Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
Sorted by date Results 926 - 950 of 1554
Two newcomers will join the City Council in January after the November election. Pete Espinoza and Kris Lawrence joined current council member Chad Givens as the three top candidates in the election. Espinoza led all candidates with over 20% of the vote. Givens was second with 18.6%, and Lawrence grabbed the third open seat with a little over 18% of the vote. On election night, Lawrence held a slim lead over current Mayor Gilbert Alvarado, with 42 votes separating the two...
The Minter Field Air Museum will be hosting a special visitor on Saturday, Dec. 5 as Santa Claus will be touching down at 11 a.m. to visit with local families and hand out some presents for the children. The museum hosts this event every year, giving the kids a chance to see Santa and receive a gift from him and his helpers. Unfortunately this year, due to the safety guidelines in place, it will be a drive-by event. Families can park at the museum lot as Santa touches down....
This holiday season has been difficult for many families dealing not only with the pandemic, but with job loss, businesses closing, and social distancing restrictions. During these times, the community has risen to the challenge to help support neighbors and unite the city. Facing a Thanksgiving that was void of the usual holiday events, residents had to find ways to celebrate the holiday. An example of Thanksgiving spirit was the event held at the Shafter Recreation...
The Shafter City Council tabled a discussion in how the way the Mayor of Shafter is selected. Currently, the selection of mayor is done by a majority vote. Mayor Gilbert Alvarado proposed this should be done on a rotating basis instead of by a majority vote. He cited that other cities in the county select their mayor in a similar manner, with the council members taking a turn to serve as mayor. Councilmember Manuel Garcia agreed with proposing a discussion to change the...
Gilbert Alvarado, Chad Givens and Pete Espinoza won seats on the City Council after the count was completed. Newcomer Espinoza was the top candidate with over 20% of the vote with incumbents Givens and Alvarado coming in second and third. This is after the Kern County Elections Office announced the official final results for the local races. Kris Lawrence, who was in the third spot after election night, saw that lead disappear as the counting continued and Alvarado overtook...
Over 200 people flocked to the Tin Cup last Saturday for dozens of vendors set up selling their wares. Tin Cup manager Shakira Willis organized the Creations and Coffee event so the community could shop for a wide variety of items in one place including jewelry, food, clothing and more. Willis organized the event because of the challenge during the pandemic to find shops that are open and have the items they need. The attendees were also treated to music by the Charlie Zanne...
In a very tight Shafter City Council race, Mayor Gilbert Alvarado has once again passed Kris Lawrence and Chad Givens to have the second most votes in the election for the three open seats. Last week, results said that Givens and Lawrence had overtaken Alvarado by under 50 votes. As of Nov. 20, Alvarado has 17.5% the vote, with 2,088 votes. Givens is third with 2,068 votes and Lawrence is on the outside looking in at the moment with 2,033 votes. Council member Manuel Garcia...
Over 200 residents took advantage of a free flu shot and covid-19 testing clinic recently, allowing them to get both tasks done. The number of confirmed cases is on the rise, despite the Wear to Care campaign, urging residents to don masks whenever out in public. The clinic, held by the Kern County Latino Covid-19 Task Force, was on Nov. 12 at the Shafter Aquatic Center. Dignity Health administered the flu shot clinic. Dignity Health's Nora Garza, a health screening...
The Recreation and Parks District gave 100 Shafter families a reason to smile this holiday season through its Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway. On Nov. 19, cars filed into the parking lot next to the Recreation office to pick up their meals. Volunteers and sponsors included Shafter Kiwanis, Shafter Rotary Club, Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church, Champs, Miramar International, Shafter Women's Club, Shafter Lions Club and the Shafter Commanders. Representatives from each...
Minter Field Air Museum had to cancel their annual Wings 'n Wheels event, their biggest fundraiser of the year. In place of the event, the museum held a Fly-In Pancake Breakfast that attracted a number of pilots. Vintage airplanes were on display, as well as the museum, which was open for the attendees to peruse after eating. The museum holds memorabilia from every conflict that the United States has been involved in. They have an inventory of antique war birds, in addition to...
With the pandemic still in the forefront of the community's minds, there has been a surge of home-based businesses to help supplement people's incomes. These businesses help replace lost income due to layoffs or a reduction of hours. Pop-up events have become popular in the community, with a host of different businesses offering their homemade baked goods, clothing, jewelry and accessories at events held in a parking lot, at a church, or at someone's home. Last weekend,...
The City Council appointed three new members to the Planning Commission for a term beginning in January and also began its search for a new planning director. There was a pool of eight candidates that submitted interest in the positions, with the three top receiving the seats. Peter Franz, John Sanchez and Gus Olvera were chosen to serve a term. The positions are four-year terms with a stipend of $50 monthly, with meetings being held the second Tuesday of each month. The...
After finding a video about the art of wood burning, Alyssa Ramirez was hooked. Ramirez, who lives near Buttonwillow and attended Shafter schools, was fascinated by the video of a man using a wood burning instrument to create works or art. She bought her first kit containing basic tools and she got to work. "I really took to it, and soon afterward I bought a more advanced tool to do more things with and it just took off from there," she said. She soon figured out she could...
The City Council races in Shafter and Wasco are still up for grabs, over two weeks after Election Day. In Shafter, three seats are available and have four candidates still within 3.5 percentage points of each other. In the latest update, Kris Lawrence had overtaken Mayor Gilbert Alvarado for the third council seat. Last week, Alvarado had passed Lawrence and Chad Givens to hold the second position, after being in fourth place at the end of election night. With a number of...
A teacher at Grimmway Academy in Shafter has tested positive for the coronavirus and is being asked to quarantine. The school had opened a week ago for a hybrid in-person session, with students attending school in-person for two days a week and distance learning the rest of the week. According to Casey Yeazel, chief executive officer of Grimmway Schools, the school learned on Friday of the positive test. He said at this time, none of the other staff, or any of the teacher’s s...
Over a dozen drivers make it possible for the Richland School District to provide meals to over 2,000 students during the pandemic. The drivers make the trek to students in rural Shafter, helping those who were unable to make it into town on a daily basis to pick up food. Through the USDA Summer Seamless Feeding Option waiver, the school district provides breakfast, lunch and dinner to children ages 2-18 Monday through Friday through drive-thru meal service at their three...
Baking bread was a passion for Haley Plaza, the allure of being in the kitchen with the smell of fresh sourdough filling the air. Plaza, a Shafter resident, took that passion and established Handmade in a Home three years ago, her business selling her bakes. She stressed it was important to her to make money doing something she loved. Now Plaza is a popular stop for many residents at local bazaars, craft fairs and other events, often selling out. Handmade in a Home started wit...
For families in need, the holidays can be a tough time and that struggle has been worsened by the pandemic. To help local families, the Shafter Recreation Department is hosting a Thankful Thanksgiving Family Dinner Giveaway on Nov. 19. The city is partnering with a number of local organizations including the Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church, Shafter Kiwanis Club, Shafter Rotary Club, Shafter Lions Club, Apple Market, Champs, Miramar International, Shafter Woman’s Club and t...
In the hotly contested race for the 21st Congressional seat, David Valadao holds a slim lead over incumbent TJ Cox, with a lead of about 4,500 votes. It was a much different race on election night, when Kern County's votes put Cox ahead by several percentage points. But, with the district encompassing Kern, Tulare and Kings counties, the support for Valadao in Kings and Tulare counties overwhelmed the 60% of Kern County voters who voted for Cox. Valadao leads Cox as of press...
The pandemic has left many residents struggling to provide food or pay their bills. With no end in sight, several organizations have stepped up to aid people with rental and mortgage assistance and getting food to seniors. One of the programs available is the Rental/Mortgage Assistance Program hosted by CAPK, Housing Authority of Kern County and other nonprofits. It is designed for renters and homeowners who have been negatively affected by the covid-19 pandemic. If your...
The Shafter Chamber of Commerce will be holding its annual Christmas Store this year despite the pandemic, although it will look a bit different. The event will not be an in-person event this year and parents will shop for gifts on the Christmas Store website in early December. Gifts will be collected at a curbside event later in the month. Organizers Melissa Bergen, Katie Wiebe and Brittney Neal-Soberanis said the in-person event will be missed, but they knew the Christmas...
Shafter Healthy Start has been focusing on helping families during the pandemic with food, clothing and information. "There have been many times when we have given residents and their families much needed assistance in the way of food, clothing, information on the different organizations that can assist them further," Director of the Shafter Healthy Start Mayra Helo said. "We are the 2-1-1 for the Shafter area and also the northern Kern County community." Helo recently gave a...
The ransomware attack on the City of Shafter’s IT system is still being investigated to see what effects the attack has had on the system. Over the weekend of Oct. 19, it became apparent that the city’s IT system had been compromised. The IT system had been locked and frozen and the extent of the damage not known. Although officials do not believe that any personal information had been obtained, city officials are working with federal law enforcement agencies to determine the...
Residents gathered recently to give their input on a new proposed park that will be in northern Shafter. The proposed site is by Fresno Avenue and Highway 43, with the proposed park near the west end of Klassen Avenue. An application has been submitted for a Proposition 68 grant to fund the park. The city has planned a series of workshops to allow the citizens of Shafter help design this new park, with several surveys given to residents asking them what they would like to see...
In an election with the majority of the races too close to call after election night, TJ Cox took center stage as he was trouncing David Valadao in Valadao's comeback bid for the 21st Congressional Districts seat. But after five days of counting, Valadao was on top -- with many more ballots to count Cox had dethroned Valadao for the seat two years ago in what was considered an upset win for the Democrats. Valadao announced that he would run to regain the seat in the 2020...
