Tulare County - The Boys & Girls Club of Tulare County and the Boys & Girls Club of the Sequoias — which together provide after school and other programs for more than 4,000 county youngsters — plan to unify. Organization officials said this week they hope to have the merger completed around the first of the new calendar year.
No jobs losses are anticipated, officials say.
Boys & Girls Club of Tulare County is headquartered in Visalia, serves youngsters in Visalia, Tulare and Ivanhoe and has about 1,600 members, said Galen Quenzer, its executive director.
The Boys &Girls of the Sequoias is headquartered in Exeter and has a membership of more than 1,800, according to Joe Engelbrecht, its executive director.
That organization serves Exeter, Ivanhoe, and Porterville and is in the process of expanding into Dinuba.
Quenzer and Engelbrecht see the unification as a step toward creating a more comprehensive program that will serve even more youngsters.
Although a number of details are still in the process of being finalized, they say progress on the merger is continuing rather smoothly.
Quenzer said unification “will bring together the programs and the best people skills” of both current organizations.
The boards of directors of each organization will be combined into one, Engelbrecht said. Directors, who served on a volunteer basis, are elected by the sitting board members.
Engelbrecht said although no decision has been made on the official name of the unified organization, each club will remain under its current leadership and jurisdiction.
Boys & Girls Clubs are funded through nonprofit grants, corporate and private donations and other fund raising programs.
There are about 4,000 clubs nationwide.
Together the two current
organizations have combined current budgets totaling around
$2 million. Engelbrecht said the B&G Club of the Sequoias
has a $1.4 million budget and employs about 70 people, many
of them on a part-time basis.
There are about 4,000 enrolled members and an average of
between 1,000 and 1,200 attend daily.
The B&G Club of Tulare County currently operates on a budget of about $700,000.with about 18 employees, seven of them full-time, said Quenzer.
Tulare County Supervisor Allen Ishida said uniting the two clubs “is a good move.” He said having the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tulare County operating clubs in Tulare and Visalia and the other with a similar name with clubs in Porterville, Exeter and Dinuba “can be a little confusing.”
Ishida expects unification to benefit the overall operation of both programs, which, he said, are “vitally important” to a large number of area youngsters, especially those in after-school programs.
‘We’ll Honor Mearle’s Image’
Visalia - Although it won't be known as Mearle's, top executives of the Habit Burger Grill are promising to incorporate the image of the iconic Visalia eatery into plans for their new Mooney Boulevard restaurant.
After meeting last week with the City of Visalia's site plan review committee, Habit officials are now in the process of drafting plans to be submitted to the city for a special-use permit as well as a presentation before the city's Historic Preservation Committee.
Meeting stipulations imposed through the historic building designation is perhaps the stiffest hurdle Habit officials will face.
That designation was forged through the efforts of Friends of Mearle's and Visalia Heritage, Inc. in order to thwart demolition of the art deco style drive-in after the property was sold several years ago.
Habit's plans call for parts of the 70-year-old building to be incorporated into the new restaurant's design, which they say will feature a drive-though as well as photos and a scale model replica of Mearle's.
A large mural of Mearle's in its heyday will also be displayed inside the new burger restaurant.
Those factors, company officials say, are just part of a concerted effort to pay tribute to Visalia's renowned drive-in.
Both Habit executives and city officials have been reluctant to predict a time table for Visalia's Habit Burger Grill's completion and opening, but there have been indications that a fast-track route will be followed once plans are completed and the permitting processes cleared.
Russ Bendell, president and chief executive officer of Habit Burger Grill, has met with city officials and admitted the Visalia project is likely to take longer than other company projects to complete.
“While this is a longer development process than we would usually have for a location, I feel that due to the quality of the location, along with the unique factors of the former Mearle's, it is well worth the additional time and effort,” Bendell said.
Bendell has extensive experience in the food and restaurant business, including serving as top executive for Outback Steakhouse, the Cheese Cake Factory and Mimi's Café. He said using the Mearle's building fits into Habit's nostalgic image.
“We are not a cookie cutter” design company, he said. “We intend to preserve as much as possible the Mearle's image -- and its place in the Visalia community."
Visalia - With Visalia's invention in the 1980s of the residential split-can trash collection bin, residents here can take pride for being at the forefront of the so-called “green” revolution. The split-can bin, which has now been adopted by a number of municipalities around the country, makes separation of household trash and recycling easy.
Two years ago, the city introduced the commercial split bin, which allows businesses to utilize the single-bin way of recycling as well.
“It's helping Visalia lead by example for other communities going green,” said Nathan Garza, a technician for the city's Natural Resource Conservation division.
With many services offered throughout the year, including a community event called Shred It, to be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday Nov. 13, Visalia seems to be doing its part to encourage the greening of the city by making sure that residents and business owners have an easier way to dispose waste properly.
The Nov. 13 event is being held to help residents celebrate America Recycles Day and is being sponsored by Waste Management. The event will be held at Tulare County Recycling in Visalia and will give area residents the opportunity to shred documents free of charge.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection
Every Saturday the city offers free household hazardous waste collection at the City Yard in North Visalia, something Visalia resident Sandra Wilson recently took advantage of.
While dropping off used oil, paint and even some old computer cartridges last Saturday, Wilson said how much she appreciates the service.
“I think it's a great idea, instead of pouring it out and it getting into the soil and water, I'm glad they have a place to dispose of it,” she said.
Other items that can be disposed of at the Saturday event include pool chemicals, kitchen oil, grease, light bulbs, batteries and non-narcotic prescription medications.
“It gives everyone the chance to recycle their hazardous waste at no cost,” Garza said.
Kimball Loeb, the city's natural resource conservation manager, said Visalia is the only city in the area that has a weekly operation that takes in household hazardous waste.
Dump on Us
The city also offers a 'Dump on Us' event, which gives residents four chances a year to dispose of unwanted larger trash.
“It allows residents to dump virtually whatever they have, for free,” said Earl Neilsen, manager in the city's Public Works Solid Waste department.
During the most recent 'Dump on Us' last month, city workers handled some 500 vehicles full of various items, including electronic waste and tires. While totals from that event have yet to be calculated, during July's 'Dump on Us', the city collected 35 tons of trash and 53 tons of recyclable material.
Spring and Fall Drop Offs
This month kicks off the city's annual fall recycling program, which allows residents to drop off yard waste including yard trimmings, grass clippings, leaves, branches, wood and lumber scraps.
Those who participate also receive one yard of compost in return.
The Spring and Fall Drop Offs happen twice a year. The Fall Drop off will last through January 8.
Curbside Specials
The city also offers up to four curbside specials a year. This service allows residents to bundle additional trash that will not fit inside a residential trash can. Trash for curbside pickup is limited to 25 pounds per bundle.
Honors Courageous Former Student
(Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories spotlighting noteworthy Valley residents whose lives and accomplishments are memorialized in endowed scholarships at area colleges.)
Porterville - Sam Staley met his idol, Mickey Mantle, in the summer of 1963, the year after the legendary New York Yankee slugger won the last of seven World Series titles.
In Porterville, Staley's story was nearly as well known as Mantle's – and just as inspirational.
Born in September 1945, Sam grew up in an area on the outskirts of Porterville then called the German Colony. He had an older brother and two younger sisters and his parents, Leo and Lydia Staley, ran a popular restaurant, the Tea Pot Dome Café just off Highway 65.
All four of Leo and Lydia's kids did well in school and Sam Staley's early childhood was actually much like that of most other American boys growing up in the suddenly brighter days following the end of Second World War. An active, curious boy, Staley loved sports and spent a great deal of time playing outdoors with other neighborhood kids.
Then tragedy struck.
At age nine, while out in the woods one day shooting at targets with some other boys, a .22 rifle propped against a barbed-wire fence fell to the ground and accidentally discharged. The bullet hit Sam in the back and severed his spine.
Doctors stabilized his wound but the accident rendered Staley a quadriplegic and he would never walk again.
When he came home from the hospital in Palo Alto, Staley quickly learned to use a wheelchair and with help from his many friends, resumed an active life.
After he graduated from Porterville High, he enrolled at Porterville Junior College and began taking accounting classes and making plans to become a CPA.
“I always said Sam was handi-capable, not handicapped,” says Johnny Evans, one of Staley's good friends, who, during their years together in high school, drove Staley to school nearly every day in a customized Chevy truck.
“I spent more time with Sam and his family than with my own,” recalls Evans, now an organic citrus consultant who lives in Kino Bay, Mexico.
“Sam was my hero, just an amazing, amazing guy,” Evans says. “If he wanted to do something, nothing stopped him. He was president of our car club. He took art school correspondence courses and learned to paint by holding the brush between his teeth. He'd play pool with us by strapping his arms to a cue…”
Evans says Staley “loved anything related to sports” and calls him “the smartest person I've ever known. He was a rolling encyclopedia,” Evans says. “He knew every baseball statistic there was.”
Evans recalls how Staley used the eraser end of a pencil held between his teeth to pick through the day's change at the Tea Pot Dome Cafe. “He was very patient and eventually built up this fantastic coin collection,” says Evans. “He typed all of his own term papers for school the same way.”
In the early 1960s, Staley traveled to Los Angeles to attend a professional baseball game. The New York Yankees were in town and before the game, Sam toured the field and had his picture taken with Mickey Mantle and Roger Marris. Evans said, “That was one of the happiest days in Sam's life.”
Then, just before he turned 20, tragedy and Sam Staley met yet again.
In 1965, while riding with a friend to attend a PJC football game, Staley was killed in a car accident.
Hundreds of Porterville residents attended his funeral.
In 1970, a Porterville College scholarship was created in Sam's honor and for many years, Lydia Staley, who died nearly a decade ago herself, took special pride in awarding a check each year to a deserving disabled student.
Contributions to the Sam Staley Memorial Scholarship fund have come from all around the Valley as well as from people in places as far as Anchorage, Phoenix and Gloster (Massachusetts).
“Sam was truly one-of-a-kind,” says David Doyel, PC Class of '66 and a Porterville High classmate of Staley's who, over the years, has contributed hundreds of dollars to the Staley scholarship fund.
“Sam had this wonderful attitude. He never gave up,” says Doyel.
Gordon Belt, Sam's first cousin, attended PJC a few years ahead of Staley. “Sam inspired me and a lot of other people around Porterville,” says Belt.
Sam's older brother Harold passed away some years ago. Younger sisters Kathie Johnson and Cheryl Silva live in Tupelo, Oklahoma, and King City, respectively.
“On all the earth, there has never been another person quite like Sam,” says sister Kathie, who remembers her brother as “the kind of guy that nothing slipped past. He was very witty and could be a real jokester, but he had a serious side too.”
Kathie says her brother's abilities to overcome were “God-given -- there could be no other explanation…” she says.
Last year, Porterville College student John Avila, who, like Sam Staley, is a quadriplegic, was awarded the $250 Staley Scholarship. Avila, an innocent bystander who was a victim of a drive-by shooting when he was 23, is now 39 and studying for his A.A. degree in social sciences. He hopes to become a disability counselor one day.
“This [scholarship] helped me further my education without having to worry so much about money,” he says. “Getting it really inspired me to move on, to push myself to the limit. That's what life's all about, right?”
Sam Staley probably couldn't have said it better himself.
Visalia - Construction activity in the city of Visalia remained anemic in October, according to the latest report from the city's building department, which issued only 10 single-family dwelling permits last month.
“The trend remains more or less the same,” said Pamela Sing, senior administrative analyst in Visalia's Community Development department, which issues building permits. “There's just not that much activity going on out there right now.”
In October 2009, the city issued 21 single-family dwelling permits, with a total valuation of $4.4 million. Total valuation of the permits issued last month came in at $1.9 million.
So far this year, the city has issued 257 single-family permits, with a combined valuation of $51 million.
By comparison, in all of 2006, at the peak of the housing boom, the city issued a whopping 1,317 permits, with a combined valuation of $305 million.
“It's awful slow,” said Bob Keenan, president and CEO of Homebuilders Association of Tulare/Kings Counties. “I'm not quite sure how to fix it. If I did, I wouldn't be here. I'd be on a book tour somewhere.”
Keenan points out that interest rates are at near historic lows and home prices are “way down. Maybe people are waiting for it to bottom out more,” Keenan said.
Like most in the real estate industry, Keenan believes that sooner or later the economy – and local housing market – will turn around.
“Banks need to be willing to lend money,” said Keenan, “and we've got to start getting more people employed. The more new jobs that are created, the more need there will be for new housing.”
SECOND FRONT PAGE
What's New
*Visalia firefighters have quietly reached an agreement with the city on a new contract that runs through June 2012. On Oct. 27, city firefighters voted to accept the city's “last and best offer,” which calls for no salary increases through June 2012 and a number of wage concessions that include cuts to holiday pay and elimination of an annual “12 hour comp time” grant. The new contract also scales back some retirement benefits and phases out a “disability avoidance” program and free health club membership.
*City manager Steve Salomon said this week that there appear to be some gaps in Visalia's existing ordinances covering height and appearance of newly constructed cell phone towers within city limits. The admission stems from a controversial plan by Verizon Wireless to install an 80-foot tall cell tower at 1748 E. Caldwell – a plan that a vociferous group of residents living near the proposed tower site have opposed since it was first proposed some months ago. The tower, which the company said was needed to increase the quality of its service in the area, was denied approval several times by the city's planning commission, even after the tower height was scaled down to 60 feet. At the Nov. 1 city council meeting, attended by more than a dozen tower opponents as well as a handful of people who supported the plan, councilors voted 5-0 to deny the appeal by Verizon. In their report, city staff said the cell tower would “adversely affect the aesthetic quality” of the area and Councilman Warren Gubler added: “There have got to be better locations for a cell tower than one surrounded by neighborhoods on three sides.” The city, Salomon says, has until recently relied on existing FCC guidelines regarding approval and placement of new cell phone towers. City attorney Alex Peltzer termed this week's council decision “a land-use issue” but added that the city may soon be forced to draft its own specific cell tower ordinances.
*A number of players involved in this year's World Series have Visalia connections, including San Francisco Giants starting catcher Buster Posey, who played against the Rawhide for more than half of the 2009 season while rehabbing with the newly crowned 2010 World Series champion Giants' Single A club in San Jose. “We actually played against a lot of the guys in this year's Series,” said Mark Freeman, Rawhide media relations manager. “Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton played here in Visalia when he was with the Ranger's farm club in Bakersfield,” Freeman reports. “Really, about half the Giants' squad has played against us at one time or another. [San Francisco's all-star second baseman] Freddie Sanchez came here when he was rehabbing with the San Jose club. It was a lot of fun for our fans to see a player of that caliber,” Freeman adds. “Needless to say, he torched us.”
*Already hard at work preparing for the 2011 Tulare County Fair – which will be the fair's 90th anniversary – one of fair CEO Geoff Hinds' biggest challenge these days is having a quorum of fair directors present at the organization's monthly board meetings. With three of the fair board's nine seats currently vacant, Hinds had to cancel the September board meeting. “We are hoping appointments are made soon to fill those seats,” Hinds said this week. “It's tough to pass a budget for next year if we don't have a quorum at the board meeting.” Board appointments are made by the governor.
*Fair 2: Hinds reported that gate attendance at the 2010 T.C. Fair was “up a little over 3 percent.” Concession spending and parking revenues were also up, Hinds said. “We had a good fair this year considering the economy. Increased attendance is a good sign. When the economy's tough, we have to make sure we offer a good value,” Hinds added. Additional entertainment – “both in the grandstand and on the Budweiser Main Stage” – is in the works for 2011's fair, Hinds said. “We need to make sure we offer something for everyone next year.”
*Tough economic times force more people to park their vehicles – or abandon them – and take the bus, as is evidenced by the most recent ridership numbers from Visalia Transit. VT Transit Manager Monty Cox reports his drivers expect to rack up a total of about 1.6 million rides this year – up from 1.5 million total rides provided in 2009.
*Bus 2: Meanwhile, VT continues to work with COS officials to develop a pilot student bus pass program, to be partially funded by a new $5 per student per semester fee already approved by a majority vote of COS students this past September. The plan will allow students to use their student ID together with a new, current semester bus sticker to ride any bus within Tulare and Kings Counties. If the revenue generated by the student fees does not equal or exceeds the projected loss in fares for VT and other transit agencies, COS has agreed to reimburse the transit agencies for their losses. Implementation of the program has been held up pending the results of a Caltrans Study, says Cox.
Dinuba - The purchase by Ruiz Foods of the City of Dinuba's Vocational Center has been completed. Ruiz will use the two-story downtown building as its new headquarters.
The Dinuba City Council approved the $4.6 million deal at its last council meeting.
The 40,000-sq.-ft. building is located at 199 N. L. St.
City officials said Dinuba school students and Reedley College extension course students currently using the site will be transferred to other school facilities and Proteus, which rents a portion of the site, is relocating its facilities in Dinuba.
Ruiz Foods, one of the largest Mexican frozen food manufacturers in the United States, employs about 1,900.
The privately held company had been contemplating moving to a larger corporate headquarters for some time but had been unable to find a suitable location.
In their letter of intent to purchase the city's building, which had low occupancy levels, Ruiz officials termed the potential purchase a “win-win” situation.
The letter states, “not only will Ruiz and the City of Dinuba be able to retain over 100 corporate positions within the city, but Dinuba will also benefit from all the ancillary economic benefits with Ruiz's corporate headquarters being located within the city.”
Ruiz officials said the actual move most likely will happen in about six months after the building is reconfigured and remodeled.
The company's current headquarters, located at 405 E. El Monte Way, will provide for expansion of production and additional employment.
Tulare County - Bucking what appears to be a growing nationwide trend, only a few local stores have opted to move up the start of their so-called 'Black Friday' sales to this Friday.
The term Black Friday refers to the day when retailers reap profits, so-called “black ink,” and Black Friday sales have traditionally been held the day after Thanksgiving.
At Visalia Mall, about a third of the mall's 80 stores plan to open at midnight on Nov. 26, the traditional Black Friday, and that list is growing daily, said Merrie Ann Millar, mall manager.
But as this issue of the Valley Voice went to press, not a single Visalia Mall retailer had announced plans to move Black Friday events to this week.
Sequoia Mall also currently has no plan to open earlier than normal on Friday. But outside stores, such as Sears, can determine their own hours, said mall general manager Diana Sherrill.
Sears has already started what it's calling “Black Friday Now” sales.
Target in Visalia will open earlier than normal starting four days before Thanksgiving, said Gina Galicia, store manager on duty.
The strategy by some retailers of moving up Black Friday sales several weeks, analysts say is an attempt amid a weak economy to kick-start this year's holiday shopping season.
According to reports, some major retailers have already seen an increase in sales after launching their holiday discounts as early as the week before Halloween.
Big box membership-only retailers like Costco and Sam's Club began rolling out their holiday merchandise in mid-October but typically shy away from promotional sales like Black Friday.
Cutler - Residents in northern Tulare County now have access to library books any time of the day.
Tulare County Library officials this week unveiled Cutler Lending Library, an automatic book machine that makes hundreds of books available to area residents.
The book vending machine is located at the Cutler Public Utilities District office, 40526 Orosi Dr.
"This is a pilot project that the Tulare County Library system is extremely proud of," said Tulare County Librarian Brian Lewis. "If successful, this project will serve as a model the library can use for other underserved, unincorporated communities that do not have access to a public library."
Lewis said the cost of the Cutler Lending Library is $100,000. Half of the funding was provided through a USDA Rural Development grant and the rest provided through a match by the Tulare County Library and donations solicited by the Tulare County Library Foundation.
"USDA Rural Development recognizes the important role libraries fill in expanding opportunities and improving the quality of life in rural areas," said Mike Carnes, USDA area director. "We applaud the efforts of Tulare County to use innovative methods like this to expand service in these difficult economic times and welcome the opportunity to be of assistance in this project."
The Cutler Lending Library is simple to use. Residents can come to the machine day or night, scan their library card, and select the book they like by selecting a letter-number combination to retrieve the book.
Steve Worthley, chairman of the Board of Supervisors who represents Cutler and Orosi, said providing library book access to unincorporated communities is a good step to improving Tulare County's adult functional illiteracy rate, which stands at 41 percent.
"Providing library book access to all residents, including young children, is the key to preventing illiteracy," Worthley said. "This machine is a great example of the library providing a program to meet community's needs."
Residents who do not have a library card can visit the Orosi Branch Library, 12646 Ave. 416 Orosi.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
November 4, 2010
