On July 21st, the county’s negotiating team and the Tulare County employee’s union signed a tentative agreement for a one-year contract with a 3% raise. The agreement had to be approved by the union members and the Tulare County Board of Supervisors (TCBOS) before the new worker’s contract became official. About 350 county employees voted, […]
Visalia Neighborhood Preservation Manager Tracy Robertshaw and the Visalia Parks and Recreation Commission have been busy making Visalia a better place to live. Last year, Robertshaw presented an ordinance to ban shopping carts that has been a huge success. During the last city council meeting, she put forth an ordinance banning repeat criminals from using […]
Mayor Ashley Swearengin in the Cat Bird Seat Who could have asked for a more perfect series of events? Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin discreetly sits as a candidate in the November election for California’s State Controller, while her two Democratic opponents battle it out for second place. It was generally accepted that the Democrat who […]
This is part one of a two-part series on CEMEX gravel mines drying up neighboring wells. Is anyone grateful for the drought? CEMEX is. Founded in Mexico in 1906, CEMEX, one of the world’s largest building material suppliers and cement producers, runs operations all across the globe. It is conveniently blaming the drought on the […]
On Monday July 7, Tulare County employee negotiators and Shelline Bennett, the lawyer representing the county, returned to the negotiating table. All the employees’ hard work, outreach and testimonies paid off as the county offered a one-year contract with a 3% raise. The county employees then made an undisclosed counteroffer that Bennett was supposed to […]
Tulare County employees turned up the heat last week on the Tulare County Board of Supervisors (BOS), conducting a protest march outside the council chambers and taking their message to Sacramento. During a special evening session of the Tulare County BOS on June 24th, the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 521 organized a march […]
For a second consecutive year, Visalia will have a balanced budget. On Thursday, June 26th, the Visalia City Council held a special meeting to review and approve the city’s budget for fiscal years 2014-15 and 2015-16. After Amy Sing and Renee Nagel, from the finance department, presented the budget council, members took turns sharing their […]
Pete McCracken – More than a City Council Member It was a sad day in Porterville when Renaissance Man, Pete McCracken, passed away June 21st. Mr. McCracken had just been re-elected to his third term on the Porterville City Council. Being on the city council, and having served as mayor, were just two of Mr. […]
A wise man once said that you teach what you need to learn. Michelle Tedrow is the poster child for that saying. After her brother died, she had a spiritual awakening and decided it was her calling to become a medium. She read the best books on the subject and sought out the advice of […]
Tulare County employees, represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Tulare County management are engaged in heated negotiations. If the two sides cannot agree on a contract by June 30th, the represented employees will have the option to call a strike. The SEIU is asking for a three-year contract with an 8.74% raise. Their […]