What a difference a new city council makes. After years of decrying that marijuana is a schedule one drug along with heroin, Hanford City Council awarded its first permit for a recreational pot dispensary during its September 17 meeting. Minutes before, the council also changed the zoning of a few parcels from Downtown Mixed Use […]
Hanford Community Development Director Darlene Mata and Hanford City Attorney Ty Mizote arrived 10am sharp on September 3 for a final inspection of the Hanford Carnegie Museum to determine if the private nonprofit would lose its lease to the city-owned building. Museum volunteers waited anxiously as Mata and Mizote took pictures while inspecting the buildings […]
One of the most fertile valleys in the United States can’t seem to make up its mind about hemp. The federal government passed the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp and left the rule making up to the individual states. California’s regulations regarding hemp is addressed in AB228 but hasn’t made […]
Hanford Community Development Director Darlene Mata and Hanford City Attorney Ty Mizote arrived 10am sharp today for a final inspection of the Hanford Carnegie Museum to determine if the private nonprofit would lose its lease to the city-owned building. At issue was the fact that the 115 year-old former Carnegie Library was not being properly […]
Volunteers have shown up in droves to the Hanford Carnegie Museum to complete the repairs on the city’s “punch list” since city staff handed down a 10-day ultimatum. On August 23 the museum received a letter from Community Development Director Darlene Mata that repairs needed to be completed by September 3 or the museum would […]
The fate of the Hanford Carnegie Museum was discussed during a Tuesday afternoon meeting between Board President Sylvia Gonzales Scherer, museum lawyer Steve Alfieris, Hanford Community Development Director Darlene Mata and City Attorney Ty Mizote. The question was asked: if the Carnegie Museum got 95% of the repairs completed by the 10-day deadline what would […]
Hanford City Council and Carnegie spar over finances and maintenance during meeting A letter dated August 23 from the Hanford City Council, and hand delivered to the Carnegie Museum, informed museum Board President Sylvia Gonzales Scherer that unless a list of 18 repairs are completed within 10 days the city will terminate its lease with […]
After the director of the Hanford Chamber of Commerce admitted a series of management errors and one city council member threatened to terminate the chamber’s contract, the chamber won a 60-day reprieve from the “chopping block” while the city works to rewrite the chamber’s services agreement. The Valley Voice has received complaints about the way […]
The Hanford city council has once again at its June 17 meeting voted to restrict many potential uses west of downtown in order to protect downtown businesses. Since Hanford Mall at 12th and Lacey was developed more than 20 years ago, the city has used zoning to exclude medical and professional offices, optometrists, and large […]
Editor’s note: The writer of this article has been involved in the Hidden Valley Park extension issue. The City of Hanford is considering hiring Mike Olmos, former Visalia City Manager as their interim city manager to replace outgoing manager Darrel Pyle. Pyle resigned June 7. He accepted a job as city manager of Norman, Okla., […]