size and to not exceed four acres, considering existing
improvements, yard lines and physical barriers.
Also, if the original parcel is greater in size than required in the zone district, a maximum one home would be permitted, unless the remaining acreage is divided into parcels consistent with existing zone requirements.
Two provisions suggested by the county Resource Management Agency staff but opposed by the Stakeholders Group were removed prior to the proposal before supervisors. Those were for a 10-year ownership requirement and a 10-acre minimum parcel size. The Stakeholders Group is comprised by the Tulare County Farm Bureau, the county Agricultural Advisory Committee and city representatives.
Although representatives of the Stakeholders Group attended the public hearing, there was no debate.
Over the last 18 months, RMA staff and the Stakeholders hammered out what turned out to be a satisfactory compromise.
Jim Sullies, representing the Ag Committee, said after the meeting he was pleased with the board's decision. Mike Olmos, assistance Visalia city manager, shrugged his shoulders and smiled after the meeting when asked if the board's action was satisfactory.
In its summery, the Farm Bureau stated, “Farm Bureau agrees that variances are not an acceptable norm and should only be approved under extraordinary circumstance when warranted. We support the county in addressing this issue to eliminate governance by exception.”
Tulare officials cited concerns that only one homestead parcel be allowed and if one already has been created, no additional homestead parcels could be created. In addition, no homestead parcel should be created in a city's urban development boundary without city council approval.
Visalia officials concurred with Tulare's concerns, stating, “the breakdown of parcels into sizes and configuration which are inefficient for future urban development as the city expands.”
By Miles Shuper
Visalia - The assessed value of property in the City of Visalia dropped .22 percent to $8.73 billion, for fiscal 2010-11, according to the final tax rolls compiled by the Tulare County Assessor's office.
Countywide, the value of property, both secured and unsecured, rose .214 percent from 2009-10 when the tax roll value declined for what officials believe was the first time ever.
The 2010-11 total assessment is $27.05 billion, compared to $26.99 billion in 2009-10. County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder Gregory Hardcastle and assistant Roland Hill say they are pleased with the numbers which are encouraging, especially in the single-family residential section.
Both Hill and Hardcastle called the new totals a “flat tax roll” with the potential of being a sign that the fierce housing market slump could be bottoming out. Hardcastle said there had been concern that the new assessed values might drop for the second year in a row.
Last year, Visalia's values slumped about 5.4 percent, nearly twice the percentage drop which had been anticipated. The City of Farmersville was the hardest hit with a drop of more than 12 percent. Exeter fell 9.3 percent but new number show a rebound.
The new totals show Farmersville with values of $253 million, off .624 percent from $254.6 million last year. In addition to Farmersville, the cities of Dinuba and Porterville both declined this time around, but only one, Dinuba, which saw a 1.2 percent drop, saw property values drop more than 1 percent.
Total assessed property increased .018 percent inside the cities while property in unincorporated areas rose just over .53 percent. City property values totaled $16.6 billion while rural properties totaled $10.39 billion in 2010-11. In 2009-10 city values totaled $16.65 billion while rural property values totaled $10.33 billion.
The total Dinuba value for 2010-11 is $903.4 million, a decline from 2009-10 when it was $914.5 million.
Porterville's values dipped to $2.24 billion, down .28 percent.
The City of Tulare was the biggest gainer with an increase of almost 1 percent. The 2010-11 total is $3.65 billion, up from the $3.56 billion the previous year, a hike of .9 percent.
Exeter was the next highest gainer with a .76 percent increase to $478 million, up from $474.4 million
Woodlake had an increase of .31 percent with a 2010-11 value of $166 million. It was $165.5 million the previous year.
Lindsay showed a hike of nearly .58 percent with a value of $352.7 million compared to $350.6 million the year before.
The number of properties listed in the unincorporated areas totaled 66,990 in 2010-11 up 530 from 2009-10 while city properties totaled 104,551 compared to 102,930 the previous year.
SECOND FRONT PAGE
What's New
The median price of a home in Visalia declined just a little in June compared to May, but was up 1.23 percent over June of 2009, DataQuick reported. The median home price for June in Visalia was $165,000, down from $168,000 in May, but better than the $163,000 median price in June of 2009. DataQuick's figures vary greatly month to month because they are based on that month's sales. Tulare saw home prices decline compared to last year and last month, while Porterville saw a slight improvement over last month but a decline from June of 2009. The median prices of all homes sole in Tulare County in June was $150,000, unchanged from May but 1.35% better than a year ago.
Fifteen families in Visalia are now homeowners, with a 16th coming soon, thanks to the city of Visalia's Neighborhood Stabalization Program. The program was made possible by a $2.3 million Recovery Act grant and allows the city to purchased foreclosed homes, refurbish them and then resell then at just the cost put into the property. Ricardo Noguera, city housing and economic development director, said that nearly all of the original $2.3 million has been spent, and now the city is using the recycled money to continue the program. He said one home is up for sale and five more are being remodeled. “The money is definitely spinning around,” he said, explaining that about five jobs have been created for every remodel.
The Lisa Project, a multi-media exhibit depicting stories of child abuse is coming to Tulare County in October. The exhibit will be located near the Visalia Convention Center and run from Oct. 1 to Oct. 29, said Gene Hardin of Stockton who is in Visalia this week ironing out details for the exhibit being held with the help of the Tulare County Child Abuse Prevention Council and other agencies. Hardin and his wife, Lindy Turner-Hardin, a child abuse prevention official in San Joaquin County, said the exhibit is the first of its kind and there are plans to expand exhibit locations.
State lawmakers did postpone the $11 billion Water Bond measure that was scheduled for the November ballot. Plans are now to put the measure before voters in 2012. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had asked for the delay, saying he did not feel voters would be willing to pass such a measure in the down economy.
The Tulare County Hispanic Roundtable Mayor's Luncheon will be held 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, at the Visalia Marriott. Mayor Bob Link will update attendees on the latest developments at city hall. For information, call 723-0404 or 741-1383.
Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) announced over $160,000 in federal funding to train Valley nurses and improve access to health care for families. The funding, in the form of two grants, will go to California State University, Fresno to prepare more individuals for careers in nursing and provide nurses with advanced education. The grants were made available through the Department of Health and Human Services and were authorized by the new health care law.
COS has been awarded a $1,367,013 Healthy Community Forum grant over five years. The grant will help COS maintain the expanded capacity of the nursing program by enrolling and completing an additional 120 students from fall 2010 to fall 2014.
Students Getting Back to Class for Fall
By Marina Gaytan
Visalia - New books, new classes
and new faces are just some of what the back-to-school experience
is all about.
Classes have begun at some schools, but campuses will really
begin to fill next week as College of the Sequoias and Visalia
Unified students return.
An increase in enrollment is just one of many things students will notice this semester at COS.
“Classes will be extra heavy come this fall semester,” said Kevin McCusker, public information assistant for COS.
As of this week the college has seen 12,273 students register, which is a 6 percent increase from fall of last year. They have registered for over 119,465 units, which is up 6,131 from last year, and have enrolled in 38,938 classes, up 1,817 or 1 percent from last fall.
Over all, the college has experienced a 20-25 percent increase in enrollment over the past five years, McCusker added.
“We haven't gone through an aggressive class reduction,” he said.
With around 25 students trying to get into one class, the fill rate for the classes remains high.
Other news to the college is that the fire and police academy has relocated to its Hanford Center which is opening for the first time at its new campus.
“The only way we could expand was to move it to Hanford,” he said. McCusker also added that there is a lot more room for the program in Hanford. The Colleges' long term goals include moving the agriculture focus to the Tulare COS center- when it opens - and keep the nursing program in Visalia. All of the locations will still have the general education requirements.
Although there has not been a significant change in staffing, he said, the college has added a few new positions, including full-time, tenure-track hires in ESL, the physical therapy assistant program and business.
The grand opening of the new Porter Field House is set to open September 14, which is also the first home match for the volleyball season.
Visalia Unified School District
With summer coming to a close, school officials and teachers are looking forward to the start of a brand new school year.
“We're going to have a lot of positive energy going into the school year,” said Interim Superintendent Craig Wheaton. Although VUSD is expecting to reduce its budget by an estimated $6.7 million between now and next year, the teachers have come to an agreement to help take care of increased costs. “This is kind of a big agreement,” he said.
Referred to as a permanent non-work day in their contracts, teachers will be giving up three unpaid days.
“This is permanent and ongoing,” Wheaton said. “If we get more money, then we can add the days back on.”
Trying to work with $20 million less than they had two years ago, the district is still seeing approximately the same number of students in enrollment, he added.
“We expect it to be about the same - it hasn't gone down,” he said.
Now that all the summer projects have come to a close, Wheaton said that due to the budget they are not really able to do anything new this school year.
“We are trying to refine what is going on now,” he said.
Teachers
A total of 38 new middle school and high school teachers have been added to the VUSD staff. These staff members, which include principals and vice principals are replacements of people that have either left or retired, not additions, Wheaton said.
VTEC School
VUSD has partnered with COS to create a new high school - Visalia Technical Education Center, which currently has over 70 sophomore students enrolled. Wheaton said that the goal of the school is that by the time the students are juniors they will have the opportunity to complete college training, which will also give them the opportunity to work on jobsite.
“The school is designed around careers and career training,” said Wheaton. Although the school will have many general education classes, there are two main career focuses, which are; Veterinary Technician and Food Science.
Being a charter school, VTEC removes itself from some of the class requirements, and anyone in Tulare County can attend.
“It's a hands on education,” he said.
The district's main goal is to build it over a three year period to around 200 students.
VTEC is located at the old COS farm site on Linwood.
Districts:
Exeter Elementary, Exeter High and Sundale are already in session. Tulare City Elementary, Tulare High and Cutler-Orosi begin today. College of the Sequoias, Porterville Unified and Dinuba begin Aug 16; Farmersville, Lindsay, Woodlake Elementary and Woodlake High begin Aug 17; Three Rivers Aug 18; Visalia Unified and La Sierra begin Aug 19; Porterville College will start Aug 23.
By Marina Gaytan
After the winter season decided to stay a little later than it has in previous years, people at All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting, were not complaining-especially when the snow melt began in June and the water began to flow tremendously.
“It's been a great season for rafting,” said Diana Haslam, team manager for reservations and marketing.
Typically a rafting season begins in April and lasts through October, but riders can begin as early as March. Even the freezing cold temperatures couldn't stop some rafters from beginning early.
All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting services 10 different California Rivers including courses in the Kaweah River all the way to the upper Klamath River Canyon which runs through the Oregon –California border.
Many one-day rafting trips are available; however, the company offers overnight trips including four day trips as well.
Although low water levels have the Kaweah River course closed for the season, people can still take advantage of the Tuolumne River course nearing Yosemite National Park.
Normally, they operate on water levels between 900-6,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The Kaweah River rose to just above 5,000cfs this year. Haslam said they usually don't raft anything lower than 900cfs but 700cfs could still be possible.
Other courses still running this season are, the beginners Tom Sawyer Float Trip through Coloma Valley, the beginners South Fork American River, the intermediate's Middle Fork American and advanced Cherry Creek tours.
The South Fork American River has been the most popular ride because it accommodates everyone, Haslam said.
Bill McGinnis, president of whitewatervoyages.com, also experienced a great rafting season. With the late storms moving in one after the other, McGinnis said that the growing snow pack and a cool May extended the flows for the season.
McGinnis' company services the Kern County's River. The Kern River draws people from all over the world and is the most popular river from the southern half of the state, he said.
“It's a great time for whitewater rafting,” McGinnis said.
The Kern River has three different sections within the one river; lower, upper and the Forks of the Current, which has levels III, IIII and V courses. What makes the Kern River so special is that it flows through the Sequoia National Forest and has both beginner and experienced courses available.
Kayaking is another popular sport in the Kern River. Sierra South Mountain Sports offers whitewater kayaking classes as well as private kayaking instruction. Located in Kernville, Sierra South Mountain Sports is also benefiting from the late snow melt which comes from Mt. Whitney.
“We have had about 15 percent more people scheduled in kayak classes than we did last year,” said Nicole Seals, reservation specialist.
This year, Sierra South Mountain Sports has seen the cfs level in the Kern River peak to about 9,000 for the first week of June.
“Every year is different. This time last year we probably only had half of the flow that we do now,” Seals said.
Sierra South Mountain Sports offers a variety of classes from half day training to five day training.
“The kayaking season has been great and will continue into and possibly through September,” she added.
For more information about whitewater rafting and kayaking visit, All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting at (800) 247-2387; Whitewater Voyages at (800) 400-7238 and Sierra South at (760) 376-3745.
Parks Slow to Rebound from Economy
By Marina Gaytan
Sequoia National Park - Although the Sequoia National Park entrances are busier with approximately 950,000 people entering compared to the approximate 580,000 people entering into Kings Canyon, the park has seen a decline in people entering both parks over the last year.
“Our visitation to the park remains generally stable,” said Dana Dierkes, public affairs specialist for the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Although Dierkes said that the numbers essentially stay consistent, a decline in people visiting Kings Canyon National Park is around 8.73 percent compared to last year between January and June. The number of people visiting Sequoia National Parks is also experiencing a decline of 4.32 percent
Over 1.5 million people visit the National Parks every year. Between 2005 and 2009, the park saw the highest number of visiting in 2005 with 1.596 million and nearly 1.6 million people visiting last year.
“We always want to increase people's awareness in coming to the park,” Dierkes said. Hiring additionally for their outreach program is just one of the things that Dierkes is doing to help make the park more accessible for potential visitors.
While the number of visitors to the parks is down slightly, use of the Sequoia Shuttle that transports people from Visalia to the parks is up. The shuttle saw a 35 percent increase in ridership than any other year for the month of June.
“It's exciting for us,” said Gamaliel Anguiano, transit analyst for the city. Having the shuttle here is a great asset for Visalia, he added. Th Sequoia Shuttle has been serving as a gateway to the Sequoia National Park since 2007.
“Sequoia shuttle has been steadily increasing over the last three years but 2010 is the most drastic increase in ridership,” he said.
The shuttle begins picking up people at the Holiday Inn Hotel at 7 a.m. and at various hotels and locations throughout Visalia thereafter. Exeter and Three Rivers are the next two cities that also have pick-up locations. The 10 a.m. pick-up was eliminated in 2008 due to low ridership but has now been re-introduced in hopes of reaching out to long distance travelers.
“We're hoping the re-introduction of the 10 a.m. [pick-up] recaptures a Los Angeles market.”
People coming from long distance, such as the Los Angeles area, benefit from riding the shuttle because it allows them to stay the night and learn about our town, he added, rather than just driving through it.
Sequoia National Park has been known for attracting a wide range of people throughout the world. In-house data collected by the Transit Division shows that although people come from all over the world to ride the shuttle, 90 percent of the riders come from U.S. addresses while the remaining 10 percent consistently come from the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany.
Of the 90 percent recorded, 75 percent come from California addresses and the remaining 25 percent come from Texas, Arizona, Florida and New York which are also consistent riders. Finally, 69 percent of the 75 percent come from Central California addresses. Anguiano has seen numbers of people coming from every state.
Visalia is the only town that operates a shuttle service into the Sequoia National Park. The next city shuttle into a national park is Merced, which operates Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS).
“Our ridership is very compounding,” he said. Sales have increased an estimated 66 percent over last year.
In addition to a ride to the park, Sequoia Shuttle also operates three free in-park routes which are unlimited to all guests. The in-park bus service travels to several popular destinations including Moro Rock, Crescent Meadows, Lodgepole and to the Giant Forest.
Matt Fagam, north district interpreter for the park, has also seen an increase in ridership compared to last summer.
“We have received nothing but positive
comments about the shuttle,” he said. Fagam is just
one of many in the park who educates people about living
more sustainably through alternate transportation such as
utilizing the Sequoia Shuttle.
“It's very pleasing and gratifying to see,”
Fagam said referring to the number of people now riding
the shuttle.
The shuttle season starts before Memorial Day and this season runs through Sept. 20 and is available everyday of the week during the season. For more information contact the Sequoia Shuttle at 877-287-4453. A round-trip ticket is $15 and that includes admission into the park.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
August 12, 2010
