After 14 years as police chief at Cal State ¼ø»Æʦapp, Marty Williamson is not returning to his job after being placed on administrative leave on June 3.
Upon arriving in Chicago last month for a family visit, I was anxious to see a new exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in the popular Pilsen neighborhood. The exhibit chronicles the humble beginnings in 1957 of Mariachi Potosino, among the first mariachi bands to form in Chicago, a…
Cal/OSHA, the state agency that regulates workplace safety, has issued serious safety violations against ¼ø»Æʦapp ag giant Grimmway Farms, labor contractors Esparza Enterprises and M&M Labor in the case of Rosa Sanchez of ¼ø»Æʦapp, who was run over by a truck while picking carrots …
Some of the relatively small number of students, staff and faculty on campus at Cal State ¼ø»Æʦapp during the summer reacted with surprise Tuesday upon hearing that campus police chief Marty Williamson is on paid administrative leave.
A Thursday vote by police officers at Cal State ¼ø»Æʦapp points to an unfavorable work atmosphere. More than two-thirds of the 13 officers voted no confidence in their police chief, Marty Williamson, last week.
Maria "Marilu" Gallardo recalls the day when her son Dominic was battling a fever and had a temperature of 99.9 degrees.
Mexico is about to usher in a new political era. Come June 2, voters will go to the polls and it's almost a given that a woman will be elected as head of state. The leading candidates are Claudia Sheinbaum, representing the governing left-of-center party Morena; Xóchitl Gálvez, representing …
Kern County is filled with numerous Spanish-speaking radio stations that generally offer a range of musical formats. Depending on your tastes, you can hear traditional regional Mexican music, "rancheras and norteño," which are closely related and somewhat similar to country music. Other genr…
What a difference a month makes. In March, Arvin city officials were poised to create a new post of assistant city manager and had offered the position to its human resources manager, Meagan Miller.
At a recent event, ¼ø»Æʦapp defense attorney H.A. "Beto" Sala was the main speaker, addressing a group of budding Latino entrepreneurs to offer encouragement in their new venture. For more than 30 years I've mostly heard Sala speak in court, passionately defending clients. This time was v…
Wanted: Assistant city manager for city of Arvin; pays really well, too. Apply by April 10. That's the job posted on March 28 on Arvin's website. Thing is, Arvin residents have been asking a lot of questions about the process for how the city moved forward in trying to fill this post, the ne…
A Kern County grand jury report released Tuesday criticized the Delano-based North Kern South Tulare Hospital District for alleged out-of-control spending, improper approval of contracts, lack of transparency and meddling by primarily one board member in the district's day-to-day operations,…
Kern County district attorney background investigator Veronica Alvarez was puzzled. Why, she wondered, was her boss, District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, hiring Lt. David Hubbard from the Kern County Sheriff's Office after Sheriff Donny Youngblood wanted him fired.
The yellow house with its neatly-trimmed lawn on the 1200 block of Kensington Street in Delano appears unassuming, save for a small marker placed by the current owner on a corner of the front yard. The marker reads, "Former residence of Cesar E. Chavez and Birth of the United Farm Workers Union."
Barring any last-minute surprises such as finding thousands of ballots stuffed in garbage bins, all indications are that David Couch is not only the top vote-getter in the race for 4th District Kern County Supervisor, but he might have won it all on election night.
In 2017, Olivia Trujillo was diagnosed with cancer a second time. A doctor told her she had three months left to live.
Those who have not yet voted by mail in the primary election will go to the polls Tuesday and cast their vote. I urge all who will do so to carefully consider the candidates running for office, especially for Congress.
Suspicions are on the rise after the office a coalition of community groups uses to organize a rent control petition drive in Delano was broken into sometime between 6 p.m. Monday and noon Tuesday.
A recent report by EdSource shed light on what appears to be a most disturbing trend in preparing high school students for admission to California’s public universities.
If all goes according to plan, the city of McFarland will open its first legal marijuana dispensary this summer.
It may not be the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, but Delano Union School District went even further and was one of the few school districts of its type highlighted this week for its academic achievement in math — and it caught the eye of The New York Times.
“Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Arvin police officers have a reason to smile as of Tuesday night.
The Kern County District Attorney's Office has opened an investigation of the North Kern South Tulare Hospital District in Delano. It is a public nonprofit entity that owns and operates the Delano District Skilled Nursing Facility for 141 residents, the Gloria Nelson Center Family Practice, …
The Kern County Sheriff's Office is facing serious allegations of sexual misconduct in a $25 million lawsuit filed by a senior deputy against the department and Kern County.
Around 42 years or so ago, I got hooked on news in a serious way.
Myrtle Avenue School in Lamont was abuzz with excitement last month as parents, teachers, staff and students crowded into the cafeteria on a Monday night. They had come to see and hear a show-and-tell presentation, but not from just any ordinary professional. This was an astronaut, as in an …
Expect the Kern Community College District to soon, real soon, name its new chancellor. A selection committee has been going through candidates and is expected to make a finalist list and then hand it to the KCCD board of trustees, which will make the final choice.
Rosa Miriam Sanchez was no stranger to hard work nor to living under adverse conditions in her native country of El Salvador. The 58-year-old immigrated to the United States driven by hope that she could find a job to provide for her family.
We waste so much food in this country. Healthy, edible produce and other food is thrown away still wrapped or boxed up and the irony is that there are scores of families who go hungry.
At 2:20:22 in the morning of Jan. 19, two ¼ø»Æʦapp Police Department officers were traveling south at 109 mph on Vineland Road between Wilson and Muller roads. Eleven seconds later, the patrol car, at 78 mph, barreled into a Honda Accord traveling west on Muller Road, killing its driver a…
The Kern Community College District is seeking a bold, visionary and forward-thinking leader for the opportunity to serve as its next chancellor. That's the direct message posted on the KCCD website as it seeks someone to succeed Sonya Christian, who left the post earlier this year to become…
A group of community activists turned out for a special Kern High School District Board of Trustees meeting Monday morning trying to convince board members to consider outside candidates for the position of district superintendent. But as the district has done for decades, it limited its sel…
For the first time in Kern County, ¼ø»Æʦapp is about to host a mariachi festival that is drawing interest from East Los Angeles, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Texas.
When I heard about a job opening at the Kern High School District, I decided to give it a shot. And why not? I figured that covering all sorts of issues and controversies at KHSD since 1988 makes me amply qualified to apply for the position of superintendent.
There's plenty to be excited about this new school year in Kern County, especially if you appreciate music and arts.
On a map, San José Avenue just west of Delano city limits appears to be a street. In reality, the half mile or so "avenue" is a dirt road riddled with potholes. Despite this, dwellings have sprung up as mostly low-income families have constructed homes. During the hot weather, dust blows all…
July 15 marked four years since the brutal death of ¼ø»Æʦapp businessman Jose Arredondo in Cabo San Lucas. It's a day especially difficult for his sister, Laura Arredondo.
Jennifer A. Doudna is a Nobel Laureate, Thomas Jeffrey Hanks is an actor, Katalin Karikó is a biochemist, David Levering Lewis is a historian, Michael Glenn Mullen is a decorated military leader and Hugo Morales is a pioneer in public broadcasting who co-founded Radio Bilingue Network in Fre…
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines moral turpitude as an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community. It further states, "a quality of dishonesty or other immorality that is determined by a court to be present in the commission of a criminal …
"Lies have consequences," said Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson, speaking before a throng of media just outside the Delaware Superior Court. Fox "¼ø»Æʦapp" had just agreed to pay nearly $800 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, which accused Fox of smearing its reputation follo…
The interim president of ¼ø»Æʦapp College has authorized charges alleging ¼ø»Æʦapp College tenured history professor Matthew Garrett should be fired because he engaged in immoral or unprofessional conduct, was dishonest and performs unsatisfactory work, among other problems.
A new relief program that got off the ground in January aims to help farmworkers and meatpacking workers who suffered pandemic-related health and safety costs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture set aside $670 million for the program, called Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program, and el…
Barring an appeal, two former Kern County sheriff's deputies may lose their police powers after being publicly named on a state list of cops accused of serious misconduct.
Acting Arvin Police Chief Alex Ghazalpour was pumped up when he told me recently about obtaining new equipment such as body cameras for all officers along with other modern technology that will bring the small department into 21st century policing.
She was 17 years old, pretty, energetic and lived in Shafter. But who and why would someone kill Maria Rodriguez in such a brutal and horrific fashion? This Aug. 2 will mark 32 years since her body was found at an isolated canal hangout visited by teens near Highway 46 and Interstate 5. Rodr…
Security guard Antonio Valencia was on his way to clock out for lunch at around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 19. When he approached the intersection of South Vineland and Muller roads, he barely noticed something.
GOSHEN — She was walking slowly down Kame Drive using a walker. I approached her, introduced myself and struck up a conversation with Maria Linares. What's Goshen like, I wanted to know. The 75-year-old was quick to respond and said, "Goshen isn't what it used to be." This small rural enclav…
Mario Lares was a husband of three years, a son who lived with his parents and at 31 years of age, he couldn't wait to start a family of his own. Those are the dreams he and his now-widow, Yuvani Lares, had planned for. But those aspirations came to an end rather unexpectedly last week when …
As things are appearing to return to some semblance of normal after COVID restrictions, a new club at ¼ø»Æʦapp College started this year. It's called Ballet Folklórico Ritmo y Sabor, under the direction of BC counselor Cynthia Zamora. She and some students tossed around the idea of starti…
