2013 Archive Stories

SACRAMENTO — A Republican has won a hotly contested Central Valley state Senate contest, with his top Democratic rival conceding that the race will not go to a runoff. Democratic Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez of Bakersfield conceded the 16th Senate District race to Republican Andy Vidak on Wednesday.

A family of five was burned out of their apartment Tuesday when one unit of a fourplex caught fire. The fire on South F Street began around 10 a.m.  A small plume of grayish black smoke was drifting above the building, and flames could be seen shooting out of the windows when Porterville firefighters arriv

By MICHAEL LINGBERG Monday’s tornado that tore through Oklahoma City and left two dozen dead has the rest of the United States scrambling to help. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant has donated $1 million to the relief effort, and there are countless others who want to go to Oklahoma to

Local icon and Porterville Evening Recorder editor, publisher and owner Graham Dean was the subject of Porterville native Karen Harriger’s project “Dean of the Paper” which will be published in serial format starting in today’s edition of The Recorder on the Heritage page.   The first installment appear

Nonprofit, civic and community organizations and individuals gave the Tulare County Board of Supervisors plenty to digest regarding a proposal to initiate new fees and raise others for groups and individuals who serve food at community events, such as Porterville’s Iris Festival. The issue of charging vendors more and on an i

THE RECORDER Nikki Fox, 42, of Visalia was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years and four months in state prison following her April 4 trial in which a jury convicted her of armed robbery.  Fox is ineligible to serve her time locally under California’s “realignment” due to the nature of th

Two local men are traveling into the wild — to a place where no white man has ever been seen by the natives. Rick Sullins and Chad Perigo will leave from Los Angeles on Sunday with a missionary plan to visit as many remote villages as they can during a one-month period in the Pokot region of Kenya, Africa.

Porterville Adult School’s Class of 2013 students had one thing in common Tuesday night — smiles. Wearing burgundy-colored caps and gowns, the students walked down the Buck Shaffer Theatre aisles to the playing of Pomp and Circumstance. And, as they did, the packed standing-room-only auditorium exploded in applause and

Loud cheering and whistling almost drowned out the “Pomp and Circumstance” being played at the Frank “Buck” Shaffer Theatre inside the Porterville Memorial Auditorium as the Butterfield Charter High School Class of 2013 — dressed in brown and white caps and gowns — walked down the auditorium aisles during the

By ESTHER AVILA Four Porterville Unified School District students have been honored with the 2013 Congressman Kevin McCarthy Merit Award. The students — Mary Crocker, Monache High School; Seth Steen-Fuentes, Harmony Magnet Academy; Milton Ramirez, Granite Hills High School; and Kaitlin Smithey, Por

The Pioneer Mustang Band — with 57 musicians and 25 auxiliary — cleaned house Saturday during a band review in Kingsburg. Not only did they clinch the overall sweepstakes award, they did it by placing first in every category — something the band has never done in its history.  Under the direction of Jack Amar

Fair officials stressed this year’s fair was for the kids and at the end of Saturday’s Junior Livestock Auction, that fact was evident. Saturday, 325 animals put up for auction netted a whopping $433,609.10, the first time ever the total sale topped $400,000, reported John Corkins, a member of the fair board and head of

Kim Hulse from Porterville High School has not missed a day of school in 13 years. And, if she can, she plans on not missing a day of college. The daughter of Pam and Jim Hulse, Kim said her parents pushed her to go to school every day. “I was just trying to get perfect attendance through eighth grade,&rdq

When Harmony Magnet Academy’s Madeline Garcia and Alejandro Ruiz walk across the stage to receive their diplomas Friday, the two can say they are the only two from their school who have accomplished something most people can’t. They have lived their entire lives without ever missing a single day of school — from kindergarten th

When Harmony Magnet Academy’s Madeline Garcia and Alejandro Ruiz walk across the stage to receive their diplomas Friday, the two can say they are the only two from their school who have accomplished something most people can’t. They have lived their entire lives without ever missing a single day of school — from kindergarten th

Kim Hulse from Porterville High School has not missed a day of school in 13 years. And, if she can, she plans on not missing a day of college. The daughter of Pam and Jim Hulse, Kim said her parents pushed her to go to school every day. “I was just trying to get perfect attendance through eighth grade,&rd

1:30 p.m., Porterville, California. No matter the resident, whether he has been here for ten weeks or ten decades, knows to stay indoors and away from the blazing heat of the late summer sun, which daily scorches the town without fail. The bustling Main Street of noontime turns into a quiet thoroughfare. Teachers bid their students to listen to

Last week, I prepared the evaporative cooler for the upcoming heat of summer. In this old house, built over 50 years ago, the air conditioning package is not efficient, thus is very expensive to operate. We gave up on that shortly after we moved here. We quickly tired of receiving Mr. Edison’s “thank you notes.” I remem

Information below is provided to The Recorder by the Porterville Police Department. It should be noted that only arrests are reported, and the suspects have not been found guilty of any crime.Monday, May 20, 2013 Petty Theft / Possession of Stolen Property Officers responded to Monache High School re

Leland T. Cook Leland T. Cook, a resident of Porterville, died Sunday, May 19, 2013, at the age of 105. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Private interment will follow cremation at Myers Funeral Service and Crematory.

In recent weeks, with the dedication of his presidential library, there is an ongoing effort to resuscitate the legacy of former President George W. Bush. The efforts have shown results as his poll numbers have improved, though a majority of Americans still view him negatively. Most of us don’t want to relive the Bush years. Two wa

We are very pleased with Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget revise released last week. It restores funding to schools, but holds the line on frivolous spending that got the state into such a mess in the first place. The governor announced that state revenues are running ahead of projections, but correctly cautioned that the state is not out

Editor, I would like to take this opportunity to convey my deepest appreciation to Sierra View District Hospital.My mother, Helen Roggenstein, was recently a patient at SVDH for several days. She entered her stay through the ER. I am so thankful and our family was truly blessed to have ER Dr. Pac be our mother’s atten

A fourplex on South F St. caught fire this morning around 11 a.m. A small plume of grayish black smoke was drifting above the building and flames could be seen shooting out of the windows, but firefighters responded quickly and snuffed out the fire before it could get serious.  The building contained four units an