Thumbs up, thumbs down
Thumbs up to the Valley crews and volunteers for helping with our litter problem on California Clean-up Event. They put up some impressive numbers. Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern picked up over 411 cubic yards of litter during the one-day event. That’s enough to fill 2,877 orange trash bags or 26 full-size trash trucks!
Last year almost $70 million was spent picking up up trash from state highways. We’ve got better uses for that money. Carrying a litter bag inside of your vehicle and properly securing loads are also ways that the public can help keep our highways clean.
Another option is to participate in the Adopt-A-Highway Program. Caltrans encourages community-minded citizens and businesses to consider adopting a section of highway. Details: Rafaela Lee at (559) 445-5354
Thumbs up to Sunnyside High School’s career technical classes for the high-spirited photo mural the students installed all over their school. Hundreds of students, staff, faculty and community members worked on the project and when it was all over, they posed together for pictures in front of a billboard featuring it. Nice.
Thumbs down to the cowardly, low-life crooks who prey on senior citizens. The rate of violent crime against senior citizens is higher in Fresno County than other central San Joaquin Valley counties, and also higher than California’s overall average, reports The Bee’s Tim Sheehan. In 2016, seniors were victims of 285 violent crimes that year in Fresno County, including seven homicides, one rape, 78 robberies and 199 assaults. Nice work, big brave dudes.
Thumbs up to the Clovis High School color guard, now fifth in the world. The 12-member squad traveled to Ohio to compete in the Winter Guard International World Championships. They finished fifth, after competing against 132 groups this past week. Last year, they placed ninth.
Thumbs up to Arien Pauls of Fresno for receiving an award from the Congressional Victims Rights Caucus. When she was last in Washington nine years ago, she was being was being sold for sex not far from the Capitol. That’s all over now.
The 29-year-old Fresno woman survived nearly four brutal years of being trafficked around the country – including severe beatings, rape, and a forced late-term abortion – before escaping. She’s now a volunteer who helps human trafficking victims. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, presented her with the Eva Murillo Unsung Hero Award on April 12 in a U.S. House of Representatives’ building.
Thumbs up to the winners of the annual Fresno City College ice cream competition, a joint effort between the Jeff and Amelia Bennett, owners of Ampersand Ice Cream, and students in Chef Joathan Davey’s Advanced Food Preparation Class.
The winning flavors and their creators were mojito sorbet, Cherish Clark; cherry bomb, Angelina Bonilla; caramel corn, Magdiel Rivera-Dominguez, and after-cereal milk by Nicholas Rivas. The flavors will be featured Saturday and Sunday at Ampersand, 1940 N. Echo Ave., near Fresno High School. The first flavor to sell out will be featured in the shop for a month beginning May 3.
Thumbs up to Fresno natives Lou and Dena McMurray for donating 500 pairs of snazzy athletic shoes to children at Jefferson Elementary School in Fresno.
Shoes That Fit, a nonprofit organization based in the Southern California town of Claremont, visited Jefferson Elementary and provided the shoes.
“Shoes are one of the most expensive items for families to provide for their kids,” the group’s executive director Amy Fass said, “and we find that there are a lot of kids who are missing school, not participating in PE, being bullied because of the shoes they’re wearing. So were here to do something really concrete for these kids, giving them new shoes.”
A group of Jefferson students later spelled out “thank you” for the gift.
Thumbs up to Buchanan High School’s baseball program for conducting a special needs clinic for Clovis Unified elementary children. Varsity players were at 12 stations where campers learned how to throw, catch a baseball, hit a ball off a tee and run the bases. That’s a home run for the heart.
This story was originally published April 28, 2018 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Thumbs up, thumbs down."