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Blueberry and blackberry tours, tastings planned
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- Published on 05/06/2011 - 1:33 pm
- Written by Business Journal staff
A blueberry and blackberry field tour is planned from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, departing from the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier.
The tour, sponsored by the University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare County, and the UC Small Farm Program, will stop at small and large farms and packing facilities; van transportation is available for 20 people, while a caravan will be arranged for the rest of the group. The cost is $20 to $35.
Topics to be addressed include blackberry sunburn protection, blueberry field design, soil and water acidity and blueberry packing and cooling.
A subsequent blueberry and blackberry field day event is planned from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at the Parlier center, at 9240 S. Riverbend Ave., eight miles from Highway 99’s exit at Manning Avenue. A tour of blueberry trials and demonstrations is on the menu, along with tastings of about 50 blueberry and blackberry varieties. The cost is $25 to $35.
Presentations by blueberry experts and UC researchers will take place, and educators from the University of North Carolina will attend. That school’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention researches sustainable agriculture practices.
Those interested in the events can register online at http://ucanr.org/bbd
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California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Karen Guillemin said on Tuesday that a human caused the fire but did not release more details about where it started.
Guillemin said the fire, which began on Sunday, has burned 1,600 acres and led to the evacuation of 800 homes and about 1,500 people.
The blaze 6 miles northeast of Mariposa has burned 2 ½ square miles remains 15 percent contained.
No structures have been damaged or destroyed. One firefighter suffered a minor injury.
Highway 140 into Yosemite National Park remains open.
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The President's Scholars program of the West Hills Community College District will help more high school students attend college thanks to a $100,000 donation from Educational Employees Credit Union.
The program, offered at West Hills Community Colleges in Coalinga and Lemoore, pays full tuition and provides $250 for book costs each semester to outstanding local area high school graduates.
At a value of $2,000 per year, the scholarships are open to students who have achieved a 3.5 grade point average and have completed a college educational plan.
There is no limit to the number of scholarships available. The program has named more than 500 students as President's Scholars since it began in 1996.
EECU's donation will provide $20,000 a year for the next five years, putting 50 local students through their first two years of college.
West Hills College Lemoore President Don Warkenkin will join EECU officials as he accepts the gift during a ceremony at 11 a.m. on June 19 at EECU's Hanford branch, located at 1460 W. 7th St.
EECU is the 67th largest credit union in the U.S. and the 13th largest in California. With deposits of more than $2 billion, the credit union has 15 branches and more than 200,000 members throughout Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties.
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Fresno State is offering its newest bachelor's degree to students studying Latin American cultures.
The degree program, consisting of 120 units, will be offered for the first time this fall through the Chicano and Latin American Studies Department in the College of Social Sciences.
The department currently offers a bachelor's degree and a minor in Chicano Studies and a minor in Latin American Studies.
Students who enroll in the new program will learn about the experiences of people living in Latin American countries like Mexico and Argentina and about their economic relations with the U.S.
Many will go on to instructors in the field of Latin American studies and related disciplines of social sciences and the humanities. Others will use the knowledge to help them in other careers requiring insight into Latin American society.
Those wishing to enroll are encouraged to spend a semester abroad studying in Latin America, Spain or Portugal.
The program is the only one approved for Fresno State by the CSU chancellor this year.
More about the degree and how to sign up can be found online at fresnostate.edu/socialsciences/clas/degrees/la-major.html.
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Written on 06/17/2013, 2:06 pm by
Fresno’s Central Library will distribute free meals to youth throughout the summer.
A healthy lunch will be provided weekdays from noon to 1 p.m. June 17 to August 9 to anyone between the ages of 1 to 18 regardless of income. Provided by program sponsor Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, lunches are available on a first come, first served basis.
The library is at 2420 Mariposa St. in Fresno.
The Lunch at the Library program, in partnership with the California Library Association and the California Summer Meal Coalition, brings together the library’s longstanding summer reading tradition with a lunchtime meal, in an effort to combat summer learning loss and summer hunger.
Studies show that malnourishment can diminish a child’s overall learning potential. Of the Fresno County children who are eligible for free lunches during the school year, just 1 in 10 have access to it during the summer.
Add to that the fact that children who don’t read over the summer lose on average one month of academic progress. By middle school, those who haven't read during the summer may have lost as much as two years’ worth of achievement.
“The Lunch at the Library program gives children and teens the physical foundation they need to keep their minds sharp and open to learning, and the summer reading program encourages them use that fueled brainpower,” said Laurel Prysiazny, county librarian. “Together, the programs allow traditionally disadvantaged youth to return to school in the fall at the same or higher level than when summer began. That’s a significant achievement.”
To supplement the lunch program, the library sought out and received two grants that will further support Fresno County youth. Fresno State’s Humanics Department has awarded the library $4,000 and the assistance of a student intern to help with the program. Dollar General has awarded the Library $1,000. In both cases, the money will be used to give books away to lunch recipients.
More information is available by calling program coordinator Kari Johnson at (559) 600-6251.
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Written on 06/17/2013, 1:55 pm by
Construction in the Central Valley made some definite headway by the second quarter of the year, with building permits up more than 30 percent over the same time last year.
Throughout Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties, 4,449 construction permits were issued to builders in the first six months of the year, up 30.5 percent from 3,409 during the same period last year, according to a weekly report by Construction Monitor.
Of the permits awarded so far this year, 3,782 were for residential construction compared to 2,765 last year.
Commercial permits rose from 644 during last year's second quarter to 667 so far this year. Among those, retail, warehouses and dining jumped from 18 to 26, while offices, banks and professional buildings went from 22 to 33.
Industrial and manufacturing buildings and warehouses dipped slightly to 22, although the value of those permits doubled to $39.3 million.
The value of all construction permits rose from $403.4 million by June of last year to $547.6 million so far this year.
Residential construction values totaled $355.4 million so far this year over $242 million in 2012, while commercial construction permits went from $161.4 million to $192.2 million.
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Written on 06/17/2013, 1:52 pm by
San Joaquin Valley dairy farmers, still fighting to stay afloat in a market of high feed costs and generally unprofitable milk pricing, are looking to promoting the health advantages of drinking milk, including the vitamins beneficial to children, and push new dietary products made with milk powder.
Challenges and opportunities in the industry came to light Friday during a Farm Forum presented at Chukchansi Park as part of the Farm Grown Program supported by the Fresno Grizzlies.
Former Mayor Alan Autry hosted the event presented prior to a Grizzlies baseball game.
Three panelists, Ray Prock, owner of Ray-Lin Dairy in Dinera; Steve Maddox, managing partner at Maddox Dairies in Burrel; and Darrin Monteiro, director of member relations for California Dairies Inc. in Visalia, spoke on the topic of “What’s next for Central Valley Dairies.”
Monteiro, who left his family’s dairy farm in 2008 to work for California Dairies Inc., said that California dairies continue to be challenged.
They are also continuing to fight high feed costs, Maddox said. He said that although corn is much needed by the livestock industry, 40 percent of the crop goes to fuel production.
Maddox added that milk production declined by 2 percent so far this year. He added that the health of the dairy industry depends on consumer spending power. “The dairy industry follows the general economy,” he said.
The three dairymen agreed that milk should be promoted as a healthy diet drink. “Powders should be put in diet supplements,” Monteiro said. “You can add whey powders to drinks.”
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Written on 06/17/2013, 1:51 pm by
Valley home sales picked up in May, especially in Kings County, with a surge of almost 40 percent.
According to a new report from the California Association of Realtors, home sales in Kings County were up 37.9 percent over April and 12.3 percent over May 2012.
The county's median home price fell to $149,000 in May, down 5.2 percent from April's price of $157,140 but up 4 percent from $143,330 a year ago.
Sales in Fresno County increased 4.7 percent in the month but dropped 9.2 percent from last year.
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The center, located at 535 S. Trinity St., will provide healthy snacks and physical activities daily from 1-5 p.m.
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