Editorial

EDITORIAL - What happened to Big Valley News? The website went dark at the end of January, and there were no real updates until March. The morning news disappeared from the radio station, and no one saw the site’s publisher around town. The rumor mill has gone so far as to have me in a hospice facility awaiting death. As it turns out, the rumor mill was pretty close to the truth. Towards the end of January, I was air-lifted out of Fresno for emergency surgery. I began a month-long hospital stay that resulted in my losing the ability to walk and the use of my left arm. I have been recuperating at home in Madera for the last two months. Thanks to home health care nurses and an incredible physical therapist, I am up and about with the help of a walker and returned to the website in March.

On January 19^th, I became extremely ill during my first day back at Fresno State. My blood sugars spiked to over 650, and I became lethargic. I took some insulin but could not get my numbers down to a safe level, so I decided to take a nap. When I woke, my numbers were in the 400s, which was still too high. My wife suggested going to the emergency room, but I knew better and drove home to Madera.

EDITORIAL – If the Madera Ranchos voters want to use their water faucets or showers in the future, it is time for them to take back their supervisor’s district, which was sold to the water-hungry Fresno Developers. Now that the Madera County Board of Supervisors has removed any limits to campaign donations, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been “donated” to the current boards’ coffers. In return, potential billion-dollar housing projects rejected for the previous twenty years are suddenly approved.

A vote for Andy Wheeler will be nothing more than a continuation of the Third Term of wholesale quid pro quo in the Madera County Government Center that has existed for the last eight years. What does Richard Spencer, owner of Harris Construction, get for his $20k donation to Brett Frazier’s campaign or the $10k he gave to Andy Wheeler? More importantly, why did Spencer use Fresno’s Chaffee Zoo’s Measure Z to funnel $2500 to Andy’s campaign? Those questions are answered when you realize Spencer’s involvement with the Fresno States Measure E campaign. Who do you think built most of Madera County’s new buildings in the last eight years, and who will profit from future new buildings at Fresno State?

EDITORIAL - With the 2022 Mid-term Elections quickly approaching, the State Center Community College District Trustee for Area 1 is on the ballot. The voters must choose the candidate that will serve as the best trustee to represent Madera Community College; the only college in Area 1. Therefore, the voters are actually selecting Madera Community College’s representative on the State Center Community College Board of Trustees this November.

Bobby Khan, the incumbent, has served as the Area 1 trustee for the last eight years. During that time, the campus in Madera has experienced significant changes that are noteworthy and should be considered when voting: the campus enrollment has nearly doubled since 2015, the “Center” became the 116^th Accredited College in the State of California (2020), the college added numerous programs to academic, trade, and certificate pathways for students, and added a second Academic Building to help accommodate growth. The last year of Bobby Khan’s current term has been highlighted by many of the college’s successes and the culmination of their hard work.

EDITORIAL - The Madera County Board of Supervisors race for District 5 has gotten highly nasty in the last few weeks. A flyer is circulating in Eastern Madera County alleging candidate Mark Reed has a criminal record that includes drug and weapons convictions. That flyer was followed up by a professionally produced video on YouTube highlighting the allegations of the flyer and questioning whether the candidate's son might be a white supremacist as it alleges that the grown son has a NAZI Swastika tattooed under his eye.

Reed followed up with a political mailer that called out individual Madera County residents who have opposed his campaign. He accuses five Eastern Madera County women of everything from a socialist to a lesbian, a witch, and even “GASP,” a Democrat. The Reed flyer even attacks one of the unions representing one of the county employee's sixteen bargaining units. The most shocking attack in the flyer for me was why Reed would feel the need to question why his opponent supports a movement like 'Black Life's Matter,' because Reed’s opponent in this campaign is a black man running for the position of Madera County Supervisor.

EDITORIAL - Disgraced former Madera County CAO Eric Fleming has been hired by the one Fresno contractor who reaped the most financial gain from Fleming’s time on the fourth floor of the Madera County Government Center. Richard Spencer, who has donated thousands of dollars to almost every elected county official’s campaigns and profited from several brand new county buildings, hired Fleming as the new Vice President for Harris Construction’s Central Coast Division earlier this month.

In a press release posted to the company’s Facebook page, Spencer says, “He brings more than 20 years of public sector management experience. Additionally, he was a licensed general contractor with years of experience in construction operations management. Most recently, he was the County Administrative Officer (CAO) for the County of Madera, a position that oversaw 22 department heads and nearly 1,500 employees.”

EDITORIAL – Big Valley News had a booth at the Madera Fair in Hatfield Hall earlier this month. It was a great chance to meet some of our readers and talk about the issues in Madera that concerned them. You would think with all of the problems facing Madera with Freeway 99 traffic, homelessness, and the overgrowth of vegetation in the Fresno River, there would have been many more important topics to discuss. Still, the one thing on everyone's mind was what has become of the Madera Tribune since the death of its publisher, Chuck Doud, and what the future holds for the struggling twice-weekly newspaper.

The one phrase I heard multiple times was how happy I must be that the Tribune was on its last legs and would soon become part of Madera's history. My answer, I think, surprised many when I told them what has been happening to our city's newspaper over the last five years is not only tragic for our community but breaks my heart personally. I am the last person in Madera who wants to see the Madera Tribune close. That paper is the heart and soul of our town. It is the voice of our community. Big Valley News cannot be the "voice of a community" as long as it is only my voice.