Tulare County - In just seven days Visalia and the southeastern communities of Farmersville, Exeter, Lindsay, Strathmore and Porterville will play host to the most prestigious bike race in North America.
Amgen Tour of California is coming back to Tulare County May 20 for a second consecutive year.
Approximately 100 riders, including Lance Armstrong and four-time winner Levi Leipheimer, will begin their day-long race to Bakersfield at Garden Street Plaza in downtown Visalia at 10:45 a.m. That will be the start of a couple of pace laps around Visalia and then to the outskirts of town before the actual racing begins at Walnut and Lovers Lane.
An event as large and closely followed worldwide, does not come together easily. A countywide committee has done the heavy lifting, but every city has its own groups working to ensure the race and the benefits of having it go through their communities, are successful.
“Everything is coming together just fine,” said Mike Camarena, a city of Lindsay planner who is spearheading the entire county effort as the technical director.
He said this year has been much more challenging on one hand and a little easier on the other. It is more difficult because the route this year takes the racers, support teams, media and fans through four cities. Last year's Stage 5 went west out of town and then through rural Tulare and eventually to Paso Robles.
“We're having good cooperation because they (cities) want it,” he said.
After the pace laps are completed, the riders will head out of Visalia to the official race start at Walnut and Lovers Lane. From there the pack goes through Farmersville on Road 192 (11:02), through Exeter entering on Pine St. (11:12), then into Lindsay on Hermosa (11:30), then through Strathmore on Orange Belt Drive (11:41), up over Rocky Hill and onto Plano Avenue into Porterville (11:59) and then out of town onto the Old Stagecoach Road and to Fountain Springs (12:15) and then into the foothills before turning south into Bakersfield.
In every city efforts are being made to make the most of the event. Bike rodeos, street fairs and more are being planned. School children will be let out of class to watch the racers as they pass by. Many events have already been held.
Of course, there will be much work to be done on race day, beginning early when police begin closing streets along the race route. Main Street in Downtown Visalia will be closed at 6 p.m. Wednesday night through the start of the race, approximately 1 p.m. on Thursday. There will be numerous other street closures – in all the cities.
Bigger Role
Visalia and Tulare both have a much larger role in the Amgen race this year. Last year, Stage 4 finished in Clovis and the racers stayed the night in that city, then drove to Visalia on the morning of Feb. 19 for the 10 a.m. start of the race.
This year, Stage 4 finishes in Modesto and the riders are expected to immediately travel by vehicle to Visalia, where they will eat and spend the night. This year's race begins at 10:45 – 45 minutes later than last year's start.
Greg Kirkpatrick, chairman of the local Amgen committee that has put in a lot of work, said he would expect the riders to arrive in Visalia between 6 and 7 p.m. As part of the city's commitment, not only does the local committee pay to put up the riders – roughly265 hotel and motel rooms – but it must also feed them dinner and breakfast.
On top of that, the local committee is in charge of providing a lunch-on-the-go. Firkin and Hound restaurant has agreed to donate that meal that will be handed to the riders in the Feed Zone that will be at the old Fountain Springs Salon south of Porterville.
Visalia Chamber of Commerce CEO Glenn Morris said planning has been a huge undertaking, but not as much as fundraising. The local commitment is about $80,000 in cash and $60,000 in in-kind donations.
“All the planning is right on track, but fundraising has been extremely difficult,” said Kirkpatrick. He said the committee still needs about $20,000.
Morris says having a bigger role only helps the city in marketing itself as a place to hold large events, especially bike events.
Kirkpatrick said it was an easy decision to say yes when the Amgen officials asked if the city could raise more money to have the riders and support teams spend the night here.
“It is great for the community, great for putting Tulare County on the map in the cycling world,” he said.
Another benefit is the later start.
“All around, this is going to be a better fan experience,” said Kirkpatrick. He said the later start will mean more time for the racers to mingle with fans and prepare for the race.
Visalia and the county are also getting positive exposure on the Amgen website where eight videos created by the host cities are available. Showcasing the race's start and finish communities, the creative and distinctive videos highlight the unique features of each stage, including the scenic California coastline, the legendary Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, picturesque Big Bear Lake and the historical landmarks of downtown Los Angeles.
Also, this year's race will again be broadcasts live and rebroadcast around the world on the Versus Channel.
Many Events
One of the major events in Visalia will be the Downtown Visalians hosting a special event the night before the race to kick off festivities.
That downtown event
at Garden and Main Street will be held 6-9 p.m. Wednesday.
Kirkpatrick said there will be cycling-themed art at Café
225 and the 210 Community Center; fans will be able to chalk
the streets along the Start Line with messages for the riders
or cancer survivors; and the Jeff Barnes Brian Injury Foundation
will be dropping melons from the Garden Street Plaza parking
garage as a demonstration on the need for bike helmets and
bike safety.
Also, the Downtown Farmers Market will hold a special market night on Church Street.
“It will be another opportunity to come down and chalk the street,” said Kirkpatrick. “We're trying to make it a nice downtown event and I would expect that we could see a few of the riders come down,” he added.
For sure, many of those from around the world who make up the support teams, media and Amgen officials will be around and Camarena said those are every bit a part of the racing experience.
Each of the 16 teams has its own support team, some more than one, who travel behind the pack and stay in each city as well.
On Saturday, the “Hungry Buzzard Century” bicycle ride, arguably the most challenging bicycle ride in the South Valley, will be hosted by the Sequoia Visalia Kiwanis and the Southern Sierra Cyclists bicycle club.
The Hungry Buzzard, covering 100 miles and requiring 8,000 feet of climbing, is a featured event on the “Climb to Kaiser” website and is considered by many as the top quality training venue for the challenging Climb to Kaiser ride.
Other Hungry Buzzard offerings include the “Mountain House Metric”, which covers approximately 63 miles and includes 4,000 feet of climbing, and the “Venice Hills 40”, a mostly flat, 40 mile ride that takes riders along the St John's River, the Monrovia Nursery, and skirts the Venice Hills.
All rides start at Cutler Park (From Visalia, take HWY 198 east and turn North on Lovers Lane, and then right on Houston Avenue (HWY 216) for 2.5 miles to Cutler Park.) between 7 and 8 a.m. Cost to participate is $40, which includes fully supported rest stops, SAG support, a Hungry Buzzard tee shirt and a post-ride meal. All proceeds benefit the children of Tulare County, either through programs or scholarships for graduating seniors. For more information, go to www.sscbike.org .
In Porterville, where the racers will be for about 15 minutes, many events are also planned.
There will be a Livestrong Foundation Blood Drive, which will be a multi-city event, with the Porterville branch of the Central California Blood Center conducting the local drive on May 18-19. Anyone going into the Center at 93 North Main Street to donate blood, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., will receive a free lunch sandwich, snacks, a Livestrong T-Shirt, and a VIP pass to a designated area near the sprint line at Centennial Park.
Also on Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. in Centennial Park there will be activities featuring Latin Friends performing live in the gazebo. There will also be food and drink booths, roller (Stationary Bike) sprint races, informational booths, and health and fitness-related demonstrations.
Also in Porterville, a youth bike rodeo, conducted by the Porterville Police Department, is scheduled from 6:-8 p.m. in the public parking lot located at the southeast corner of Hockett Street and Cleveland Avenue.
Volunteers Needed
Over 300 volunteers are needed on race day to act as course marshals, direct traffic and parking, and provide staff support. Anyone who is interested in volunteering must register on the ATOC website: www.amgentourofcalifornia.com or contact Bill Zigler, the local volunteer coordinator at wzigler@hotmail.com.
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - Despite initial claims they are not waging a campaign against incumbents, officials of the Service Employees Union Local 521 are running numerous electronic and print advertisements critical of Tulare County supervisors Steve Worthley and Mike Ennis who are both seeking re-election.
Although radio ads which include a song with the theme of Ennis “working on the railroad,” and negative fliers naming Worthley and Ennis, Greg Gomez, local union president, said, “We aren't waging a campaign against the Board of Supervisors incumbents.”
When pressed to explain the discrepancy, Gomez and union organizer Adam Urrutia confirmed the union is indeed, targeting the two incumbents because of the actions of the current board and what the union feels is a need for change.
Both Ennis and Worthely say the union-backed campaigns are based on false information and half truths which are in no means justified. Both Ennis and Worthley say the ads contain distortions of the truth and are misleading as the union attempts to influence the outcome of the June 8 primary election.
Ennis, who represents
most of eastern Tulare County including Porterville, is
challenged by Cameron Hamilton, a Porterville City Councilman.
Worthley, who is seeking a fourth term in District 4, is
being challenged by Brian Rouch, Maggie Florez, Donny Barton
and Juan Guererro. District 4 includes Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi,
Woodlake and portions of northern Visalia. Worthley is the
current board chairman.
In a mailed flier to voters, the Union claims “Steve
Worthley is wasting Tulare County Tobacco Settlement Money.”
It says that instead of using the $4.5 million to $6 million
the county receives annually as part of a state-wide settlement
with the tobacco industry on heath care costs, Worthley
has voted to spend it in other ways.
“Instead of spending our money on recruiting and training
new doctors and treating patients, Supervisor Worthley used
our money to construct an animal control facility, relocated
the county's motor pool and built a $3.8 million museum
about farming,” it states.
Worthley called the SEIU campaign ads “hit pieces” which he said speak for themselves.” They perpetuate half truths and absolute false statements in an attempt to influence the outcome of our election,” he said.
Because the union campaign does not indicate any concern about who should replace board members, Worthley said they must be considered targeted campaign ads.
The ads singling out Ennis contend he has voted to spend county funds to buy a railroad instead of using it for health care costs and other needs.
Ennis said “not a dime” has been spent on buying a railroad, explaining that county efforts have been made to retain sections of the San Joaquin Valley Railroad, already approved for abandonment, as viable rail service. Ennis says the county's efforts are needed to maintain rail service as a key factor in potential economic development and cleaner, more efficient commodity transportation system. The county isn't interesting in owning a rail line, he says.
Ennis said he is receiving numerous calls and face-to-face questions from district residents about what he termed 'distorted facts” and false information being headlined in the union-backed ad campaigns. “I have been setting them straight on the facts,” he said, adding that the SEIU campaign is distorting the truth.
Hamilton said he has accepted no financial contributions from SEIU and would not accept any due to a potential conflict if he is elected and have to vote on union contracts. He did meet with SEIU members as part of the union's campaign interviews. Ennis said he declined a similar invitation.
Gomez says the SEIU represents about 2,700 Tulare County employees and a total of about 8,700 in Tulare, Kings, Kern and Inyo counties.
Gomez said, “The media in our area has done a really good job of keeping the citizens of this county informed on the issues that we felt compelled to augment with a voter education campaign. While I won't comment on specifics, each supervisor has his own voting record to defend.”
He said the media has shown that board members have held meetings that should be characterized as a violation of the Brown Act which protects against private board meetings. He also cites the board's action to grant themselves pay raises while laying off hundreds of health and welfare worker and other county employees. The board subsequently rescinded the pay raises.
“Once an elected official loses sight of their fiduciary responsibility and accountability to the taxpayer and voter, it's our right as citizens to exercise our voting power. Let the people decide,” he said.
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - Median prices paid for homes in Tulare County dropped slightly in March, but inventory is remaining low and sales are up the past few weeks, local realtors say.
DataQuick reported that 388 homes were sold in the county during March, an increase of 33 percent over the 291 homes that were sold in February.
Ed Evans, broker at RE/MAX real estate, said that inventory increasing is good as long as it doesn't get out of hand. He said at the end of April there were 1,131 homes on the market in the Visalia/Tulare/Exeter area. That is up from 1,057 at the beginning of February, but not close to the more than 2,500 the market saw just a few years ago.
Also, 406 homes went into escrow during April, up from 316 in March.
“I think that we've found the bottom,” said Evans of a market that has stabilized after seeing big drops in sales and prices over the past 24 to 30 months.
“The buyer confidence is really, really low. We don't have move-up or trade-up buyers or sellers. Many buyers are waiting on the sidelines to see what's going to happen,” he said.
“Prices have escalated just slightly because of a shortage of inventory,” he said, adding that even though there has been a big increase in the number of foreclosure proceedings begun locally, banks are doing more to avoid those homes actually going through foreclosure.
RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures, reported that 1,045 foreclosure proceedings were begun in March in Tulare County, up from 801 in February. In Visalia, that number was 431 in March, up from 322 in February.
However, Evans says banks are more willing to work with homeowners to either redo their loan, or put the house on the market in what is called a “short sale.”
“Very few properties are actually being foreclosed,” he said, adding that about 80 percent of the homes being sold locally are short sales or bank sales, not foreclosure sales.
He said the recent tax
incentives have helped, but there was no sudden rush to
open escrows at the end of April as the federal first-time
homebuyers tax credit ended.
“I didn't notice any significant bump,” he said,
adding, “It was a little bit of a catalyst. It allowed
people to purchase up.”
He is hopeful the state tax credit that begin May 1 will help. It is on new construction and offers a first time buyer up to a $10,000 tax credit.
“It will help some. I anticipate that money will run out quickly,” he said.
Evens said despite low interest rates, it is still a challenge to get a loan through and an escrow to close.
“There's tremendous problems in closing a sale,” he said. Those delays are costing buyers. “It doesn't take a lot of discouraging a buyer for them to bail out,” he said.
Statewide, home sales were up 32.7 percent in March over February and up 3 percent over March of 2009, a sign that there is some recovery in the housing market.
The statewide median price paid for a home last month was $255,000, up 2.4 percent from $249,000 in February, and up 14.3 percent from $223,000 in March a year ago. In Visalia, the median price in March was $160,000, down 4.7 percent from a year ago. In Tulare, the median price was $147,500, unchanged from a year ago.
In the county, home prices were up 22 percent in Dinuba and Exeter and 13 percent in Porterville.
Statewide, of the homes that resold last month, 40.5 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from 44.3 percent in February and down from 56.7 percent in March a year ago. The last time foreclosures resales were lower than last month was in November 2009, when they were 40.1 percent of the resale market.
The homebuyer tax credit establishes a tax credit of $10,000 or 5 percent of the purchase price of a newly built home and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time purchasers of existing homes. The credit will be available through December 31, or when funding is exhausted, whichever comes first. The $200 million allocated for the program is split evenly with $100 million going to purchasers of new homes and $100 million going to first-time buyers of existing homes.
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - An administrative law judge says Southern California Edison must construct its high voltage transmission line to run from Lemon Cove to north of Woodlake, then south to Visalia using most of an existing right-of-way path.
The ruling nixes Alternate 1, the route favored by SCE which would run from Lemon Cove to Visalia near Exeter and through Farmersville.
The ruling issued by Karen Clopton, chief administrative law judge for the California Public Utilities Commission, follows the finding of the PUC final Environmental Impact Report issued earlier this year. It also establishes a maximum project cost of $122 million which includes, among other costs, a 15 percent contingency added to the to the forecast $97.9 million basic cost.
Steven Conroy, a SCE spokesman, said the utility will respond to the ruling, but added that Edison is eager to start on the project as soon as possible. “We need it to be built,” he said, citing the growth of Tulare County and other areas to be served by the new line.
In June, 2004, the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors approved the looping of the Big Creek 3-Springville 22kv transmission line into the Rector Substation as the preferred long-term transmission alternative. Rector Substation is located in the southeast corner of the city.
A final PUC decision on the route will be made after a public review and comment period. The final decision is not expected until fall, at the earliest, observers say.
Like the final EIR report, the newest ruling is bitter-sweet for the Protecting Agriculture Communities and Environment ((PACE) and others who ardently fought against Alternative 1 and proposed their own route, Alternate 3A. a more northern route than Alternative 2. Alternative 3A would have the 220-kv transmission line near Stokes Mountain, north of the PUC-favored Alternative 2 through Elderwood.
PACE leaders say they are preparing a response to the latest ruling, again urging PUC to over rule the administrative judge's decision. PACE, other groups and individuals say the final EIR favoring Alternative 2 is “flawed” in inadequately addressing issues such as ruining productive farm land, damaging property values, hurting wildlife habitat and other considerations.
PUC observers say administrative judge rulings are seldom overturned.
The ruling also rejects a request by the Tulare County Farm Bureau and supporters that the PUC establish an agricultural advisory committee to provide input into the details of implementing the agricultural mitigation measures identified in the EIR.
Clopton's ruling states: “We deny these requests. Visalia and Farm Bureau do not demonstrate and we do not find that Alternative 2, or nay of the alternatives, damages the community's agricultural, recreational or character. To the extend that is would be located in Visalia, the proposed project would lie within an existing transmission right of way, and the EIR appropriately determines that, with mitigation, the project's impacts to recreational and aesthetics resources are less than significant. While Alternative 2 will convert 25.6 acres of farmland to non-agricultural use, this cannot reasonably be found to thereby damage Tulare County agricultural character.”
The ruling did, however, order that impacted landowners receive a copy of the mitigation monitoring, reporting and compliance plan. The ruling applies to all landowners within 300 feet of Alternative 2.
Included in the mitigation requirements SCE will be required to conduct and adjust the rights of way, conduct an inventory of the groundwater wells, including wagon-wheel type well, and make any adjustments to insure that the right of way center lines are no closer than 50 feet from any existing well. SCE also must adjust spacing and height of towers or poles to provide sufficient vertical clearance for any well drilling or maintenance work. Edison will be required to pay for well and water system replacements.
Regarding project cost limits, the ruling says SCE's proposed 32 percent contingency requests is out of line.
“First, the project consists primarily of new transmission and substation facilities. California electric utilities and their construction contractors have extensive experience with this type of project,” said the law judge.
In addition, the ruling states the contingency request “is excessive in the current economic environment. “A major purpose of SCE's contingency is to budget for the risk of significant increases in the cost of labor and materials. We believe this risk is small given that the unemployment rate in California is more than 12 percent and construction activity in the state is at recessionary levels.”
SECOND FRONT PAGE
What's New
Work on the Houston Avenue improvements, including the roundabout at Santa Fe and Houston, will finally wrap up next week. Major improvements were done to the busy roadway from Santa Fe to Ben Maddox.
Kings County Farm Bureau has gone on record opposing the high speed rail route that runs through Kings County. It cuts through prime ag land in Kings County, points out Kings County Farm Bureau Executive Direct Diana Peck.
A couple of quick moving storms hit the region Sunday and Monday, downing trees and power lines and bringing a little more rain to the area, but now temperatures are expected to move into the mid- to upper-80s by this weekend. The storms left a quarter of an inch of rain in Visalia and added a few inches to the snowpack. There is still more than 6 feet of snow at Farewell Gap. Storage in Lake Kaweah is more than 130,000 acre feet and filling fast.
Paving of Mooney Blvd. was postponed this week due to the cool weather. Officials with Caltrans and the contractor had planned to finally begin the final paving of the highway, but now that will have to be rescheduled. Also cancelled was the planned closure of the Mineral King and Noble Avenue intersection. Plans to do the paving at night remain, but while have to wait until it warms up.
The old Blue Ridge fire lookout will be plucked by a crane from atop its 75-foot perch on Blue Ridge (north of Springville) on Saturday and then loaded onto a truck for the ride to the CalFire headquarters on Lovers Lane. The lookout will be restored and eventually placed at the Tulare County Fairgrounds in Tulare as a feature for the CalFire exhibit there. Fire Capt. Nick Perricelli said only the lookout will be restored, although they would have loved to save the 75-foot tower as well. Perricelli said they hoped to have the project completed in time for the 2010 Fair, but it is more likely it will be done for the 2011 Fair.
Frank Serpa is planning on opening a used car lot at 3000 South Mooney Boulevard where he once had his Kia dealership. He has gotten permission to move ahead with the plan. The store was closed when he moved his Kia store to Ben Maddox. The new store will be called Serpa Used Car and Truck Outlet.
The UC Merced Small Business Development Center (SBDC) will honor two businesses in Tulare County with its Regional SBDC Networks small business award. Local honorees are Wish your Heart Makes, owned by Kathee Brown of Porterville with the Family Owned Business Award, and the BookLady in Exeter owned by Donna Web with the Woman Owned Business Award. The awards will be presented at the Small Business Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, May 26, at International Catering, 4277 N. West Ave. in Fresno.
Visalia Unified School District will be hosting two sessions of the VUSD Education Forum to seek input on the district's Family Life (sex education) curriculum. The first meeting will be at 4 p.m. May 20 in Conference Room 4 of the VUSD District Office at 5000 W. Cypress Ave. The second meeting will be on June 17.
EdeniQ, a Visalia-based clean technology company serving the global biofuels industry, has closed $12.4 million of financing. The company will use the funds to speed deployment of its existing yield enhancement technologies and to further develop its Corn-to-Cellulose Migration (CCM) program, which was recently awarded a $20.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
People on the move. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 37.1 million people 1 year and older changed residences in the U.S. within the past year. This represents an increase from 35.2 million in 2008.
Permits for new home construction are running about parallel to last year, the Visalia building department reports. Through the first four months of the year the city has issued 135 permits for new homes – four less than the same period last year. In April, 31 permits were issued. For the year, total building valuation is $40.7 million, off $14 million from a year ago.
Grace Community Church of Visalia broke ground Sunday on Phase 1 of its expansion. The church has received approval of its Conditional Use Permit to begin construction of Phase 1.
COS' Chaumonde Porterfield-Pyatt, professor of music, received the CTA Presidential Award at the California Teachers Association conference Saturday. Chaumonde has been director of CTA's Association for Better Citizenship for the last six years, gaining over $200,000 for local CTA chapter advocacy.
Target Corporation reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ending May 1 were $4.288 million, a decrease of 3.5 percent from $4.446 million for the four weeks ending May 2 last year.
Air-quality activists filed three lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week claiming federal officials are neglecting cleanup plans for the San Joaquin Valley. Two suits were filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco, challenging EPA's approval of the Valley's cleanup plan for the one-hour ozone standard.
Appeals of approved air plans go directly to the appellate court. Activists say officials have failed to analyze the vehicle rules accounting for the largest ozone reductions. Now the region is on the verge of missing the November 15 cleanup deadline for the standard.
The third activist lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court in Oakland to force EPA to make a decision on the plan to stop violations of the eight-hour or day-long ozone standard. Activists say EPA should have accepted or rejected the plan a year ago.
The city of Visalia is donating a used 1993 Ford F150 pickup to CSET, a non-profit agency that works to strengthen youth, families and communities. The truck was used in the traffic safety division
Visalia - Margaret Foley, an icon
in the health community, died Sunday at home surrounded
by family. She was 87.
Mrs. Foley stepped down from her position on the Kaweah
Local Healthcare District board of directors in March
after serving on that board for 20 years. Prior to that
she had worked for Kaweah Delta Hospital as a nurse for
more than 20 years, a position she took after serving
as a nurse in the Army.
Just March 25 she was surprised by the hospital when it named the medical education center the Margaret Foley Graduate Medical Education Center. That center will serve as the hospital's first physician residency program. It is slated to open with six doctors in 2013.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at St. Paul's Anglican Church, 120 N. Hall in Visalia. Miller Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
“What the community has lost is its quintessential health care district board member,” said Carl Anderson, president of the hospital board and a colleague of Mrs. Foley's for many years.
Not only was Mrs. Foley so important to the hospital she loved dearly, but to many other causes as well, including the Good News Center.
“She believed in helping the community,” said Sara Foley Fox, her daughter.
She also served on the Tulare County Mental Health Advisory Board and the Tulare County Legal Services board, the Good Samaritan board and was very active in St. Paul's Church.
“The number of things she has been involved with reads like a who's who,” said Anderson.
Fox said the family thanks the community for the support it has shown their mother – not just during the past few months.
“She wanted the community to know how much she appreciated their support now and over the years,” said Fox.
“She's had friends and people who worked with her visit her. We were very aware how much support she had,” said her daughter.
She said her mother always put the community first.
“It was always about them,” Fox said of her mother's commitment to the people of Visalia.
She added all the children are proud of their mother, but know that they share that pride with everybody in the community.
The community returned that love when the Chamber of Commerce named here Woman of the Year in 1980.
Amy Shuklian, a Kaweah Delta employee and a member of the Visalia City Council, said Foley was dedicated to both the hospital and the community.
“I was always impressed by Margaret. She was always down to earth. I admired her greatly,” said Shuklian.
“I think she was a big part in the progress of the hospital. She's been there all along the way,” she added.
At the ceremony naming the residency program after her, hospital CEO Lindsay Mann gave a long list of accomplishments of the hospital and honors Foley received during her tenure on the hospital board.
Among those, Mrs. Foley was given the Excellence in Governance Award in 1995 from the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, was named runner-up nationally for the Trustee of the Year award named by Modern Health and was given the Rose Ann Vuich Ethical Leadership award in 2006.
Mrs. Foley was the first woman to serve on the board and the first woman to have been elected president of the board.
Mann called her an “effective” board member. “She was highly regarded and very appreciated by all those who knew her,” said Mann, adding that one thing that constantly amazed him was Mrs. Foley would instantly become someone's friend after meeting them.
“She was simply delightful to work with. She cared about patients first and foremost. She cared about the community and cared about the hospital,” he added.
Anderson and Shuklian both said Mrs. Foley brought two very important perspectives to the board. First, she deeply cared for the patients and balanced all decisions at the board level with what impact they would have on patients.
Second, she had worked for the hospital and was able to understand the needs of staff.
“What Margaret left in her life was an ethic, an attitude and a paradigm of public service that will inure to the benefit of this community well past our lifetimes,” said Anderson.
Mrs. Foley is survived by her five children, Fox of North Carolina; James Foley of Sebastopol, John Foley of Santa Clara, Morgan Foley of La Mesa and Patricia Foley Teaford of Long Beach and seven grand children. James Foley is the only one in the family to follow their mother into the health field. He is a registered nurse.
The family requests donations be made to three of their mother's favorite organizations: Girls and Boys Club of Tulare County, 215 W. Tulare Ave., Visalia, Ca. 93277; Self-help Enterprises, P.O. Box 6520, Visalia, Ca., 93290 or Kaweah Delta Hospital Foundation (for Graduation Medical Education), 216 S. Johnson St., Visalia, Ca., 93291.
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - In a solemn and moving ceremony complete with the sounds of a bagpipe and then the playing of a lone trumpet sounding taps, an estimated 300 people paid tribute to Tulare County's fallen lawmen at the annual Tulare County Peace Officers Memorial Service.
On a bright and calm morning the names of fallen officers were read as dozens of uniformed officers, county officials, family and friends gathered for the annual event.
Long stemmed flowers in addition to several colorful bouquets were laid at the base of the granite monument just west of the Tulare County Sheriff's headquarters in the County Civic Center.
The name of Sgt. Greg Hernandez, 50, who died February 6, 2009, was added to the list. Hernandez, a 24-year-old veteran lawman, was killed when his patrol car crashed into a tractor trailer rig as he responded to a call for assistance from another officer.
Hernandez was honored at the memorial services in Sacramento and then in Washington, D.C. during observance of National Police Week, including National Police Officers Memorial Day in Washington. D.C.
Hernandez family members, including his daughter Kristina and ex-wife Maria Hernandez of Porterville attended the Visalia event. They, along with his mother, Rosa Hernandez of Farmersville and his brother Romero Hernandez of Melbrey, were part of the Tulare County group attending the Sacramento and Washington D.C. ceremonies.
Hernandez is the 24th Tulare County lawmen whose names are on the national memorial monument. Hernandez was a 1984 graduate of the College of the Sequoias Police Academy and worked in several specialized units including narcotics, SWAT and was a hostage negotiator.
Tulare Police Chief Jerry Breckingridge, one of several speakers at the Tulare County ceremony, said a law enforcement officer dies every 56 hours. He said it is important to let officers know they are heroes for what they do every day, not for the way they die.
Tulare County Supervisor Chairman Steve Worthley read President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address then noted how the words “sacrifice and dedication” will always be true.
Rainy Year Boost Mosquito Threat
By Miles Shuper
Tulare County - With plentiful rainfall and hundreds of abandoned or neglected backyards and swimming pool, those who fight to control mosquitoes, the primary source of the deadly West Nile virus, have their hands full.
“We have it on all ends this year,” said Michael Alburn manager of the Delta Vector Control District in Visalia, noting that increased water supplies to farmers this year will increase mosquitoes breeding sites.
Eliminating and treating stagnant water in which female mosquitoes lay their eggs is crucial in the war against West Nile, the virus which attacks the central nervous system and is spread mainly by mosquitoes which feed on infected birds and other creatures. Since 2005, 14 West Nile related deaths and nearly 300 infections have been reported in the Central Valley. No deaths have been reported in the state this year.
“Right now we are surveying and indexing backyard sources,” Alburn said. Early treatment with spays and the stocking of mosquito eating fish in ponds, pools and other standing water are the primary tools in the mosquito infestation fight.
Alburn said a recent aerial survey of properties in and around Visalia indicates there are even more pools to be treated than last year when about 1,000 were stocked with fish. Crews are gearing up for what promises to be a concentrated effort to treat a surging number of stagnant water sources in Visalia, Exeter, Farmersville, Woodlake, Dinuba and Cutler-Orosi.
Alburn expects to increase the district's work force to about 30, five more than normal. Seasonal workers, many of them college students who go to work in early June, are hired at the end of May and go to work in early June, he said. The seasonal workers are in addition to the dozen full-time workers who treat potential and existing standing water sites, he explained.
The district's only aerial spraying is at the sand and gravel pits between Woodlake and Lemon Cove which is treated about once a month, Alburn said.
Getting an early start on treatments is important, especially in wet years coupled with the ever increasing number of abandoned pools and back yard ponds and wet areas, he said. Even when pools are drained, rain water is collected and crates a heaven for mosquito breeding.
An increased number of homeowners have cut back on their pool care in tough economic times, adding even more to the number of breeding sites, Alburn said.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
May 13, 2010
