Serving the community since 1970
Serving the community since 1970
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The students in the Richland School District received a big helping hand when it comes to preparing for this school year. Last week, students were given free backpacks, paper, pencils and other school supplies that will get them ready for the fall session, beginning on Wednesday, Aug. 14. Thanks to the support from the Shafter Lions Club, as well as members of the Shafter community, all of the children who were at the Golden Oak event received a backpack. On Saturday, Aug. 3, the Lions Club...
Shafter is continuing its efforts to improve the city's roadways, utilizing a variety of funds that have been made available through different grants from the state of California. The city announced that they would be working on a list of roads starting this week, and warned the public to expect delays wherever the work is. Sand sealing work began early this week, beginning with Poplar Avenue between between Fresno Avenue and Central Valley Highway. On Tuesday, it was Poplar Avenue between...
The Wasco Tigers football team caught fire at the right time last year, battling their way to the State Championship game for the first time in school history. They were 6-2 in the SSL, but turned up their performance in the playoffs, culminating with a 7-6 win in the Regional Championship. The Tigers showed more versatility in their offense last year, with Coach Chad Martinez's squad airing the ball out when it needed to, making their running game that much more effective. With the departure...
The Shafter High Generals football team is on a mission. This mission was prematurely aborted last year with a controversial loss in the semifinals of the Valley Championship. Coach Jerald Pierucci and his team are now looking to finish the job that they started almost three years ago. With a host of players returning from last year's team, Shafter is highly ranked, including by MaxPreps.com. There, they are ranked #14 in the Central Section, including Division I teams such as Frontier and...
The Shafter City Council voted to approve a buyout option for the employment contract between the City of Shafter and its City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who began with the city in 2020, has a contract that expires in March 2025. Gonzalez has announced to the council that he plans to retire at the end of his contract. Gonzalez also said that he would be willing to accept a buyout of his current contract if the city finds a replacement before the expiration of his contract. In the terms...
Shafter held its First Friday event on Friday, Aug. 2, in downtown Shafter, drawing a crowd for an evening of fun. The event is a continuing series of events that the city started last year to great success. The brainchild of Mayor Chad Givens, the latest in the series had good food, music, games for the kids and a lot of vendors displaying a variety of items. There was jewelry, clothing and information booths, as well as organizations promoting an array of services. The Shafter Recreation...
Tin Cup of Shafter recently celebrated seven years in business with an event that included vendors, raffles, live music, coffees and drinks. Manager Shakira Willis said that she was pleasantly surprised with the response on Thursday. "I wondered what kind of crowd there would be because of the event being in the morning during the week, but it has been really great." Willis and her staff were busy selling their signature sandwiches and drinks, giving customers raffle tickets. They gave away...
The Shafter Lions Club, along with their partners and sponsors, held a Stuff the Bus event on Saturday, collecting a busload of school supplies for the students of Shafter. Gilbert Alvarado of the Shafter Lions Club said that it was thanks to the support of the entire community that the event was a success. In addition to the Shafter Lions Club, the Shafter Family Resource Center and Kern County Child Support Services, as well as Acelerados Off Road, were on hand to help with the event. Members...
Salvation Training Ground ended their fourth season with a third place basketball team in the West Coast Nationals tournament, held in Las Vegas. Head Coach Fabian Jimenez said that he is very proud of the girls for representing Shafter in such a great way. The team competed against top teams from Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, as well as some of California's best. Shafter teams had competed in the Regionals in Anaheim, moving on to the Jam On It West Coast Nationals, where the girls 12U...
Belton Banks, who has spent over 30 years serving the community of Shafter, has announced that he will be retiring from the District 1 Cemetery Board at the end of his current term. Banks has served on the board for the last eight years. In addition to the cemetery board, Banks has served on numerous boards and committees, as well as being involved in several clubs and organizations. Belton Banks was raised in Shafter. He had a 32-year career in elementary and secondary education in Shafter...
On Sunday morning, Shafter Mayor Chad Givens, along with his wife, Vanessa, were installed as the new pastors of the Canyon Hills Shafter Church. Formerly the First Assembly of God Church of Shafter, the church was taken over by Canyon Hills a couple of years ago. Canyon Hills has campuses throughout Kern County and elsewhere. Givens said that he has been certified by both the Pentecostal Church of God and Assembly of God Church for a few years. Givens was part of the Jesus Saves International...
The Shafter Summer Children's Theater cast a spell on audiences this past weekend, performing "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" at Shafter's Ford Theater. The group spent two months preparing for the challenging production, filled with songs, dancing and acting. The production featured the character of Cinderella, played by Rori Acres. Acres was at times shy and reserved, as well as always kind and gracious. For comic relief, look no further than the hilarious Evil Stepmother and her quirky...
Edwin Sanchez, who was involved in a fiery crash in Shafter in August 2023, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter in connection with a deadly crash last year in Shafter and has been sentenced to probation and community service. On the afternoon of Aug. 14, Sanchez drove a Ford Excursion west on West Lerdo Highway approaching Driver Road, according to a court filing. The Ford collided with an Infiniti Q50 in the intersection. Both vehicles caught fire. The...
The Shafter Animal Control will be holding a Low Cost Vaccine Clinic for Shafter dogs and cats on Saturday, Aug. 3, from 7 to 10 a.m. Shafter residents are eligible to participate in the clinic, but an appointment is recommended for the event. The cost is $15 and includes FVRCP vaccine for cats, rabies vaccines for dogs and cats, and DHPP vaccine for dogs. Free licensing also will be available for pets for one year with the special. There are dogs and cats in town who need to get up to date on...
On Sunday morning, Shafter Mayor Chad Givens, along with his wife, Vanessa, were installed as the new pastors of the Canyon Hills Shafter Church. Formerly the First Assembly of God Church of Shafter, the church was taken over by Canyon Hills a couple of years ago. Canyon Hills has campuses throughout Kern County and elsewhere. Givens said that he has been certified by both the Pentecostal Church of God and Assembly of God Church for a few years. Givens was part of the Jesus Saves International...
Father Jose Padron has become the first known ordained priest from the St. Therese Church in Shafter. The celebration of Padron's ordination took place July 13 and was witnessed by over 100 parishioners from Shafter who had made the trip to see Padron become ordained. He is now the priest for St. Anthony's Church in Fresno. Padron said that he is excited in fulfilling his lifetime dream to one day have a parish and allow God to work through him. The Mass of Ordination took place at St. Charles B...
The First Southern Baptist Church of Shafter held their Vacation Bible School this week, taking the kids on a Jungle Journey that took them all over the world, in search of the 7 Cs of History. Those Cs include creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, cross and consummation. The 7 Cs of History are intended to be a memorable way of showing that the Bible is a history book, and its events connect with real history. This framework helps to understand fossils, rock layers, people group...
The Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church is holding its annual Wrestling Camp this week, teaching kids on and off the mat. There were over 30 kids on hand, from novice wrestlers to competitive wrestlers looking to get back into form. Led by Pastor Pat Coyle, the camp has been helping children for over 15 years with basic workouts to intricate moves on the mat. Coyle had the assistance of wrestlers from the Shafter Spartans youth wrestling team, as well as members of the Shafter High Generals. The...
"James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash" will be returning to Shafter's Ford Theater on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17 and 18. Garner appeared at the Shafter Ford Theater last year in a sold-out show that entertained the crowd with nostalgic songs and storytelling by Garner. "We're excited to bring our show back to Shafter," Garner said. "We played to a sold-out crowd, so we are glad to be playing three shows over two days to give more folks a chance to see the show." The showtimes are Saturday at...
The Shafter Rotary Club hosted the history-making Shafter Generals Baseball team at their meeting on Wednesday. The club held a luncheon in their honor and listened to Head Coach John Hill and a couple of players as they celebrated a historic season for the team. The Shafter High Generals baseball team did what no other Generals baseball team had done when they captured the Central Section Valley title, beating Madera Matilda Torres in the championship game. This was especially sweet for the...
The Shafter Recreation Department is having a very busy season, with the summer programs all in full swing. Baseball and softball just ended, with champions crowned and All Star games played. The baseball All-Star game pitted the Shafter players against the Wasco All Stars, with the Shafter squad coming out on top. In softball, the team named Texas was the winner SRPD now has their Summer Day Camp continuing, along with their summer tennis program. The tennis camp starting times had to be...
The city celebrated its new skate park with an opening on Friday evening, welcoming a large group of skaters who couldn't wait to try out the new complex. There had been a skate park at the location, on East Euclid Avenue, that was created in 2015. The facility closed in 2020 when the equipment was vandalized. Thanks to several concerned residents, including Councilmember Gilbert Alvarado and former Councilman Cesar Lopez, the new park is now a reality. The facility has brand new equipment, ligh...
It's summertime again, and that means the Shafter Children's Summer Theater program is putting on another production at the Shafter Ford Theater. For this year's musical, love is certainly in the air, as they have been working on Roger and Hammerstein's "Cinderella." The "Cinderella" cast is sure to both tug on your heart strings and have you folding over with laughter. They have been working tirelessly since April, and they are finally ready to present it. Although "Cinderella" is a story that...
The Shafter 99 Cent store, right across the street from La Fonda restaurant, will be closing its doors for good in less than a month. According to owner Ali Mahamad, the move has been on their minds for some time. "It has been very hard, with so much competition and slow business that we knew that it was time to move on," he said last week. The store sells a large variety of items, from canned food and toiletries, to house décor and office supplies. The location was previously operated as a hard...
