BVN Opinion

EDITORIAL: What’s Eating the Big Valley News Publisher

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: End the Third Term of Quid Pro Quo: Vote Jordan Wamhaff for MCBOS District 1

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?

Bobby Kahn is the Best-Choice for Madera College Students: SCCCD Trustee Area 1

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: Supervisor Candidate Mark Reed Attacks Mountain Women Who Question Criminal History

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: Fleming Finally Gets Fabulous Pay Off For Past Political Favors?

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.”