Hearings have been scheduled for November and December in a wrongful dismissal and harassment case against Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) that at one point seemed to be dead in the water. Originally filed in 2018 by a female member of Mathis’ legislative staff who claimed Mathis created and sustained a hostile workplace before firing her […]
Visalia City Council voted May 3 to eliminate the city’s Disability Advocacy and Environmental committees. Now soon-to-be former volunteers–as well as at least one city councilman–are concerned about declining citizen participation. Citizen Voices Silenced The move marks a continuation of the Visalia council’s ongoing efforts to reduce the number of committees and the number of […]
At age 15, Lemoore resident Jeff Fabry lost his right leg and the lower half of his right arm in a nighttime ATV collision. The horrific accident shattered his arm beyond repair, snapped his leg in two leaving no option but amputation, and thankfully it left Fabry’s determination entirely intact. That life-altering event may have […]
The four remaining members of the Tulare Local Health Care District (TLHCD) Board of Directors have appointed Tulare resident Philip Smith to fill the fifth seat left vacant by the resignation of Steve Harrell. Harrell is now a member of the Tulare City Council. He resigned his seat on the TLHCD board earlier this year […]
Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) has filed for a divorce from his second wife in Tulare County Superior Court. Irreconcilable Differences In a filing with the Tulare County Superior Court dated March 10, Mathis requested the court end his seven-year marriage to his current wife, Aubrey Mathis. The couple have twin six-year-old children and have […]
Lawyers representing a Los Angeles man accused of making annoying phone calls to the wife of Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) hope to have the criminal case against him thrown out of court on procedural grounds. Hearing Rescheduled In August, eight months after the allegedly illegal telephone use in January of 2020, defendant William Burden […]
All is well financially at the Visalia Unified School District, though there were a pair of very minor problems uncovered during the district’s annual audit, and maybe an error in protocol. Reporting Error According to Charles Raibley–an accountant and senior manager at the accounting firm Crowe LLP who performed the district’s annual audit–the district […]
A local landlord says the county’s Health and Human Services Agency is at least three months behind on room-and-board payments for some of the mental health patients whose welfare the agency is meant to protect. Three Months Behind (So Far) Barbara Mathis, who operates three room-and-board homes for at-risk mental health patients transitioning from […]
Visalia Unified School District students in grades 7 through 12 will return to their classrooms a week after Tulare County declared it has achieved the state’s COVID-19 red tier designation. In-Person Classes Start March 25 District trustees gave the OK to allow resumption of in-person instruction for secondary students in a unanimous vote Tuesday, […]
There will be no football or water polo programs when Visalia Unified School District students go back to middle- and high-school campuses next week. Making an Emotional Call While the decision to curtail those two sports traditionally practiced in fall came in February, school board members reaffirmed the district’s decision at its March 9 […]