Thumbs up, thumbs down
Thumbs up to Kiera Kaiser, 11, for her young activism in organizing the Kids Rally for Equality last Saturday at Fresno City Hall. After attending the Women’s March in Sacramento with her mother in January, Kiera was impressed with what people can do when they join together. A student at Manchester GATE, she wanted to make sure kids voices get heard, too. “We fight for equality for all people,” she says. Kiera has distributed informational fliers, created a web site, mission statement, obtained a city permit and volunteer forms, and she is urging people to contact their local representatives about any inequities they experience or witness.
Her dad, Bill Kaiser, is a supporter. “I firmly believe in the things she says,” he told The Bee’s Mackenzie Mays. “Whatever your political belief, it’s not cool to discriminate against anybody, whether you’re Republican, Democrat, Libertarian.” Kiera adds: “Don’t forget the Green Party.”
Thumbs down to thieves take advantatge of trusting folks who leave valuables in cars. Burglars are inspecting empty cars at night with flashlights, smashing into them even for loose change in the ashtray. Police recommend not keeping anything of value in the car, never leave it running to warm up, always keep it locked. Even the trunk may not be a safe place.
How low will the bad guys go? Religious items were stolen in broad daylight from Bishop Armando Ochoa of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno last Sunday while he was eating lunch in Los Banos. The thief stole a crosier, which is a wooden hooked staff with great personal meaning, and a ritual book. Not everyone is as fortunate has he was. The items were returned to St. Joseph’s Church in Los Banos in good condition. Perhaps someone took seriously the warning that “Your arms are too short to box with Jesus.”
Thumbs up to Mendota High School students who cut shoe shape pieces from donated denim for Sole Hope, a nonprofit that makes shoes for needy African children. Volunteers will display their charity projects Saturday at Chukchansi Park for You Matter Day.
Thumbs up to Realty Concepts for taking home the Innovative Office Design Award presented by Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. Jessica Castro of SIM PBX Architects was the interior designer.
Thumbs up to Fresno attorney Warren Paboojian for being named 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year by CAL-ABOTA, a chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Paboojian says he is especially appreciative of the award because, unlike Consumer Attorneys of California, which comprises only attorneys who represent plaintiffs, CAL-ABOTA comprises plaintiff and defense civil attorneys who must meet stringent criteria to be members.
Thumbs up to the 13 Valley middle schools and high schools honored with the 2017 Virtues and Character Recognition Award by Fresno State’s Bonner Center for Character Education at the Kremen School of Education’s 33rd annual Conference on Character and Civic Education. The award recognized the exemplary efforts of these schools to provide programs for students in character and civic education.
The winning schools are: Alta Sierra, Clark, Granite Ridge and Kastner intermediate schools, and Buchanan, Clovis and Clovis North high schools, Clovis Unified School District; John Muir Middle School, Corcoran Joint Unified School District; La Joya Middle School, Visalia Unified School District; Parkview Middle School, Armona Union Elementary School District; Pioneer Middle School, Pioneer Union Elementary School District in Hanford; Sanger Community Day School and Kings River High School, Sanger Unified School District.
Thumbs up to Murray and Francine Farber of Fresno for creating libraries at two Fresno Housing Authority properties. The donation is given in honor of their late son, Mike Farber, who was an avid reader and advocate for low-income and homeless causes. Mike’s Books opened Tuesday at Cedar Courts in southeast Fresno and the second location will follow at Sequoia Courts in southwest Fresno.
Thumbs up to Fresno resident and folklorist Amy Kitchener, 52, for being named a trustee of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The co-founder and executive director of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, with offices in Fresno, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles, Kitchener has been tapped for a six-year term helping to tend the nation’s collective memories in a world-class archive of about 5 million items.
This story was originally published March 17, 2017 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Thumbs up, thumbs down."