Serving the community since 1970
Serving the community since 1970
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Saturday was opening day for the Wasco Bengals, and it was a winner. The final score was Bengals 44, Southern Ravens 0. With a lot of fanfare, both teams' players were individually introduced to the spectators. From the beginning of the game with the Bakersfield team, smart spectators brought their own canopies for protection against the beating sun, and several brought their own umbrellas. While most people were watching the game, smaller ones were running and playing on the bleachers. Cheers...
Last spring, Wasco High School Assistant Superintendent Rob Cobb addressed parents who were concerned about the closing of North Kern Vocational Training Center. Cobb was born and raised in Paradise, where fires wiped out the entire town last summer. He started high school in Happy Camp, Calif., which is just west of Yreka, and graduated from Hoover High in Fresno. He met his future wife at Hoover High. Upon receiving his bachelor of science in biology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, he thought...
The City Council extended City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez's contract an additional two years on Tuesday night. On top of the three years left on his initial contract, he is set to be with the city at least through 2024. The agreement calls for a salary increase of 3% each year. His current salary is $175,000. The council also had to deal with some misunderstandings on the first contract. Ortiz-Hernandez's employment agreement stated that the city would pay his portion of the employee's...
Small towns are known for having tight communities in which everyone knows everyone's name. That is definitely the case with this year's Wasco Festival Grand Marshalls, Danny and Petra Rueda. Both Petra and Danny were surprised to learn they had been selected, since the honor was help a secret until they were told at a Starbucks gathering earlier this month. They will be highlighted on Friday evening, Sept. 6, at the Wine and Roses event and will lead the Saturday, Oct. 12, parade through...
The 2019 Wasco Festival will feature the work of a local, well-known artist who has been creating pieces for over 30 years. The art can be seen by visiting Wasco High. Shirell Sanford was an art teacher at Maple School for 34 years and has been able to take what she taught in the classroom and bring it to life through her artistic projects. Her preferred medium is pencil; however, she has one very recognizable painting of a huge "W" on the back of the Wasco High gymnasium. Sanford was born in...
On Saturday, the residents around Fifth Street could smell the scent of barbecued tri-tip. No one was complaining. In fact, people arrived from 11 a.m. when the doors opened until they closed. The fundraiser was spearheaded by VFW member Danny Rueda and Post Commander James Medrano. Aera Energy had suggested to Rueda that their company would like to support a fundraiser for the VFW. “Aera Energy provided everything,” Rueda said. Assisting the vets were several Sheriff’s Activities League membe...
Wasco High School's Associated Student Body members are active in both the school and the local community. ASB Community Representatives Ricardo Carriedo and Elisa Flores are both looking forward to their year on the school's student council. Some of their responsibilities include school events such as the freshman lunch and the downtown rally for the annual Wasco vs. Shafter rivalry game. "This year we are looking forward to getting the community involved in several ways," Ricky Carriedo said....
The news tore quickly through Wasco High School and Bakersfield Christian High School that Coach Frank Thiessen had passed at 81. Relationships varied, with every combination of coach, friend, biology teacher and confidante. But the general consensus is that he was a legend; he was one-of-a-kind. Thiessen was a Wasco native and continued his education at Fresno State. He was a tennis player his entire life, including throughout high school and college. Even though he was accepted into University...
Eddie Velasquez and his wife, Erica Alvarado, strongly support a local traveling basketball team. Velasquez coaches, while Alvarado is the team mom, nurse, cook, and caretaker. The team's name is 2nd to None and is part of the Latino Basketball Association. They manage a high school team of 15- to 17-year-olds, and because they love the game so much, they also manage an adult basketball team. "We have a mixture of kids," Velasquez said. "There are 10 players on a team at any time that travel...
Wasco Union Elementary School District students have already started their new school year. After summer break, students began their annual trek to their campus on Monday. Two schools in particular were anxiously awaiting the beginning of school so that their new campuses could be experienced. The new James A. Forrest Elementary School, with its Spanish-style architecture and curved archways, was a welcoming site to the parents excited that their children were attending a brand-new school. In...
Breakfast was served for all 480 Wasco Union Elementary School District staff at the annual Back-to-School Breakfast last Thursday morning in the newly renovated Richard K. Reding gymnasium. Superintendent Kelly Richers welcomed everyone to the new gym on the Palm Avenue Middle School campus. “This year, all the school sites had some sort of construction happening, which made working at the school sometimes very difficult,” Richers said. “Some schools were more inconvenienced than other...
The Wasco Union Elementary School District will double its fleet of electric cars used by staff to 10. Grant money will offset the cost of the $35,000 vehicles, leaving the district to pay $15,000. Superintendent Kelly Richers informed the board the district received a grant from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District for the EV vehicles. The grant will cover $100,000 of the total purchase price; the bid for the vehicles was $177,377.35 from Three Way Chevrolet. “Each vehicle originally costs $35,475.47, and with the grant f...
Visitors to Wasco library were treated to a demonstration on how to make healthy smoothies by the Downtown Business Association's vice president, Camilo Vasquez. Trained in the culinary arts, Vasquez leads demonstrations the first Wednesday of each month showcasing a different item. In his "day job," he creates sandwiches and salads for Cloud Nine Restaurant on California Street in Bakersfield. Approximately 20 people joined the fun last week. Vasquez provided the ingredients to make healthy...
Grants were the focus of this month's Wasco Coalition presentations. The director of community relations for the Wonderful Company, Manuel Cantu, offered an update on the company's grant process. Wonderful provides hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions to the communitie in which it operates each year. "We offer grants from $50 to $50,000 to nonprofits and organizations within our area, including Avenal, Wasco, Shafter, Del Rey, McFarland and Sanger," Cantu said. He provided a...
The City Council approved an upgrade to its internet infrastructure at its regular meeting Tuesday night. “The city is operating on old servers and old hardware,” City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez said. Also included in this project are costs associated with fiber optics connections. The budget of $61,192 was approved for the project, along with additional expenditures not to exceed $25,000. In other business, the city manager will negotiate and enter into a contract with CivicPlus for $19,265, plus any recurring costs, for the design and...
The Kern Council of Governments was instrumental in bringing two electric cars to showcase at the Villa Hermosa Apartment Complex on Poplar Avenue in late July. Aiding in this new option for one-car families who need access to a second car, CalVan and Self Help partnered together with Kern COG. Chevy and BMW are just two of the automakers that have made electric cars available to rent for an hour, a day or a week. The idea behind this concept of ridesharing is to reduce pollution and cut down...
The front of the old courthouse on 8th Street was taken over by dogs on Saturday, Aug. 24, as a nonprofit organized a free registration, spay/neuter and microchip clinic. This event was for dogs only, and people were lined up outside the courthouse door, filling the lawn. Each owner held their pet or attended to their pet on a leash, waiting to hear their name called for microchipping, spaying/neutering or just registering their dog. City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez and Councilmember Tilo...
The Reserves are coming back to Wasco next season, and will even expand into a winter league starting in February. But they will be called something else, says owner Andrew Dunn. Fans can also look forward to lower ticket prices, the Pecos League president said. The $7 gate admission for adults seems to be too high, he said in a telephone interview from Las Cruces, N.M. According to the Wasco Reserves' schedule on Wednesday, July 25, they still had at least two more home games to play in this in...
Thomas Jefferson Principal Danny Arellano looks forward to the Aug. 12 opening of school and anticipates a great school year. "Because of so many sixth graders attending the middle school, we are happy to invite parents to visit the campus on Friday, Aug. 9 from noon to 3 p.m. to become familiar with the new middle school setup," Arellano said. Arellano was born in San Diego, but his family moved to Wasco when he was two years old due to the agricultural opportunities. He is proud of the fact th...
The Wonderful Company, with operations on Highway 46 in Lost Hills, began in 1989 when Stewart and Lynda Resnick purchased Paramount Farms. The company was formerly known as Roll Global and is currently a private corporation owned by the Resnicks. "The Resnick's oversee everything in the company," Mark Carmel, Wonderful's senior director of corporate communications, said. The Wonderful Company's headquarters is in Los Angeles, and some of its subsidiaries include Teleflora, POM Wonderful,...
I was lucky to meet John Wooner in 2005-06 when he worked for the City of Wasco. What I remember about him was his great personality, warm, friendly smile and easy manner. He was so nice to me when I began working at the Wasco Tribune in 2005. Why does his death hit me so? It’s because when I worked in Arvin and Lamont for over eight years, I would drive on Comanche Road and see a Wooner Street at least several times a day. I always reflected back on the guy I met for a brief while in Wasco and wondered how he was doing. I learned what h...
Wasco Union Elementary School District celebrated two ribbon cuttings, one at James Forrest Elementary School and the other at the new Richard K Reding gymnasium at Palm Avenue Middle School. On Tuesday, July 30, the ceremonies began at 9 a.m. at James A. Forrest Elementary School and continued on to Palm Avenue Middle School at 10 a.m. where the new Richard Reding gymnasium was also celebrated. Superintendent Kelly Richers provided background information to the guests as he described what it...
A local educator with roots in the community has been selected to head the new Palm Avenue Middle School. Oscar Luna was born and raised in Wasco and attended all Wasco schools. He is a 2002 graduate of Wasco High School. After graduation, he attended California State University, Bakersfield, and earned a double major in criminal justice and sociology. Luna's career has taken him in several different directions. First, with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, he had a unique position as...
When athletes are on the field, one of the worst sounds spectators can hear is the snap of a bone. During the fifth inning, that's what everyone at the baseball park heard on Thursday evening, July 25, as the Wasco Reserves baseball team played the Monterey Amberjacks. The Amberjacks were ahead until the fourth inning when the Reserves had bases loaded and three runners walked, bringing the score to 7-5. As soon as Amberjack pitcher Conyal Cody pitched the ball to Reserve player #57, Luke...
Oscar and Ruth Ramos, owners of Wasco K & R Banquet Hall on 7th Street, held an ice cream social by inviting local businesses to enjoy a free scoop of ice cream at Paleteria y Neveria Las Michoacanas #2 on Saturday. Owners of the ice cream shop are Norma and Jose Moreno. The two are originally from Colima, Mexico, but Jose has been in California since 1988 and Norma has been here since 1990. The two met while working at the Department of Agriculture in Colima. He worked in construction and...