-May 31,2020- UPDATED June 1
Avenal State Prison virus cases over 600
COVID-19 Update-Tulare & Kings Counties
Tulare County Covid-19 cases as of Saturday were 1844- up from on Friday are 1835- and 1771 as of Tuesday. Sierra View Medical Center reported it now has 38 confirmed COVID-19 cases. There are 3444 cases in nursing homes in the county.
In Kings County, Avenal State Prison cases continue to climb, now over 600 total as of Monday June 1.. Prisoner cases rose from to 214 on Friday to 274 Sunday and now 594 – up from 196 earlier in the week. Staff infections number 21 says the state website.Some 1151 inmates have been tested and all staff is being tested.
Kings County cases number 500, not including prisons.
Kings County supervisor Doug Verboon says he is concerned that big retail stores like Ross and Kohl’s in Hanford are opening now with big sales likely to draw large crowds of shoppers without proper distancing enforced.”We worked hard to reopen the economy and don’t want to go backwards” he says.Verboon says cases at Central Valley Meat are no longer going up.
Visalia expects 9% decline in sales tax
The City of Visalia is not expecting to permanently lay off significant numbers of employees if budget projections hold out.Compared to other California cities more dependent on tourism Visalia appears to be in better shape due to past policies that include not filling vacant positions and having a rainy day fund.
The Visalia City Council is hearing budget projections this week. The city’s two largest tax revenues are Sales Tax and Property Tax. The statewide stay-at-home order has significantly impacted sales tax. Prior to the order, sales tax was projected to have a growth for the year of 3-4%. This projection has now been changed to reflect a 9% ($2.7 million) decrease.
The City’s Property Tax revenue is projected to increase by 1% each year due to the improvement in residential and commercial real estate sales and assessed values. Property values will not be affected in FY 2020/21 or FY 2021/22 if a recession occurs due to increases or decreases in property values typically lagging a year or two.
The City budgets all allocated positions and currently the General Fund has 21 vacancies. On an annual basis, the General Fund has $2 to $3 million in vacancy savings which will be used to eliminate the deficit says a report.
The Packer – Citrus sales up on health benefits
Suppliers say citrus movement has been strong throughout the coronavirus crisis, with all categories continuing to show strong weekly increases over the same week last year.
According to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI for the week ending May 3, sales of oranges were up 68%, lemon sales grew by 42.4% and tangerine movement increased 7.7%.
Suppliers and nutritionists say at least part of the sales surge likely was due to the positive reputation vitamin C has earned when it comes to building a strong immune system.
Cheese market buoys dairy prospects
California Milk Producers report that CME spot Cheddar blocks soared to $2.23 per pound, within a fraction of a cent of the highs made in September 2019.The improved price is good news for the hard hit dairy sectors who have been suffering rock bottom returns during the pandemic. The news should mean decent milk checks later this summer.Growth in U.S. milk production was cut in half in April, and the U.S. dairy herd shrunk by 4,000 cows. As the chart shows , the price for cheddar is now above pre-pandemic levels.
Unemployment applications reach 5.4 million in past 11 weeks
Sacramento – According to the latest data just released by the California Employment Development Department (EDD), an additional 307,075 claims for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) were processed last week with the EDD paying more than $2.6 billion in benefit payments in the week ending May 23 alone. All told, approximately 5.4 million claims have been processed and $18.8 billion in benefits have been paid to Californians who’ve lost jobs or have had their hours reduced during the course of this historic pandemic.
Famous Footwear stores close their Lebec distribution center
Famous Footwear stores parent company Caleres has closed its San Joaquin Valley distribution center saying they will “permanently” lay off 92 employees. The company still has a distribution center in Chino. Their shoes store have locations in most Valley and Coast cities with more than 1,125 storefronts nationwide in 2010.
Caleres Inc. Distribution, located at 5621 Dennis McCarthy Dr. in Lebec, is laying off 92 employees. The WARN letter pointed the abrupt closure of 1000+ retail stores and wholesale partners resulting in a significant decline in sales, orders, shipments, and operations. Currently all Valley Famous Footwear stores are closed due to COVID-19.