Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
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Wasco is now accepting applications for the Small Business Covid-19 Relief Grant Program. The program aims to alleviate the impact of the virus on small businesses and their employees. The city has committed up to $150,000 in one-time funds to create the program. The objective of the grant is to enable small businesses to maintain their workforce. Grants in the amount of $3,000 and $5,000 will be awarded to small businesses in Wasco that meet all eligibility criteria. Recipients will have until December 30 to spend the...
If you have a disability, accessibility improvements on your home are still available through the Kern County Home Access Grant Program. If, for example, you need to widen your doorways for wheelchair access, provide a ramp with handrails going up and down stairs, or you might need a handicapped accessible toilet or your tub replaced by an accessible shower, all these items are available through the program. The grants are available to those with a physical disability who...
Covid-19 has changed the landscape of community activities such as fundraisers, meetings and the traditional Rose Queen pageant, which takes place the first Thursday after Labor Day. This week, the pageant is today, Thursday, Sept. 10. However, because this is a virtual pageant, things will look quite different. The location of the pageant is unknown. Even ordering tickets for this year’s pageant will be done online and using Venmo. Tickets are $25 each. Log on to Venmo@Miss Wasco Rose Queen, pay $25. Put your email and p...
Wasco Unified Elementary School District Superintendent Kelly Richers said distance learning has been successfully implemented, with the district at 92% attendance. Richers said some special education and English language learner students have been authorized by the state to attend school in person as needed; however, he said only 14 students are allowed in one cohort, or grouop. Every district in California has been sued, he added, because they are not meeting the requirements of federal special education student Individual...
The second virtual Wasco Community Coalition meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 2, took place online with various groups reporting on their recent activities: 1. Keri Cobb from the City’s planning department updated attendees on the city’s procedures. She said city offices remain closed to the public, but that work continues. City staff is available over the phone and online. She also said the city is moving forward on conducting a school traffic safety survey, and that the city launched its new website a few months ago. Cobb enc...
Because of the covid-19 pandemic, The VFW has canceled a couple of their well-known breakfasts and barbecues this year. Instead, the VFW held a raffle where the lucky winner would go home with $500. Winner of the $500 grand prize was Ysidro Castro. Castro showed up at the VFW building shortly after he received a phone call that he had won the big prize. "We sold over 400 tickets," member Danny Rueda said. "It was a big success." VFW Rose Queen candidate Talitha Arellano was...
Businesses will reopen in a four-tiered framework under Gov. Gavin Newsom's new guidance. The reopening will be rolled out "simply and slowly," Newsom said. The four tiers will be determined by using case rates and test positivity rates. There are also four categories, such as widespread, substantial, moderate, and minimal. There are four color-coded levels. Purple, or Tier 1, indicates that the virus is widespread in the county, with more than seven cases per 100,000...
Zachary Wakefield, the field representative for District 4 Supervisor David Couch, said Couch’s office received a request to patch potholes on Taussig Avenue between highway 43 and Palm Avenue. “Public Works patched these potholes,” Couch’s office said. Couch’s office also received a request to check on illegal dumping on Filburn Street between Magnolia Avenue and Western Avenue. “RAPID cleaned up the illegal dumping,” Wakefield reported. Wakefield also said the RAPID (Removi...
As you enter F & R Auto Repair and GF Tire Center, you are surrounded by autos and parts, but still warmly greeted by whoever is working closest to the entrances. Both businesses are family-owned and their prime goal is to treat customers with fairness and honesty. The businesses are located next to each other on G Street one block off Poso. Felipe Garcia and Rafael Gonzales are the initials behind the F & R Auto Repair Shop. Garcia can be found working in the auto shop...
After experiencing a week of continual coughing and lying delusional on the floor, on Aug. 3, Fernando Alaniz was taken by ambulance to Mercy Southwest for breathing problems. Alaniz had been experiencing a week of feeling sick and progressively worsening with a cough that wouldn't quit. He was tested for covid-19 and the doctors discovered his blood sugar was very high. He was told he had diabetes and was close to being in a diabetic coma, which could have happened at any...
The city has been negotiating with the High Speed Rail for almost 10 years and while the city has made several concessions, the HSR hasn’t been as forthcoming with the city, City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez said at a meeting before the Sept. 1, 2020 City Council meeting. Ortiz-Hernandez presented a staff report that stated on April 18, 2017, the HSR asked the city to modify the HSR’s plans that were presented on Dec. 6, 2016 and the discussion was about the closure of 6th...
There was only one table available at Hoyett's on a recent Saturday after 9 a.m. The favorite spot for good food was shutting its doors at 1 p.m. that afternoon. Hoyett and Easter Smothers owned Hoyett's until 1996 when employee Terri Anderson bought it from the couple. Hoyett's opened in 1948, and Hoyett Smothers started working there that year. A friend of Easter's suggested that she head over to the burger place in town and see the new employee, who was Hoyett. Hoyett and E...
So far, the local schools are pleased with the newly created distance learning being delivered to the students, and they are very pleased with the responses by students engaging in the new system of attending school. Updates at the following sites have been collected: KARL F. CLEMENS ELEMENTARY (PK/K-5) Principal Sam Torres Torres admitted he had a lot of concerns about the beginning of school once the state was mandated to distance learning after opening up for a couple of we...
In spite of the covid-19 business closures, several local businesses have managed to stay open despite the decrease in customers and loss of income. Some local businesses have even been able to expand Wasco's Delicias Sinaloenses Ice Cream Shop, at 2330 Highway 46, is one of the lucky ones. Opened in April 2019, the shop is owned by Fabiana Hernandez and her husband, Miguel Garcia. Daughter Brianda Garcia manages the business. "You should have seen how busy we used to be on...
Wasco State Prison has released a total of 195 non-violent inmates as of Tuesday, Aug. 18, and has identified another 237 non-violent inmates who could be released in the future, said Lieutenant Joshua Farley, a prison spokesman. There have not been any deaths attributed to the virus. The prison also reported that 79 employees tested positive for covid-19, 30 of whom have returned to work. Farley said that as of Monday, 40 inmates had tested positive for the coronavirus, and...
High Speed Rail has had a negative impact on Wasco, City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez said in a memo this month. Ortiz-Hernandez said at the Aug. 18 City Council meeting that he asked the HSR if they would consider paying for the demolition of the former farm labor camp, because demolition would cost the city between $5 million and $6 million. The HSR said it would not pay for the demolition. Ortiz-Hernandez outlined the impact the high-speed rail construction is having on...
Primex has taken precautions to protect its workers during the covid-19 pandemic. Mojhan Amin, the company’s chief operating officer, says Primex has been in compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kern County Health Department guidelines. During a recent tour of Primex’s facility, many of these steps were on display. Since the middle of March, Primex has instituted new regulations for anyone entering the premises. Once a visitor enters, they are required to have their temperature taken. Rec...
You can't walk anywhere in Wasco without seeing people wearing masks. Businesses are now requiring customers to wear a mask in order to enter enter the establishment. Masks are the first line of protection against the covid-19 coronavirus, and those who don't wear one are risking either getting sick or getting someone else sick. Many people keep a mask handy in their vehicle so they can pop it on while walking into a business. Walmart, which had been ambivalent about masks, no...
With the cost of Kern County Fire Department service expected to rise, the city manager of Shafter suggested that his city and Wasco jointly seek alternatives to the KCFD with a cost-sharing agreement. Wasco City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez said getting the Board of Supervisors to consider such an approach could be difficult. Ortiz-Hernandez also said a detailed evaluation needs to be done to determine exactly what services the fire department provides and to compare costs...
A local father owns one family-run car wash in Wasco and his son owns a car wash in Shafter. Shafter Car Wash is owned by Gerardo Garza. Garza was getting ready to retire and called his son Edward Garza to come back to Wasco and help him run the Wasco Car Wash. Edward is a WHS graduate. After high school he left for Cal State Long Beach. After graduating, he continued living there for about 10 years and worked at Aspen Medical Products creating spinal orthotics via digital...
As Wasco faces the consequences of ignoring recommendations in a decade-old study, City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez addressed the current water pressure problems in a report to the City Council on Aug. 4. Ortiz-Hernandez said the city did not follow through with the more crucial parts of a water management study in 2007. That study made various recommendations and while some of the less important suggestions were completed, the recommendations for adding storage capacity an...
Family-owned businesses are among the losers during the covid-19 pandemic. Familiar places that are part of the hometown landscape are shutting their doors and saying goodbye to longtime customers and friends. Prior to Hoyett’s Facebook announcement last Saturday that they sold the long-time Wasco restaurant, Joyful Steps at 747 F Street held what looked like a large yard sale, which turned out to be its going-out-of-business sale. Several attempts have been made to contact owners Christopher and Gabriella Carlsberg; h...
The city has been going in "the wrong direction" for the last 13 years in fixing its crumbling water infrastructure, and it will have to spend millions – likely $30 million plus -- to fix it, City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez told the City Council Tuesday night. A study more than a decade ago made it clear the city needed to move to replace its aging water wells, and add storage for millions of gallons in order to protect the system from spikes in usage. This was merely t...
Classes for Wasco High School and Wasco Independent High School will start with distance learning only on Aug. 12. Robert Cobb, assistant superintendent of the Wasco Union High School District, announced last week that the beginning of school was not what the district envisioned when it had almost completed preparations for the new school year; however, plans had to change with the increase in covid-19 cases in Kern County. The district realized that their original goal of allowing students a couple of days of in-person...
Submissions are now open for the Wonderful Community grants program offering funding during time of critical need. The Wonderful Company, dedicated to harvesting health around the world, has established a new $1 million relief fund to support nonprofit organizations and schools in California's Central Valley, including as Wasco, Shafter, Delano, Firebaugh, Avenal, Sanger, Mendota and Del Rey. The company said funding will go to organizations and schools in these communities...
