Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
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A traffic stop led to an arrest of six people, the recovery of nearly 500 pounds of methamphetamine and the destruction of a drug lab in Shafter last Thursday. California Highway Patrol officers initiated a traffic stop on Wible Road in Bakersfield. The officers and a K9 Bart discovered about 97 pounds of methamphetamine inside the trunk of a Honda Accord being driven by Luis Cecena, 32, of Mexico City. This discovery led officers to conduct a search warrant at a suspect's home in Shafter. At a...
July is Purple Ribbon Month, in observance of Kaitlyn’s Law, which was passed in 2001, making it a citable offense to leave children under the age of 6 years old in a vehicle without the supervision of someone at least 12 years of age. The law was named for Kaitlyn Marie Russell, who died on Aug. 15, 2000, after being left in a hot van by a caregiver. Kern County has designated July as Purple Ribbon Month in memory of Kaitlyn and all the children who have lost their lives to preventable i...
Nancy Guardado has been helping the community celebrate for six years, be it parties with pinatas, inflatables, a bunch of candy and whatever items needed to make a great party. Candyland has been open in Shafter for six years, thriving even during the pandemic, which challenged a lot of store owners in Shafter and Wasco. When we visited Guardado in 2022, she was just opening her second store, in downtown Wasco. She was there just over a year, but closed the store to concentrate on the Shafter...
The Tracy family has a history in the farming and cattle industry, with their operations going back into the 1800s, beginning with William Tracy. Today, their family-held operations consist of the growing of cotton, wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, almonds and pistachios. Beef-raising rounds out the operations of the Buttonwillow Land & Cattle Company, a partnership made up of three families: the Freys, Selvedges and Tracys. Tracy Ranch Inc. is a family-held corporation owned by widespread...
With the volleyball season ready to begin next week, the spring baseball and softball teams celebrated the end of the season with All Star games and awards presentations this week, crowning the champions in each division. And there is no rest for those on the diamond, with the sign-ups for Fall Baseball and Softball beginning on July 10 and goes to Aug. 18. The cost is $70 per player, with payment plans for those who cannot afford to pay the entire amount at once. The first place winners of the...
A local almond farmer has been wearing several hats, living a life that is an example of hard work and its rewards. Jenny Holtermann is a farmer, an executive, a wife and mother, all while working to preserve a bright future for future generations. Holtermann is a fourth-generation farmer, beginning her career up in Chico on her family's almond ranch. She attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she met her future husband, Tim. After graduation, they moved to Shafter, beginning a new chapter....
The city of Shafter will be holding its annual Fireworks Show this year on Monday July 3, with the gates opening at 6 p.m. and fireworks beginning at dusk. The event will be held at the Shafter Recreation baseball fields, right next to Shafter High Football stadium. Many will be familiar with the location even from years when the event was held at the stadium, since that's where they camped out to watch the show. The Shafter Chamber of Commerce is once again the sponsor of the event, with a...
The Shafter Colours Festival planning committee met again last Thursday, with plans for the festival moving forward and getting a little more specific. The committee designated members in the different departments of the committee, using different residents’ experience and strengths. After the dissolution of the festival a few years ago, a large number of residents were voicing their aim of revitalizing the event. The new festival will highlight the talents of residents and organizations. S...
The Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church will be holding its annual Summer Wrestling Camp next month, Monday-Friday, July 17-21. The camp is operated by Pastor Pat Coyle and a staff of volunteers that teach children basic techniques, such as takedowns and escapes, and also some exercises and workouts that will help develop their endurance and overall fitness. Coyle is a former competitive wrestler, competing in high school and college, carrying that passion into his desire to teach and help the...
The Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church is holding its annual Vacation Bible School this week, with the theme "Stellar- Shine Jesus's Light." There were over 70 kids on hand to participate in a week of fun and learning, as the children learned how to shine Jesus's light to the world. Pastor Pat Coyle, assisted by Music Director David Bloemhof and Song Leader Stephanie Bloemhof, helped children learn several songs, as well as choreography to go with them. The children learned in their Bible study...
The Shafter Recreation and Parks District's Pony League baseball and softball seasons are entering the home stretch, with plenty of great games being played. The leagues, which have enjoyed the highest registration numbers in the last decade, have just a few weeks to go. With the end of the 2023 season approaching, the friendly competition in both 14U and 11U baseball and softball continues to grow. In these divisions, there are 22 teams, 12 in the Pony division and 10 in the Mustang division....
The City of Shafter held its inaugural First Friday event last week, attracting hundreds of people to downtown Shafter. Centrally located at the downtown square, the event had numerous vendors, music, food and entertainment. Included in the entertainment was a dance performance by a group of seniors from Shafter's Walker Senior Center. Dressed in colorful costumes, the group danced to a traditional Spanish number, complete with streamer-covered batons. The event was presented by the city's...
Derric Kirschenmann was a teenager when he started working with his family on their farm, doing a little of everything, learning as he went. When he graduated from high school, he went off to college. "I tried the college thing,but it just wasn't for me," said Kirschenmann. He went back to work for his family's farm and has been getting a real education that he uses every day. Kirschenmann is a fourth generation farmer, following in the footsteps of farmers that began with Leroy Kirschenmann....
Nearly 80 people toured the Storm Encounter exhibit at the Mennonite Brethren Church in Shafter last week. According to Deanna Thompson, a member of the Mennonite Brethren Church and a volunteer for the Mennonite Disaster Service, said that she and her husband, Corwin, had the trailer for a couple of weeks, taking the exhibit to different areas of Kern County. "We had a great time meeting a lot of new people and sharing this experience with them." The Storm Encounter trailer is a multimedia...
A Shafter club made a donation to the Carrington Home in Shafter, helping the residents with toiletries and necessary items they may need. According to Executive Director Alicia Webb, the group had contacted her and told her that they wanted to help out their residents, just a little something to brighten up their day. Members of the He-Man Woman Haters Club visited the Carrington House and presented Webb and the residents a check for $700 to go toward anything that the residents may need....
The seniors walked across the stage at the football stadium as their last official act as Shafter High School students, completing their high school education, moving on to the next stage of their lives. Principal Russell Shipley welcomed the crowd of students, staff, friends and family to the commencement exercises on Wednesday night. Each student was seen entering the stadium on the new video screen at the football stadium, giving family members a chance to see their graduate on the big screen...
The eighth grade class of Richland Junior High took their last bows as Trojans, transitioning to their status as incoming Shafter Generals on Thursday night, receiving their diplomas at the SHS football stadium. Richland Superintendent Rosa Romero congratulated the graduates on all of their hard work and dedication. "I want you to remind you of the importance of this moment. Graduating from Richland Junior High is not only a culmination of your academic achievements, but also a celebration of yo...
Will Shafter become a central hub for distribution of all types of goods through the state and onward through the country? Mayor Chad Givens reported to the City Council Tuesday night that he and Mayor Pro-Tem Cathy Prout met with members of State Rep. Vince Fong's office to talk about such a future, with Shafter becoming an inland port. In a follow-up interview on Wednesday, Givens said the Shafter rail spur was specifically built for the city to be an inland port to release pressure from the...
A Shafter man was arrested on May 23 in a possible child molestation investigation. Tulare County Sheriff's Office deputies say that around 4:30 a.m. they received a call from a home in Dinuba for a call about a possible child molestation. Upon arrival, authorities learned that the grandmother of a 12-year-old Dinuba girl had found a man, later identified as 26-year-old Genaro Almanza Morales III, of Shafter, in her granddaughter's bedroom. While investigating, detectives say that the juvenile...
SnoFun, on Central Avenue in Shafter, has been doling out happiness, one scoop at a time, for over 30 years. Owners Amando and Ilyana Chavez operate the shop, assisted by their daughter, Audrey, who just celebrated her graduation from high school as SHS senior class president. Chavez said that her father, Fidel Gonzalez, started running the shop after acquiring it over 30 years ago. "We were from Monterey County, and my father heard of an ice cream shop for sale here in Shafter, and he decided t...
Shafter High senior Ariana Vega signed a scholarship agreement with the University of Saint Katherine last week at a signing ceremony at Shafter High School. Vega, who was the South Sequoia League MVP, will continue her playing career with the Lady Firebirds basketball program. Head Coach Shawn Pennel said that he will be sorry to see Vega go, but he knows that she will make Shafter High proud. "Ari has been a huge part of the Lady Generals basketball program for the last four years. We are not...
A person-on-the-street poll of Shafter residents on their quality of life highlighted the weaknesses of random questioning. A survey presented to Shafter City Council earlier this month by a graduate class at Cal State Bakersfield asked residents questions about the quality of life in the city,and their neighborhoods. It also asked about the quality of the public services in the city, such as the police, fire and emergency services. The survey was highly favorable, with quality rated good and...
I was on the streets of Shafter to get answers for a survey that we were conducting. I was getting frustrated because I had been turned down by residents who did not want to take part in any survey. It was on about the seventh or eighth person in a row that I had been turned down when I saw a couple of ladies coming out of a market on Central Avenue. I really didn’t want to try again, but something told me to give them a shot. I started talking to them and her friend turned to the other lady a...
Mennonite Disaster Service is presenting "The Storm Encounter" in Shafter next Wednesday, aiming to raise awareness about its disaster relief efforts. The multisensory exhibit is a mobile movie theater that allows eight visitors at a time to "experience" a violent storm through a seven-minute video, augmented by surround sound, rumbling vibrations, blowing wind and misty rain. Visitors also receive a close-up look at the raw devastation caused by a major disaster – the Greensburg, Kan., t...
The Shafter Generals spring sports seasons came to an end this week, with losses in the Central Section playoffs for the Shafter High softball and baseball teams. The baseball team, who came into the Division VI playoffs as the No. 1 seed, lost to the eighth-seeded team from Orange Cove High School, 5-0. Shafter could not get any offense going in the game, with the Orange Cove pitching strong throughout the game. The Pirates scored quickly in the game, putting the Generals playing catch-up for t...
