Mid Valley Times

02/03/2025

REEDLEY – Staying true to its word, the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) at Fresno Pacific University returned to Reedley to host a financial literacy workshop for small business owners. In collaboration with the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce, the CCT invited specialists from Access Plus Capital to Reedley on Jan. 27 to provide community members with an overview of how to manage their business finances....

Staying true to its word, the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) at Fresno Pacific University returned to Reedley

02/03/2025

SANGER – Community members are invited to join the Sanger Historical Society as it celebrates five decades of preserving and sharing local history. To commemorate its work in the community, the Sanger Historical Society is hosting a 50th anniversary luncheon on Feb. 15 at the Sanger Women’s Club. The historical society runs the Sanger Depot Museum, which works to document Sanger history and educate residents about how their town got to be the way it is now. ...

Guest speaker Russell Manfredi will join the Sanger Historical Society for its 50th anniversary luncheon Feb. 15

02/01/2025

REEDLEY – The nominations are in, and the best of Reedley’s business community is ready to have their moment. The Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce released its annual list of standout businesses and public servants on Jan. 30, gearing up to celebrate its award honorees at the Business and Community Awards Gala on Feb. 22. Award winners include some newer businesses on the block, as well as well-known faces in the community....

standout businesses and public servants on Jan. 30, gearing up to celebrate its award honorees at the Business and Community Awards Gala on

02/01/2025

TULARE COUNTY – The sudden announcement Thursday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that Kaweah and Success lakes would immediately begin dumping water was in response to President Trump’s Jan. 24 executive order mandating that federal officials exert all efforts to get more water to fight southern California wildfires, the Army Corps confirmed Friday. “Consistent with the direction in the…...

President Donald Trump’s executive order over emergency water is responsible for water dump from Tulare County lakes;

01/31/2025

REEDLEY – When the Reedley boys last played against Kerman, one of the nation’s leading scorers took the wind out of their sails in a deflating loss. Unfortunately, when the final buzzer rang against their rematch on Jan. 30, Reedley took a 62-53 loss to the Lions in the Reedley High Gym. Kerman’s Daniel Bibioff continued his spectacular season by breaking loose and coming up clutch with 21 of his game high 36 points in the second half – several of them in the fourth quarter – in an emotional comeback victory that seemed eerily reminiscent of the last game played between these two foes....

When the Reedley boys last played against Kerman, one of the nation’s leading scorers took the wind out of their sails in a deflating loss.

01/31/2025

Supporting LOCAL journalism means you are helping maintain a vibrant, informed, and economically healthy community. Just some food for thought 💭

01/31/2025

FRESNO – A former Sanger police officer was convicted of eight counts of deprivation of constitutional rights under the color of law for the sexual assault of four women while he was on duty. Former Sanger Police officer J. DeShawn “JD” Torrence. (Fresno County Sheriff's Office) A federal jury in Fresno returned a guilty verdict on Jan. 29 for charges filed against J....

Federal jury finds former Sanger police officer JD Torrence guilty on multiple counts involving sexual assault while on duty

01/31/2025

DINUBA – As part of the city’s ongoing quest to improve transportation safety, Dinuba has adopted goals and policies for a new Vision Zero Program intended to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. Development of the Vision Zero Action Plan has been underway for a few months already, and the Dinuba City Council unanimously passed a resolution at its Jan. 14 meeting to adopt the tenets of the program as policy direction for the city....

Dinuba City Council adopts policy direction for Vision Zero Action Plan, aimed at reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries

01/31/2025

REEDLEY – Inside the sparkling new McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts, the Reedley community celebrated the strides in education made by Reedley College over the last year. Between taking to the skies through the flight science program, finding success in athletics and developing resources to support students of all backgrounds, Reedley College students, faculty and staff had a busy 2024....

Reedley College President Jerry Buckley delivers State of the College address, highlights new programs and enrollment trends

01/31/2025

FRESNO – A competition to judge the finest olive oil produced in the state will return to the Central Valley this year, and the deadline to sign up is approaching. The last day to register for the San Joaquin Valley Olive Oil Competition will be March 28. The competition is open to all olive oil producers in the state. Olive oil presented at the competition must be from the most recent olive harvest in order to be judged. ...

Deadline to complete in the annual San Joaquin Valley Olive Oil Competition at the Big Fresno Fair is March 28

01/31/2025

Tulare County Crop Report for the week ending Feb. 1

Nurseries are beginning to stock more spring plantings such as junipers, Japanese maples, boxwoods, and bareroot peach, apple, and plum trees. Nursery stock continues to move into and out of the county from other parts of the United States and Canada. Cut flowers are being imported from Costa Rica,....

01/31/2025

Army Corps unexpectedly orders water release, locals push back

By Lois Henry, SJV Water

https://midvalleytimes.com/article/news/2025/01/30/army-corps-unexpectedly-orders-water-release-locals-push-back/

Army Corps of Engineers decision to dump water from Tulare County lakes altered after but not before sending locals into a mad scramble

TULARE COUNTY – Water managers were relieved Thursday evening when the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to back off of a sudden decision earlier in the day to dump massive amounts of water from Kaweah and Success lakes.

Water managers said they got about an hour’s warning from the Army Corp’s Sacramento office to expect the Tule and Kaweah rivers to be at “channel capacity” by Thursday night.

Channel capacity means the maximum amount of water a river can handle. For the Kaweah, that’s 5,500 cubic feet per second and for the Tule, it’s 3,500 cfs.

Those levels were last seen, and surpassed, during the 2023 floods, which destroyed dozens of homes and businesses and caused significant damage to infrastructure.

“We were able to get them to back off that,” said Eric Limas, General Manager of the Lower Tule River and Pixley irrigation districts, of the Army Corps. “They’ll still be releasing water sometime tonight, but it will be a smaller amount, which will increase tomorrow.”

Limas and Tulare Irrigation District General Manager Aaron Fukuda were unsure how high releases would ultimately go and for how long but Kaweah has about 27,000 acre feet and Success about 5,000 acre fee that are above levels allowed by the Army Corps during winter.

Water managers will continue working with the Army Corps to limit the amount of water released from the lakes, Fukuda said.

“We’re still trying to wrap our minds around the numbers that made this happen,” Fukuda said. “We haven’t received much information from the Army Corps, just very vague answers.”

Rick Brown, chief public affairs officer for the Sacramento office of the Army Corps, would only say that levels in both lakes were “currently in the flood control space.”

He directed further questions to the Army Corps’ headquarters, which did not return an email Thursday asking: Who made the decision to release the water? Why? Why so suddenly? And why weren’t safety personnel notified?

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said one of his officers had heard about the pending releases through the grapevine late Thursday afternoon and they were getting conflicting information through the evening.

The Tule River goes through the heart of Porterville and there are a number of agreements about how releases should be made, including notifications to first responders, which is why Porterville didn’t flood in 2023.

Army Corps reservoirs are required to be drawn down every fall to make room for winter storms and later runoff.

But the Army Corps typically works with downstream agricultural users to allow them to keep a bit more water in the lakes to hedge against dry years, such this one is shaping up to be.

Kaweah River Water Master Victor Hernandez said Lake Kaweah’s winter capacity is 12,000 acre feet, but had been allowed to go up to 39,000 acre feet after an aerial snow survey showed the watershed currently only has another 45,000 acre feet in snow cover.

“Even if everything came down at once, it would only be enough to fill the reservoir halfway,” he said. “We were on track with the Corps working with the models and forecasts and doing our planning and then I get a call at 2:15 p.m. telling me they were going to channel capacity.”

Hernandez was floored.

“In 25 years, I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “I was given no explanation at all.”

Before they got word of the Army Corp’s decision to release less water, Hernandez, Fukuda and Limas were planning for the worst.

Hernandez had already notified managers on the old Tulare Lake Bed to expect possible flood water. And Limas and Fukuda had crews ready to work through the night stripping out weirs and channel guides, which were only recently rebuilt after the 2023 floods, to keep the water moving.

“Normally, these kinds of flood releases are done with a lot of notification and coordination,” Fukuda said. “I’ve been doing this 18 years and have never seen something like this.”

The Army Corps also operates Isabella and Pine Flat lakes on the Kern and Kings rivers, respectively.

Kern River Watermaster Art Chianello and Kings River Watermaster Steve Haugen both said they had not received notice of flood releases from Isabella and Pine Flat.

But neither of those lake levels are above their winter allowance, Haugen said.

SJV Water is a nonprofit, independent online news publication covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. Lois Henry is the CEO/Editor of SJV Water. She can be reached at [email protected]. The website is www.sjvwater.org.

01/31/2025

TULARE COUNTY – Water managers were relieved Thursday evening when the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to back off of a sudden decision earlier in the day to dump massive amounts of water from Kaweah and Success lakes. Water managers said they got about an hour’s warning from the Army Corp’s Sacramento office to expect the Tule and Kaweah rivers to be at “channel capacity” by Thursday night. ...

TULARE COUNTY – Water managers were relieved Thursday evening when the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to back off of a sudden decision earlier in the day to dump massive amounts of water from Kaweah and Success lakes.

01/31/2025

❤️🗓️ Share Your Valentine's Day Event with the Mid Valley Times! 🌹✨

Are you hosting a special event this Valentine's Day? We want to help you spread the love! Post your event on our website for free and reach our vibrant community.

Whether it's a romantic dinner, a charity event, or a fun gathering, let us help you make it a success. Visit https://midvalleytimes.com/calendar/ to submit your event details.

Let's make this Valentine's Day unforgettable together! 💌

01/30/2025

REEDLEY – For the last 10 seasons, under head coach Ken Tatami, Reedley varsity girls volleyball have been among the top teams in the Central Section. And now, a new era of Pirates’ volleyball is set to begin. Tatami, who built the Lady Pirates into perennial contenders that they are, recently announced his decision to step down as head coach. Tatami made the announcement on Jan....

Ken Tatami announces decision to resign as head coach of the Lady Pirates varsity team; Tatami to remain at Reedley to coach the boys varsity

01/30/2025

SANGER – Currently in the midst of another amazing season, the Sanger Lady Apaches are gunning for history as they run through their schedule of opponents en route to a fourth consecutive County/Metro Athletic Conference (CMAC) title. But right now, Sanger are hungry for more than just another league title. Under second year head coach Jesus Camarena, a division and state championship will validate the legacy and tradition that have been created and catapult them into the pantheon of elite soccer programs in the Central Section....

01/30/2025

REEDLEY – With a variety of pathways that teach hands-on experience and connect students to long-lasting careers, Reedley College had the chance to highlight the impact its Wildland Fire program can have on students and their communities. Among the United States Forest Service (USFS) rangers that were set up in the Reedley College cafeteria on Jan. 24 and 25th to represent California’s national forests and recruit for the USFS, the Wildland Fire program welcomed home some of its own....

United States Forest Service visits Reedley College for firefighting recruitment event; program instructors, students reflect on training

01/30/2025

SELMA – A new agreement between the Selma Fire Department and Fresno County could shape up to be Fire Chief Jordan Webster’s most significant impact to the city for the rest of his career. Through a contract with the Central California Emergency Medical Services Agency (CCEMSA), the fire department secured the exclusive right to operate ambulance services within the Selma area....

A new agreement between the Selma Fire Department and Fresno County could shape up to be Fire Chief Jordan Webster’s most significant impact