January 13,2021

WASHINGTON – Today, the only Valley GOP congressman to do so, Congressman David G. Valadao released the following statement after voting to impeach President Trump:

“President Trump was, without question, a driving force in the catastrophic events that took place on January 6 by encouraging masses of rioters to incite violence on elected officials, staff members, and our representative democracy as a whole,” said Congressman Valadao. “Speaker Pelosi has thrown precedent and process out the window by turning what should be a thorough investigation into a rushed political stunt. I wish, more than anything, that we had more time to hold hearings to ensure due process. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi did not afford us that option. Based on the facts before me, I have to go with my gut and vote my conscience. I voted to impeach President Trump. His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense. It’s time to put country over politics.”

-January 1,2021-

Visalia’s largest building permit 2020-Guess Who?

Visalia’s largest building permit in 2020 was for $105 million issued to Gray Construction to build a logistics center at Riggin and Kelsey in the Visalia Industrial Park. The permit is for the new 1.3 million square ft Amazon warehouse that is expected to open late next summer. Despite all the dirt flying, Amazon has not announced the project.

San Joaquin Homes 2020’s busiest home builder in Tulare County. Visalia- based San Joaquin Valley Homes, was the busiest home builder in Tulare County in 2020 permitting 348 new homes  for $64.4 million. DR Horton led on total value with 253 units valued at $64.9 million. Here is a list of the rest of the top 10 builders according to Construction Monitor.

Heading to Downtown Visalia – Tri Counties Bank will relocate their Visalia branch to the former Rabobank/Mechanics Bank location at 618 W Main St.,now vacant. Their current site is at the corner of Noble and Pinkham.The move is expected this summer. A public notice said Tri Counties Bank applied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to open a new branch in Visalia.

Established in 1975 and with assets of more than $7 billion , Tri Counties Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) headquartered in Chico, California. It is the 18th largest bank in the state of California and the 183rd largest bank in the nation. Established in 1975 it has grown to 1,093 employees at 80 locations.

Hanford’s Central Valley Meat was fined $50,000 by Cal OSHA for not informing employees of possible exposure when coworkers were infected with COVID-19 and for failing to provide face coverings and ensure their proper use. Cal/OSHA opened a complaint-initiated inspection at the facility in Hanford on April 29 and identified violations in the employer’s training procedures and response to COVID-19 hazards. Citations were issued on December 11 with $50,000 in proposed penalties for two violations classified as serious. A new release said “Enforcement of COVID-19 protections at meatpacking and food processing facilities has been a priority of Cal/OSHA given the high rates of positive cases and alarming number of deaths among food processing workers,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Doug Parker. Besides Central Valley Meat, seven other California meat processing facilities were also cited for Covid-19 workplace violations.

-December 23,2020-
Even while it struggles to manage a record surge in COVID patients, this month the Board of the Directors of Kaweah Delta Hospital have decided to purchase 7 acres at Caldwell and 99, in the proposed Sequoia Gateway project. The purchase price is $3 million.

CEO Gary Herbst says the purchase will allow a relocation of a number of outpatient services from the Downtown Visalia area to the Hwy 99 location in coming years. The site is about 10 miles from Downtown.

Herbst says the strategy behind the purchase includes the long-standing partnership with Valley Children’s Hospital who purchased 6.7 acres for a pediatric clinic at the site but has not moved forward on development since the project was approved 3 years ago.

Parcel map at Sequoia Gateway center. KD is buying several lots in lower left near Hw y99

Beyond the desire to work with Valley Children’s, Herbst says the move allows potential relocation of ambulatory/outpatient services like imaging, outpatient surgery and rehab – services not requiring hospital care – that could make room for expansion of the hospital acute-care space.

“We were able to use money we received from the sale of 80 acres at Lovers Lane and Caldwell to Visalia Unified,” says Herbst. Kaweah Delta retains 20 acres at that location for future use, he adds.

This follows “what have done to expand our reach of services” geographically and “now we can have a site in the southwest”

Herbst explains they have been struggling with how to replace the Mineral King wing hospital beds that do not meet seismic requirements but have faced tough sledding to convince the public to support a tax based bond issue to build a new complex Downtown. They lost a 2016 ballot measure.

“So we are  doing what we can with our own money and moving incrementally to build something smaller Downtown.”

Herbst says the hospital has been approached by a developer who is proposing a possible joint-venture to build a 2-story  medical building on one of three parcels facing 99 that Kaweah is buying in the Sequoia Gateway project. Besides some ambulatory services,  the proposed building could also house physician offices.San Diego-based PMB is a healthcare real estate developer that Kaweah Delta may work with.

Herbst adds that “first and foremost we are an acute-care  hospital and our goal is to insure that the Downtown hospital thrives.”

300 employees out

It’s not thriving this moment. Right now the medical center situation is dire-as of December 21- with a record 171 COVID patients  -nearly double the largest count earlier this year and an incredible 300 employees out with COVID or isolating because of possible infections.

For developers of the Sequoia Gateway business center, the commitment by Kaweah Delta is good news. The complex gained City of Visalia approval to hook up to the city sewer system that is nearby as of this summer. Work to build the curbs and infrastructure is now going forward. The County approved the project in 2018.

The project has been a controversial one with fears by some in the community that it could steal retail business from Mooney Blvd and encourage sprawl west of the city limits some 4 miles away. Helping to get the project approved by the County in the first place was an announcement by the very popular Valley Children’s that they wanted to open a clinic at the Hwy 99 location on the land owned by Bill Travis and Fred Ruiz.

While the Kaweah Delta development may allow more space in the Downtown campus it will require a 20 mile round-trip from the city center for patients and medical employees.

The Visalia hospital has been looking to bring in more patients from outside the core district in recent years and now has opened a new clinic in Tulare where Adventists Health operates a hospital Tulare calls their own.

The site on Hwy 99 can be viewed as a way to attract more clients from the outskirts to Kaweah Delta with Herbst noting that the busy highway allows good access for those who travel. “We’ve been told that 70,000 cars pass the site every day.”

Legal settlement plus passage of federal spending bill enables Friant Kern Canal fix to go out to bid next month

-December 23,2020-

In the past week Friant Water Authority has announced a legal settlement with farmers in southern Tulare County represented by the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) to contributed at least $125 million to repair the significant subsidence-caused sag in the gravity-fed canal that has cut water deliveries by 60%.

Even with new groundwater sustainability plans the capacity of Friant-Kern Canal could fall by another 10% in the coming years, analysis has predicted, an impact that could be felt by surrounding rural communities, residential well owners as well as ag producers.

The canal serves farms and communities from Chowchilla in the north to Arvin Edison near the Grapevine in the south. Its waters boost the area’s economy to the tune of millions of dollars. The worst damage from years of vigorous groundwater pumping is along a 33 mile stretch from about Strathmore- south to Delano- a major citrus, nut and grape growing region.

For the past year, the managers of the canal – Friant Water Authority – have been working to cobble together enough money to do a $500 million fix for the problem where the land has literally sunk more than 12 ft since it was put into service in the 1950s. It could get worse – with the land predicted to drop another 3 feet before a sustainability plan is in place by 2025.

This past week there were multiple breakthroughs offering hope the repairs could begin soon since funding appears at hand.

Washington approves monies

After weeks of uncertainty,as of December 21 the US Congress has passed a crucial spending bill that included $900 billion in COVID-19 relief to broad sectors of the economy but also a $1.4 trillion budget that earmarks $206 million in federal funds to repair the Friant Kern Canal.

The measure also includes $200 million for the Delta-Mendota Canal, and $100 million each for the San Luis Canal and California Aqueduct, all of which have been impacted by subsidence as well -the sinking of land that supports the very canal foundation due to adjacent pumping of groundwater over the years.

The Friant Division of the Central Valley Project delivers water to over one million acres of irrigable farm land on the east side of the southern San Joaquin Valley fed by stored San Joaquin River water delivered to more than 30 irrigation districts and cities, and to 15,000 family farms.

So it is a big deal when farmland and communities can get just 40% of their allocated water that may fall to 30% in the next few years.

No surprise that fixing the problem is job one at the Friant Water Authority.

Doing the job includes building a 30 mile parallel canal that would replace the existing one. Friant now figures it needs $480 million – having been whittled down from $500 million.

Besides this federal money that requires a local match Friant now has a preliminary agreement with farmers who arguably have been the cause of the subsidence in this area-now represented by a state mandated groundwater sustainability agency whose job is to reign in rampant pumping -Eastern Tule GSA.

The agreement signed December 11 in draft form, says payments from Eastern Tule to Friant under the agreement” can begin as early as the first quarter of next year, consistent with when construction is expected to begin for the Friant-Kern Canal Middle Reach Capacity Correction Project.”

Spring groundbreaking

Besides the federal funds and Eastern Tule money, contractors along the 150 mile Friant Kern have contributed $50 million says spokesman for Friant, Johnny Amaral – bringing their war chest to near $400 million -enough the go out to bid on the ambitious public works project in January, just weeks from now.

“Construction will start this Spring “ vows Amaral.

The key agreement with the Eastern Tule farmers set out in a draft agreement was announced December 15 by Friant.

On Friday, December 11, the Friant Water Authority (FWA) Board of Directors approved a proposed settlement agreement with the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETGSA) that will resolve a dispute over the impacts of local groundwater pumping on the Friant-Kern Canal. In the settlement, FWA is agreeing to support implementation of ETGSA’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) that will gradually reduce overdraft through 2035 in exchange for significant contributions of funding towards fixing the Friant-Kern Canal’s most severe capacity limitations. Payments from ETGSA to FWA under the agreement can begin as early as the first quarter of next year, consistent with when construction is expected to begin for the Friant-Kern Canal Middle Reach Capacity Correction Project.

The middle reach is a 33 mile segment, generally south of Lindsay to Delano.

The final agreement is expected once the Eastern Tule board officially signs onto it – expected in coming weeks.

Attractive lump sum alternative

The draft agreement says Eastern Tule will pay at minimum $220 million if they pump the amount of groundwater expected- more than million acre feet from areas surrounding the canal. The money is to mitigate damage in the both the past and ongoing over the next few years.

Without repairs the canal cannot carry out a key function of why it was built – to convey flood waters during wet periods, water that can replenish groundwater in this overdraft basin.

A key offer- incentive- says that the Eastern Tule can pay far less – a lump sum of $125 million, that would require a positive Prop 218 vote of landowners. Eastern Tule could pay the lump sum in quarterly installments starting in the first quarter of 2021.

If the Prop 218 vote fails, Eastern Tule would pay up to $200 million of penalty monies, says the agreement.

Amaral suggests that work on the canal repair can begin even though there is not yet enough money to complete all the work.

They still hope the state can kick in some money – not in the cards for now – with COVID impacts and Gov Newsom insisting waterworks funding should be done statewide. A few years ago Proposition 3 for public funding, failed at the ballot box with critics suggesting farmers should fix the problem they caused themselves.

Now a key component to the fix is construction of a 30-mile parallel canal that will replace the existing canal while they raise the liner of the canal both south and north of this new segment.

Amaral says there are possible uses for the old canal segment including water storage or recharge.

To move forward, Amaral adds Friant will still need to borrow millions to be reimbursed later. He suggests there will be plenty of competitive bidding on what will be one of the biggest construction projects in the San Joaquin Valley ever.

Saving the canal

Commenting on the news, Eric R.Quinley, General Manager of the Delano Earlimart Irrigation District, a Friant contractor – but not a part of the Eastern Tule group – says landowners in the Eastern Tule would not be agreeing to pay this money if it was not in their self interest to do so. “They would not be moving forward if it didn’t help their bottom line.” The Eastern Tule district has plenty of permanent plantings like pistachios that are making good money.

Quinley says most of the Friant districts have had little to do with the subsidence problem and at least some of the money to fix it “should be borne by those who had a hand in damaging it.”

Ask most farmers about SGMA -the state sponsored groundwater restriction idea and they will say they don’t like it. But implementation of the plan on a local level may yet save the canal that feeds them.

Of course it feeds the entire area economy as well, making it clear the public has a stake in what happens here as well. Halting subsidence doesn’t just save pistachio trees but county roads, rail systems, natural areas, rivers, rural water systems and wells and disadvantaged communities, just to name a few of what adds up to billions of dollars invested in infrastructure in the Valley that is affected.

-December 16,2020-

Cases of COVID 19 are exploding at several local state prisons impacting both inmates, employees who watch over them and the communities that house them.

The state prison system added 8400 new cases in the past two weeks mirroring the alarming surge in communities seen outside the prison walls. Not just those incarcerated  are feeling the pain with some 3,000 prison employees who live in nearby towns reported infected.

The increase in prisoner infections across the state has been dramatic in the past 6 weeks (see chart). On Oct 21 there were 433 inmate cases according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Today the statewide number is close to 10,000.

Dramatic increases can be seen locally as well.

According to the state CDCR website -as of December 15 – some 584 prisoners have been infected in the past 14 days at the sprawling Corcoran Substance Abuse Training facility as well as three new deaths. A spike in employee infections at the facility is seen as well with 92 new cases in the past 14 days. This Corcoran facility has over five thousand inmates and 2000 employees.

Cases are up but more modestly at the adjacent Corcoran State Prison with  84 new cases among inmates and 84 affected employees.

Not Pleasant

Leading the state in new infections is Coalinga-based Pleasant Valley State Prison (3000 inmates) where there are 720 inmates who have caught the virus in the past two weeks along with 42 employees.Coalinga continues to suffer the lack of a hospital nearby.

Nearby Avenal State Prison (ASP) who led the state in infections a few months ago, reports 7 new cases and 42 employees with COVID. In June, ASP infected prisoners numbered near 500.

Among the three state prisons in Kings County there are 2136 active COVID cases, reports the county health department. Pleasant Valley is not included since it is just across the county line in Fresno.

The continuing spread among both prisoners  and those who guard them has prompted a national commission to recommend the state “prioritize those incarcerated by and working within the criminal justice system for pandemic response, including providing early access to vaccines and personal protective equipment.” They note that the “pandemic exacerbated the risks for police, correctional officers, and others working in the criminal justice system, many of whom occupy roles that place them in harm’s way to protect the public.”

The vaccine recommendation comes from the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice announced earlier this week.

The recommendation to immunize those in the prisons comes just as two new COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed in California including in Kings County in the next few weeks.The commission recommended that inmates and correctional staff be put in a category behind only healthcare workers and highly vulnerable populations such as the elderly in nursing homes.

The commission also recommended early release as part of the response,  a notion seconded by prisoner advocates and family members. They are concerned that those behind bars, because of crowded conditions, make them more susceptible to being infected. Some say this amounts to these places becoming ‘super-spreaders‘ in this pandemic – affecting local towns.

Dire conditions

The spread of COVID 19 across local communities is impacting nearby community hospitals’ ability to care for patients including those coming from the prison system.

The largest regional hospital in Tulare/Kings is Kaweah Delta who reported this week “dire conditions” with 261 employees not reporting to work,181 who tested positive for COVID-19 and 80 quarantined because they are living with someone with COVID-19. The Visalia hospital reported it has only a handful of available intensive care beds and 150 people hospitalized – up from 19 in early October. This week the state opened the Porterville Developmental Center’s Porterville Alternate Care Site to help with the local surge in cases.

Department of Interior Approves the Tule River Indian Tribe’s Fee-to-Trust Application for casino relocation and State Compact

-December 16,2020-

After 20 years of planning, on December 7, 2020, the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs approved the fee-to-trust application for the Tule River Indian Tribe of California  allowing the Tribe to conduct gaming on 40 acres of the Tribe’s land in Porterville.

The approval marks the final step needed to move forward on what is expected for the project that will generate better than $100 million in annual revenue.  Visitation is expected to boom with the easier access to the new hotel/casino complex to be built near the Porterville airport.

The Department of Interior also approved the Tribal State Compact between the State of California and the Tribe which will take effect on December 11, 2020. Although the Tribe submitted its fee-to-trust application in September 2016, it has spent 20 years preparing for the relocation of the Eagle Mountain Casino.

With the approval of the fee-to-trust and the Tribal State Compact, the Tribe can now break ground on the long-awaited relocation project that will allow the Tribe to move the Eagle Mountain Casino from its current location on the Tule River Indian Reservation to the City of Porterville, California. “This decision will allow the Tribe to relocate our existing casino to the City of Porterville so that we may use our limited water supply to provide critical housing to our tribal members and continue to improve the general welfare of our tribal members. We are grateful to the Office of Indian Gaming, the BIA Regional Office and the Assistant Secretary’s office for their service to Indian Country and for helping us create much needed jobs and provide opportunities for the local community.”

-December 10,2020-

Tulare’s long wait for their own In-N-Out Burgers restaurant is nearly over.

Traci Myers, Tulare’s Economic Development Manager confirms the iconic hamburger chain has been issued a $1.4 million permit late last month to construct a 3000sf new drive-thru next to Evolutions Fitness on East Prosperity.

Tulare council member Jose Sigala confirms the deal. “I am very excited we are continuing to grow despite the pandemic including  bringing in 2 national chains.”  He says “ that includes In-N-Out and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers.”

Sigala expects some kind of ground breaking ceremony in January. Sigala has been mayor for 4 years but this week council installed  former vice mayor Dennis A. Mederos as the new mayor.

Next to In Out, fast growing Rising Cane’s Chicken Fingers will build a drive-thru as well.The company is also underway with construction of a new location in front of the Sequoia Mall in Visalia and now has three stores in Bakersfield. The Louisiana  chain has some 500 locations nationwide.

In-N-Out’s decision to build in Tulare’s big box commercial district across from Home Depot and Walmart surprised some who had figured the LA-based eatery would choose a freeway close  location near the Cartmill /99 interchange area.

Channeling Visalia

The development news parallels what is happening right now in Visalia on the same time line. In-N-Out is building a second location in Visalia at the corner of Riggin and Dinuba Blvd on the city’s north side. Construction of the infrastructure at this shopping center is underway, being built by owner Donahue Schreiber now.

The Tulare commercial project is 4 acres being developed by GGH 1,LLC owned by John Roberts and Kent McNiece. Former city council member Greg Nunley had been involved in the project but is no longer. The  retail center is divided into 4 parcels  with 3 parcels earmarked for quick service restaurants fronting on Prosperity.

150 jobs

A Tulare city staff report on the project suggested the fast food operations should exceed $15 million in sales increasing over time  another $3 to 5 million. The three restaurants will generate up to 150 positions.

The first two eateries, In-N-Out and Canes Chicken should be open by mid 2021 says the report. The project has been in the works for more than 2 years.

But the push to bring the California hamburger chain to Tulare predates that.

Facebook poster Stephen Case wrote this summer  “I created this petition almost 4 years ago in hopes that Tulare would get an In-N-Out Burger along Highway 99 on Cartmill Avenue. And now almost 4 years later, we may be closer than ever to getting an In-N-Out Burger in Tulare! This makes me very happy and very excited! But we cannot declare victory just yet. We cannot declare victory until the day In-N-Out officially announces they will be building a In-N-Out Burger in Tulare!”

–December 7,2020-

Tulare County voter turnout was a respectable 74% this November compared to 80% statewide. Voter registered Democrat  added up to 66,000 this year compared to 76,400 registered GOP. That is a differential of 10,400 more Republicans. By contrast voters registered in the November 2016 election added up to 65,260 Republicans vs 50,500 Democrats  -a 14,760 GOP margin.

The upshot is the GOP added 9,140 new voters over the latest 4-year period while Democrats added 15,500. Tulare County has been a reliable red county -just asks Congressman Devin Nunes who regularly skates into office without breaking a sweat.

This November Nunes’ winning margin in Tulare  County was 13,500 votes. In 2016 Congressman Nunes won by 29,000 – more than double the latest number. Districtwide, Nunes won his seat that year by more than 80,00 votes.This year in 2020, Nunes won by around 26,000 votes.

Next door in Fresno County, that county went blue by a larger margin this year with Biden winning Fresno County by 53 to 45%- around 29,000 votes more than President Trump. Trump did better in 2016 but lost Fresno County by 17,000 votes in 2016.

Kings Jobless rate at 9.3%
The unemployment rate in Kings County was 9.3 percent in October 2020, down from a revised 10.0 percent in September 2020, and above the year-ago estimate of 6.6 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 9.0 percent for California and 6.6 percent for the nation during the same period. There were 38,300 non farm jobs compared to 41,100 a year earlier. Month-over-month the county lost 400 manufacturing jobs.
Existing home sales up – inventory down

Home sales are up but inventory is way down. An extremely favorable lending environment and a renewed attitude towards homeownership is prolonging the homebuying season and extending the market’s V-shaped recovery to the off season,” said California Association of Realtors(CAR) Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “The question that remains to be answered, however, is whether the strong market is sustainable in the longer term as market fundamentals continue to be tested by tight supply, eroding housing affordability, and most of all, the rising number of Coronavirus cases.”

CAR reports active listings in California continued to decline significantly, with most regions declining more than 40 percent from last year. The Central Valley had the biggest year-over-year drop of 49.6 percent in October.

With less choice, buyers are not waiting to make a deal.The median number of days it took to sell a California single-family home was 10 days in October, down from 24 in October 2019. The October 2020 figure was the lowest ever recorded.

In Kings County, home sales in October were an impressive 37.5% higher than October 2019 with the median price of $295,700 compared to $251,000 a year earlier. Time on the market was just 6 days.
Hanford to get new home subdivision

San Joaquin Valley Homes recently closed on land in Hanford, Calif., to build Live Oak, a new master-planned community. Located in south Hanford on 12th Avenue between Hume Avenue and Houston Avenue, Live Oak will eventually consist of a total of 578 homes, a community park and open space.

The first two neighborhoods, Sterling Oaks and Hidden Oaks, will feature 208 new single-family detached homes. Model construction at both communities is planned to begin in February 2021 with completion scheduled for late spring.The company is based in Visalia.
Some may not want to take COVID vaccine

The Valley’s large Catholic population may be conflicted over taking a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available in coming months. Catholics make up around third of the population in the Valley with majority being Hispanics -a segment that has been hard hit by the pandemic.

Worried about ethical concerns and the use of stem cells in vaccine development, Bishop Joseph Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno is urging Catholics not to “jump on the COVID-19 vaccine bandwagon” according to press reports.

Some of the vaccines being developed are using the HEK-293 cell line, one commonly used in vaccines is derived from aborted fetal tissue including the vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and Astrazeneca.

New contractor at NAS Lemoore

Military contractor PAE is out and Vertex Aerospace is in- employing around 300 at the Kings County navy base.The Mississippi-based Company operates in over 100 locations worldwide and sports a 50 percent veteran employee rate.