Recorder reviews most-read stories of 2008 with Top 10

The new year brings with it a time of reflection. In the news industry that typically includes a look back at the year’s top stories.

Here in the South County, the year’s most-read items for 2008 were derived based on how many times an item was viewed on The Recorder’s Web site, recorderonline.com.

Leading the Top 10 list for the year were reports about angelic and Jesus sightings in Porterville. The stories, and accompanying videos, induced more than 30,000 views on the Web site and saw comparable popular appeal in terms of newspapers purchased throughout the region.

No. 1: Religious sightings in city
It all began in late July with local residents reporting a sighting of an angel on the window of a local business, Carpet-Plus Color Tile, 1043 W. Olive Ave.

After the initial story, television news crews and thousands of people stormed into the area trying to see firsthand if the image was real. The story also caught the attention of national news anchor and commentator Keith Olbermann — who mentioned the incident in his July 31 show of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” under his “Let’s Play Oddball” section.

A follow-up story reported that the image was created by light reflecting from a business across the street but that didn’t stop people from returning night after night, hoping to catch a glimpse of the image.

Two weeks later, a second image — of Jesus crucified on the cross — appeared on the side of a palm tree adjacent to the store, and again, the crowd that had subsided, grew.

“I looked up and I saw him. Christ was on the cross, arms out, head down, his bear, his eyes — down to the last detail. You can see his ribs and his stance with his knees up and arms hanging to the side,” Robert Sanchez said on July 28. “I was thrilled. To have two sightings in the same place — it confirms that the image on the window was not fake.”

The second image was also determined to be caused by light reflections but that didn’t matter and a sea of people continued to flock to the area, confident that the reflections were a miracle from God.

No. 2: Man shot, killed by deputy
At approximately 3 p.m. Sept. 12, dozens of detectives and officers responded to West North Grand Avenue between Highway 65 and North Main Street for a possible officer-involved shooting.

The victim was later identified as Zachary Allen Atkinson, 21, of Woodland Hills.

The situation began when a Sheriff’s Department deputy reportedly saw a motorcycle, driven by Atkinson, turn east onto North Grand Avenue from Highway 65. The motorcycle matched that of one recently reported stolen.

When the deputy made the stop and talked to Atkinson, a struggle ensued, the Sheriff’s Department reported. The deputy subsequently shot Atkinson.

An autopsy revealed that Atkinson bled to death as a result of a gunshot wound to the upper torso.

Detective William Seymour, an 18-year law enforcement veteran with tactical experience, was identified as the deputy who shot Atkinson. He has been with the Sheriff’s Department for the past eight years. He was assigned to the South County Property Crimes Investigations Unit at the time of the shooting.

Lt. Keith Douglass on Monday said he has no new information to report.

“There is nothing I can say other than it is still under review,” Douglass said.

No. 3: Porterville man shot, killed
Less than a month after the Atkinson shooting, another man was shot and killed during a late-night gathering.

At approximately midnight on Oct. 6, the Porterville Fire Department and Porterville police officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of West Grand Avenue where they found Samuel Guzman, 20, who had been shot once with an unknown type of firearm. He was taken by ambulance to Sierra View District Hospital, where he died.

Detectives learned that Guzman was in the front yard of a home when two male suspects approached the residence, yelled gang slurs, and one of them fired several rounds into the crowd, striking Guzman in the head, before fleeing.

During the investigation, Jose Raul Anguiano, 18, a Campo Locos criminal street gang member, was identified as a suspect. His vehicle was found in the Modesto area.

“I have detectives in my unit, and from the special investigations unit, still looking for Jose Anguiano,” Sgt. Jake Castellow on Monday. “We have several leads that we are investigating and we do have a warrant for his arrest for the homicide.”

Anguiano, who is considered armed and dangerous, was reportedly seen in late October getting into a County of Stanislaus transit bus in the City of Ceres. He has tattoos of “C” on his right chest and “L” on his left chest. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes.

No. 4: November elections watch
Election-night results posted on recorderonline.com drew readers in number that make the night’s reports a Top 5 finisher in the list of most-read items in 2008.

The Recorder’s online coverage focused on local races but also offered readers a chance to receive current results from across the state and across the nation, particularly in the presidential race.

Voters opted for some new faces on the Sierra View Health Care District board of directors and the Porterville Unified School District’s board of trustees, and voted overwhelmingly in support of Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment to define marriage in California as being between a man and a woman.

One interesting twist in the elections came during the post-election canvass, which produced a tie for a seat on the Earlimart School District’s board of trustee.

Ruby Garcia and Isela G. Perez received 390 votes each. Ballots were mailed this week for the Jan. 27 run-off election to decide the winner.

Elections officials are hard pressed to recall a similar occurrence.

“I have been managing for about a year and a half, the person before me for about six years, and the person before that about 20 years. I talked to my predecessor, not the one before me, but the one before that, and as far as I know, this is the second [tie] in 30 years,” Elections Division Manager Paul Sampietro said. “And this is the only one in Tulare County that has been resolved with a run-off.”

No. 5: Couple suspected of child molestation, rape
A Porterville man and his companion are facing 21 criminal counts linked to the suspected molestation of five girls in February and will face a preliminary hearing after the scheduling date on Jan. 7.

Assistant District Attorney Don Gallian said Steven Patrick Arthur, 31, of Porterville, and Jennifer Lynn Thurman, 32, of Reedley, are being held at the Tulare County Jail and have been charged with 13 counts of lewd acts with a child under 14, two counts of sodomy of an unconscious victim, two counts of rape of an unconscious victim, one count of oral copulation of a child under 14 and three misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a child.

At the upcoming hearing, “the judge will make a determination as to which counts he will bind them over and set the trial for,” Gallian said. Evidence found in an ongoing investigation will be presented at that time.

“I can’t discuss the evidence prior to the preliminary hearing,” Gallian said.

Porterville police found about 50 compact discs containing child pornography after serving a search warrant at Arthur’s home on the 800 block of West Sandra Avenue, police reported in February.

Arthur and Thurman were arrested on Feb. 21 based on those findings and statements from the five alleged victims, three 11-year-olds and two 12-year-olds.

No. 6: Porterville man dies in collision
A Visalia man is set to face trial this month on charges associated with a car crash that killed Rickey Martin and injured three other Porterville residents nearly a year ago.

Alexander Moreno, 41, of Visalia is currently in custody after being arraigned in September on suspicion of second-degree murder, felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter, Assistant District Attorney Don Gallian said.

A preliminary hearing took place in September. Moreno’s trial is set for Jan. 14 in Dept. 12 of Tulare County Superior Court in Visalia.

Moreno was driving Jan. 20 in the northbound lane on Reservation Road when he tried to pass a group of vehicles at 80 mph, according to the California Highway Patrol.

It appears he was passing in a dotted line section of the road, Officer Stephanie Buck said. However, after entering into the southbound lane, he allegedly swerved back into his lane after noticing a few oncoming cars, lost control of his vehicle and struck a 1998 Nissan carrying Martin and three others.

The driver, Lisa Martin, who suffered major injuries, was transported to Kern Medical Center. Stacy Martin, 29, and Nick Avila, 43, suffered moderate injuries, and were transported to Sierra View District Hospital, as was Moreno, who suffered from major injuries.

About three hours after the collision, authorities determined Moreno had a blood alcohol level of 0.12, as well as marijuana in his system, according to Deputy District Attorney Paul Greco.

“It was a small group of cars [coming], and from what I can see, it wasn’t so much the passing as it was when he tried to swerve back into his lane,” Buck said. “Reservation Road is a very narrow road, and there’s not a lot of room for error maneuvers.”

No. 7: Peep show causes stir
In July, the Sawana Adult Store generated ripples of controversy throughout Porterville with the opening of a “peep show” booth at their store, 1531 W. Olive Ave.

Traditionally, peep shows are coin-operated booths that display pornographic images, either through film or live objects. Sawana had four booths, each with a video screen and a list of videos to choose from. They operated at a quarter per minute and did not have live shows.

At least one Porterville resident took the matter before the City Council, hoping council members would shut the booths down and ban them from returning.

In the end the owner of the shop, Ashiq Qamruddin, voluntarily closed the booths.

“I told him we are going to take the movie arcade out,” the owner said about his visit with city planner Ben Kimball. “We respect our city. We respect our city manager and we respect our community. If the people don’t want an arcade, we’re closing it.”

No. 8: Police sweep up gang activity
On June 19, Porterville police released the names of those taken into custody in connection with a major gang sweep the day before in and around the city.

The suspects — 23 in all — faced everything from various theft, fraud and drug-related charges to more serious offenses including witness intimidation, robbery and weapons charges.

Sgt. Mike Blain of the Porterville Police Department identified all of the suspects by name and age. Specific allegations for the suspects were also released and available on the Recorder’s online site.

Those arrested were identified by police as members of the Varrio Central Poros criminal street gang. The arrests came after a six-month investigation into the alleged criminal activity of members of the gang.

Blain said all the suspects were arrested using Ramey warrants, which he described as special arrest warrants approved by a judge prior to large-scale operations.

Ramey warrants, unlike standard arrest warrants, are issued before the district attorney files criminal charges and are considered based on information provided in affidavits filed by law enforcement officers.

After the arrests, law enforcement officials said Varrio Central Poros members were suspected in connection with crimes including conspiracy to commit murder, shootings, drug trafficking, assaults, robberies and thefts.

No. 9: Porterville woman shot by police
On Dec. 1, a Porterville woman was shot twice while fleeing from police.

At approximately 8:34 a.m. that day, Porterville police officers responded to a home on the 100 block of North York Street to apprehend 29-year-old Kendra Smotherman, who police report had multiple outstanding warrants for her arrest. Upon arriving, Smotherman reportedly ran out of the back of the home and into an alleyway.

Police provided this scenario of events: An officer in the alley ordered Smotherman to stop. She didn’t and a pursuit begin. As the pursuit continued, Smotherman removed what appeared to be a firearm from her coat pocket and pointed it at the officer.

The officer fired at Smotherman, striking her. She was taken into custody and transported to the hospital where she underwent surgery for two gunshot wounds.

Smotherman is awaiting trial. Allegations from the shooting incident include brandishing a weapon, resisting arrest and threatening an officer.

Police Chief Chuck McMillan on Wednesday said an internal investigation of the shooting has cleared the officer to return to work. Meanwhile he said the District Attorney’s Office is completing its review of the shooting.

McMillan said he expects the officer to be cleared of any criminal wrongdoing — with word coming as early as next week.

No. 10: Teen pedestrian hit by car dies
A Porterville High School student was killed on May 13 when he was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Jaye Street and Highway 190.

Antonio Madrigal, 15, was walking north along Highway 190 a little before 11:30 p.m. when he stepped in front of the vehicle going west on 190, authorities reported.

Madrigal was taken to Sierra View District Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police said alcohol was not involved. No charges were filed against the driver, whose name was not released.

-- Contact The Recorder newsroom at 784-5000, Ext. 1043.