Following the last few months of controversy, Porterville’s City Council and those in its LGBT community are looking ahead to the future. Proclamation Debate and Controversy Beginning in June, the council placed itself in the middle of considerable controversy over its LGBT Pride Month proclamation and the actions following it. In June, then-mayor Virginia Gurrola […]
No striking differences separated the group of five men running for Visalia City Council during the two voter forums last week put on by the Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters (LWV), respectively. Both forums allowed for audience questions, and during the chamber event, the candidates were asked what makes them different. […]
In 2009, Warren Gubler, along with nine other challengers, ran for one of three contested Visalia City Council seats. In that year of discontent, the three incumbents were not re-elected, and Gubler, in his first term, brought a business-friendly, tax-hostile approach to the city council. Consider, in a nutshell, that in excess of 700,000 square […]
Lawyers for Gov. Jerry Brown scored a rare legal victory, albeit a small one, in the state’s long-running battle with federal judges over prison overcrowding when a panel of three federal judges agreed to a brief postponement of a looming Dec. 31 deadline for the state. The panel issued a wide-ranging order calling for state officials and inmate attorneys to meet and seek a long […]
Escrow on the Sequoia Mall is set to close November 15th, according to John Dubois, an owner of Core Commercial, the listing broker on the property. “I’m fairly positive the sale will go through” said Dubois, “The buyers have passed through several stages where they have put down significant amounts of non-refundable money. They seem […]
Steve Nelsen first ran for the Visalia City Council on the premise that, while the city talks about doing things, “often they are put on a shelf and die and never get dusted off.” This concerns Nelsen, who, in bringing to office a desire to serve the public, has since discovered an even deeper love […]
The Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission are warning consumers not to be fooled by people trying to take advantage of confusion over the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare. Scammers are using the implementation of the ObamaCare as the latest opportunity to steal people’s identities, said Gabriela Mendoza, Better Business […]
Porterville Councilmembers Virginia Gurrola and Pete McCracken were removed from their posts as mayor and vice-mayor, respectively, during a Sept. 17 City Council meeting. Newly-minted Mayor Cameron Hamilton, Vice-Mayor Brian Ward and Councilman Greg Shelton voted to reorganize the council and make Hamilton mayor during the meeting in a 3-2 vote, with Councilmembers Gurrola and […]
After receiving frequent complaints from retailers about aggressive panhandling and the homeless, the Downtown Visalia Alliance and local police officers met to come up with some solutions. Don Sharp, the president of the Downtown Visalia Alliance, said, “It’s a growing problem and we have to try and alleviate it.” The problem is the growing number […]
As a fairly new resident to Visalia, Michael Brown, 33, is motivated and ready to get involved in city government. Why Visalia? First, his wife, Sarah, is a Mt. Whitney alumna, so the connection is homegrown. As newlyweds, they have chosen to settle and possibly start a family in Visalia. Sarah is currently employed by […]