Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Volume 7 Number 1
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A
LOCAL NEWS, sports, & ENTERTAINMENT
A day on the trail:
New Clovis Trail Fest event set for April 30 True Equestrian | 8A
How to Pack a Stock Clinic preserves a way of life
Photo by Ron Sundquist
Spolight on Safety | 14A By Valerie Shelton | editor
There is never a dull spring weekend in Clovis. The week following the popular Clovis Rodeo, residents and visitors will have another opportunity to come together for some fun at the first annual Clovis Trail Fest
Sheriff Mims and Chief Basgall give state of public safety at Feb. 18 forum
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 30. Trail Fest is a new family event sponsored by the City of Clovis along the Old Town Trail and Dry Creek Trail from Sierra Vista Mall to Dry Creek Park. It is designed to promote health, wellness and healthy activities
along the Clovis trails. During the event, people are encouraged to bike, walk or skate along the trail and enjoy activities, demonstrations, live music and snacks provided by various vendors. The event is free to the community. City General Services Man-
ager Shonna Halterman said the community event was inspired by the travels of Tina Sumner, who recently retired from the city of Clovis as its director of Community and Economic Development. Since her retirement, Trail Fest | page 4A
Clovis Chamber’s YEA program continues to thrive By Valerie Shelton | editor
What’s Inside Let’s Talk Clovis, 6A Scene In Clovis, 9A Dining Guide, 10A-11A Featured Recipe, 13A Log of Shame, 15A Community Calendar, 16A
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Rod Geist of Central Valley Community Bank instructs students in this year’s Clovis Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur’s Academy (YEA) program.
In November, the Clovis Chamber of Commerce and its Young Entrepreneurs Academy suffered the tremendous loss of inspiration and leader Fran Blackney. The YEA program, only in its third year, was Blackney’s baby, and for many students she was a motherly figure. While Blackney’s untimely passing was devastating for YEA students, fellow leaders at the chamber as well as the students knew that Blackney would want them to continue on without skipping a beat—so that is what the YEA program, under the instruction of Rod Geist, the vice president of the local Central Valley Community Bank, did.
“Fran did a lot of amazing things, but as a coordinator she brought in all the frosting to the cake so to speak and what the instructors always did was give the students the nuts and bolts of how to put it all together,” Geist said, insisting that he didn’t really do much except keep the program going. “Fran arranged for business owners, specialists in certain fields, who could come in and give them additional information and first hand experience. I’m confident by the time we’re done, the kids will not have missed out on anything, it just hasn’t perhaps flowed as nicely and it might have in the past so we are shoving a lot of stuff in here at the very end but YEA Program | page 8A
2A | Clovis Roundup
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Letter from the Editor: A crabtastic time By Valerie Shelton Editor Photos by Ron Sundquist
Clovis Rotary member Danny Armenta told me the Rotary’s annual Crab Feed was a must-attend social event and he was right. This year’s Clovis Rotary Crab Feed—my first crab feed—held on Feb. 20, certainly didn’t disappoint. Of the multitude of events I’ve covered over the last year at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District, none have been this elaborate. The entire district—not just one ballroom—was dedicated to the Clovis Rotary’s sole annual fundraiser. Two rooms were filled with silent and live auction items for attendees to ooh and awe at and, if they felt so inclined, to bid on, while the spacious Liberty Ballroom was wall to wall with tables of guests. Even the lobby was the Clovis Rotary’s for the evening, as a green screen and large lens camera invited you to a photo booth to take some fun pictures showcasing the Hawaiian Luau theme. Entering the Liberty Ballroom, I had to waft through the crowd to get to my table. There, I sat with Clovis Roundup advertising executive Roger Wright and his friendly wife Robin, and our photographer extraordinaire Ron Sundquist. After spending some time perusing the auction items with Robin and Roger, we returned to our seats, ready to indulge in the crab feast. We were then joined by Clovis Unified School Board member Betsy Sandoval and a few of her friends. They came prepared with a shellfish cracking device and little plastic forks to pull out those pesky pieces of meat. Me,
I was just there to wing it. I’ll know better and bring along some tools next time. After a brief Clovis Rotary Crab Feed welcome from Lorenzo Rios, the coordinator of the soiree, the crab feed commenced as student volunteers from the local Clovis high schools brought out bucket loads—and that’s not an exaggeration, there were actual gallon buckets—of crab. Everyone at the table quickly tossed aside any salad, bread or pasta they had left from the appetizer warm up and dug into the crab bucket. It was messy, it was fun and it was oh so good: a crab lover’s delight! I felt like I was making up for lost time—all those years I spent as a kid hating seafood were being made up at this crab feed. Shells were flying, butter was everywhere, and we all looked silly wearing our Clovis Rotary Crab Feed bibs—an essential accessory for this grub fest. It was just as fun as Armenta said it would be, but more than that we were all feasting for a good cause. With the crab feed being the only Clovis Rotary fundraiser, the money raised goes to support the many organizations Clovis Rotary contributes to for the year—the Clovis Youth Enjoy Leadership Experience at Camp Royal, Interact Clubs at Clovis High, Clovis East, Clovis North, Buchanan and Gateway, Scholarships for Clovis students, the Augustino Memorial Spelling Bee, the Clovis Boys and Girls Club, Rotary Storyland and Playland, Kases for Kids, the Renaissance Scholars program at Fresno State, Clovis Salvation Army, Christmas stockings for seniors, the Clovis Botanical Garden, the Marjaree Mason Center and much more. It takes some time for Clovis Rotary to tally up all the funds they raise from ticket sales and the silent and live auctions, but in 2015 they raised $61,000, which
went toward all these great programs and organizations. From the looks of it, this year’s crab feed was also successful. To those who haven’t been, I would definitely encourage you to consider at-
tending next year’s crab feed—it’s great food, great fun and a great fundraiser to support not only the Clovis Rotary but also the entire community that Clovis Rotary serves.
Clovis Museum reenacts First State Bank of Clovis robbery By Valerie Shelton | Editor
Crime does not pay in Clovis— not now in 2016 and not back in 1924 when the First State Bank of Clovis was robbed. On Saturday, Feb. 27, local historians at the Clovis Museum reminded the community of that fact in a melodramatic reenactment of that historic bank robbery, which took place on Feb. 5, 1924. On that day, cashier Tom Howison was going about his day per usual when Tomas Griffin, a criminal dubbed “The Owl” strolled into the little Clovis bank on the corner of Fourth Street and Pollasky (now the site of the museum) and asked for some change—change for $20 was the exact language uttered by “The Owl” actor Frank Davis in the short production, but historically no one knows exactly what words he uttered to Howison. Once Howison was sufficiently distracted and had the cash register open, in burst a second criminal, Felix Sloper, who was referred to as “The Lone Wolf” because he often worked alone with this robbery being an exception. The Lone Wolf held Howison at gunpoint, forcing him into the bank’s vault—a vault that is still in the museum today, containing books rather than money. Then, as the story goes, The Owl and The Lone Wolf headed out, but not before the Vice President of the bank, Emory Reyburn, strolled in after lunch. Reyburn has held against the wall at gunpoint as he yelled for help. The two criminals then quickly made their getaway, joining The Owl’s girlfriend, Catherine Ryan, aka “The Moll,” who was waiting outside in the getaway car—a 1924 blue chandler GTA the trio had painted black after stealing it somewhere in Fresno, where they had been staying since Jan. 29, 1924 and mapping out the grand criminal scheme.
Not only did they come prepared with a getaway car, they also brought roofing nails, which they dumped along Clovis Avenue as they headed south during their escape. The nails were meant to derail any who followed and they worked, successfully stopping all who tried to pursue them by piercing their car tires. The nails were soon picked up by a crew of local Boy Scout troops, including Nick Ubick, from Clovis Elementary School—the heroes of the day. Though the trio escaped that day, absconding with nearly $32,000, they didn’t stay hidden for long. As narrator Magic Bob Locklin described at the reenactment: “The Moll had left evidence at their home in Fresno and Sheriff O.J. King trailed her to an apartment in Oakland. He also discovered she would leave notes for The Owl in a wastebasket at the Oakland Bank of Italy. After 74 days of surveillance, The Owl entered the bank, started to resist arrest but surrendered. They were returned to Clovis and evidence against The Moll was found insufficient and she was released. Ninety-one years ago, on Feb. 26, 1925, The Owl was sentenced to Folsom prison. “While at Folsom, he worked in a query mining rocks, which were placed on flat rail cars. He and two friends built a concealed platform beneath the bed of the car and managed to escape on a bitter cold day, Nov. 15, 1926. The prisoners swam the ice-cold American River and headed toward Sacramento. The Owl had sprained his ankle during the escape and his buddies left him behind. He became ill and was found dead along the railroad tracks on Nov. 19, 1926. He had died of pneumonia. “On April 25, 1925, the Lone Wolf was arrested for the murder of a brave police officer during the solo robbery of a bank in San Francisco. He admitted he
photo by ron sundquist | Members of the First State Bank Robbery Melodrama cast, from L-R, Bob Niehaus as O.J. King, Frank Davis as “The Owl” Tomas Griffin, Rachel Rowberry as the “Moll” Catherine Ryan, Scott Fox as “The Lone Wolf” Felix Sloper, Magic Bob Locklin as the narrator. Not pictured are Ron Sundquist, who played cashier Tom Howison, and Lou Catallo, who played Vice President of the Bank Emory Reyburn.
had participated in the Clovis bank robbery and stated his spilt was $10,000. He was found guilty of first-degree murder and bank robbery and was hung at Folsom prison on June 25, 1926, before his former buddy The Owl had died.” Clearly greed and crime did not pay for The Owl or The Lone Wolf. While both were caught, none of the money was ever recovered. Some suspect The Moll may have kept it, but it is unknown. The infamous Clovis robbery is an exciting part of the city’s history and those involved in the melodrama said they were glad to participate in commemorat-
ing that history. Scott Fox, who portrayed The Lone Wolf, has been a part of the production for nine years. “This is something I enjoy,” Fox said. “I like to reenact history and this is a part of old town Clovis.” Lou Catallo, who portrayed Emory Reyburn, also said he enjoys taking part in the melodrama. “I have done it for five years now,” Catallo said. “It gets me out of my comfort zone because I’ve never acted before. These are great people to work with.”
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4A | Clovis Roundup
Trail Fest
Continued from front page
Sumner has become a world traveler and has started a blog detailing her adventures at www.TraveltheWorldBackpacking.wordpress.com. “She is backpacking South America and she left two or three months ago and has traveled via bus and foot all over South America. Before that, she went all the way down to Antarctica and did a big thing down there with the seals and the heavy jackets,” Halterman, an avid reader of Sumner’s blog, said. “One of the places she went was Guadalajara and on Sundays they close all of their streets and make a moving festival and in the parks there are different activities, guys playing checkers and things like that. I thought, we could do something like that along the trail.” Already, Halterman has arranged for the parks along the trail to host different activities—from larping (live action role play, where actors dress as medieval soldiers) to Tai-Chi. Halterman said right now she is hoping to get more vendors to sign up to host activities both in different time slots at the parks and in booths along the trail. “The big thing we are working on right now is getting the word out to vendors who want to participate,” Halterman said. “There are 25 locations we have designated along the trail for this where we are going to be having things happening and we want to fill those 25 spots.” Halterman said there is no fee to be a vendor at the Clovis Trail Fest. Vendors just need to have proof of liability insurance. Unlike other events in Clovis, like Big Hat Days or Clovis Fest, Halterman said
Photo by ron sundquist
the Trail Fest is not meant to be a “selling event” so vendors are discouraged from handing out stacks of flyers and brochures for their products and services. Instead, Halterman wants vendors to engage with community members by having an activity for them to participate in at their booth. “They can’t just be out there with their brochures, if they are going to have that they also need to have a bounce house or hand out bottled water or something,” Halterman said. “It doesn’t need to be a
big deal. Here at the city rec center, we have a bunch of outdoor arcade games, like the one where you throw darts at the balloons. It can be something as basic as that where people can stop, do the activity and then move on to the next station.” Aside from wanting to promote an interactive community event, Halterman said the city also wants to keep the trails as litter free as possible during Trail Fest, which is another reason for discouraging vendors from handing out flyers. “The other problem too is if you are
traveling a four-mile stretch of the trail, what are you going to do with all this stuff? It is going to end up all over the trail,” Halterman said. “That is why unless a vendor is handing out a little backpack or something that attaches to someone’s bike that they are going to use right then, we are dissuading people from doing a bunch of giveaways.” For more information or to sign up as a vendor, contact Shonna Halterman at (559) 324-2767 or ShonnaH@CityofClovis.com.
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Clovis Roundup | 5A
City seeks to change tiered water system By Valerie Shelton | EDITOR
In 2015, cities across the state were mandated to make drastic conservation measures—in Clovis a reduction of water use by 36 percent—due to the severe California drought. During the same time, the tiered system for billing water costs to residential and commercial users came under scrutiny. The mantra was cities could not just charge more in the higher tiers as a way to get to conserve. Though the City of Clovis long had a tiered rate structure, with that structure coming under fire, city staff decided to review the rate structure with the help of a consulting firm to make sure it complies with proposition 218 requirements that state tiered water rates must be tied to the cost of service. After some analysis, staff is recommending the city change the tiered system to better reflect the city’s actual cost—which means an increase in the fixed portion of the bill and a different tiered structure where those in higher tiers are only being charged according to the extra expense that excess water actually imposes on the city’s infrastructure. While the proposed new structure is revenue neutral from a city standpoint, since the fixed rate is increasing this cane mean higher bills for some low water users. At a Feb. 16 city council meeting, Alison Lechowicz, a financial analyst from Bartle Wells Associates, presented the new rate structure being recommended. The current structure, Lechowicz explained, only charges a fixed rate of $16.80 which does not meet all the fixed costs covered by the city so that the water can get to each user’s tap. To cover the city’s fixed costs, it is proposed that the city increase the fixed rate to $21.22. As for the tiered system, residential users currently receive the first 10,000 gallons free of charge. After that initial tier, three higher tiers come into play. Under the second tier, which is 10,000 to 35,000 gallons, users are charged $1.71 per 1,000 gallons; in tier three, 35,000 to 70,000 gallons, users are charged $2.14 per 1,000 gallons; and in tier four, over 70,000 gallons, users are charged $2.57 per 1,000 gallons. This structure, Lechowicz said, does not work as those using under 10,000 gallons have no reason to conserve at all. It also doesn’t best meet the typical consumers who do fall into tier two. Instead, the new structure being proposed eliminates the 0-10,000 gallons free and tier one is considered up to
A bo u t th i s P u bl i cat i on
Clovis Roundup, Inc. Clovis Roundup is a publication that is published every other Wednesday and distributed weekly by Clovis Roundup Inc. throughout Clovis and surrounding areas as well as mailed to subscribers. 2491 Alluvial Ave., Suite 540 Clovis, CA 93611 Ph: (559) 326-2040 Fax: (559) 326-2000 (ATTN CLOVIS ROUNDUP when faxing) www.clovisroundup.com Donna Melchor - Publisher dmelchor@clovisroundup.com Ken Melchor - Vice President kmelchor@clovisroundup.com Valerie Shelton - Editor vshelton@clovisroundup.com editor@clovisroundup.com Billy Xiong - Ad Design/Production ads@clovisroundup.com Paul Meadors - Sports Editor paulmeadors@gmail.com Diana Giraldo - Reporter diananews@gmail.com Lauren Mueller - Reporter lamueller.1995@gmail.com Daniel Leon - Sports Intern Ron Sundquist - Photo Journalist Nick Baker - Sports Photographer Contributing Writers Carole Grosch - Features Carol Lawson-Swezey - Features Peg Bos - Let’s Talk Clovis April Blankinship - Police Log of Shame Eric & Paul Hinkle - Central Valley Motorsports Jeff Kollenkark - Weed Man
23,000 gallons at a charge of 86 cents per 1,000 gallons under normal conditions or a charge of $1.04 per 1,000 gallons during drought conditions. Tier two would be 23,000 to 40,000 gallons, at a cost of $1.45 per 1,000 gallons during normal conditions or a cost of $2.10 per 1,000 gallons during drought conditions. A third tier would then be anything above 40,000 gallons, with costs being $1.78 per 1,000 gallons during normal conditions or $2.66 per 1,000 gal-
lons during drought conditions. A new structure is also being proposed for commercial users (see chart). Lechowicz said increasing the fixed costs and changing the tiered structure not only meets the state’s regulations but actually works out better for the city’s water users, the majority of which will fall within tier one. Water System | page 20A
Accounting Services Teresa Stevens Certified Public Accountant (559) 974-2848 teresa@tmstevenscpa.com The Clovis Roundup is a custom publication To submit events for the CR Calender, email ads@clovisroundup.com with CALENDAR in the subject line. For Advertising, call (559) 326-2040
Ag at Large: Farming involves broad interests By Don Curlee contributed
Just in case you think farmers hold limited viewpoints, the policy manual of the California Farm Bureau Federation is a document that can
change your mind. Adopted at the annual meeting in December of the state’s largest farm organization, it establishes policy on 215 subjects and issues, possibly more than many state legislators have thought about. It is done every year to provide guidance for the organization’s leaders and background when they are asked for their opinions on vital farm issues. Not only does it offer guidelines on the obvious agricultural issues such as water, immigration, taxes and private ownership, but it provides direction on many matters of broader interest. It establishes positions on welfare, economic productivity, youth employment, preservation of urban open space, education and unmanned aircraft systems. Presenting the specific stances for so many subjects required a 28-page supplement in the organization’s January 13 publication Ag Alert. The policy section lifts out, so members can keep it handy and be informed as various subjects that are cov-
ered reach prominence in the year ahead. To make the various issues immediately accessible the last page of the insert is an index. It tells readers that Farm Bureau policy on international trade, for instance, is found in policy number 47, that policy164 deals with the boycotting of agricultural products and that policy 186 covers the termination of government agencies. Obviously the policy document serves Farm Bureau’s 53,324 California members well, encouraging them to study and review the organization’s positions, leading them to their own review, commitment and understanding. It also explains for non-members, the media, legislators, educators and other interested parties where and perhaps why the organization believes as it does. Within the agricultural industry the policy document helps those in other organizations clarify their positions, leading to actions they may take. Those may parallel the Farm Bureau’s stance or they may not, but the presence of well defined policy statements helps bring clarity and understanding across the board. Arriving at the stated policies every year requires serious and concentrated involvement by dedicated members who have special interests in and knowledge of the matters of which they speak. It’s a labor of love as they spend hours studying and discussing the various issues and formulating their own concrete opinions. The process gets underway when a number of committees composed of Farm Bu-
reau members from around the state meet to review existing policies. They recommend updates, revisions and additions, tabulated and maintained by a couple of staff members at the Sacramento headquarters. The Farm Bureau in each county sends delegates to the statewide convention every December, where they debate, finalize and adopt the policies that will guide the organization in the year ahead. Details are not overlooked. Water development, management, conveyance and sales are among the topics on which policy has been established for 2016. From policy items 68 through 90 positions regarding water are spelled out, including the recommendation for agricultural representation on state and regional water boards. From that point the topics create a litany of the concerns, goals, fundamentals and hopes of all California farmers.. The policies are broad enough to span geographic divisions, but specific enough to provide encouragement to the smallest, remotest farm operator. They offer a canopy under which the nation’s richest and most productive agricultural state can operate profitably. As independent owners and operators, the state’s farmers, even the 53.324 members of Farm Bureau, are not obligated to follow the policies blindly or to uphold them thoughtlessly. The policies are helpful guidance however for a pack of free thinkers with pickups and tractors. The seats of both have been known to develop astounding wisdom.
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6A | Clovis Roundup
Let’s Talk Clovis: The first 50 years of Clovis By Peg Bos | Clovis Museum
The Clovis Chamber of Commerce, Clovis City and a citizen committee published “The History of Clovis, 50 years of progress” ($1 per copy) to celebrate the city’s first 50 years (1912-1962). William T. Akin was the author and Mal Johnson was the Editor and Publisher. We will be sharing and quoting portions of this book. Joseph Edwin Bretz (1887-1957) was honored as an early Clovis pioneer. His father established the first mill (1875) in the Shaver area. Ed was one of the founders of the Pine Ridge School. He served on their board of trustees and on the Sierra Elementary School Board. He dedicated 19 years on the Clovis Union High School Board. His sons Lou and Bob were operating the Clovis Bretz Lumber Company in 1962. A coin (Mint Saloon, Clovis, CAL, back side: good for a 10 cent drink or cigar) was pictured. It was stated there were 10 saloons in Clovis. All saloons were closed at the 1912 incorporation since the “Dry Slate” won the election. Members of the Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Association were pictured at their new location (1897 SP depot). Vernon “Mugs” Smith was President, Wayne Rohde, Vice President, H.R. “Slim” Beaver Treasurer and Brenda Boswell Secretary. The depot was dismantled in 1970 and the Clovis Cole Hotel is now at that location. A picture of the Clovis Veterans Memorial building identified: President Carl Merriman, Superintendant of Recreation, Rex Phebus, Directors:
Edward Mesple, Hifumi Ikeda, Robert C. Burgess and Earl Smittcamp. Some of the “Facts about Modern Clovis” published: The area of Clovis Judicial District is over 206 square miles. Bus service by Moyer Stage Lines served Clovis from downtown Fresno, nine trips daily. There were 57 civic, service, fraternal, veterans and social organizations. Population: special US census 1961, 7,704; from regular 1960 census, 5,500. Clovis Unified School District: 10 elementary schools, one high school with a total of 5,950 students. We quote a paragraph titled “Solving our water problems”: “Procuring an adequate supply of water for culinary and other purposes is and has been a very important problem in Clovis as indeed it is in most of California. Our pioneers solved the problem by digging shallow wells, which was about all that was needed in the 1890s. The Enterprise and Gould ditches transferred river water to parched sands and changed a dry area where fruit trees and vines would grow abundantly. Increasing population and farming acreage through the years still makes water procurement an acute problem. Modern science, engineering and the State and Federal government have gone far to relieve this situation.” A picture submitted by Arthur H. Bier identified his father Henry B. Bier (member of the contracting firm) using early mechanical trenchers to install the water ($25,000 bond issued) and sewer ($24,000 bond issued) system. We quote: “According to some source the water table was sometimes only four feet below ground level and caused great difficulty.
Sometimes men were buried in the trenches but fortunately no lives were lost. Much of the original water line is in use in Clovis today, fifty years after it was laid.” The 1913 Clovis Water tower (south of Fifth and Hughes) constructed at that time continues to be functional. One page d i s p l a y e d pictures of snow and stated it was a birthday present for Clovis. On Jan. 21 and 22 of 1962, Clovis received two and a half inches of snow. “In 1930 Photo contributed by Clovis Museum it snowed 2 ½ inches but this was on a Sunday and it was all gone by Monday.” of Clovis Avenue provided the following Pictures of Clovis High’s new message to over 50,000 automobiles gymnasium ($250,000) and the Mercedes daily: “Clovis gateway to the Sierras. Edward modern auditorium addressed Shortest route to Fresno County the continued progress of the school that Playland: Shaver Lake, Huntington had a 1,400 pupil enrollment. Lake, Dinkey Creek, Millerton Lake.” A photo of the 1955 Clovis billboard A copy of the book is available for that was placed by Clovis Chamber of review at the Clovis Museum. It reminds Commerce on state highway 99 just south us of our rich heritage.
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Clovis Roundup | 7A
Clovis community remembers three young conservation corps employees By Valerie Shelton | editor
On Feb. 2, 2016, three young adults, all former Clovis Unified students, passed away after a car accident near Reedley. Rhonda Shackelford, 20, Justin Van Meter, 21, and Serena Guadarrama, 18, were all employees of the California Conservation Corps and were traveling to a job site when the tragic accident occurred. All three have been described by those in the community as fun, caring and motivated individuals who were excited to join the California Conservation Corps and embark on new careers. Justin Van Meter was a 2013 graduate of Clovis West High School. According to a go fund me campaign set up by his family, he was “a great son, grandson, brother and cousin. He enjoyed video games, spending time at the beach and hanging out with family and friends.” Teachers and staff members from Clovis West remember Van Meter fondly and some saw him just weeks before the accident, as he had returned to his alma mater to sign up as a volunteer. Anthony Persons, a special education teacher at Clovis West, said Van Meter was optimistic and excited about the career he just started with the CCC. “Justin was one the hardest working students I ever had the honor of knowing,” Persons said. “He was inspiring. He was always optimistic and never tired. He recently contacted me and came to Clovis West to visit. He wanted me to know that he had finally figured out what he wanted to do as a career. He showed up in his CCC uniform. He could barely contain his excitement as he shared all about the program and about some of the projects he had done. We had talked about him coming and giving a presentation to the Vocational Education students about the CCC, but he never got the chance. He did come and turn in his paperwork in order to volunteer in my special education class. I still can’t believe he’s gone.” Instructional Assistant Angie Mewhirter
Photo contributed | Justin Van Meter
Photo contributed | Rhonda Shackelford
Photo contributed | Serena Guadarrama
said she collaborated in some of Van Meter’s classes at Clovis West and got to know him over the four years he was a student. “He was such a kind, thoughtful, hard working young man, and I thoroughly enjoyed him,” Mewhirter said. “I ran into Justin in November 2015, three years following his graduation, and was excited to catch up with all he had been doing since high school. He was totally ecstatic about leaving his current job and joining the California Conservation Corps. Justin showed up at Clovis West, in uniform, in January. He was beaming as he explained that his dream had been reached at last. He went on to explain the CCC protocol and plan for his first year. I was so happy for him. The news of the accident was, and still is devastating to me. I am so very sorry for the loss of this fine young man, as well as the two ladies who lost their lives in the accident. My prayers go out to their families, and especially to the Van Meters.” Van Meter’s freshman academic counselor Janet Duke also saw him on his last visit to Clovis West. “I had just visited with Justin two weeks before his death when he initially came by Clovis West to see if he could share his CCC experiences with some of our students,” Duke said. “We chatted at lunch and he was so happy. He said he had finally found his
“niche” in life and the CCC was what he was meant to do in life. Justin remarked, ‘I am the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, I love working with the CCC.’ He was so proud of his uniform and working for such a worthwhile organization. His passing is such a loss for all of us.” Rhonda Shackelford was also from Clovis. She was a graduate of Clovis East High School and was taking courses at Clovis Community College. Her mother, Ruth Shackelford, said her daughter had a joyful, beautiful soul. “She lived every moment as it was her last and made sure those around her did the same,” Shackelford said. “She loved people, kids and animals and they loved her back. She was a free spirit and did not judge others. She held no grudges. She was loved by so many people and touched many hearts. She will be missed.” Rhonda is survived by her parents Ron and Ruth Shackelford, her brother Thomas Dwyer, her grandmother Mary “Betty Fickle and several aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Cho Vang, a guidance counselor at Clovis East, said she was shocked and saddened to hear of Shackelford’s passing. “She was such a sweet young lady, full of life, and she was always smiling,” Cho said.
“That smile of hers brought our the best in students, teachers and staff on campus.” Clovis East teacher Mignon Etcheverry said she met Shackelford when she started at Clovis East as a freshman and she had her in classes over the next four years. She recalls watching over Shackelford’s skateboard and a time when Shackelford brought her some tacos for lunch. “I will always remember her as a sweet young lady who always had a smile to give when she walked into the classroom,” Etcheverry said. “Rhonda loved to skateboard so I was the proud protector of her board during school hours since she didn’t want to carry it from class to class. She would bring it to me every morning before school started and never missed saying thank you. By the end of the day when she would come to retrieve the board, she would always have some story to tell me about how her day had gone. Rhonda was always positive and always eager to help others. She loved her family and friends. When Rhonda was old enough to go off campus for lunch, she would always offer to bring me something back. Of course, I Remembering | page 20A
True Equestrian
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, March 9, 2016
8A | Clovis Roundup
How to Pack a Stock Clinic preserves a way of life By Lauren Mueller Reporter
For Bill Van, packing stock is more than a hobby, it’s a way of life. Starting a pack stocking clinic was a way to share that way of life with his community and get more people involved. Van started his “How to Pack Stock Clinic” in 2010 after a church friend approached him and suggested he do something to help raise funds for the church. The first year, 18 people participated in the event. Last year, that number was 75. “The most important thing to me was to involve kids,” Van said. “It [the clinic] is open to high school age and older. We had an exception once for a 10-year-old.” Van’s clinic has hosted Minarets High School in the past, and the packing team of that school won the state championship in packing in 2013. For Van, this clinic is about more than a fun day working with horses and mules. It is about a “dying way of life” that he hopes to see continue in the future. It was not long ago that pack animals were used to aid fire crews during the Rough Fire in the Sierras, and Van hopes there will still be packers around in the future should they be needed again. The How to Pack Stock Clinic has thus far always taken place on the last Saturday of March, which this year will be March 26. The last day to RSVP is March 24. The Clinic is taught by volunteers and all the funds raised go to the Church of Tollhouse. This year, there will be four former world champion packers present
YEA Program Continued from front page
they’ve done a good job and they have all been very focused and are staying on track. Really all I’ve done is keep things going, keep the momentum going, keep it alive, keep the kids focused and push things ahead.” In January, Mayra Stone was brought on as the new program manager for YEA and she says she has big shoes to fill. “I’m getting up and running trying to plan a lot of stuff and pick up where Fran left off. They are really big shoes to fill and a lot of the kids thought of her as mom,” Stone said. “I’ve been scheduling appointments and getting to know people because I’m actually from Fresno so I’m not familiar with the Clovis community and how they run things so I’m getting to know new people and shake hands and it has been really great meeting the new people and a lot of them have been very supportive. It has been a great experience and I’m loving it so far.” Both Geist and Stone say this year’s YEA students have some ambitious ideas.
Photo by Lauren Mueller | Bill Van (left), Rick Austin (center) and Mike Long (right) have been a part of the How to Pack a Stock Clinic since it began in 2010. Van started it and Austin is now running it.
to teach the clinics, and Van says they all know how to teach. Rick Austin has stepped up in the last year to run the Clinic in Van’s place. This year, he is expanding the Clinic to include a competition, vendors and a tack swap. “We’re growing year by year,” Austin said. “We’re a service-oriented educational experience, teaching the technical of why and how.” The pack clinic has been used as more than a way for those interested to learn how to pack. It has hosted students in the FFA program and College Packing teams as well.
Mike Long also helps to run the clinic and he hopes the competition will continue to grow in the future. “It’s a friendly rivalry,” Long said. “Everyone comes and has a good time. We make it so nobody is intimidated.” Safety is a priority for Van, Austin and Long. In the six years the clinic has been running, there has never been an accident. The horses and mules they use are mostly retired from the pack or forest service, and they match the people with the animal to ensure the best experience for everyone. Recently, Austin started using barrels in place of horses and mules for those who
are not comfortable around the animals. Once the participant has mastered the knot they are learning to tie on the barrel, they can choose to try it on one of the animals if they feel comfortable. The clinic offers five types of packing knots – “hitches” – that participants can learn to tie, or “throw.” Those hitches include the diamond, double diamond, decker, box and squaw. To participate, the cost is $30 and lunch is included. For those who just want to watch, lunch costs $10. To RSVP for this clinic, contact Mike Long at (559) 917 – 4472 or Rick Austin at (707) 695 – 3311.
One student eventually wants to own her own bakery, specializing in cupcakes, and she would like to design a high-tech website where she can showcase photos of all her tasty sweet treats. Another plans to invent a universal backpack strap for skateboards, which will allow users to strap a skateboard to any backpack. Another wants to design clothing with motivational slogans for body builders. Nicholas Dybas said his company provides a radio streaming service for up-and-coming bands. “It is kind of like Pandora, but more localized,” he said. Rei Bioco, who enjoys graphic design, plans to add her designs to apparel. “I like to do graphic design and I started uploading my designs onto a website that will sell the shirts with my designs on them and I would make some revenue but I took that idea and figured if they can make money off of me, I can make more money off of that myself, so I’m trying to start a clothing line with my own designs,” Bioco said. Therese Santiago plans to sell hair accessories and donate a portion of the proceeds to the American Cancer Society. Some students are working together
in groups. One group of three students is creating a website for music teachers and students searching for music teachers. The site will be similar to RateMyProfessor.com, since students will be able to review their teachers. It will be a place music teachers can subscribe and put their profiles and where students and parents can find a music teacher based off their preferences. Another group of three students is creating a three new drink, similar to 5-hour energy drinks, which will provide dietary supplements to relieve anxiety, enhance focus or suppress appetite. All the students said they have learned a lot from participating in YEA and although they miss Blackney, they are impressed with how the program has continued and is an honor to her memory. “Fran had great critical thinking skills,” Colby Serpa said. “I’d never seen someone think so quickly and it caught me off guard because I went in there with a very well prepared essay and she just shot bullets and they were good bullets, like the devil’s advocate side, and it was a good way to teach and I walked out of there with a completely different mindset… Rod has worked really hard to fill
in the gaps, especially since Bill left because he was sick and then Fran passed. A lot of weight was put on his shoulders and he has done a very good job of maintaining composure and explaining everything with the full amount of energy.” Santiago said she too misses Blackney and is amazed at what Geist has done in continuing the program. “It was pretty apparent that Fran was going to motivate us to move forward but at the same time I don’t think the program skipped a beat and I feel like I’ve learned so much in these past few weeks,” Santiago said. “Rod has been a very engaging teacher and I think that he has helped a lot of us move forward by incorporating our own businesses into his lectures so we know where we have to go from where we are and what position we need to be in to move forward.” Dybas also talked about how he misses Blackney. “I loved Fran,” Dybas said. “She was always a joy and she would always smile when she saw me. While she was always tough on us, she always looked optimistically on us and our ideas and it was hard to hear that she had passed, but the academy did a good job in continuing on and I was very impressed.”
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Scene Clovis in
Clovis Roundup | 9A
Photography by Ron Sundquist
The Justice Run was held at the San Joaquin Valley College of Law on Feb. 27, 2016. Left, Jessica Sutton dresses as Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the costume contest. Right, Ken Takeuchi serves as the race official, calling each race.
Brightwood College, located at the former Kaplan College location at 44 W. Shaw, celebrated its grand opening with an open house and ribbon cutting on Feb. 26. Brightwood College President, Noha Elbaz, and Regional Director of Admission for the Education Corporation of America, Willie Triplett, cut the ribbon.
Jim Bays, a U.S. Marine veteran, auditions to sing the National Anthem for the Fresno Grizzlies at Sierra Vista Mall on Feb. 20.
Check out the Old Town Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Eat healthy and have fun in Old Town Clovis.
Sixty-four blankets were made and donated to Project Linus on Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Community Room at Sierra Vista Mall. From L-R, Alyssa Johnson, event organizer Betsy Champ, and David Johnson. Alyssa is a straight A student from Atwater who has made over 50 blankets in the last year and raised over $1,000 to buy supplies for her blanketmaking. The blankets donated to Project Linus are given to children who are critically ill and in traumatic situations.
Clovis Chamber of Commerce members enjoy lunch at Dickey’s BBQ at Herndon and Fowler on Feb. 26.
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, March 9, 2016
12A | Clovis Roundup
spectacular sights
Photography by Ron Sundquist
Yosemite National Park: A treasure in Clovis’ backyard
On Monday, Feb. 29, photographer Ron Sundquist and a group of friends traveled to Yosemite National Park. There they experienced the beauty of Yosemite Falls and a majestic Half Dome, still encircled by a bit of snow.
Vintage vehicles It wouldn’t be Old Town Clovis without a few classic vintage automobiles around. These are just a couple photographer Ron Sundquist spotted around town on Feb. 26.
Clovis Roundup honored at Gruner awards Staff Report
The Clovis Roundup won two awards at the recent Gruner awards, hosted by the Fresno Bee and California State University Fresno’s department of Mass Communication and Journalism at the Fresno Art Museum on Thursday, Feb. 25. The Roundup won honorable mention awards in two of five new categories. Editor Valerie Shelton won an honorable mention for best photo for a photo she took of a bronc rider at last year’s Clovis Rodeo. Sports Editor Paul Meadors won an honorable mention for best sports story for his in-depth sports feature on Clovis West’s Caleb Kelly, a top recruit for linebacker who ultimately chose to continue his football career at Oklahoma University. This is the first year the Clovis Roundup was invited to enter the Gruner awards. The Gruner awards are named after former Fresno Bee executive editor George F. Gruner. They were created to recognize meritorious public service in journalism. Up until this year, the only
award category was the public service journalism category, which recognizes journalists who go above and beyond with articles that illustrate the job of media as the fourth branch of government—the watchdog. While the public service category is still the highlight of the event, five new categories were added this year to honor more of the great journalism being Photo By Valerie Shelton | Gruner award-winning rodeo photo. done throughout the Photo contributed by Ben Shelton | Editor Central Valley. The Valerie Shelton and Sports Editor Paul new categories were Meadors recognized at the Gruner Awards on Best Photo, Best Edi- Thursday, Feb. 25. small daily or division. torial/Column, Best To read Paul Meador’s award-winweekly/biweekNews Story, Best ly) for each cat- ning article, visit http://theclovisroundSports Story and Best Features Story. egory and then had the option to select up.com/family-strong-caleb-kellys-riseJudges from outside the Valley selected honorable mentions in any category or to-top-football-recruit-took-a-village/ a first place in each division (large daily,
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Clovis Roundup | 13A
I
Family Features
f you’ll be hosting friends and family to honor Easter this year, make your gathering as simple as it is scrumptious with a decadent brunch menu. If you’re daunted by the diversity of dishes a brunch menu demands, remember that quality ingredients – not complex preparation – is what makes dishes truly stand out. Fresh produce and superior products instantly elevate a recipe from good to great. These brunch staples all start as basics, but get a boost with the right combination of quality ingredients: Made-to-order omelets are always a hit because they guarantee you’re serving up exactly what your guests enjoy. Use a few winning ingredients to create an easy and quick omelet base, then offer an array of toppings, including unexpected flavors such as Jarlsberg Brand Cheese. Best known for its classic wedge, this nutty, mild cheese is also available in slices – perfect for the ooey-gooey factor everyone loves in an omelet. A classic French quiche combines fresh and flavorful ingredients, is easy to make and tastes delicious hot or cold. The quiche is simple enough to make that you can prepare several varieties, giving guests plenty of options and handily filling a buffet spread. Simply prepare your crust and filling base then mix in fresh, crisp veggies that are steamed or lightly browned. Or create a savory, meaty quiche with your favorite sausage or bacon. Add some cheese before filling the crust and sprinkle some more cheese on top before baking. Finger foods bursting with flavor simply make brunch better. This recipe uses ready-rolled puff pastry sheets, rosemary and the distinctive taste of Jarlsberg Brand Cheese for a mouthwatering dish that can be featured at a tasting station or as part of a larger meal. Find more recipes for your Easter brunch at jarlsberg.com.
Easy Brunch Omelet
Makes: 4 portions Toppings: mushrooms chorizo, bacon or ham cherry tomatoes spring onions herbs Omelet: 8 eggs 8 tablespoons water or milk salt, to taste pepper, to taste 2 tablespoons butter 8 slices Jarlsberg Cheese 8 slices ham Prepare toppings. Fry mushrooms and chorizo, bacon or ham; cut cherry tomatoes and spring onions. To make omelet, crack eggs in bowl and add water, salt and pepper. Whisk eggs until they turn a pale yellow color, about 25-35 whisks. Heat frying pan on medium heat and melt butter. When butter is bubbly, add about one quarter of the egg batter. This will make one of four omelets. When batter starts setting, move hardened parts toward the middle, enabling the rest to get direct heat as well. Use a gentle hand to avoid scrambled eggs. When batter starts to look cooked, add cheese and meat and flip omelet over. The omelet should be slightly golden on fried side and a little runny and soft in the middle. Finally, put omelet on plate and add garnish before serving.
Puff Pastry Swirls Makes: 4 portions 4 ready-rolled puff pastry sheets 1 cup grated Jarlsberg Cheese 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped pepper Heat oven to 400 F. On lightly floured work surface, roll out pastry sheets into 8-by-4-inch rectangles. Mix grated cheese, rosemary and pepper. Spread mixture over puff pastry. Roll up each pastry rectangle from short end. Press edges firmly together to seal roll. Slice each roll into 2-inch thick slices. Place face down on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Tip: To make swirls rise more, don’t roll out pastry with rolling pin.
Cheesy Bacon Quiche
Make Brunch a Breeze
Skip the stress this Easter with these tips to make preparing your holiday brunch simply delicious. 1. Choose several make-ahead dishes that you can prepare well in advance, such as quiche or a breakfast bake. 2. Skip time-intensive pancakes and instead serve up a French toast casserole. 3. Prepare recipes using the highest-quality, freshest ingredients for the best results. 4. Give your meal a boost with unexpected but impactful touches, such as specialty butters, homemade jams and delicious cheeses. 5. Create beautiful and tasty accents for your buffet in minutes with pretty bowls or platters filled with colorful, seasonal fruit.
Makes: 4 portions Crust: 1 cup butter 1 cup flour 2 tablespoons water salt Filling: 1 cup bacon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 leek 4 eggs 1/2 cup Jarlsberg Cheese, plus additional for topping, grated 3 tablespoons parsley 4 tablespoons cream Heat oven to 400 F. In large bowl, mix butter, flour, water and salt together. Knead thoroughly to make firm dough. Pack dough in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Press dough into full surface of pie plate and cover with aluminum foil. Prebake in oven 10 minutes, then remove aluminum foil and bake another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in frying pan on medium heat, saute bacon. Add leek at end of cooking time. In bowl, whisk eggs and cream together and add grated cheese, parsley, bacon and leek. Pour filling into crust and top with grated cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, or until edge is golden brown and center is set. Tip: To save time, use premade pie crust and bake according to package directions.
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, March 9, 2016
14A | Clovis Roundup
Sheriff Mims and Chief Basgall give state of public Safety safety at Feb. 18 forum Spotlight on
By Valerie Shelton | EDITOR
Members of the Clovis community got some insight about the state of public safety in the area at a Thursday, Feb. 18 forum hosted by the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. During the forum, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims and Clovis Police Chief Matt Basgall gave their thoughts on a variety on hot topics—from the impact of AB 109 and Prop. 47 to concealed carry weapons permits to the possible legalization of marijuana in the state of California. Those in attendance had the opportunity to ask the Sheriff and Chief their burning questions about these issues. Below are some of the questions asked at the forum, along with answers from Mims and Basgall. Question: What would you say are some of the biggest challenges that you face? Mims: I think the biggest challenge for me is it seems that everything we put in place in the past to keep the public safe is starting to be unraveled with legislation or initiatives. The things we put in place like “Three Strikes” and “Use a Gun and You’re Done” really helped us keep you safer and the crime rates are proof of that. The crime rates since “Three Strikes,” for instance, have dramatically across the state gone down since we passed that measure. Now, there have been measures passed that are unraveling that. In fact, we have one pending; the governor’s initiative that is called the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act, which does some things to take away some measures in “Three Strikes.” It
lets people out of prison earlier for good behavior and it is similar to other rehabilitation acts and I’m afraid it is going to have the same effects—our crime rates are going to go up. Just in Fresno County between 2014 and 2015, remember with AB 109 which is another issue that moved some crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, our violent crime rates in 2015 went up by 16 percent. The argument is it’s too expensive to keep people in prison and my position is sometimes it is more expensive when they are not in prison. Basgall: Along with what the sheriff was saying, Prop. 47 has impacted the City of Clovis dramatically as well. Right after Prop. 47 went into Photo by Valerie Shelton | Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims and Clovis Police Chief Matt Basgall at a public effect that first quarter we safety forum hosted by the Clovis Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 18. saw a 55 percent jump in burglary, with vehicle burglary specifically, and that tailored off was taken away when they were labeled liability and how the gun works when you after a while, but you really have to find misdemeanors. The big push is to get people shoot it, I think the training is important. It ways to adjust your police department and into rehabilitation programs so they can get is a very personal decision. I’ve had some your staffing and come up with creative help so there isn’t that hammer coming people go through the class and training solutions and ways to combat that. Those down so they can go to the rehabilitation and say, I don’t think it is for me and that numbers have since come back down but program. That really impacted us right is Ok. It is a way to help you make up your the reality, specifically under Prop. 47 with away. mind. People ask me what gun they should the drug crimes, is we had the ability to put Question: Can you explain the get and I always say, the gun they are most people in jail on felonies and that ability process of getting a concealed carry weapon comfortable shooting. permit? Question: What is it that a CCW Mims: What I’ve made available to all allows you to do and if you don’t have a the chiefs in the county is if they want to CCW what are you allowed to do? defer to me for that process they can and Mims: You are not required to have Chief Basgall has done that and if you a CCW to have a weapon in your home live anywhere in Fresno County in any or business, so the CCW allows you to incorporated city you can apply through the carry a concealed weapon on your person sheriff’s office for a CCW. If you want to anywhere in the state of California. Now, apply within the city, you have to make sure I will say that San Francisco may be the that the chief in that city does it. The process exception. I talked with a San Francisco PD is you can go online through the sheriff’s officer just last week and I asked “Is it true office website, www.fresnosheriff.org, that if a CCW carrier goes to San Francisco there is a second amendment icon and you and they are stopped that their gun can be click on it and up will come the instructions confiscated?” and she said yes, in their local as well as the application. You do have to ordinance, you cannot, even though it is state go through to DOJ background check and law, they will confiscate your weapon and fingerprint. That usually takes a while and peace officers are not exempt so if you are normally that is the longest wait. You will not on duty and involved in an investigation be interviewed with a member of my staff and you’re a peace officer that could happen and they are all very knowledgeable and to you in San Francisco which is amazing you take a class, I think it is very important that you not only know the laws, your civil Spotlight on Safety | page 20A
Remembering Continued from page 7a
always brought a lunch and never took her up on the offer. On day, however, she overheard me say that I had forgotten my lunch. Half way through the lunch period, my door opens and Rhonda walks in with tacos from Taco Bell for the both of us. We sat in my room eating those tacos and laughing together. I will miss Rhonda and her smile, but mostly her enthusiasm for life. There is indeed, one more angel in heaven.” Serena Guadarrama was former student at Gateway High School. According to a go fund me campaign page created by her family, Guadarrama had just turned 18 and “was very proud to be working to help provide for herself and would often walk miles to the bus stop at 5 a.m. to get to work.” The Roundup was unable to get a hold of
Guadarrama’s family members or friends, but assemblyman Jim Patterson, who adjourned a California State Assembly meeting on Feb. 8 in honor of the three young CCC workers described her as being a mentor and volunteer. “She was a mentor to her classmates at Gateway High School and she volunteered at a local shelter for survivors of domestic violence,” Patterson said. “She was determined to make a better life for herself and she did so with humor and a beautiful smile.” All three families set up go fund me campaigns to help raise funds for funeral expenses. The campaigns are still active. To donate to the family of Justin Van Meter, visit https://www.gofundme.com/y9muwxb4 To donate to the family of Rhonda Shackelford, visit https://www.gofundme.com/beautifulrhonda To donate to the family of Serena Guadarrama, visit https://www.gofundme. com/rmmtgtn8.
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
This Week’s Sudoku Puzzle Like puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mindbending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test!
If there is a crime in progress, or something else that you need an officer to respond to, please dial 911 for emergencies and 559-3242800 for non-emergencies. Our social media accounts here on FB, Twitter, NextDoor, and on our app are great for questions, crime tips, on-going issues, and other miscellaneous topics, however they are not monitored constantly. Remember, if you see something, say something! Do not let suspicious looking vehicles, people, or circumstances wait -call us immediately! Courtesy of the Clovis Police Department
Log of Shame By April Blankinship | contributed
February 17, 2016 A vehicle break in was reported when a man who was out to dinner with his wife and son returned to his car to find the passenger door wide open. Mamma accidently forgot to lock the door and the thief helped himself to her purse, a silver sports bag belonging to junior that had two Xbox systems and a handful of games and three air soft guns belonging to dad. Looks like the thief stole something from each family member and this family really needs to re-evaluate using their car as a foot locker!
Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
- tip of the day -
Clovis Roundup | 15A
February 18, 2016 Looks like some slime sucking burglars are getting a jump on this sunshine and starting to think about summer! Homeowners over on Goshen Ave reported that while they were at work someone walked into their backyard, disconnected and stole their ground AC unit. For the record, I hope you drop it on your toe when you unload it from your truck. Shameful.
LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE ANSWERS
February 19, 2016 A woman in an apartment called to report a very OCD criminal had broken into her storage closet on her deck and taken the contents. They stole all her car wash supplies, auto wax and detail kit. Hey dude, while you’re on the run, you mind at least shining up her car before you take off? It’s really the least you could do!
A R OU N DUP FAV O R I T E
February 20, 2016 Word to the wise: if you are driving on a suspended license from receiving a DUI, don’t drive a flashy hot rod too fast down Temperance Avenue. That being said, three cheers for the genius who thought it would be a great idea to race his gold Corvette on a suspended license! I’m sorry, how is it you thought you weren’t getting caught? February 21, 2016 Oh man, or woman. A fiery mad woman called to report the theft of a package off of her front porch! She had been waiting all week for her client’s products to ship and be delivered to find out that they had been and someone had stolen the box, containing $600 dollars of women’s cosmetics. That make-up is now adorning the lovely faces of criminals’ girlfriends’ citywide. February 22, 2016 At 8 p.m. a man was booked for being intoxicated in public and subsequently also having a warrant for a related incident. Listen, if you are hammered at 8 p.m. on a Monday night with a warrant for doing the same thing earlier in the year, you might want to admit defeat and entertain the possibility that you might, maybe, most likely, have a problem son! February 23, 2016 A man over on Burlingame learned a hard fast lesson about drinking on vacation today! He had the week off for some much needed vacation time and by 4 p.m. had far more to drink then he normally does. His neighbor found him passed out on his front lawn and the man woke up to an EMT nudging him to see if he was breathing! Pretty sure the drunk tank wasn’t on his top choice of vacation destination options but that’s where he ended up! February 24, 2016 A neighboring city called to advise that they located one of our stolen vehicles. A man reported his small vintage VW stolen over a month ago and was so happy to hear that it had been found. Unfortunately it wasn’t too difficult to locate sitting on the front porch of a woman’s home where a very intoxicated man lost control and ran it right up her handicap ramp! Luckily no one was hurt, but the Beetle definitely has some new nicks on the hood! February 25, 2016 A girl was arrested and released to appear in court when an officer recognized her walking down the street. Knowing the girl, and knowing she had a warrant for her arrest, an officer stopped the girl who was walking hand in hand with a young man. Apparently her boyfriend had no clue she had been in trouble with the law because when the officer arrested her he asked to be excused and ran at the speed of light to get home. Pretty sure little Miss Behaven is going to need to find a new beau. February 26, 2016 A woman was caught stealing clothing in her oversized bag purse from a local department store. An associate over in jewelry noticed her stuffed purse had a department store tag sticking out of it and alerted loss prevention officers. Sure enough the woman had almost a $1,000 in merchandise in her purse. (She clearly has expensive taste and was pocketing high priced items she couldn’t afford!) Well, no need to keep up with any appearances now sugar, no one wears jewelry in jail! February 27, 2016 Around 11 p.m. at night a young woman called police when she heard people in her front yard and noises banging at her car. Police arrived with quickness but not in time to catch whoever thought it was a good idea to throw raw eggs all over the front yard and a few at her car! The next door neighbor however saw the whole thing when he had gone to his truck to get his phone charger and took a picture of the license plate on the lifted truck that drove off with five teenagers in the bed throwing eggs! Three words: GROUNDED FOR LIFE. *The above Police Logs are loosely based on actual events. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. The circumstances have been created and embellished for your entertainment.
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, March 9, 2016
16A | Clovis Roundup
Money Skills for Millennials! Contributed by FCFCU
As everybody knows, saving money is a lot easier said than done, especially on a millennial’s starting salary. After rent, insurance, utilities, Internet and all of the other expenses have been paid, a millennial’s paycheck may not stretch all that far. That’s one reason to attend Fresno County Federal Credit Union’s exciting, interactive and free event, “Money Skills for Young Adults” on Tuesday, March 15 at the Cedar and Nees branch. Make your reservation by calling (559) 252-5000. Here are a few tips millennials will learn to start getting into the habit of saving money: 1. Know Your Worth. Keep track of your finances by creating a budget. Use an app, spreadsheet or (the old fashioned way) a piece of paper to figure out exactly how much
Water System Continued from page 5a
“We really had to look at each type of cost the city incurs to provide water service and how we are going to recover each part of the cost from customers,” Lechowicz said. “As a second step we had to think about whether these costs are fixed costs or are these costs related to each unit of water that passes through the system. What we are proposing is we found that the city’s fixed costs are higher than the current rates recover so instead of the currently residential bimonthly fixed charge of $16.80, we are proposing to increase it to $21.22 and that really recovers the cost of keeping infrastructure online ready to go as soon as that customer turns on the tap, water is ready to come out. There is tremendous cost for maintaining that infrastructure for customers. “We’re also proposing to eliminate the current water allowance. Customers are allowed to use up to 10,000 gallons
you’re making, how much you’re spending, and where your money is going. The more aware you are of your financial situation, the less likely you are to overspend. 2. Learn to Say “No.” An inevitable part of learning how to control your finances is being more financially responsible. Being able to decline a purchase is an amazing way to save money. 3. Understand Your Money Problems. Are you an impulsive shopper? Do you get all the latest electronic gadgets? Whatever your money habits are, develop strategies to manage them. If you can’t function without a morning latte, consider finding a way to make one at home instead of buying one every morning. 4. Save Money Where You Can Watch It Grow. Instead of leaving your money in a checking account, invest some of it. Open bimonthly in their base minimum charge before the metered water rate comes into effect and a more fair way to do it is to charge customers even at low levels of use per gallon because right now if a customer uses 8,000 gallons they are really paying a monthly fee for 10,000 and that doesn’t encourage that 8,000 gallon user to reduce water consumption further, no not really. We proposed to adjust the tiered rate structure to better account for the current consumption patterns so the peak users are assigned to the top tier, the most expensive tier, midlevel usage would be at the second tier and a base level of average use would be the cheapest tier. We also looked at drought water usage versus normal year water usage and we would propose that the city adopt the drought rate and if water conditions approve, the city can transition to the non-drought rate schedule.” If approved after public notice and the public hearing process, the rates would not be able to go up by more than three percent annually, at the discretion of the council. That three percent optional annual increase
an interest earning savings account and contribute regularly. Look into investing in a mutual fund. 5. Get Organized. Paying all your bills can be difficult, but if you get yourself organized, you can save. Set up automatic payments with your credit union or bank. That way, you’ll avoid late fees and you won’t stress about whether you paid that bill. 6. Set Financial Goals. It’s the most effective way to save money because financial goals give you a clear reason not to overspend. Make small, short-term achievable goals for yourself (like saving $75 from the next two paychecks). 7. You Aren’t Too Young to Think About Retirement. Start up a retirement fund. Ask about your company’s 401K plan, and start dedicating a few bucks from each paycheck to it. Fresno County Federal Credit Union has accounts and services to get you on the right track! Visit FresnoCU.com for more information. is similar to the optional annual increase amounts for wastewater and garbage rates. The council has traditionally chosen not to increase unless needed and have even instead approved decreases in these areas. In addition to the new rate structure, staff also recommends increases certain fees. Currently, the fee for meter testing is $60 and it is recommended it increase to $84. The after hours turn on fee is currently $125, which they propose to increase to $174. The same day turn on for water shutoffs is currently $50 and that also is recommended to be increased to $60. While council members understand the new structure is needed the meet state regulations, some said they were concerned about the impact the new structure would have on those using the least amount, who are used to the low fixed rate and the $0 cost for those first 10,000 gallons. While that only accounts for a small percentage of the city’s consumers, Mayor Pro Tem Bob Whalen said it is significant to them, especially since the last set of increases in 2010, 2011 and 2012 were large increases.
“I know we haven’t had an increase since 2012, but the one before that was a bit of a doozy,” Whalen said. “If I recall, it was January of 2010 there was a 20 percent increase. In July of 2010, there was an additional 15 percent increase. In July of 2011, there was a 15 percent increase and in July of 2012, there was another 5 percent increase…I think my hope was perhaps that would be enough for a very long time and that we would not have to have another increase.” Although those increases in 2010, 2011 and 2012 were large, city staff noted that those were the first increases since 1993. According to Lechowicz, the city of Clovis water rates under both the old and new structures are low compared to neighboring cities. The council made no decisions at the Feb. 16, but set a public hearing for April 11, 2016. As part of the process, if 50 percent plus one of constituents object to the new water rates they will not be approved and the city would have to go back to the drawing board.
2016 CLOVIS CALENDAR -March-
Veterans Documentary Movies Showing Sunday, March 13, 2016 View a short film about a conflict veterans served after the film open time to share a veteran’s story social time. This is open to all veterans and members of the community. Movies are shown on the second Sunday of each month. Place: Clovis Veteran’s Memorial building, 5th & Hughes Time: 2:00 p.m. Contact: Bill Rogers, 559-273-9006. Soroptimist International of Clovis presents our Wine & Cheese Extravaganza Tuesday, March 15, 2016 It will be a girl’s night out! Bring your friends and discover how much you can make a difference for women and girls. Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Place: Book Barn, 640 Clovis Avenue, Clovis, CA To RSVP or more info: Judith (559) 905-9574 City of Clovis Annual Easter Egg Hunt Saturday, March 19, 2016 Carnival games and arts and crafts start at 10:00am with an egg hunt immediately following. The Easter Bunny will also make a special appearance! This event is for children 12 and under and is free to the community. Hop on over for some fun and be sure to bring your own basket to collect eggs. Place: Sierra Bicentennial Park on Sunnyside Avenue between Herndon and Sierra. Time: 10:00 a.m.
For more info: City of Clovis Recreation at 559-324-2780.
Spring Into Your Garden Festival Saturday, March 19 Come to the Clovis Botancial Garden and take a tour, hear from expert presenters on garden topics, enjoy a plant sale and kids dish garden project (make and take). Breakfast and lunch will be available for purchase. Donation $5. CBG members and children free. Time: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Place: Clovis Botanical Garden, 945 N. Clovis (at Dry Creek Park, just north of Alluvial Ave.) Contact: Georgia Porcella, (559) 287-2320 Website: www.ClovisBotanicalGarden.org Antique and Collectable Fair March 20, 2016 Old Town’s biannual antiques and collectibles event features more than 90 dealers. A variety of vendors offer a plethora of items: colorful jewelry, pots, pans, toys, books and old magazines, records, musical instruments, Army memorabilia, furniture, glassware, clothes and much more! Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Place: Old Town Clovis on Pollasky Avenue Info: http://oldtownclovis.org/antiquescollectibles-fair/ 1868 Academy Methodist Church – Good Friday Service Friday, March 25, 2016 Time: 6:30 p.m. Place: Hwy 168 (Tollhouse Road) & Madsen (10558 N. Madsen).
1868 Academy Methodist Church – Easter Service Sunday, March 27, 2016 Time: Sunrise, 6:30 am. Potluck, 12:30 pm. Easter Service, 2:00 pm. Place: Hwy 168 (Tollhouse Road) & Madsen (10558 N. Madsen). For more info: 299-6387 or 299-6484 -AprilVeterans Documentary Movies Showing Sunday, April 10, 2016 View a short film about a conflict veterans served after the film open time to share a veteran’s story social time. This is open to all veterans and members of the community. Movies are shown on the second Sunday of each month. Place: Clovis Veteran’s Memorial building, 5th & Hughes Time: 2:00 p.m. Contact: Bill Rogers, 559-273-9006. Fiesta for CASA Fundraiser Dinner Hosted by Moms Club of Fresno North Friday, April 29, 2016 Join us for a Fiesta themed dinner. We are estimating from our previous fundraiser that we will have 150-200 guests. The proceeds will be going to CASA of Fresno and Madera. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates - neutral volunteers who speak for children in foster care. To displaced children CASA stands for hope in a time of turmoil. The proceeds will help to train more CASA’s for children who need a voice in court.
Thank you to all of you that attended our last fundraiser. We were able to donate over $15,000 to the Cancer Survivorship Program at Valley Children’s Hospital. We would love if you could join us for this year’s event. It will be lots of fun. Tickets and tables are available. Time: 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Place: Falls Event Center, 4105 West Figarden Dr, Fresno CA 93722 Tickets: Tickets are for $45 (including dinner and drinks) per person and $400 for a table of ten. For tickets or more info: Email Fatima at taimee_82@yahoo.com or purchase them online at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/fiestafor-casa-hosted-by-moms-club-of-fresnonorth-tickets-21492562834?aff=affiliate1
Clovis Trail Fest Saturday, April 30, 2016 Trail Fest is a new family event in Clovis along the Old Town Trail and Dry Creek Trail from Sierra Vista Mall to Dry Creek Park. Designed to promote health, wellness, and healthy activities along our trails, people can bike, walk, or skate along the trail and enjoy activities, demonstrations, live music, and snacks. The event is free to the community, and we are seeking organizations who would like to provide an activity, music, or snack along the trail during the event as well as organizations to help fund map design, signage, and amenities such as portable toilets. Time: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. For more information or to sign up, contact Shonna Halterman at (559) 324-2767 or ShonnaH@CityofClovis.com
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Clovis Roundup | 17A
Group of students and community members share objections to dress code, present board with petition By Valerie Shelton | editor
The dress code was once again a hot topic of discussion at the Feb. 24 Clovis Unified School District board meeting. Fifteen students and community members spoke during public comments, sharing their objections to the current dress code and the changes they would like to see the district implement. A petition containing 3,500 signatures from people in opposition to the current dress code was also presented to the board. Some who spoke simply stated their opinions on certain aspects of the dress code, notably boys hair length restrictions, while others gave greater impassioned speeches on gender equity and the importance of allowing students to express themselves according to their gender identity. A handful of transgender individuals in the community spoke up. One was transgender woman Karen Adell Scot, the Executive Director and Founder of TransCare, an organization dedicated to helping transgender human beings with their transitions and defending their rights. Prior Scot’s transition, she worked as an award winning science teacher at Clovis High in the mid-80s. She currently works at Yosemite High School in Oakhurst. She said fixing the CUSD dress code to allow for gender equity goes beyond just giving students the ability to express themselves—for transgender students having this freedom can be the difference between life and death. “I’m here to represent the one in 300 students in your district, who are in your el-
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Students and community members wore stickers with statements like “I deserve to be myself” at a Feb. 24 CUSD school board meeting.
ementary schools, your junior high schools and your high schools and adult schools who are transgender,” Scot said to the board. “Transgender students have tremendous issues and tremendous problems they face. Not only do they know that they are the opposite gender of their biological shape how they were born and when they were young, but they grow up having disdain and they are ostrasized and shamed and shunned for who they are.” Scot goes on to explain the high suicide
Photo by Valerie Shelton | A group of students at the Feb. 24 meeting.
rate among transgender teens. “The average suicide attempt rate in United States for junior high and high school students is 8 percent, which is terrible, but the average suicide attempt rate among transgender students without bullying is 43 percent,” Scot said. “If you cause problems with these students either in their homes or at school through bullying, then the suicide attempt rate jumps to 57 percent. If a student is bullied at school and they feel threatened, their suicide attempt rate can jump to over 80 percent. Ladies and gentlemen, you have one in 300 students in your district that you are forcing to look in a way that does not rep-
resent their gender identity. You need to consider their lives, you need to consider how they feel, you need to consider that they are in danger and you need to protect them by changing your dress code.” Also speaking against the current dress code was Buchanan senior William Pleasant. Pleasant was almost denied the ability to register for school last summer because of his long hair. The current dress code states that boys cannot have their hair past their earlobes. Some young men can get waivers from the district to wear their hair long for cultural or religious purposes, but Pleasant’s Dress Code | page 18A
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, March 9, 2016
18A | Clovis Roundup
Dress Code Continued from page 17A
initial requests for such a waiver was denied because his mixed race (African American and white) does not have a cultural tradition of wearing long hair. Pleasant said being forced to sit in the office and miss valuable class time just because of his hair length was wrong. “I’m here to advocate on behalf of fellow students because I believe that no student should be denied their education because of the way they present themselves or how they look,” Pleasant said. “The dress code that is currently in place doesn’t benefit the education of students but rather hurts it. The biggest distraction I got as someone who received excessive disciplinary actions for my hair length, which is out of dress code right now, was having to explain to my peers the reason I had missed so much class and why I wasn’t in class with them and not being in school and not getting teacher instruction and being stuck in student services where I had several in school suspensions and was threatened to not be able to take my finals because of it. Pleasant also said he doesn’t feel the waiver process is adequate. “No person should have to justify the reason they present themselves the way that they do. It is absurd,” he said. Pleasant said he also doesn’t understand the district’s argument that the current dress code prepares its students for the real world and professional career environments. “The dress code does not prepare students for college or the real world,” Pleasant said “As someone who has not graduated yet, I can’t say definitively whether or not finding a job will be impacted by someone wearing earrings or long hair, but I can safely say an employer probably will not deny you a job because you have hair or earrings and if they did it is still your choice to work there, it is not your choice to go to a CUSD school unless you are forced to go to another one just so you can be who you are.” Several other students like Pleasant, in-
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Buchanan High student William Pleasant, who was almost not allowed to register for school due to his hair being out of dress code, spoke about how the dress code limits students’ ability to express themselves.
cluding his sister, spoke before the board. Buchanan junior Rei Bioco, who is the president of the Gay Straight Alliance at Buchanan, presented a petition against the dress code to the board. “A petition was created in the hopes of swaying you, the CUSD board, to reevaluate the act of changing the dress code and its language,” Bioco said. “The petition was posted on social media and students, parents, alumni and community members swiftly took to spreading it around. It was posted the day after the ruling and it has gathered over 3,500 signatures. That is 3,500 people who do believe you should take another look at changing the dress code.” On Jan. 27 , the board rejected staff’s recommendation to change the dress code to allow for longer hair length and earrings for boys, as well as change current language specifying skirts and dresses as being for girls only. The board plans to re-evaluate the dress code again at a later meeting.
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Former student Macui Love speaks against the current dress code.
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Karen Adell Scot, the Executive Director and Founder of TransCare, speaks about transgender students and their rights.
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Clovis Roundup | 19A
Senior Sweethearts: Eugenie and Avo Massoyan share their love story Reporting and Photography by Diana Giraldo
Eugenie and Avedis (Avo) Massoyan have been married for 52 years. Their love story began in Syria during a mutual family friends wedding – it was love at first sight. From the first moment Avo set his eyes on the longhaired beauty he knew he wanted to get married and live the rest of his life with her. Through adversity and prosperity they have held together and now have the privilege to grow old together. Communication, Eugenie said, is the key. How did you two meet? Eugenie: At that time we are not allowed to have freedom to date anybody. People would think, “She is a bad girl. She is going out with boys,” – gossip, you know. So one time I had to go to a wedding with my dad and mom, and (Avo) was with his sister and he ended up going to a wedding – the same wedding I went. I didn’t see him. He saw me at a distance and he pointed at me and said to his sister, “That girl over there is beautiful.” His sister knew my dad, so they came over to my parents’ house and I had to make coffee and serve – you know this is an old traditional country. So he looked at me and I looked at him and thought, “Oh, he is handsome.” So I thought well that’s all I know about him, my parents have to find out more about him, if he is a good guy or bad guy for me. My dad knew his parents. Then he questioned and he figured that since he comes from a good family, he should be a good guy. He OK’d it. Even when there was another guy who was in love with me, my dad didn’t allow me to marry him. So I ended up engaged with Avo because [my father] OK’d him. We got engaged and seven months later we ended up getting married. At the beginning, we started going out but, not alone. At the beginning my brother had to come to me. Then at the end we ended up going out together alone, when he used to come and get me with my parents’ permission. Seven months later we ended up getting married, in June 9, 1963. It’s normal, at that time in that country to get married fairly quickly. It’s funny now in this country. During that time in Syria people who were my age they used to do the same thing. They used to have to go out with their parents’ permission. If I go out and my neighbors would see me everyday with a different man they would gossip and nobody wants to marry you then. What was a typical date for you two? Eugenie: We couldn’t really do anything, maybe hold each other’s hand and go to movies or plays. He used to sneak around every once in a while at my parents’ kitchen and kiss me, but nothing else. That’s all we were allowed to do. We couldn’t really do anything exciting. He used to sneak a kiss and a hug when he was at my house and I would always tell him that my father was going to see us. What caught your eye when you met her? Avo: When I first saw her at church, I saw her hair long. I love long her hair, but now she
has to cut it. When I saw her I thought, “I going to marry this lady, no matter what I am going to marry her.” Eugenie: No matter what, he said. Even if my parents said no, because my parents had to give me permission. I had lots of guys ask for my hand but I wasn’t allowed to, my parents had to OK it. They asked me, don’t get me wrong, if they liked him. And my parents they would ask me, “Ok what do you think about Avo. Would you like to marry him?” And I could say, OK or no he’s ugly. I could say that. They didn’t force me; they just needed to make sure this was a good person for me to marry. When did you two move to America? Eugenie: We came in 1977. We came as immigrants. We had three children already when we came. In 1976 we came to visit, my brothers were living here. We came to visit them and my husband said, “I like this country because it’s a more Christian country.” And we are Christian, and we wanted to raise them in a Christian country instead of raising kids in a Muslim country – and if you have more than one son in Syria they can take your sons in the mandatory army. They never did anything bad to us, but we are Christian. We lived a good comfortable life when we were in Syria. We didn’t have any problems. Avo, during that time was the youngest brother so he taking care of his parents. So when we were engaged when he was 28 and I was 18. Two months after we got married he opened up his mechanic shop. Being married for 52 years is almost a full lifetime, how has it been? Eugenie: It’s not easy. We have had financial ups and downs. When I got married, within the first month I got pregnant with twin girls. I had a miscarriage after five months, so the doctors told me not to get pregnant for six months. Then after six months I got pregnant with my son. I had a very handsome little boy. Everybody loved him. When he was about 17 months he got polio. I didn’t believe it because my mom and dad had five children we were all in good health. I didn’t think that would happen to my child. That’s the first one. And then five years later I had my daughter. She was a very healthy girl. She was going to college to become a psychiatrist. She was doing three different job a cosmetology job, and two home care jobs. All of a sudden her throat hurt and she took antibiotic. She was 27 when she asked me and my husband to go together to Syria to visit her cousin’s house and while we were there they diagnosed her with leukemia. I thought that was unbelievable she was a healthy girl; how could that happen to my daughter? I thought they had to be sick or weak to get leukemia. I thought because we were in Syria they were misdiagnosing her, but it was true she had leukemia. We took her from Syria to a hospital in Lebanon with an ambulance and they took
care of her over there giving her chemotherapy. They made her feel a little better and we flew back to Fresno. When we got back home her hair started falling and my sister, who is a registered nurse at Kaiser, asked her if she wanted to go to a hospital. So when they took her to a hospital the next day they said she was dehydrated and they diagnosed her again. All together it took eight months and she died from leukemia when she was 28. Then I had another son, he is 42 years old now. He’s a graphic designer. We had sad times when she died. When she died we were both depressed. Every little thing bothered him and bothered him. It was hard during that time but if I divorced him, what was I going to do. We don’t believe in divorce. We’ve had good times. We used to be travelers and dancers. And no matter if they are good times or bad times, you never have to think about getting divorce. What advice could you give couples who are going through tough times? How do they overcome it together? Eugenie: The most important thing is communication. If I am mad at him and I say, “If he did this to me then I am going to do more to him,” then it turns into a cycle and then it gets blown up and then what can you do, you can’t live together. I had times I felt like choking him, but that is temporary. Maybe he has felt the same way about me; nobody is perfect. But if something is happening, talk to each other and listen to each other. Explain to each other why. If the person understands then he
will see I am right or he will say I am wrong and he should explain to me why I am wrong. And then we get over it and get happy afterward. You have to communicate and fix the problem. Avo: Every week maybe 25, 30 times I tell her, “Sweetheart, I love you.” One year, one time maybe she tells me once or twice. Eugenie: I don’t say that all the time because I was not raised like that. I don’t have that habit. Now it’s so funny. We just argue shortly and then we just get over it, nothing happens. Who cares? It doesn’t work to worry to stay angry at each other; that is not going to solve the problem. Talk it out and smooth it out. Out of all the places you two have traveled, which experience did you like the most? Eugenie: I think we liked most of them. But I will never forget, when we went to Hawaii we got on a love boat to take a little cruise there so there was a band and dinner – a dinner and dance. And they were playing swing and we didn’t take classes, but we were good swing dancers. We got up and started dancing. All these young kids, tourist people, all kinds of people were clapping. And we were dancing wild. Even when we finished the boat ride and we were walking to the hotel I hear, “You guys are good dancers.” So we enjoyed those things.
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, March 9, 2016
20A | Clovis Roundup
Spotlight on Safety Continued from page 14a
to me. Anywhere in the state of California other than that, you can carry the weapon if you have a CCW on your person or even in your vehicle. Without a CCW, you can have an unloaded gun in your vehicle completely separate from the ammunition. You can’t have access to either one so locked up in truck separately. Question: What happens to drug offenders now under Prop. 47 who are charged with misdemeanors instead of being arrested? Mims: It is a very sad aspect of Prop. 47. The intention was, we’ll make these misdemeanors so that people can get into programs, get better, be cured and then they don’t have a felony on their record. The fact is that people are not getting into programs, they are just deciding that, ‘oh, it’s just a misdemeanor? No problem,’ and they are not taking advantage of the program so that is a very sad side effect of Prop. 47. The other reason that was used to get it to pass was that it is just too expensive to lock people up. Well, it costs me currently about $36,000 a year to house an inmate and that is if they have no medical issues, just care, feeding, clothing. Now, somebody who is addicted steals to support their habit and often they steal from their families and their friends. To support a $100 a day habit, you have to steal about $1,000 worth of stuff because you only get 10 cents on the dollar for stolen property so that is $1,000 a day, 365 days a year, so that means $365,000 worth of stuff per year they have to sell in order to support their $100 a day habit and that effects all of us, our insurance rates and in all kinds of ways we don’t even think about so when you talk about costs, if it is too expensive to house somebody
in jail, well $36,000 a year compared to the $365,000 a year impact that somebody could have. I’m telling you that when we have a captured audience to provide those programs too it is much better in my view that they are in jail because I have people come to me and say they got better because they went to jail and I’m good with that. Basgall: We find that most crimes, we’re dealing with people who are under the influence when they commit the crime. When we are out catching burglars in the middle of the night, they are either under the influence or they are addicts looking for money to support their habit. It really is just a vicious circle for us where we give the person a ticket and take their drugs for that time frame and they get right back on the streets, away they go and their next mission in life is to go find more drugs and usually that means finding another victim in order to get enough money to do so. It is unfortunate and I think that is our biggest challenge we talk about what are new ways we can look at solving this problem. We have talked about doing round ups and taking them all to Judge Chittick and finding people with warrants and saying, here you go judge, but we’re always looking for new ways and creative ideas to try and solve this problem as best we can. Question: The compassionate use act dealt with people being able to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. What has been the impact when it comes to that particular act? Mims: I truly believe that the way it has turned out is not what people who were compassionate voted for because what happened is the actual part of marijuana that may be helpful medically is being reduced and the THC content, the hallucinogen, is going up. Prop. 215 outlined glaucoma and cancer and HIV but in the law at the very end sentence of one of the statutes says “or any other condition that a physician
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims
may think can be alleviated through the use of marijuana.” So, what we have are very young people who can’t sleep, don’t have an appetite, they’re anxious, their back hurts, their knee hurts, whatever, it can be anything and they can get a recommendation, not a prescription but a recommendation, from a doctor. It is still illegal federally which causes all kinds of problems. When we had dispensaries open in Fresno County, and we shut them all down, but as we were doing surveillance on them we didn’t see people walking up with cancer or in wheelchairs who looked very sick, we saw mostly young men in their 20s riding bicycles or on their skateboards going up to the dispensary to get medicine. Now, how do I know they weren’t very sick, I’m not a doctor, but what we saw was not the kind of person many thought were going to
be helped when they voted for Prop. 215. The Colorado experience is a very good example. They are not making the revenue off of the taxed marijuana because they have medical marijuana where you don’t have to pay tax on the medical marijuana, but then they have the recreational marijuana where you do pay the tax, well everybody has their medical marijuana card and no one is paying the taxes so they don’t have the revenue they thought. Then, there is an increase in motor vehicle accidents as a result, an increase in emergency admissions at the hospital because of marijuana usage and an increase in their youth using marijuana, all the things that are bad have increased as a result. There was a poll I saw the other day that if Colorado voters had the ability to vote today on legalizing marijuana, the majority of voters would say no.
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Clovis North loses D1 title game, 2B Buchanan Boys soccer D1 Champs, 3B Gymnastics, 5B An Invisible Illness, 9B Central Valley Motorsports, 10B Clovis Rodeo Tickets office open, 11B
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B SECTION
March 9, 2016 | Vol. 7 No.1
Domination nation:
Clovis West girls win fourth straight D-1 title
Photo by Nick Baker | The Clovis West (29-3) girls throttled Edison 69-38 in the D-1 Central Section championship game held at Selland Arena on March 5. It was the Golden Eagles fourth consecutive title and the school’s seventh in the last ten years. By Paul Meadors | Sports Editor
Clovis North upended | 2B
paulmeadors@gmail.com
In a season in which so much has gone right, Clovis West took
their game to another level in an arena they’ve made a second home. From the opening tip to the final buzzer, the vaunted
Golden Eagle pressure was as relentlessness and overwhelming as advertised, crushing Edison 69-38 for their fourth straight D-1 Central Section championship
at Selland Arena in front of an estimated crowd of 6,000. And for the school that has won D1 Champs | 3B
Fresno State football players and Head Coach Tim DeRuyter read Dr. Seuss books to Gettysburg students By Valerie Shelton | Editor
By Central in basketball D-1 title game Around The TRAC | 6B-7B
Celebrating the extraordinary, championship-filled week in the Tri-River Athletic Conference
The more that you read, the more you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. —Dr. Seuss Each year around March 2, the birthday of renowned children’s author and the ruler of rhyme Dr. Seuss, schools throughout the nation celebrate Read Across America day. This year, Clovis Unified’s Gettysburg Elementary had the birthday bash a little early, on Tuesday, March 1, welcoming Fresno State football players and their head coach Tim DeRuyter to campus to read to students. Coach DeRuyter read to
sixth grade students in Mr. Murphy’s class. After reading a Dr. Seuss classic, “Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!” he answered students’ questions. Students asked everything from what is your favorite book (he replied it’s The Bible) to what his favorite football team is (he diplomatically said he roots for his former players who’ve gone pro, like Derrick Carr, to succeed instead of rooting for a specific team). DeRuyter made sure, though, that the message of Read Across America day—the importance of reading—shined through. Even Gettysburg | 20B
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Fresno State football players and Head Coach Tim DeRuyter get ready to read to students at Gettysburg Elementary for Read Across America day, which is Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, march 9, 2016
2B | Sports
Buchanan wrestlers fire on all cylinders, win state title By Paul Meadors | Sports Editor paulmeadors@gmail.com
There was little doubt the California state wrestling title was coming home to the Clovis area but the burning question was: Would it be Buchanan or Clovis High holding the hardware? That question was answered with a resounding performance by Buchanan as they scored a point total of 274.5 to Clovis High’s 232.5 en route to winning the CIF State Wrestling Championships team title at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. Oh yeah, and they also dethroned Clovis High and their five-year stronghold on state supremacy with some unsung heroes. “It’s pretty special for the kids,” said Buchanan head coach Troy Tirapelle. “They put in the work and showed up to compete when the time came. They were an amazing group that earned it through an entire team effort.” Led by medal winning performances from 10 wrestlers including champions Matt Olguin (106), Ethan Leake (113) and Zakary Levatino (220), the Bears were a team motivated from the beginning of the season with a goal to unseat Clovis. “Winning it as a team is an amazing accomplishment and I’m very proud to be on a team that’s this special,” said Buchanan’s Durbin Lloren. “We worked all year to beat Clovis and win a state title.” Motivation was provided by Coach Buchanan wrestlers | 9B
Photo courtesy of John Sachs | Buchanan’s Zak Levatino takes on Ponderosa’s Kyle Jennings in the 220 final match at the CIF State Wrestling Tournament held at Rabobank in Bakersfield on March 4-5. Levatino won gold as the No. 11 seed and helped Buchanan to the team title.
Clovis North upended by Central in basketball D-1 title game By Paul Meadors | Sports Editor paulmeadors@gmail.com
After splitting two amazing games during league play, this one was for all the marbles – a Division 1 Central Section championship. And as the No. 1 ranked Clovis North Broncos took the court against No. 2 seeded Central Grizzlies, there was a sense of urgency on the faces of the Grizzlies. Simply put: They didn’t want to get beat. Using a strong performance from 6’7” senior Chris Seeley (17 points, 19 rebounds and three emphatic dunks), the Grizzlies struck quick and true, beating the Broncos 77-64 in front of approximately 6,000 screaming fans at Selland Arena. After a hot 6-0 start to the game the Grizzlies (22-6) would never relinquish the lead and with the ghost of a poor performance still in their collective memory, it was a burning loss to Clovis North in their gym that fueled the fire. “I’ve been talking about three things: focus, discipline and execution,” said Central coach Greg Streets. “Ever since that loss to Clovis North, that loss has been our primary focus. We took it personal.” That loss opened the door for Clovis North (20-9) to share a TRAC title with Central. And it was a rejuvenated Jaylon Johnson, who has multiple Division 1 football scholarship offers, who was a blur on the court driving and dishing and playing superior Clovis North Boys Bball | 8B
Our Roundup Sports Team Sports Editor Paul Meadors Paul Meadors is in his 19th year as an elementary school teacher and currently serves as a Jr. High athletic director and basketball coach in Traver, CA in addition to serving as the Sports Editor for The Clovis Roundup. He graduated from Immanuel High School in 1989 where he was a four-year starter in baseball and accumulated a combined record of 62-6 in three years of playing basketball, which included a point away from playing in the state championship game his senior year. After attending Fresno Pacific College on a music scholarship, Paul coached baseball at Immanuel for six years and has continued to immerse himself in Central Section sports. He is the author of the humor book Letters to eBay and recorded a piano album of his own compositions titled Surviving the Storm. He lives in Fresno with wife Lori and daughters Georgie, 12, Alex, 10, and Ruthie, 8. Sports Photographer Nick Baker Nick Baker is a professional photographer who has worked in the field for over 10 years. Nick specializes in capturing images that are “raw,” and prefers not to enhance his images with Photoshop or other software tools. Instead, he knows his camera well and uses the varying settings to capture “the true essence of a moment.” In addition to taking sports photos for the Roundup, Baker serves as a regional manager for Sportzwurlz.com. Outside the realm of sports photography, Baker also captures portraits, special events and weddings, nature and commercial images. You can see more of Nick’s work on his website, RawImageryPhotography.com.
Sports writer Daniel Leon
Photo by Nick Baker | Clovis North junior Elijah Straughter flies in for a slam dunk during the Broncos 77-64 loss to Central in the D-1 Central Section finals held at Selland Arena. Straughter scored 14 points in the game.
Daniel Leon is currently a fourth-year Mass Communication and Journalism major at California State University Fresno. In addition to his studies, Daniel serves as the sports editor at The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper. This is his second year working for The Collegian. Daniel is from nearby Woodlake, CA, and is excited to become better acquainted with Clovis sports.
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Sports | 3B
Photo by Jesus Sepulveda | Buchanan poses in front of their newest hardware after their third consecutive Valley title. The state’s No. 9 ranked team now has their sights set on a state championship.
Rudolph leads Buchanan boys to third straight D-1 soccer crown By Paul Meadors | Sports Editor paulmeadors@gmail.com
Jacob Rudolph liked the result so much the first time he thought he might as well try it again. Receiving a pass on the left hand side and tapping it ahead and slight right for
a better angle, the junior forward fired a perfect 22-yard strike in the upper right hand corner of the net just 5:45 into the D-1 Valley championship game for a 1-0 Buchanan lead over BakersfieldCentennial. But Rudolph wasn’t done. Around seven
minutes later, he did it again, certainly a moment in which the Yankees great linguist Yogi Berra would have uttered his famous catch-phrase, and right as rain, Rudolph put that ball in the exact same part of the net from two yards behind his first. “Me and my coaches and J.T. Aruda
always stay after practice and worked on those shots just for that moment,” said Rudolph. “So it was really nice to have these.” And with that mighty laser, the shock Buchanan Boys Soccer | 8B
D1 Champs Continued from front page
seven of the last 10 Valley championships, nothing is taken for granted and everything is earned. “Each is their own special journey,” said head coach Craig Campbell. “Whatever we did tonight we were doing together and if we fall apart then we would still love each other more than the other locker room. We had to stick together.” And stick together they did. In fact, they’ve been sticking together for a while now. With a core of four returning junior starters in Megan Anderson, Sarah Bates, Danae Marquez and Bre’yanna Sanders and one senior Ashley Cross, Clovis West (29-3) raced out to a 14-0 lead and allowed their first points with 37 seconds left in the first quarter. The Tigers (28-4) would never recover as they were forced into an astounding 36 turnovers for the game. Edison coach Bill Engel could only shake his head after the game. “They are a machine,” Engel said about the state’s No. 10 ranked team. “They just know where to go. All credit goes to Clovis West. They’re a fantastic team.” Point guard Danae Marquez, in a foretelling of things to come, nailed a threepointer on the team’s first shot attempt of the game. She and her teammates would go on to hit 10 of 17 for the game. Bates hit 3 three-pointers of her own and led the team with 17 points, freshman Madison Campbell (daughter of coach Campbell) scored 13 and Anderson 12. Sanders filled the stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds, seven steals and four blocks. But oh that defense; that trapping,
Photo by Nick Baker | Freshman Madison Campbell attacks the basket against Edison’s Zariah Brown. Campbell hit two three pointers en route to 13 points in the game.
never-relenting, in-your-face-whereever-you-turn pressure that turns into nightmares. “We knew our pressure and rebounding would be the key,” Campbell said. “We sped them up, got them frazzled and created a lot of turnovers.” That defense negated the tallest player on the court, Edison’s 6’3” Rodjanae Wade, a UNLV recruit that was held to only five points on four shot attempts. Not lost in this remarkable game is the belief that senior Aysha Kirkland is the first Division 1 basketball player to be a part of four Valley titles. From freshman
Photo by Nick Baker | Clovis West’s No. 5 Sarah Bates and No. 22 Ashley Cross trap Edison’s Malaya Kendrick in the Golden Eagles 69-38 victory over Edison for their fourth straight D-1 Valley championship. They forced the Tigers into 38 turnovers in the game with Bates led all scorers with 17 points.
to senior, she knows nothing but championships. Bates, in a show of love and respect, admitted that the team played hard for Kirkland to garner that honor. And get used to seeing the Golden Eagles shine at Selland for the foreseeable future - including those four junior starters and the three freshman on the roster. In fact, two freshman made themselves known in the first quarter as Aari’yanna Sanders, younger sister to Bre’yanna took an offensive charge right after fellow frosh Campbell swished a three-pointer.
With this in mind, nothing beats the thrill of celebrating a victory with your teammates after all the blood, sweat and tears of a season says Marquez. “The moment when the buzzer sounds is an indescribable feeling because all your hard work is rewarded,” said Marquez. “I’m just grateful for everything.” The Clovis West girls received a No. 2 seeding in the Southern Section Open Division for state playoffs and will be playing No. 7 Sierra Canyon (23-7) at home on Friday, March 11 at 7 p.m.
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, march 9, 2016
4B | Sports
Clovis East girls soccer tops rival Cougars in extra periods to claim Division I Valley title By Daniel Leon | Sports reporter
In front of a sold-out home crowd, the Timberwolves (20-0-3) put the frosting on their undefeated season on Saturday, Feb. 27, with a 3-2 win over Clovis (16-6-3) in the finals to capture the program’s first Central Section Division I Championship. “I’ve been the director for eight years and this has been a dream come true,” Clovis East head coach Jasara Gillette said. “It was up and down throughout the game but I’m just so excited and happy for them.” “They believe and I’ve said that all season,” she added. “They weren’t going to give up. They believed 100 percent that they were going to win and I think that’s what kept them going. They always felt that they were going to win.” But the program’s first title wasn’t a cakewalk as they engaged in an aggressive match with the Cougars that came down to a second extra period where Clovis East finally broke the tie with a powerful strike off the right foot of junior striker Peyton Kwalwasser. “My coach was screaming at me to shoot the ball,” Kwalwasser said of the game-winner and her second goal of the game. “I knew what I had to do and I shot it. It was like slow motion and I couldn’t tell if it was going over or in but it went in and I was so happy.” Kwalwasser’s first goal of the match came off of a penalty kick, which tied things up at 1-1 going into halftime. The T-Wolves came out hungry in the second half, scoring an early goal off the foot of Nikki Crouch to take their first lead of the match at 2-1 but late in the game, Clovis’ Elyana Dittman answered with one of her own to send the game into extra periods. Overall, Clovis East’s three-game playoff run included two extra innings matches in the quarterfinals and here in the finals, and a narrow 2-1 win in the semifinals over Frontier. “It’s like the story of our season,” Kwalwasser said. “A lot of games have not started the way we wanted them to. We’ve had to come back. Even in
Photo by Nick Baker | Clovis East’s Carissa Wight battles Clovis’ Sierra Corner in the D-1 championship game won by the Timberwolves 3-2 in extra periods. It was the first soccer title in school history for Clovis East.
this game we had to come back from down one and then we got a goal and we couldn’t hold it but we got it back and we never gave up. We kept fighting and I think that’s what makes our team different.” With only one senior on the roster, the Valley champs figure to continue the momentum next season as they return with virtually their entire roster including Crouch and Kwalwasser, who were the team’s leading scorers this season with 16 and 15 goals, respectively. The Timberwolves were awarded the overall No. 1 seed for the state tournament and played No. 8 seed TaftWoodland Hills on Tuesday, March 8, after The Roundup’s deadline.
Photo by Nick Baker | Clovis East star Nikki Crouch controls the ball and surveys the field in the D-1 championship game. The Timberwolves (20-0-3) remained undefeated during their magical season, coming from behind in all three of their playoff games. Clovis East.
Photo by Nick Baker | Clovis High’s Kassie Christiansen dribbles in between Clovis East’s No. 10 Mia Castillo and No. 9 Macey Merlo. Clovis East.
Buchanan Boys Soccer Continued from page 3b
and awe of Buchanan was on full display. This was the perfect start for the Bears— the No. 9 team in the state and ranked nationally by topdrawersoccer.com—and it was exactly what the Hawks were afraid of. It was all the Bears (20-1-7) needed as they rolled to a third consecutive D-1 Central Section championship. “If we could find a goal in the first 10 minutes and shut them down then we knew we would be in pretty good shape,” said Buchanan coach John Spurgeon. “And then we ended up with two in 12.” Centennial coach Jeff Vaughan knew that was a bad omen. Now facing a 0-2 deficit, and facing a stout Buchanan defense gunning for its 17th shutout of the season, it was tough sledding for Centennial, who actually led the D-1 Central Section with 65 goals coming into the game. “We had a lot of guys who had an off day,” Vaughan said. “And unfortunately we can’t do that in a championship game of this level.” According to Spurgeon, the Bears had 26 shot opportunities compared to five for the Hawks for the entire game. “They came out hard and fast and got
Photo by Jesus Sepulveda | Four members of the Buchanan D-1 titlewinning team celebrate after the final whistle of the D-1 championship game.
those two goals in 10 minutes,” continued Vaughan. “We finally settled down a little bit but we just couldn’t crack their defense. All credit goes to them.” And what about that impenetrable defense, the team that allowed two goals total in their last six games? Simply awesome says Spurgeon, who has been witness to the Bears five Section titles in
Photo by Jesus Sepulveda | Buchanan star Jacob Rudolph lines up his first goal of the game just two minutes into the D-1 Valley title game won by the Bears over Centennial-Bakersfield 2-0.
the past six years. “When you are as good as we are defensively, a one goal lead really helps,” said Spurgeon. And two is twice as nice and at least this day belonged to Rudolph, the 6-foot1, 165-pound striker who’s being looked at by UC Davis. “The fact that I got to score in this
one is awesome, nothing can describe the feeling,” said Rudolph, still sweating from the game and from celebrating with his teammates. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” The Bears were awarded the No. 3 seed in the state playoffs and hosted Los Alamitos on Tuesday, March 8.
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Sports | 5B
Local gymnasts compete throughout the state Scores compiled by Valerie Shelton | editor
Spring gymnastics are in full swing, as local gymnasts travel to compete in events across the state. This past weekend, March 6-7, CCGI of Visalia hosted its Spring Spectacular, where many of its gymnasts gave stellar performances. At the end of February, local gymnasts from the V-Force gym in Madera traveled to Santa Clara for the Spirit of the Flame Challenge, held Feb. 26-28 at Ultimate Sports Connection. Several other events have hosted local gymnasts, but below are the scores from these two large meets: CCGI Spring Spectacular Session 1, Level XB CCGI’s Georgia Feldstein place first all-around with a score of 36.425. She also placed first on vault and bars and took second place on balance beam. Also competing from CCGI were Gianna Vieira and Aubri Huckleberry. Vieira placed tied for third all around, with a score of 35.400, tied for third on floor and placed third on bars. Huckleberry came in sixth all around, but had a first place performance on floor and second place performance on bars. Session 1, Level XS CCGI’s Reagan Keeter was the top gymnast at this level, taking gold medals in three out of four events—bars, balance beam and floor—and taking the all-around gold medal with a combined score of 36.425. Also competing for CCGI was Jessica Lam, who came in fifth all around, but had a third place performance on floor. Session 2, Level 4 Gymnastics Beat had two gymnasts compete at this level. Caitlyn Bergeron placed fourth all around, with a third place performance on balance beam while Saley Sawyer came in fifth all around but took home a gold medal for her vault. Session 2, Level 5 Wunmi Omololu of CCGI took first place all around with a score of 33.950, gold medals for floor routine and balance beam, a tie for gold on vault, and a silver medal on bars. CCGI’s Bailee Vincent also had a good performance, placing third all around, tying for the gold medal on vault, earning silver on floor and bronze on bars. Session 2, Level 6 Five gymnasts from CCGI competed at level six. Tying for third place all around were Miranda Seitz and Alia Backlund. Seitz also tied for second on vault and placed third on floor, while Bakclund earned a gold medal on beam. In fifth place all around was Cambria Whitney, who also tied with Seitz for second on vault. Whitney also took third on beam. In sixth place all around Dakota Aguiar, who placed second on floor and third on bars. In seventh place all
around was Hannah Chapman. Session 2, Level 7 All competitors at this level were from CCGI. In first place all around, with a score of 36.400, was Tessa McCormack, who also earned a gold medal on bars and silver medals on balance beam and floor. In second place all around was Chloe Sills. Sills took gold on beam and silver on bars. Rounding out the top three was Paige Costa, who also took gold on vault and bronze on floor. In fourth place was Annelise Rouse. Rouse did not compete on bars, but took home medals in all other events, with a gold medal on floor, silver on vault and bronze on beam. Lauren Spellman, who did not compete on beam, came in fifth all around, earning two bronze medals on bars and vault. Session 2, Level 9 Luciana Gonzales of CCGI was the only gymnast to compete at level nine. She competed in each event and earned an all-around score of 35.175. Her best performance was on vault, followed by bars, floor and beam. Session 2, Level XG Alejandra Gutierrez of CCGI came in third all around, with a gold medal on floor and bronze medals on beam and bars. Also competing from CCGI were Ashlyn Reed and Samantha Thongseng. Reed was fourth all around and earned a gold medal for her vault. Thongseng was seventh all around. Spirit of the Flame Challenge Session 1A, Level 7 In division middle A, V-Force’s Emmy Monroe took third place all around with a score of 36.475 and a gold medal on floor and bronze on beam. In the younger division, V-Force gymnasts swept the top three spots. In first place all around with a score of 37.300 was Athena Jones. Jones also took home gold medals on floor and vault and tied for second on bars. In second place all around was Nina Navarrette, who took gold on beam, silver on floor and tied with Jones for silver on bars. Rounding out the top three was Irie Silva. Silva also earned a gold medal on bars and tied for silver on beam. Session 2B, Level XG Bella Bradford of V-Force took gold in all four events and placed first all around with a score of 37.900 in the middle A division. Also competing in middle A were Triniti Muehlberg and Victoria Alvey, both of V-Force. Muehlberg was fifth all around and Alvey was sixth all around and earned a silver medal on bars. In the middle B division, V-Force’s Abigail McAvoy took first place all around with a combined core of 37.050. McAvoy also took home gold medals on vault, beam and floor. Also from V-Force competing in middle B was Alyssa Nan, who took sixth all around. In the older division, V-Force’s Lorah Siebert placed second all around with a score of 37.700.
Siebert earned gold medals on floor and beam, silver on vault and bronze on bars. Also competing for V-Force in the older division was Angela Young, who tied for 10th all around. V-Force also had one gymnast, Alannah De La Cruz, compete in the younger division. De La Cruz placed 12th all around. Session 3B V-Force’s Emily Hallett placed seventh all around in level XD. She also tied for first place on vault. Session 5B, Level 6 V-Force’s Myl Lauc took first place all around with a score of 37.550 in division middle A. Lauc also earned gold on bars and beam and silver on floor. In third place all around was V-Force’s Reagan Wilkins. Wilkins also took silver on beam and vault and bronze on floor. Also from V-Force competing in the middle A division was Ella Brown, who placed seventh all around. In the older division, V-Force’s Davee Birch placed third all around and took home the silver medal on vault. Session 7B, Level XS V-Force had three gymnasts compete in the middle division. Ocean Maldonado placed 11th all around. Charlize Satteson placed 12th all around, earning a silver medal on vault. Lexy Schellenger placed 13th all around. In the older division, VForce’s Ava Dandridge placed 11th all around. In the younger division, Sophia Bianchi of V-Force came in fifth place all around and earned a bronze medal for beam. Also from V-Force in the younger division were Brittin Walters, who tied for sixth all around and tied for second on floor, Sarah Swanbeck, also tied for sixth all around and tied for third on bars, and Cassidy Oates. Session 1C, Level 4 V-Force gymnast Joel Vawter placed eighth all around in division -6. Caleb Gurman, also from V-Force, tied for fourth all around in divisions 8 and 9. He tied for first on parallel bars and tied for third on vault. Session 3C V-Force’s Ben Johnson placed 15th all around in level 8. Session 5C Cyprus Rice on V-Force placed 11th all around in level 5, division 11+ Session 8C, Level 5 In the younger division, VForce’s Sage Coe took third place photo courtesy of snowflake designs | Gymnast Madison Isaak
all around. Coe took home a silver medal for beam and tied for third on vault. Also from V-Force was Sydney Jackson, who tied for seventh all around. Session 9C, Level XB In the middle A division, V-Force’s Makena Sacks came in 10th all around. In the middle B division, V-Force’s Bella Beal came in fourth all around. Also from V-Force were Madison Smith, who was eighth all around and tied for third on floor, Emily Dye, who placed ninth all around, and Thea Hayes, who placed 11th all around. In the younger division, V-Force’s Makenzy Ginter came in fourth all around and tied for third on vault. Also from V-Force were Natasha Howard, who came in sixth all around, Denise Pacheco, who came in 10th all around, and Meela Reschman, who came in 12th all around.
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, march 9, 2016
8B | Sports
Clovis North Lose Continued from page 2b
defense. Johnson finished with 11 points, eight assists, two steals and two blocks and sophomore sharpshooter Cam’Ron Wilson made five of eight three-pointers on his way to 25 points. The Grizzlies opened up their biggest lead in the game at 48-29 with 4:02 left in the third quarter but the Broncos, behind senior guard Jahvon Johnson, cut the lead to six at 56-62 in the fourth with 2:26 left. The Grizzlies would end the game on a 15-7 run and celebrate the school’s first Central Section title in Division 1. Johnson would score 24 points for the Broncos to lead the team. Elijah Straughter, drawing the tough assignment of guarding Seeley, scored 14 points and Ben Avera scored 13. Senior Jonah Brown, a mainstay on offense for Clovis North, was held scoreless, clearly hobbled from an ankle injury suffered in the semi-final game against Centennial. Broncos head coach Tony Amundsen, seeking his first title with Clovis North after leading Bullard to three straight in 2011-14 pointed to some intangibles as the reason for his team’s poor performance. “We actually out-rebounded them in our earlier games but tonight we gave up 14 offensive rebounds to our four,” Amundsen said. “And we needed to take better angles guarding the ball.” Case in point: four Bronco players fouled out of the game. But all is not lost in a season where they won an out of section tournament, a share of the TRAC title and get to experience the state playoffs. “Our kids have done an outstanding job this season,” said Amundsen after the game. “They’ve worked hard every day to get where they’re at and now we get to play in the state playoffs so this is a great experience. I’m proud of them.”
Photo by Nick Baker | Central’s No. 3 Cam’Ron Wilson plays defense on Clovis North’s Domenic Reyes. Wilson scored a game high 25 points in the game including five three-pointers in the Grizzlies first D-1 title in school history.
Buchanan wrestlers Continued from page 2b
Photo courtesy of John Sachs | Clovis High senior AJ Nevills celebrates after winning his first state championship at 195. Clovis, the five-time defending state champions were beat by Buchanan for the overall team title.
Tirapelle, who knows a few things about competition—he’s a three-time state champion himself. “Coach always give us a speech on ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ and after the first day of the tournament, we were in the lead we knew it was within reaching distance,” continued Lloren. “We just had to take care of our business.” Lloren said the tournament was bittersweet as the defending state champ
Photo courtesy of John Sachs | The Buchanan wrestling program won their second CIF State Wrestling title in school history with a point total of 274.5, the second best in state history. Their other title was in 2006.
was upset at 132 by Helix Charter-La Mesa’s No. 4 Trence Gillem. But, all was not lost for Clovis and despite scoring the fourth best point total in state history as they had four wrestlers take gold: junior Justin Mejia (120), senior Josh Hokit (182), senior AJ Nevills (195) and sophomore brother Seth Nevills (285). Seth Nevills has never lost a match in his two years (90-0) and is looking to become a four-year state champion. Meanwhile, older brother AJ had his day
in the sun too, with his first state title at 195. “It feels amazing and there’s no greater feeling like winning state,” said AJ. “I feel our team wrestled to our best ability and even though it’s upsetting we lost I love my team.” Mejia became the fourth wrestler in state history to win titles his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons with a 7-4 win. And for Buchanan, above all, was the focus and determination to lay it all on
the mat every practice and every event – no matter the grade level and experience. “We had great overall performances from our younger kids,” said Tirapelle, in his fifth year as the Bears head coach. “But you don’t win the team championship without your senior leadership and Levatino, Abner Romero, Lloren and Greg Gaxiola have paced us all year long with their hard work, wins and most importantly keeping us on track and together as a family.”
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Sports | 9B
An invisible illness: Buchanan student Tiffany Johnson shares her story By Valerie Shelton | Editor
On the surface, Buchanan sophomore Tiffany Johnson, 15, looks like a normal teenage girl, but in reality, she struggles with two rare syndromes that few people can understand. She and mom Sheri Johnson, a teacher at Cole Elementary, call her syndromes “invisible illnesses.” Johnson’s two debilitating conditions are Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Ehlers Danlos is a genetic condition, which causes faulty collagen in every part of her body. Instead of holding her bones and joints in place, the collagen in Johnson’s body is more fluid, causing her to be extremely flexible and double-jointed but also making it easy for her to break or sprain her back, knees, elbows, wrists, ankles and other parts of her body. Johnson said she has sprained her ankles 10 to 12 times and her wrists several times. She can also easy dislocate her hip. As a result of the Ehlers Danlos, she also suffers from POTS, which is the dysregulation of her autonomic nervous system. POTS causes her heart to race from time to time and can cause trouble breathing. Due to the POTS, she can’t participate in P.E. at school and needs to stay out of the heat, which often triggers a POTS crash. Johnson also needs to sit and stand up slowly because if she moves too quickly, she can become lightheaded and faint. She also needs to stay hydrated to avoid POTS crashes. The two conditions are so rare her mom says doctors didn’t even recognize that Tiffany had a serious medical condition until she nearly drowned in 2009. “We didn’t understand what was happening to her body because Ehlers Danlos Syndrome is a very rare disorder,” Sheri Johnson said. “We would go to the doctor and tell them what was happening and they would say, ‘oh she is just having growing pains’ or ‘maybe she is just clumsy.’ They didn’t know, they couldn’t figure it out. We kept trying to figure it out and eventually she was having some other symptoms. She started fainting a lot and I thought, maybe she is just tired and needs to take a nap, but one time she was swimming and that is when the faint happened. She had swallowed a lot of water and we had to pull her out and she was unconscious. Luckily a lot of teachers like myself take first aid in CPR so I knew how to give her rescue breathing and bring her back to life. Thank goodness I did, but she still had to go spend three days in the hospital. When that happened, I went back to the doctors and told them there was something going on and that we needed some answers so we could
Photo by Valerie Shelton | Tiffany Johnson explains what it’s like to have an invisible illness to students in her mom’s Building Bridges program at Cole Elementary School.
get her some help.” Because of the rarity of her syndromes, Tiffany has to travel to Bakersfield to see a cardiologist for POTS and couldn’t be officially diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos until visiting a geneticist in Chicago. Last month, Tiffany visited her mom’s Building Bridges class at Cole Elementary to talk to students about her invisible illnesses. Her goal in sharing her story is to spread awareness so kids, and adults, don’t judge others based on how they look. Tiffany told students that she has been teased multiple times by people who don’t believe she really has an illness. Because she can break or sprain something at anytime, she will sometimes come to school in crutches, or even a wheelchair, and it will seem out of the blew to her classmates. Her physical limitations also mean she often takes the elevator at school and many can’t understand why she would need to do that. “People have come up to me and have told me they think I’m faking, but this is the type of condition I have,” Tiffany said. Tiffany told the kids it is important not to say something like that someone because you never know what condition they may have. While on Tiffany’s good days it may seem like nothing is wrong, something could happen in an instant. For example, she once
sprained both her ankles after ice-skating. “I went ice-skating and after I took both of the skates off, I got up and took a step and then when I took the second step I sprained both of my ankles,” Tiffany said. “Now I have to be very careful whenever I go ice-skating, because while I’m skating everything is fine because the skates hold my ankles tightly in place, but once they are off the collagen can get too loose.” Tiffany also experienced frequent sprains to her wrists when she was in gymnastics as a child. Since she was so flexible, she was very good at gymnastics but she always had trouble doing back-hand springs because her wrists couldn’t hold her up and she would sprain them. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos that it all made sense why she struggled with that gymnastics move. Clearly, Tiffany enjoys physical activity—ice-skating, gymnastics, swimming— but as she explained to the class, just because someone looks healthy and is active doesn’t mean they don’t have any conditions. Now that she knows why she is so susceptible to breaks and sprains, Tiffany takes it easy. She walks on the treadmill at the gym with her mom’s supervision and doesn’t do P.E. or sports at school. She is also closely monitored when swimming. She even quit
taking hip-hop dance lessons after school after giving it a try because it was too strenuous. She rarely wears heels and one day, when she gets her driver’s license odds are she won’t be able to drive without another adult in the vehicle in case she has a fainting spell. Due to the POTS, Tiffany has also struggled academically in school. POTS causes brain fog so Tiffany has trouble concentrating and has a bad short term memory. She recently started taking a new medication that helps her focus better, but its still tough. Altogether, she takes seven medications each morning and four vitamins before bed. They do everything from helping her focus, to regulating her digestive system, which is adversely affected by Ehlers Danlos also, to just helping her collagen stay in place a little better. Tiffany says it’s hard knowing that she has many limitations, but her hope is that her story will help more people understand Ehlers Danlos and POTS, as well as teach people that they need to treat everyone with respect, no matter how they look. “I was really excited to come and explain it to the kids,” Tiffany said. “I like telling them about my conditions so that more people know about it. Not many people know what Ehlers Danlos or POTS is.”
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, march 9, 2016
10B | Sports
Central Valley Motorsports - Sponsored by hedrick’s chevrolet -
Good news for car builders By Paul Hinkle | contributed
This past year 2015, turned out to be a good year for car builders. The U.S. Congress passed a bill that would allow car enthusiasts to buy replicas of classic vehicles. The president signed this new law called the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufactures Act in December of 2015. Car enthusiasts now have the choice of purchasing a completed replica or build a vehicle from a kit. The practice of building or recreating vintage cars goes back many generations. In the early 50s there was a greater demand for classic cars than there was supply. As the interest grew, prices became unaffordable. The development of fiberglass bodies allowed for lookalike bodies that were less expensive to fill the void. Today you can find many of the popular bodies and body parts being made out of steel and aluminum. Kit cars allow hobbyist’s to build their favorite car in garages. This new law that Congress passed will take effect in 2017. Small automakers will be able to sell up to 325 turn-key replica bodies of a motor vehicles produced at least 25 years ago. From the 60s until today there was one system for regulating automobiles. The system was designed for companies
that mass-produced millions of vehicles. Because federal laws regulated these vehicles to be treated as if they were current model year vehicles, not vintage cars, made it impossible for small companies to sell turn-key cars. For decades replica cars have been sold as kit cars. Manufactures sold them partially assembled. The buyer would put the body on a new frame and install the drive train (motor, transmission and rear end.) Registration and pulling title of the finished cars were handled at the state level. What does this mean for the buyer and builders? You will continue to have the freedom to assemble your own car from a kit or modern-era and non-replica cars. The law will provide another option for those who don’t have time or skills to complete a kit car. The federal government has until December 2016 to draft regulations implementing the law. Sales should begin in early 2017. UPCOMING EVENTS: March 12-All Valley Truck Show March 19– 20 Goodguys 34th All American Get-Together
April 2 – 10th Annual Clovis Assembly of God Car Show April 9– Tower Classic Car Show April 16– Kingsburg Downtown Car Show April 17– Old Town Clovis Car Show April 22 – 24 Western Street Rod Nationals Bakersfield If your club or organization is putting on a car show or motorsports event we
are always looking for interesting cars, people and events to share. You can reach Paul Hinkle at clovisparkinthepark@ gmail.com or call (559) 970-2274 or Eric Hinkle at ehinkle11@gmail.com. Be sure to follow us on Twitter@clovisparknpark and on Instagram@clovisparkinthepark. For more information on upcoming events, past events and articles, go to www.clovisparkinthepark.com.
Wednesday, march 9, 2016 | www.ClovisRoundup.com
Sports | 11B
Clovis Rodeo Ticket Office Now Open Contributed
Ticket sales for the 102nd Clovis Rodeo continued Monday, Feb. 29, with the opening of the ticket office at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds. Tickets have been on sale since January for online purchases but on Feb. 29, the ticket office finally opened for rodeo fans who prefer to buy tickets in person. The 102nd Clovis Rodeo takes place April 21-24 with PBR bull riding, three days of PRCA Gold Tour rodeo action and back-to-back concerts. The box office is located at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds at 748 Rodeo Drive, south of Fifth Street, just off of Clovis Avenue. Fans can purchase tickets in person 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily Monday through Friday. Box office hours will be extended in April. Tickets range in price from $20 to $30 and are reserved seating only for all performances. A Thursday and Friday ticket combo package is available for $50, giving fans a $5 savings. The Clovis Rodeo opens on Thursday, April 21 with the return of the PBR Bull Riding Touring Pro-Division followed by Country Music star Jerrod Niemann in concert. Friday night will open the PRCA Gold Tour rodeo action and include a concert by the dynamic country duo LOCASH with their latest chart topping single “I Love this Life.” Two more days of PRCA Gold Tour Rodeo action will follow along with the popular Clovis Rodeo parade and dance on Saturday, April 23. The Clovis Rodeo Association will begin a month long celebration leading up to the 102nd rodeo with a Jackpot Roping competition on Sunday, April 3. The annual Ranch Rodeo will follow on Saturday, April 9, giving local cowboys and cowgirls the opportunity to show off their horsemanship skills. The Rodeo Queen competition will be held on Saturday, April 16. The Ranch Rodeo, Jackpot Roping and Queen’s Horsemanship events are nonticketed functions. All other events require a ticket for entry. Ticket prices range from $20 to $30 and are now available at clovisrodeo.com, through the ticket office or by calling 559-299-5203. Parking at the rodeo
CORRECTION In the Feb. 24 edition of the Clovis Roundup, the article titled “Rodeo season starts March 4-6 with junior high and high school Chute-out” quoted a high school rodeo representative as stating that the high
grounds is free of charge. Event details, information and a full calendar of rodeo activities in Clovis, California during the month of April can be found by visiting clovisrodeo.com. The all-volunteer, not-for-profit Clovis
Rodeo Association (CRA) has 700 members. In excess of $175,000 in proceeds from the Clovis Rodeo and related events coordinated by CRA members benefit local charities annually, including 4-H, FFA, Clovis Schools, Clovis Police Activities
League, California High School Rodeo Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Break the Barriers, Boy Scouts of America, Clovis Community Hospital and the Central California Blood Center.
school rodeo had more participants than the annual Clovis Rodeo. However, according to the Clovis Rodeo Association’s records, this statement was found to be incorrect. Last year’s figures for the Clovis Rodeo show 444 participants in the regular events, and many of those participants partook in more than one event. The participant number does not account for the special events, such
as Professional Bull Riding, Mutton Busting, or Gold Card Team Roping, each of which add a substantial number of participants to the Rodeo. Vince Genco, the director of the Clovis Rodeo Association, anticipates that this year’s Clovis Rodeo will be even larger than last year’s. “Our entries for last year show 444 contestants.” Genco said. “This does not
include the 40 PBR bull riders on Thursday night, the 50 Gold Card Team Ropers or the 36 Mutton Busters. “This year we are increasing our added prize money in the rodeo to $20,000 per event, $40,000 in team roping and $30,000 for the PBR, so we will probably be turning away more entries than last year, which was 131 [entries we turned away].”
www.ClovisRoundup.com | Wednesday, march 9, 2016
12B | Sports
Gettysburg Continued from front page
the best football players, he said, benefit from being great readers. “When we recruit players, we want to make sure number one that they are great students and reading is a huge part of that,” DeRuyter said to students. “Some of the guys who we have who struggle academically, probably the biggest driver of their struggle is not being great readers growing up, so we have to work with them. Some of them have learning disabilities and everyone has issues they need to attack, but we want someone who is well rounded, who does a great job reading, a great job in math and someone who actively wants to learn. “We have a bunch of football players and they want to be the best on the football field but we want football players who want to be the best in the classroom as well and when we find those kind of guys, those are the guys we want to recruit.” DeRuyter also encouraged students to not only read but to work hard even in the face of obstacles since the quality of perseverance is important in order to excel on the football field or in the classroom. “A great word is perseverance,” DeRuyter said. “Many of our players growing up, they were the best one on the team in high school and every step along the way, what happens? The competition gets tougher and when you get here it is the best of the best, the top one or two percent of high school players in the country play division one college football. If you don’t have perseverance you are going to get knocked down sometimes but you have
photo by valerie shelton| Football player David Patterson, a junior at Fresno State majoring in Computer Science, reads “Green Eggs and Ham” to students in Mrs. Martinez’ sixth grade class.
got to get back up. Everyone comes from tough situations, whether you have a tough family situation or whatever it is, the world doesn’t care on Saturdays, your opponent doesn’t care and you have to persevere through that and keep your goal in vision. It is not a sin to get knocked down, but it is a sin to stay down so you have to be able to get knocked down and get back up.” DeRuyter said he was glad to take
photo by valerie shelton| Fresno State Football Head Coach Tim DeRuyter reads “Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!” by Dr. Seuss to students in Mr. Murphy’s fifth grade class.
the time out of his day to spend reading to the students because he feels it is his responsibility to give back and be part of the community. “We’re very fortunate as football coaches and football players,” DeRuyter said. “I’m blessed to be able to coach football for a living when other people have to work for a living. I get to coach football which is fun and our players, especially our scholarship players, get to
play division one football and school is paid for them so they get a great gift and I have to remind my players that when you get a great gift, you have a responsibility to give back. That is why we have a dozen players here reading today in the community because we appreciate being part of this community. We want to get out and we have the opportunity to do that.”