Thumbs up, thumbs down: Cheers to twins, Bekah; boos to New Year shooters and more

Thumbs up to twins Joaquin and Aitana de Jesus Ontiveros of Earlimart for making international news with their rare birthdays. Joaquin was born at two minutes before midnight on Dec. 31 and his sister, Aitana, made her dramatic entrance at 12:16 a.m. in Delano Regional Medical Center.

These babies actually came early. They were due in late January and mother Maria Esperanza Flores Rios actually had a C-section scheduled for next week before she went into labor 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Her husband is Joaquin Ontiveros Sr.

Joaquin Jr. may be the big tax write-off, but Aitana was the moneymaker. As first baby of the year, her parents were given more than $3,000 of baby supplies collected by the hospital and community groups, according to the Daily Mail newspaper of London.

The parents both are farmworkers, and they have three other daughters.

Thumbs up to Bekah Martinez of Fresno, who is currently working as a nanny in Los Angeles, for winning a spot on the “The Bachelor” reality TV show.

The first episode of the series aired Monday and there’s good news and bad news about her on the internet. Bear in mind that internet buzz goes with the gig. Fans are liking her pixie haircut, reports The Bee’s Robert Rodriguez. People magazine wrote about it recently.

The bad news is that some commenters find it exceedingly creepy that, at age 22 reportedly, she’s looking to match up with former Indianapolis 500 racer Arie Luyendyk Jr., who is 36.

Martinez is dishing out some spice of her own, describing her experience “ ‘on the bitchiest season of “The Bachelor” yet.’ I never knew my facial expressions were so telling.”

Thumbs is not a big fan of these often-degrading shows, but we hope this gives our local competitor a boost on her résumé if not the discovery of the love of her life. Keep up with her on Twitter @whats_ur_sign. She hopes to own her own art studio one day, and she is a competitive rock climber.

Thumbs down to the gun-toting gumballs-for-brains New Year’s Eve celebrators who just don’t get it. They cannot resist shooting off their weapons like toys on holidays.

Thankfully, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer has some expensive toys of his own and he is using them to follow up on the hail of gunfire that erupted that night in Fresno.

Bullets went through houses in two separate incidents, reported The Bee’s Jim Guy, and police reported more than 100 gunfire incidents through the ShotSpotter tracking system as the clock struck midnight.

Here’s hoping some fines and arrests give these folks up a few sleepless nights, just as they kept others awake in their lame-brain celebrating.

Thumbs down to the Coalinga City Council for embarrassing itself even more by filing a lawsuit against Fresno County in an attempt to void a controversial election result that cost dozens of city employees their jobs.

The lawsuit alleges patients of Coalinga State Hospital voted illegally in the city’s November election. The sales tax measure failed by just 37 votes, 582-545.

Fresno County Clerk Brandi Orth, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said in November that Coalinga had annexed the state-owned hospital. This allowed the city to significantly increase its population. Larger populations make cities more attractive to outside businesses.

A recent change to California state law relaxed voting rules for offenders on probation or under post-release supervision. The ugly truth is voter apathy and a poorly run campaign are the reasons this measure failed.

Thumbs down to the Trump administration for requesting that the 2020 census include questions about immigration status. Understandable fears are arising in California, according to the New York Times, that this could lead to a massive undercounting of the California Latino population.

This could wreck any hope for an accurate census, which could have consequences ranging from the reapportionment of legislative seats to the distribution of federal funds.

Citizenship questions have not been requested from respondents since 1960.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Thumbs up, thumbs down: Cheers to twins, Bekah; boos to New Year shooters and more."