Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
Sorted by date Results 1351 - 1375 of 1616
The city of Shafter has received the go-ahead to begin their planned improvements to the Shafter Aquatic Center. The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a release of funds and Environmental Clearance Certification for the community pool improvements. According to city Public Works Director Michael James, the project provides funding for the renovating the facility at 269 Poso Ave. The property is owned by the City of Shafter, while the Shafter Recreation and Parks District manage...
Listen to Shafter, an organization that celebrates the Shafter community, is holding a “Walk and Chalk” event that will give the community an opportunity to get some exercise and spread some good cheer at the same time. According to coordinators Melissa Bergen and Katie Wiebe, the event will begin at Shafter City Hall and will go through downtown Shafter for one mile, making a loop that will end back up at City Hall. Along the way, there will be chalk provided, and the community is invited to...
The Congregational Bible Church of Shafter is celebrating their organist, Marcia Krause, for faithfully playing the organ for the worship services the past 50 years. Marcia started playing as a teenager and would fill in as the substitute organist for the church. Before long, she committed to playing full time and has been at the organ ever since. When Shafter High School had assemblies in the auditorium, as a teenager she would play on the school organ as students came and left from the auditor...
The Shafter Generals dropped to 1-2 after a tough loss to the North Stars 27-13,dropping below .500 for the first time in two years. The talented, but very young Generals fought just as hard against themselves as they did against a tough Stars squad. Shafter had numerous mental mistakes and miscues, resulting in bad field position and unfortunate stalled drives. Sophomore quarterback Tyson Dozhier continued his struggles to lead the Generals to sustained drives. Dozhier ended the game 8-24...
The Shafter Generals lost to the Atascadero Greyhounds in a game that displayed the youth and immaturity of this year's squad, dropping their record to 1-3 for the season. The 28-8 loss ended a tripleheader, with all three Shafter teams in action. The freshman team played a tough game, with the teams taking turns scoring, before the Greyhounds took the lead for good late in the game, coming out on top. In the junior varsity game, it was a wild one, with both teams trading the lead several...
The Shafter City Council Tuesday added four new officers in the Shafter Police Department by a unanimous vote on Tuesday night. Chief Kevin Zimmermann had looked for authorization to hire the officers "to better serve the community." "These are excellent additions to a department that has already been lauded throughout the county recently," Interim City Manager James Zervis said. Shafter was reported as the safest community in Kern County by BackgroundCheck.com, a human resources website. The...
Richland Chevrolet is saying goodbye to one of its most senior executives as Santos Martinez is parking his career in the garage after almost 45 years of serving the community. Martinez, originally from Brownsville, Texas, moved to Wasco after his stint in the Marine Corps. Martinez served in the U.S. Marines and had a tour in Vietnam in 1969. During his stint, Martinez received a Commendation Medal from the Navy for his contributions to numerous battles in which he fought to protect his troops...
For those interested in how Shafter is fighting crime on a daily basis, there is a valuable tool that can give residents a peek into what is going on in their city, even their neighborhood. At the urging of Chief of Police Kevin Zimmermann, the Shafter Police Department added a functional tool for the Shafter community to access crime activities and other police-related data in an effort to continue the Police Department's transparency and accountability efforts. The department utilizes a...
The Shafter High Generals lost a regular season game for the first time in over a year as a rally against the Scots of Highland High came up just short, 22-16. The Generals spotted the Scots a big lead midway through the second quarter as the Generals offense just could not get anything going in the first half. The Scots opened the scoring on their second possession. The General defense stopped the Scots on their first drive, forcing them to punt. But, the Generals gave the ball right back to...
The Shafter Generals dropped to 1-2 after a tough loss to Bakersfield's North High Stars 27-13, going below .500 for the first time in two years. The young Generals fought just as hard against themselves as they did against the Stars. Shafter had numerous mental mistakes and miscues, resulting in bad field position and stalled drives. Sophomore quarterback Tyson Dozhier continued his struggles to lead the Generals to sustained drives. Dozhier ended the game 8-24 passing, throwing for 121 yards,...
The Shafter High Generals lost a regular season game for the first time in over a year as a rally against the Scots of Highland High came up just short, 22-16, in their home opener Friday night. The Generals spotted the Scots a big lead midway through the second quarter as the Generals offense just could not get anything going in the first half. The Scots opened the scoring on their second possession. The General defense stopped the Scots on their first drive, forcing them to punt. But, the...
The Richland School District is in the process of finding a new superintendent after the resignation of Dago Garcia at the end of last school year. In the interim, Rosa Romero has been named interim superintendent of the district. Romero, until recently, was pulling double duty as the principal of Richland Junior High and filling the superintendent's position as well. Romero said, "Just before the school year started we hired Francisca Garcia to fill the principal's position on a temporary basis...
The Shafter Generals opened their 2019 campaign with a victory against the Mira Monte Lions 37-22 on Friday night. It was not a pretty win, but it counts the same as a 40-point spread. Showing opening night jitters, sophomore quarterback Tyson Dohzier and the General offense had trouble getting on track in the first half, with several miscues that stalled promising drives. In the first minute of the game, Shafter gained big on the first two plays of the game before a fumble gave the Lions the...
A murder suspect was arrested in Shafter Tuesday night at an Atkinson Avenue residence by the officers of the Tulare Police Department. The department arrived at the location with a SWAT vehicle and several marked and unmarked vehicles to serve a search warrant at the residence. On Aug. 24, the Tulare Police Department received 9-1-1 calls about a male subject being shot several times near the intersection of West Prosperity Avenue and North E Street in Tulare. Officers arrived and observed...
Sequoia Elementary School welcomed their students back to school in style with a Race to the Finish event that had all of the students grab a race car and follow a road course to the finish line. It was a fun way to welcome the kids back and to give the parents and kids the information on the school's goals and curriculum as they made their way around the course....
The Shafter Generals football team opened their season on Friday night with a victory over Mira Monte High and the rest of the Shafter High Generals sports teams got underway as well, with the volleyball teams splitting their matches and the cross country teams with solid outings. The Lady Generals volleyball team opened their season with a loss to North High School, but followed the defeat with a four-set victory over the Broncos of Kern Valley. The team had a solid season last year and have...
Hall Ambulance Service announced details recently about its implementation of the new ZOLL Autopulse, making it the largest deployment in North America. “This system will save many more lives than using manual CPR, allowing the blood flow to increase to about 30 percent to the brain,” said Bryan Pank, senior EMS account executive with ZOLL Medical Corp. The new systems have been placed into service on each Hall Ambulance Life Support and Basic Life Support ambulance in its 9-1-1 response are...
Members of the City Council gave their visions for the future and their concerns Tuesday night, and residents made their concerns known, too, at the City Council's first meeting following the separation of City Manager Scott Hurlbert. Manuel Garcia told the crowd in the council chambers that they were asked at the last meeting what their goals were, and he said that he wanted to see the city "prosper and be great." Garcia commended Michael James and the Public Works Department for their hard...
With the resignation of city manager and other actions involving the city government, Mayor Gilbert Alvarado is at the center of controversy. The mayor sat down for an interview recently, discussing the challenges ahead and what is needed in the city to move forward. The most recent issue, Scott Hurlbert's resignation last week amid a storm of public outcry, left a number of vocal citizens disappointed and outraged. Alvarado said he couldn't comment on the $250,000 separation package, citing...
There’s a quiet effort within the community to recall members of the City Council that voted to accept the resignation of City Manager Scott Hurlbert, and who are seen to be looking to make other changes in the city. But it’s certainly being done on the down-low. Although no one is talking openly about any such campaign, those that publicly questioned the council’s recent decisions, particularly about Hurlbert’s separation. Have not confirmed or denied being involved or being approac...
The acting city manager, James Zervis, has been with the city as administrative services director since 2011, and has experience in similar roles locally. He has been serving as the chief financial officer and treasurer of Shafter, responsible for all accounting, financial management and reporting, audits, treasurer services, investing, risk management, banking, lending and various administrative functions. He came to Shafter from Wasco, where he was the city manager from 2009 to 2011. He also...
Tighter restrictions on vehicle emission and burning of wood on farms, as well as policies encouraging the replacement of gas engines in farm equipment with electric engines, are some of the first round of recommendations from the Shafter Steering Committee on improving air quality. The panel was created with the passage of AB617 and was tasked to come up with ways in which the city and its residents can reduce emissions and make the air quality better within a seven-mile radius. The passage of...
A piece of Shafter history was moved to the Kern County Museum recently when one of the last original North Shafter Farm Labor Camp houses was picked up by Museum Director Mike McCoy, with the help of TNT Crane Services. The house, owned by Susan Grisham, has been sitting in her backyard in Shafter since the labor camp was remodeled in 1968. At the time of the remodeling, the camp houses were sold for $25 each and moved to make room for larger, more modernized homes. The new homes were fitted...
The Shafter Veterans Hall was the site of a big amateur boxing event recently, attracting competitors from all over California, and even as far away as Arizona. Twenty-eight bouts were on the card, in a sanctioned event that also attracted a well-known referee from Arizona, who made the trip just to officiate. The Shafter Boxing Club started out years ago in the garage of Mike Ayon's house, as he wanted a place to teach kids a skill and help keep them off the streets. The small club has now...
The City Council, by a 3-2 vote, accepted City Manager Scott Hurlbert's resignation at a special meeting of the council on Tuesday night. Mayor Gilbert Alvarado, Mayor Pro-tem Cesar Lopez and Councilmember Manuel Garcia voted to accept the resignation, and Councilmembers Cathy Prout and Chad Givens voted no. The council appointed the city's chief financial executive, Administrative Services Manager Jim Zervis, as acting city manager. He is a former city manager for the City of Wasco. Details of...
