-November 22,2020-

JC Penny update

Visalia Mall’s parent company Brookfield Properties is close to buying JC Penney, now in bankruptcy.In the past few days the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has approved the asset purchase agreement with Brookfield Asset Management, Inc., Simon Property Group and creditors.The sale would be through a combination of cash and new term loan debt.

“Our goal from the beginning of this process has been to ensure JCPenney will continue to serve customers for decades to come and this Court approval accomplishes that objective,” said Jill Soltau, CEO, JCPenney. “With the 2020 holiday season in full swing, we are excited to operate under the new ownership of Brookfield and Simon outside of Chapter 11 and under the JC Penney banner.

For Visalia Mall the news solidifies the role of one the big anchors at the shopping mall helping them to continue to attract tenants in this uncertain retail environment. The mall’s largest players, Penny’s ,Macy’s and Old Navy have had a tough 2020 but ” now are preparing for the most important holiday quarter in recent memory” notes one analyst.

VF Corp buys direct-to-consumer company

VF Corporation, the international clothing company with a big presence in Visalia announced this week they had acquired Supreme®, a privately-owned global streetwear brand. The transaction is expected to be completed late in calendar year 2020. Supreme® sells apparel, accessories and footwear under its namesake brand globally through direct-to-consumer channels, primarily digital.

The Supreme® brand’s founder, James Jebbia and the senior leadership team of the brand will remain with the company, headquartered in New York City, New York.
“We are thrilled to welcome Supreme® to the VF family and to build on our decades-long relationship as we create value for all of our stakeholders.

Goshen attracts more home builders

Greg Nunley wants to build 37-acre project

Self Help Enterprises adding more multi-family units, sfh lots plus a grocery store

Goshen continues to feel its oats. Not only is the Hwy 99 town adding all sorts of new highway commercial projects but three major home builders are now planning more units in the community.

Already Porterville’s Smee Builders is busy on the the west side of the freeway with the Cross Creek- a 400 unit subdivision of single family homes.Now another builder -Tulare developer Greg Nunley has plans for a 37 acre residential and commercial project at the sw corner of Rd 72 and Riggin, on the east side of the Betty Drive interchange. Nunley, a retiring city council member in Tulare, filed the plan with the county recently.

Meanwhile affordable housing builder Self Help Enterprise is about to break ground on a second phase at Sequoia Commons, a multi family project expanding it to 126 units. Also SHE is soon to offer an 89 lot traditional build-it-yourself – Self Help single family home project says CEO Tom Collishaw.

In some exciting news for Goshen, Collishaw says this small farmworker community can expect to see its first grocery store on a six-acre parcel along Riggin that Self Help is in the process of selling. The unnamed buyer will promise to build a grocery store in what Collishaw calls this “food desert.”People now have to travel 6 mikes for a full service grocery store. The developer will have room to add adjacent commercial stores.

Hampton Inn planned for Three Rivers

Three Rivers could get a Hampton Inn & Suites next to the Comfort Inn along Highway 198. The 2.8 acre site is vacant next to the abandoned restaurant that used to be called ‘The Indian.’

The developer, Christopher Ott is building a 3-story,105 room hotel according to the county. The project held a public scoping session recently. This would be the first new hotel in this tourist town in over 20 years. The development comes after plans to build a boutique hotel last year caused the developer to pull the project.

GreenPower Motor Co factory is in Porterville

November 22,2020,

The stock of Canadian-based GreenPower Motors has soared since its IPO listing on NASDAQ stock exchange late this summer. The IPO raised about $38 million in capital from investors the company can now use to expand production of its line of electric vehicles.

GreenPower designs, builds, and distributes a full suite of battery-electric vehicles, including transit buses, school buses, and shuttle buses, as well as a double decker bus and cargo van. The company’s line of vehicles are all battery powered with zero emissions.

GreenPower CEO Fraser Atkinson says the listing on the exchange has made a huge difference in how the company is viewed in the marketplace. “Some months ago they were saying “your product looks good but we just don’t know if in a year or two -will you still be around.” Atkinson adds that “Today the don’t say that any more.”

Tiny GreenPower has been mentioned in the financial press in the same breath as giant Tesla who the market is”hyper-obsessed with” – with stock up 975% this year

“What about school busses? Delivery vans? Airport shuttles?” asks one investment booster.

As you can see by GreenPower’s stock chart – they too have been noticed in the past few months. It is up 1245%.

GreenPower has been in Porterville since 2015. They lease two production facilities in town and have bought a 9-acre parcel ready for a full blown factory when the time is ripe.

As to when that may be – Atkinson answers with a question “tell me when COVID ends? ” The pandemic has hurt the company on all fronts making it more difficult to source component from Asia – they continue to be hurt by the tariff war with China.Their SEC filing says “These tariffs have increased the cost of GreenPower’s buses imported to the United States and have had and will continue to have a negative impact on our gross margins, profitability, financial performance and financial position.” If the next president drops those tariffs – it would help.

It’s also harder to do production and more difficult to market the product in this challenging economic climate when buyers like cities and school districts are strapped. Government incentives make the difference.

Porterville has been patiently waiting for some good news.When they first came to the city there was talk of 400 new jobs with an average salary of $45,000. That was what Jason Ridenour, economic development manager for the City of Porterville said when GreenPower announced their 9 acre purchase. Today the company has about a dozen workers here.

Focus on minivans

But most immediately the NASDAQ listen has dramatically boosted the company’s prospects. Since listing its shares on the Nasdaq in an August IPO, GreenPower has “launched a multi-faceted effort to increase production and pursue relationships that can drive repeat orders,” says Atkinson.

He recently told investors that historically, GreenPower has produced vehicles in response to “specific customer orders,” Fraser said. But now, with $38 million more cash to play with after its IPO, GreenPower “can accelerate production, shorten timelines for deliveries, improve cost and terms from suppliers to support larger purchase orders which will be the drivers for GreenPower to attain profitability.”

The CEO says the best performing product now is the EV Star minibus (pictured) with production planned to be around 20 a month.That brings in about $8 million a quarter in coming months he recently told investors.

As for how fast production might increase, Atkinson is optimistic but guarded considering COVID. He is hoping there will be some normalization in the economy by mid-year 2021.

“The big news is our plan to source all of the component parts for the minivan in the US instead of Asia to qualify to buyers under the ‘Buy America’ compliance plan” that should intensify production in Porterville – adding more people.

Boosting prospects even more is the plan announced by incoming president Joe Biden to replace all of America’s 500,000 school buses with zero emission buses by 2030.

“There are just a dozen manufactures in the US” Atkinson notes.

While optimism is up – the company is still not making a profit according to its recent SEC financial statement.

Still this is probably the biggest news since this start-up Canadian company picked Porterville in 2015 – in part because of California’s goal to begin converting their sooty diesel bus fleet in California and particularly in the smoggy San Joaquin Valley – to zero emission vehicles. Along the way they converted the Porterville city bus fleet as well.

Investors seem to agree, pushing the company stock above $22 this past week, near a 52-week high.

This month GreenPower announced the sale of six electric school buses (B.E.AS.T.) to Butte County’s Thermalito Union Elementary School District through GreenPower’s national distributor Creative Bus Sales.

The B.E.A.S.T. is a purpose-built Type D Battery Electric School bus with a leading class range of up to 150 miles and a 194.5kWh battery pack. The vehicles can charge up to 20KW on standard J1772 protocol and has CCS1 fast charging, with additional standard features like air ride suspension, pass through storage, and air disk brakes.

Brendan Riley, President of Green Power says “The sale of six units to the Thermalito Union School District is a great example of how GreenPower is working with customers and our sales partners to leverage multiple incentive programs to bring our all-electric school bus to market. This is a trend we expect to accelerate within California, then spread to other states as a template.”

Visalia Industrial Park developer files plan for two new 1.1 mil sf buildings next to Amazon & UPS

LA-based Visalia Industrial Park developer Cap Rock sold their first 58 acres to United Parcel Service 3 years ago and now to Amazon right next door. Amazon construction is underway now on their 1.3 million square foot “fulfillment center” here. UPS has opened in their new location hiring hundreds.

Now CapRock Partners has filed plans for its next behemoth project- rather a pair of them north and west of UPS and Amazon.

According to the plan submitted last week on 150 acres between Plaza and Kelsey, Modoc Ditch north to Ave 320 – the huge “spec buildings” would be side by side to be planned and permitted ahead of a deal with any tenant. Planning for the new Amazon building started a year ago before breaking ground a couple of months ago.

Sources say like the Amazon deal, CapRock may be working with a prospect already.

The industrial park has about a dozen ‘spec buildings ‘in various stages of development including two 300,000 sf tilt-up buildings already ner completion and standing.The developer told this reporter there may soon be tenants announced. Fresno developer John Brelsford has 2 new ‘spec buildings’ under construction now at the SE corner of Plaza and Riggin and owns 150 acres ready to build on land located at the northwest corner of Plaza and Riggin.

Demand for distribution facilities has surged due to the pandemic, as more of us get goods ordered by computer to be shipped to our front doors.

UPS and Amazon are each the poster child for surging demand with UPS recently announcing third-quarter 2020 revenue of $21.2 billion, a 15.9% increase over the third quarter of 2019.  Amazon reported revenue up 37%.

Between the two companies they account for an expected 1600 jobs in Visalia.

Helping to juice development all along the Riggin Ave corridor has been the completion of the Betty Drive interchange connecting the northern tier of Visalia to Highway 99. Besides an industrial boom, a residential boom is underway to the east of the industrial park.

-November 4,2020-

The pandemic is surging across much of the country this fall but at Tulare County largest hospital they are full of patients with more traditional complaints. And that’s good news. 

COVID-19 cases being treated at Kaweah Delta hospital are down to 16 this week compared to a high of over 90 in July, says CEO Gary Herbst.

“Its been an unprecedented and challenging 7 months for Kaweah Delta” says Herbst recalling that the hospital lost around $37 million in the last fiscal year that ended in July.The red ink has continue to flow through the summer with mostly federal stimulus funds making the difference.

COVID cases required more staff time, filling beds with older patients that stay longer who need more intensive care.The pandemic gobbled up the hospital’s resources from supplies to overtime pay. Meanwhile,”we put our regular services on pause” describes Herbst – services like everyday surgical procedures that are the bread and butter of the district’s finances. Staff too faced unprecedented pressures impacting front line workers who got COVID too, worked incredible hours and struggled to get enough protective equipment.

Occupancy plunged and most in-person services were shut down. Not just the main campus was affected as COVID fears caused residents not to seek services at the Kaweah Delta’s extensive network of outpatient clinics, urgent care facilities and specialty service centers. The Lifestyle Center continues to be shuttered and even births at hospital have declined.

The Demaree Urgent Care for example saw just 26 patients a day in April compared to 112 patients a day just two months earlier, before the virus hit.

Kaweah Delta has experienced a huge drop in the number of patients in most categories as elective procedures were postponed.

Other district projects have been affected too. In 2016 Kaweah Delta approved construction of a new 120-unit independent, assisted, and memory care senior living – Quail Park at Shannon Ranch. But new occupants have not moved in and occupancy in August was just 9% with the project generating a loss in the last fiscal year of $3.2 million.

Now with COVID cases falling the board heard a report in September that “Quail Park at Shannon Ranch will see a significant increase in deposits and people moving into the facilities.” concludes a staff report.

In May the hospital announced it would resume elective surgical procedures. Helping to move toward the goal of restarting services, new tests and procedures allowed all surgical patients to be tested  as well as COVID-19 antibody test for its employees. Every patient every day started to get tested.

“We started to reintroduce other services knowing that we have the flexibility to stop at any time. If we see that surge coming, we can ramp right back. If we see the numbers continue to fall, we can accelerate”figured Herbst.

That worked.

“We deliberately stopped doing non-essential elective surgery to create that surge capacity that really has never materialized,” Herbst added. “

A lot of these surgeries that have been put off are important. Patients are looking for that painful knee to be replaced, that shoulder, that torn rotator cuff to get repaired. They are still in pain, but they have been putting up with it. But that took time and some convincing.

Safest place 

Herbst assured prospective patients early in the summer that “the hospital is probably one of the safest places you can be right now given the amount of disinfection we are doing, the constant hand washing, the constant wearing of the personal protective equipment.”

The COVID emergency appeared to peak as doctors learned there were practices and treatments that could reduce mortality, early intervention procedures allowing slowly a re-start of a line of services helping cancer patients, offering cardiac surgeries and birthing babies.

The hospital today is at 92% occupancy.

Visitors return

In the past few weeks Herbst says some positive signs are allowing front line staff and administrators at the hospital to catch their breath, loosening some rules that should also affect how patients recover.

A clear sign is the announcement that visitors are again being allowed in non-COVID patients rooms as of October 19. Again you can thank testing. ”We understand the importance of having a loved one with you during hospitalization. We are taking measured steps to safely bring back visitors at our downtown campus for admitted patients”  says Herbst. The visitor must remain in the patient’s room during their visit. A loved one who is visiting should have no symptoms of illness and must not have had a recent positive COVID-19 test.

And those COVID related emergency room tents will be coming down says Herbst. Another sign of change – the hospital board of directors has had several face-to-face meetings instead of virtual.

Herbst says while COVID shut down much of the activity at the hospital –  construction continued on the expansion of the emergency room and will now be completed in April. Space for ER patients will be doubled.

Meanwhile COVID also did not stop construction of the 5th and 6th floor of the Acequia tower that opened now offering surgery on the 5th floor and neonatal care on the 6th.

In the midst of plenty of bad news there were several pats on the back this summer as Kaweah Delta was named one of the 250 best hospitals in the US as well  as one of the top 50 cardiac care hospitals in the nation, now affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic.

Also this summer the hospital’s medical education program graduated 35 young residents and brought on 47 more.Herbst says during the past four years of the program 260 new physicians began practicing in the area as a result of the residency program that is now affiliated with USC.That’s big news in an area that has trouble attracting new physicians to settle here.

Also in the past few weeks  the hospital was notified it would get a grant to expand its outpatient behavioral health program that will now move forward with better outpatient psychiatric care.

Back to the future

Herbst says perhaps the biggest sign that the worst may be behind us is news that the board will again look to the future and ”re-engage our architects  from the firm RBB to begin meeting with staff and the hospital’s community advisory group in November.” The goal is to revisit plans to replace the Mineral King wing rooms.That discussion, like the rest of non-pandemic activities were put on hold when COVID hit.

Last winter LA-based RBB Architects proposed Kaweah Delta’s next hospital tower could be built in the shape of huge triangle up to 8-floors tall -a design modeled after a structure to be built at the UCLA Medical Center. Hospital leaders had been meeting with  the architects since 2018. Herbst says  a large tower or perhaps 2 smaller,phased towers could be built on the Downtown campus west of the existing Acequia tower.

COVID has not earned the deadline for seismic upgrades of California hospitals -set at 2030. For years the hospital has been trying to convince the state to let up on the standard even as it struggles to get widespread community buy-in since the multi-million project requires a local general obligation bond to pay for part of it. A few years ago Kaweah Delta’s bond request failed at the ballot box- something leaders do not want to repeat.

The pandemic stopped the recent planning process that was well underway early this year – how to replace the 1960s Mineral King wing and its 240 beds that do not meet the standard and must be replaced just nine year from now

    Discussion of replacing the Mineral King wing’s 240 rooms is caught up in  the hope the state will postpone that 2030 replacement deadline and now a bill is being discussed in Sacramento supported by the state hospital association.

“We hate them too”

Herbst admits that replacing the wing’s small pie-shaped rooms is a top priority anyway and not best for patients.

 ”We understand that people hate them and we hate them too” he jokes.

To replace these rooms “we have to come up with an affordable plan” offering flexibility and a phased approach.

One more piece of better news – Herbst says they are anticipating a light flu season because of the  widespread need to wear masks to stem COVID.

As more people adjust to the reopening of medical services they are less fearful to get the medical attention they have been  \putting off and getting the care they need. Still the district’s out-patient clinics are still seeing fewer patients  and the ER this year will see about 70,000 patients – down from about 90,000 last year. Herbst says part of the answer is that people are not out as much where they may fall and break a leg or suffer from a car accident because fewer are traveling.

From a business perspective, this is important stuff.Consider  that Kaweah Delta infuses nearly $1 billion into the local economy each year, according to a recent study.When the hospital sneezes Tulare County’s economy gets a cold.

Helping the hospital look long range without checking over their shoulder is an expectation that even though financial losses will spill over into next year, Congress already passed more stimulus funding that has not been spent to backstop hospital ledger books with a new round recently announced.

-October 24,2020-

Frys Electronic closes in Hanford

Fry’s Electronics, the big box retailer selling consumer electronics has shut their Hanford distribution center on Iona Ave in the industrial park.The privately-held chain of superstores is headquartered in Silicon Valley. They operated 34 stores in nine states in 2019. As of June 2020 that number was down to 31 stores. The company shut their Anaheim store earlier this year. For much of 2020 their retail locations have been closed to walk- in customers due to COVID-19 and rumors have circulated that some stores have closed permanently. All California stores are in the Bay Area or LA region. As of 2011 the company reported more than $2 billion in sales.

Kings EDC administrator Jay Salyer confirmed that the company has “moved on” after operating the facility here since 2013 and offering as many as 150 jobs. At the time it was reported Hanford was selected to supply California stores, halfway between their two major markets. The 140,000sf building was formerly used by International Paper Co. They closed in December 2008, taking with it 90 jobs. The facility formerly made corrugated containers for agricultural and industrial use, now done in Visalia.

Now the Hanford industrial facility is back on the market for sale or lease as of a few months ago.

Carrot hot dogs?

The carrot crop is big in Kings and Kern counties and now Bolthouse Farms is pushing new ways consumers can enjoy more carrots, taking advantage of the growing appetite for plant-based alternatives. That includes Carrot Dogs, Carrot Fettuccine kits and Riced Carrot kits that provide consumers easy and delicious ways to eat says the company.

Kings jobless numbers:

The unemployment rate in Kings County in September was 10.3%, up from 10.1% in August and 6% a year ago. EDD says there were 4000 fewer jobs overall year-over- year,1000 of them in the farm category. Hospitality jobs in the non-farm sector were 800 fewer – 3600 in September 2019 to 2800 jobs this September.

Home sales boom statewide – not here

California’s home sales climbed to their highest level in more than a decade in September and the median home price set another high for the fourth straight month, the California Association of Realtors reported.

September’s sales total climbed above the 400,000 level for the third straight month since the COVID-19 crisis depressed the housing market earlier this year. Statewide sales were up 21.2% from a year ago.

Sales were more subdued in the Central Valley including in Kings County where the pace was actually down year over year by minus 6.5%. Tulare home sales were up 4.5%, Fresno down 7.2% but Kern County sales were up 19.2% year over year.

Kings County’s median sales price was the cheapest in the state according to CAR numbers at $264,000 compared to a state average of $712,000. The California average a year ago was $606,000.Thats an increase of over $100,000 despite the pandemic. By contrast the Kings median home price was $258,000 – a gain of $6000.

Stardust motel may become homeless residence

This week the Board of Supervisors approved a plan to buy Hanford’s Stardust Hotel.The Human Services Agency (HSA) was notified on October 9 that it was approved for funds for its COVID-19 Project Homekey proposal involving the purchase, renovation, and use of the property located at 8595 Lacey Blvd. in Hanford, for permanent housing of individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The staff report says the”project can operate immediately as transitional housing, but must convert to permanent housing within a specified timeframe. In order to purchase the Stardust Motel, the County will need to appoint a negotiator, who will negotiate a fair price…” The purchase must be negotiated and recorded by December 2, 2020.

U-Haul offers renewable propane from animal fats, veggie oil

U-Haul announced this month they have purchased a million gallons of renewable propane and will now make it available to customers across southern California.U-Haul, is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. and has teamed with national distributor Suburban® Propane Partners to supply the eco-friendly fuel. The company says “carbon-neutral fuels are in demand. It’s all about sustainability. While U-Haul is paying a premium for this product, we have chosen to absorb this cost so our customers will benefit the environment at no additional charge. Renewable propane is derived from renewable sources such as beef fats, vegetable oils, grease residue and other biomass feedstocks.

-October 24,2020-

In the works for a decade, Tulare County officials say they will be ready to break ground on the long awaited North County Jail at Sequoia Field by this coming April. With a construction value of  around $44 million, the county was awarded $40 million by the state Department of Corrections as far back as 2013.

Tulare County General Services Capital Project Coordinator Kyle Taylor expects construction to take 18 months and will be complete by January 2023 and in operation by January 2023.

The detention project consists of the construction of a new 256 bed adult facility. The facility will contain multiple program rooms for self-help, rehabilitation, and education programs. The building will also contain medical areas, intake, release and processing, interview room, a property room, an intake office, pedestrian and vehicular sally ports, laundry area, a food staging room, maintenance area, and a Day Reporting Center.

With inmates being transferred to Sequoia Field when the new complex is in place, the ”Main Jail”, a 5- story structure next to the Civic Center on Burrel will be demolished. But General Services Director Brooke Sisk says there is no schedule yet to do that. The building dates from 1955.

Sisk says the long lead time to build the new jail is due to a variety of factors. “The North County Jail project has been significantly delayed for a number of reasons including:

1. A bond encumbrance that had to be removed from the property and multiple approvals from the State in regards to Real Estate Due Diligence and Preliminary Plan approval.

2. Due to escalating construction costs while the previous items were addressed, the design had to be value engineered to remain within budget.

3. The Ground Lease meeting with the State, typically held in Sacramento, was expected to be scheduled in March or April. Due to COVID, this was delayed, and has finally “happened just this past week.

October 14,2020

The California Secretary of State recently announced this month that some 84.68% of eligible Californians are now registered to vote, as of Sept 4. Since the same time in 2016 – 60 days before the General Election- almost 3 million more residents registered to vote statewide. This percent of those eligible to vote is the highest on record. The numbers for Valley counties are up nicely as well.

The greatest increase in California is in Tulare County where new registration jumped 33% compared to the 2016 report – adding over 47 thousand new voters. Between 2016 and 2020 Kings County jumped from just 60% of those eligible to 70%, also highest ever.

Voters have until October 19 to register. For the final count – one more report before the election will be published. Voting began in California on October 5th, and this year Secretary Padilla urges” more Californians to vote early.”

Valley counties all saw a jump in new voters with Fresno County rising to 79% of those eligible compared to 70% in 2012 and 72% in 2016. In Kern County in 2012 just 65% of those eligible were registered and 68% in 2016 but now the number has climbed to 78%.

All four Valley counties saw a high percentage of young new voters from ages 17 to 25 year old -all higher than the state average.In Tulare County the number was up to 17% of all voters compared to a 13% average statewide. Kings was 14.5%.

What does this all mean for the ongoing battle between Democrats and Republicans in each battleground? Statewide, Democrats now make up 46.4% of voters compared to 45.2% in 2016. GOP voters dropped from 26.8 % in 2016 to 24.2% in 2020. No Party affiliation category climbed slightly over the latest 4-year period.

Kings has been GOP stronghold

You might be surprised that in 1992 Kings County Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 18,739 to 13,494. By 2016 there were 17,000 Democrats to nearly 22,000 GOP and about 8000 registered No Party.

In Kings as of September 2020 there are over 19,000 Democrats and nearly 23,000 GOP suggesting a gain for Democrats in the past four years. No Party jumped to 11,661 showing the largest gain of all.

In recent years Kings County has been a Republican stronghold with one of the highest percentage of GOP voters – 45% as of 2016. Demos and GOP switched places in this horse race around 2000.

Now the trend appears to be moving away from the GOP with Demos and No Party adding up to 54% compared to 40% Republicans in the latest report.

Demos gain in Fresno County

A much larger gain for Democrats is seen recently in Fresno County. In 2012 there were 157,000 Democrats and 154,000 Republicans – almost even. In September 2020 the numbers are 190,500 Demos and 157,600 GOP. Over the past four years Demos gained over 33,000 while the GOP registration gained just over 3000 – a10-fold difference.

In Kern County in 2012 Demos were 113,00 to 131,000 GOP members.By 2016 there were 124,000 Democrats compared to 132,000 GOP. In 2020 there are over 143,000 Demos and over 152,000 Republicans.

So since 2012 Democrats gained over 30,000 while the GOP gained 21,000. No Party in Kern now makes up over 20% of the electorate compared to 18% in 2012.

Registration jumps in Tulare County

Lastly, in Tulare County more voters have signed up from those eligible increasing from just 55% in 2016 to 71% now. In 2016 Demos numbered 47,000 to 62,000 GOP. In 2020 Demos are nearly 63,000 to 73,000 GOP – decreasing the spread between the two parties from 15,000 to 10,000. No Party numbers have climbed from over 27,000 to over 41,000 in Tulare County.

If you are interested in Visalia, Demos has gained here as well. Since 2016 Demos has added about 6,000 and the GOP 5000. The total now according to an Oct 9 report – Visalia is still a GOP bastion with about 22,000 Demos and 29,000 Republicans.

Enthusiasm to vote this election is high nationwide says Gallup.”Enthusiasm about voting has increased substantially among both major party groups since 2016, with 80% of Democrats and 75% Republicans saying they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year.”

Time to vote

Voters can vote by mail and ballots must be postmarked by November 3. If you deposit your ballot in a drop box- Kings County has 13 locations and Tulare County 12 open now – it must be deposited by 8:00 pm on November 3, 2020.

500MW solar farm would straddle Kings/Kern line

County planner Chuck Kinney says the county has received a preliminary application to build a 500MW solar farm in the county’s southwest corner that would straddle the Kern/Kings line. The application is from a Korean-based company with offices in LA called Pelican Jaw. The company is affiliated with Samsung, a firm that has built several solar farms in Tulare County’s westside.

The sprawling project would join 3260 acres in Kern County and 2127 acres in Kings. Kinney says the site is just east of I-5 and 6 miles from Utica Ave. The big project also includes battery storage like most new  solar developments recently. At 500MW it would be Kings’ largest solar project. It is not affiliated with Westlands Solar Park who is building several big projects close to the Fresno county line near the Avenal Cutoff.

Top home builder will start in Lemoore

Food Bank proposed for Lemoore Cinnamon complex

Newsom vetoes bill to help fix Friant Kern Canal

Coalinga goes to pot

No Central Valley city has traveled down the cannabis road than Coalinga now with 7 active – tax-paying business operations in town and 3 to 5 more  pot enterprises knocking on the door for city approval. 

Assistant City Manager Sean Brewer says there is an upcoming hearing for a new outdoor cultivation business in town (Oct 1) as well as a cannabis consumption lounge on Oct 6.

The outdoor cannabis farm would be in the city industrial area at 185 W. Gale Ave. The development, owned by Claremont Capital Partners, includes the cultivation of commercial cannabis in hoop houses and green houses on approximately 13 acres, the renovation of several existing accessory buildings for drying and curing, onsite improvements, construction of greenhouse structures and planting of cannabis plants.  The applicant estimates they will have 2-3 harvests per year.

Three phases are planned. Phase 1 of the development will be to commercially cultivate approximately 9.76 acres of commercial cannabis (possible hoop houses), renovation of five (5) of the existing industrial buildings on site, demolition of one existing buildingBy Winter 2020 Phase 2 is expected  to include the cultivation of an additional 1.53 acres of commercial cannabis, including additional security, fencing, a 6,500-nursery green house, and optional construction of green houses for cultivation of mature plants. Phase 3 of the development plan will include an additional 1.87 acres dedicated to commercial cultivation in the north portion of the property. 

This project will generate at least 5 new full time jobs (possibly more part time work during harvest), cannabis licensing fees and cultivation taxes in excess of approximately $1.4 million at full build out at the current tax rate.

So that would be $1.4 million in city revenue from one project.

As it is, Brewer says the city’s 20/ 21 budget, just adopted, expects cannabis related revenue to the city of $1 million adding the per square foot fee and sales tax.That covers almost a third of the cost for the Coalinga police department.

Recalled local peaches were exported

Prima Wawona peaches involved in a recall in the U.S. and Canada because of salmonella were shipped to more than a dozen other countries.

So far, Canada, Singapore and New Zealand have recalled the peaches, according to an Aug. 28 notice from the Food and Drug Administration. Prima Wawona/Wawona Packing of Fresno, Calif., recalled peaches on Aug. 21, followed by a recall in Canada. The Singapore Food Agency recalled the peaches from importer Satoyu Trading Pte Ltd. on Aug. 25, and New Zealand Food Safety on Aug. 26 recalled bulk peaches from the company that went to retailers.

The Prima Wawona peaches also went to: Australia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. The FDA has alerted the food safety agencies in those countries.

No illnesses have been reported in those countries.

Funding secured for new Tulare interchange

Tulare will be awarded a $16 million to help construct a new interchange along State Route 99 at Commercial Avenue and Paige Avenue it was announced this month. The federal funding  should allow the project to move forward say local officials.  The grant leverages over $26 million in local taxpayer funds.The new interchange  in the south part of the city  will be a boon to the AgriCenter that will connect directly.On the westside the project opens up commercial opportunities for  highway related stores and gas stations says Mayor Jose Sigala who adds he has heard interest in potential locations on the mostly vacant land there. The $75 million project is expected to begin construction in May 2022 and complete construction by July 2025.