theranchospage3 8/17 thegoldenvalleychamberofcommercewouldlovetosee...

The PRSRT STDECRU.S. POSTAGE PAIDMADERA, CA.PERMIT NO. 61

Volume 13 Issue 8 2017 The Official Publication of Southeastern Madera County 50¢

RanchosIndependent

In This Issue Editorial • Page 5 / Aunt Jean’s Ranchos Recipes • Page 8Classifieds • 8 / Fun Pages • Pages 22 & 23

Click on “Local News” at

ack in January of this year,Reuters/Ipsos took a poll of 500Cal-ifornians, asking how they felt about

California seceding from the United Statesand forming its owncountry.Almost one third(32 percent) said they supported the idea, anincrease of 12 points from when the samequestion was asked back in 2014. Whatchanged? The election of Donald Trump asthe 45th president of the United States.Reuters/Ipsos made it clear that “… a signifi-cant portion of those residents…areDemoc-rats who vehemently oppose the 45thpresident.”

“Calexit” is what themovement is beingcalled.

Fashioned after “Brexit,” the catchphrasecoined after Britain announced its intention –and later successful departure – from the Eu-ropean Union, Calexit, the concept, has beenaround for a while. But it has taken on a newlife in recent days, specifically after the latestattempt at a ballot initiative was submitted tothe State of California on Thursday, Aug. 17,calling for a federal constitutional conventionto facilitate California's ability to leave theunion. Once state Attorney General XavierBecarra gives the latest attempt an official titleand summary, its supporters will then have180 days to gather nearly 600,000 signaturesfrom registered California voters in order toplace it on the 2018 ballot. If that happens, itwill be the third potential ballot initiative thathas sought to be placed before California’svoters since Trump’s election. The secondone,which is actively seeking signatures now,wants the governor to negotiate more auton-

omy from the federal government. The firstone has been abandoned by its supporters.

In California’s history, there have beenmore than 200 unsuccessful attempts to chop,slice or carve theGoldenState into somethingother than its original configuration.

ACloser LookIf the second initiative were to be ap-

proved by voters inNovember 2018, it wouldbe followed by a special election in March2019 asking voters what theywanted to do. Ifindependence from the union was chosen,that’s whenCalifornia’s troublewould begin.

The U.S. constitution has no provision for astate to secede. Calexit, by virtue of what it’sattempting to accomplish, would require anamendment to the U.S. constitution. Anamendment to the constitution requires ap-proval by two-thirds of congress and three-quarters of the states. Daunting odds.

Hence the latest ballot initiative.That initiative is the brainchild of a group

called “Cal Con Con” – California Calls for aConstitutional Convention. They are seekingto go straight to the process of changing theU.S. constitution, and not just for the sake of

California. Language in the proposal calls forchanges that would give any state “… a clearand reasonable path [for] complete independ-ence.”

But the group has an ulterior motive andwants to add a fewmore items to their consti-tutional change shopping list, including refer-ences to making federal taxes “negotiable,”equal pay and clean energy clauses. And thenthere’s recognizing “nature’s rights.”

“HumanCommunityLaws ofNature” isa new section they want added to the consti-tution, declaring, “… that Nature is a freelyliving beingwith inalienable rights and that noindividual, business entity, government,‘owner,’ or organization shall inflict violenceor servitude on her.”

California’s Department of Finance andLegislative Analyst’s Office determined thatmajor economic and budgetary impacts forstate and local governments would be thelikely result of California “nationhood.”

Russian Connection?Yes California, a secession group, was

led byMarcus Ruiz Evans, who calls himselfthe founder of theCalexitmovement, and hasbeen active in the secessionist movementsince 2012. His first attempt at putting an ini-tiative on the ballot (the first of the threemen-tioned above) has been pulled, thanks in nosmall part to claims of Calexit being linked toRussia. Louis Marinelli was the co-leader ofYes California with Evans and at present isteaching English in Russia, but he formerlywas the interimchairmanof theCaliforniaNa-

Please see CALEXIT on P. 12

2017 Madera Ranchos Property Values Available from County OnlineGary Svanda, Madera County Asses-

sor, has released the Assessed Value No-tices for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 for allproperties in Madera County. They arenow available online and Ranchos propertyowners can review their value notices atassr.parcelquest.com/Home. The noticecan be searched by the street address or as-sessor’s parcel number, which can be

found in the upper right-hand corner of aproperty tax bill.

Posting the value notices online al-lows the assessor to make assessed valuesavailable for all properties while savingtens of thousands of dollars in printingand mailing costs. Property owners with-out access to the County website can ob-tain a printed “Value by Notice” four

ways:1. By calling the Assessor’s Office at

559-675-7710;2. By sending a written request to:Madera County Assessor’s Office

200 W. 4th Street, Madera, CA 93637;3. By visiting the Assessor’s Office; or

4. By email at [email protected].“Over the past three years, Madera

County has grown in overall assessablevalue by more than $1 billion,” Asses-sor Svanda said. “The 2017-2018 taxroll stands at $13,495,073,944, thehighest value ever reported for theCounty. Housing values comprise 50percent of assessed value with ag landcontributing approximately 35 percentand commercial/ industrial 15 percent.”

Aug. 25 7 p.m. at FirebaughSept. 1 7 p.m. at MendotaSept. 8 7 p.m. vs. EscalonSept. 15 7:30 p.m. at FowlerSept. 22 7 p.m. vs. Corcoran

Sept. 29 7 p.m. vs. PattersonOct. 13 7 p.m. vs. SierraOct. 20 7 p.m. at Washington UnionOct. 27 7 p.m. at KermanNov. 3 7 p.m. vs. Chowchilla

2017 Liberty hIGH SCHOOL Hawks football SCHEDULE

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www.The Ranchos.com

8/17

The Golden Valley Chamber of Commerce would love to seeyou at our next meeting, always the second Wednesday of themonth at 6:30 p.m., 37167 Ave. 12 Suite 5C in the MaywoodCenter. Come join us on September 13 and see what’s going on inyour community. Call us at 645-4001.

Through an exclusive arrangement with the owners of the Flag Barn, the GoldenValley Chamber of Commerce is the exclusive distributor of the Flag Barn T-Shirt.With the recent sale of the Flag Barn property, the future of this iconic symbol is inquestion.Get your copy of the Flag Barn T-Shirt as a lasting memory of the patrioticsymbol so associated with the Ranchos.

Only the Golden Valley Chamberhas Flag Barn T-Shirts!

Only $15 for Large and Extra Large.$2 more for 2XLarge.

Call the Chamber today to reserve yours! 645-4001

The Golden Valley Chamber of Commerce wouldlike to welcome the newest member to the

Madera Ranchos business family

New Members

Mitch, Cody & Briana VickMLV Construction Group



New Members

Patti GrohChristian Mission Church



New Members

Alma Griffen



New Members

Janet SanchezEl Rinconcito Mexican Grill



New Members

Sally Moreno


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Letters

Dear Editor:On August 8, 2017 the Madera Board

of Supervisors held a scheduled meeting tounanimously agree to allow a public em-ployee to negotiate up to a $500,000 loanfor Madera Ranchos water system ratepay-ers; that those 1,000 ratepayers would be li-able for and the public employee would usewhatever means necessary to collect thatloan payment from the MD-10a ratepayers.The purpose of this new arrangement

is so that the Public Works department andour supervisor, Brett Frazier, could abideby the majority desire of the 1,000 ratepay-ers of MD-10a to make a new feasibilitystudy regarding the replacement of theknown leaking water main pipes in the sys-tem and to install theCalifornia state-man-dated meters on allmunicipal water re-cipients. The existing,and already paid for,feasibility study doneon MD-10a leakingwater pipe replace-ment that concludedin 2009, I believe,was not accepted by, Isuppose, those samemajority 1,000 MD-10a ratepayers. TheMadera County coston that project wouldhave been $15.5 mil-lion to the 1,000ratepayers and evi-dently that was too much.The new feasibility study will do a

comparative price evaluation to the 2009existing study to see if the price can be cutdown by replacing the “at rear of lots” ex-isting leaking water main pipes by variousmethods, including running a rubber ballthrough the existing pipes and breakingthem under the hard pan and replacing these10-in. to 4-in. pipes with adequate pipesthat I am sure would maintain the existingpressure we now have with this graduatedpipe system.Another option discussed at this BOS

meeting on August 8 was to use a backhoeto dig up the existing pipes and replacethem and cover them up. Consider a back-hoe going into a thousand backyards –some that do not have gates large enoughfor this – where there is existing landscap-ing to include large tree roots, out buildingsand pavement work, to mention only theobvious, along with a thousand fences thata backhoe would drive through.Consider why all new residential con-

struction developments like Riverstone

have their water pipes down the street in theeasement. Madera County, as part of theircontract obligation to MD-10a ratepayerswith the multimillion-dollar state grant, didin fact replace some of the known leakypipes down the roadway with laterals goingto the individual parcels. This is normalconstruction practice because it is the easi-est way to get the work done, which meansless labor and damage and less cost thangoing through 1,000 fences and yards to dowho know what, where and when. MaderaCounty does not even have accurate mapsshowing where the existing original leak-ing pipes are. Ever notice how it takes fivetrucks or more and many men to find theshut-off valves when pipes blow up out

here in the MaderaRanchos?Once again, it ap-

pears necessary forthe ratepayers andproperty owners ofMadera Ranchos andMD-10a to challengethe mismanagementand foolish spendingof our money with noinput by the 1,000ratepayers, rather thanonly the chosen onesthat represent all1,000 of us to theMadera County em-ployees as they havefor years.I ask every per-

son that pays the 60 bucks a month, or so,for water at your home or Webster Schoolor business on the MD-10a water system,to attend the August 29 meeting put on byour supervisor, Brett Frazier, at the MiddleSchool between 6 p.m. and when theythrow us out.For the record, with the 1996 state

bond money and subsequent MaderaCounty BOS/BOD running MD-10a, partof our monthly payment was to replace themiles of leaking pipes over a 20-year pe-riod. That did not happen. Some pipes werereplaced – who knows how much – but themoney to replace those known leakingpipes was stacked up until Madera Countyemployees took $1.5 million of that moneyto do the Dublin Well fiasco outside of theMD-10a service area, negatively impactingour neighbors with private wells, and nevertold the MD-10a ratepayers except for thosefew special people that keep telling the su-pervisors and temporary employees of thecounty what the rest of us 960 ratepayers

The Ranchos Independent welcomesyour letters. Whether you’re a fan orsomeone looking for somethingto line the birdcage, we want

to hear from you. The only rules?Sign it, be civil or forget about it.

Send your letters to:email:

[email protected]:

The Ranchos Independent37167 Ave. 12 #5CMadera, CA 93636

fax:559-645-4002

Please see LETTERS on P. 16

www.The Ranchos.com

The Ranchos Independent is published by Five and Two Publishing.All contents of this publication are copyright 2017, all rights reserved.Reprintingwithout the permission of the

copyright holder is forbidden by law.All articles are submitted as the opinion of the author, who remains solely responsible for the content. The in-

formation gathered for this publication is from sources that are considered to be reliable, but are not guaranteed.Opinions expressed in advertisements or articles remain the opinion of the writer.

Randy Bailey............Publisher/EditorKaren Petryna -- Reporter

Jean Briner -- Columnist, Advertising Sales

RanchosIndependentThe

559-645-0634

37167 Ave. 12, Suite 5C • Madera, CA [email protected]

By Randy Bailey

Where to start?I have to admit these last couple of

years have been among the strangest inmy life and more specifically, the lastseven months. And it’s all because Don-ald Trump was elected president.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have ab-solutely no problem with Donald Trumpbeing president. He out-campaigned 15other Republicans and then did the samething to Hillary Clinton, the heir apparentto the presidency. He struck a chord withaverage Americans all across the countryand, more importantly for our uniqueelection process, garnered more electoralvotes than Hillary. He ended up with 74more electoral votes which was more thandouble the amount he needed to reach themagic number of 270. He didn’t win thepopular vote, but then you don’t getelected president with the popular vote.

No, what’s made this time frame soweird is the culmination of two things: 1)The total inability by anyone on the Leftto accept that Trump won (or even had theability to win): and 2) The total inabilityby anyone on the Left to allow Trump tolead (which is what he got elected to do).These two mindsets, when combined,give us what we’ve got today: Petty,whining, never-ending nattering nabobsof negativity.

The mainstream media are incapableof writing a positive story about Trump.

Try to find one. I dare you.In May, Harvard University (not the

most conservative place around) did astudy of the news coverage of Trump’sfirst 100 days. CNN’s and NBC’s cover-age alone were calculated at 93 percentnegative. In addition to CNN and NBC,they analyzed CBS, Fox, the New YorkTimes, Wall Street Journal and Washing-ton Post and determined the coverage was80 percent negative to 20 percent posi-tive.

That seems reasonable.As a point of reference, Barack

Obama’s coverage during the same initialtime period was just under 60 percentpositive. And that was five months beforehe won the Nobel Peace Prize for ... well... umm ... I think for being elected presi-dent?

What’s so frustrating -- to the pointit has become an absurd joke -- is thatEVERYTHING is Trump’s fault. If youknow me, I’m not prone to hyperbole. Iget real annoyed with people who are thefastest, the slowest, the saddest, the hap-piest ... most people live what HenryDavid Thoreau referred to as lives of“quiet desperation;” an even keel punctu-ated here and there with some joy andsome sadness. But even the most pitifulSad Sack in life couldn’t have EVERY-THING be his fault ALWAYS.

Just this week, in the wake of thesemi-riot in Charlottesville, Va. wherewhite supremacists clashed with “AN-

Where to Start?

“ Family andcommunity arethe costars of

this greatAmericancomeback.

They are whywe say

tonight:Private

values mustbe at the heart

of publicpolicies. ”

Editorial

TIFA” and Black Life Matters folks and awoman was killed when she was hit by acar driven by one of the supremacists, ISISterrorists used a car to kill people inBarcelona, Spain and the CNN reporter onthe scene suggested it was possibly a copy-cat act based on the racists in America --who ostensibly supported Trump. So thereyou have it. The Barcelona terror act wasbecause of Trump. Anyone can see that.

I’m going to try to turn off for awhile. I don’t know what else to do. Everystory in every major newspaper has gotTrump responsible for everything fromdandruff to why my dog died. The onlinenews stories have him channeling Hitler(but never Lenin or Marx -- they seem tolike the communists).

President Trump could be the great-est president we’ve ever had, but we’llnever be allowed to know it. This much isfor sure: By preventing him from beingable to lead and run the country he’s al-ready got a less destructive record thanObama.


8/17

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My Father a lways taugh t metha t o ld adage to neve r look ag i f t ho r se in the mou th . I wasr a i s ed to be g ra t e fu l fo r wha tpeop le g ive me , e spec i a l l y i f i twas something I had asked for inthe f i r s t p lace . I cannot th ink ofa s ing le ins tance where someonehanded me someth ing out of thegoodness of the i r hear t , and myresponse was , “Oh, how nice …bu t I wou ld ra the r have i t i nfuchs ia .”

My Dad once to ld me thes to ry o f a d i s a s t rous lunch hehad wi th one of h i s co-workers .My Dad had asked h is co l leaguei f he wou ld l i ke to accompanyh im to lunch one a f t e rnoon . A tf i r s t , the man pol i t e ly dec l ined ,say ing he needed to save money ,bu t a f t e r myFa the r o f f e r edto t r ea t , hehapp i ly ac -cep t ed . A l lwas we l l un t i lmy Dad to ldh im he wast ak ing h im toh i s f avo r i t ede l i . Appa r -en t l y th i s manwas no t a b igf an o f sand -wiches , so heasked i f t hey cou ld go some-whe re e l s e . S l i gh t l y i r r i t a t ed ,my Dad sugges ted a l i t t l e Mexi -can p l ace he knew wi th g rea tl unch spec i a l s , bu t no , he ju s td idn ’ t f ee l l i ke Mex ican tha tday . Maybe he shou ld have jus tdec l ined the of fe r and ea ten thelunch he b rough t f rom home . Idon’ t know about you , bu t whensomeone of fe r s to buy my lunchfor me , un less I am al le rg ic andwi l l d ie , I smi le and f ind some-th ing on the menu tha t I can ea t .P i ck ine s s i s t he luxu ry o f theperson picking up the check . Butobv ious ly th i s guy wasn’ t ra i sedby a man l ike my fa ther .

When my desk f ina l l y suc -cumbed to o ld age , I a skeda round to f r i ends and fami ly tosee i f anyone had a desk theywere no longe r us ing , and asluck would have i t , my aunt d idindeed . I t was b igge r than Iwou ld have wan ted and i t d id

Being Entitled to Entitlements

not go wi th the co lor scheme ofmy apar tment , bu t i t was , as re -ques t ed , a desk . So the r e wasno th ing e l s e to say o the r t hanthank you so much and when canI p i ck i t up? Bu t tha t i s no t a l -ways the common behav io r i nthese s i tua t ions , and I f ind tha td i shear ten ing .

You f ind th i s l a ck o f g ra t i -t ude and senseo f en t i t l emen te v e r y w h e r eand in a l l s i t u -a t i ons . Fo r ex -ample , I was inl i ne a t Wa l -Mar t one daywhen thewoman in f ron to f me wasye l l i ng a t t heca sh i e r be -cause he r foods t amps ca rd

d idn ’ t cove r he r bee r . The poorcashier, who has no control overwhat is and is not covered by foodstamps, had to ju s t s t and the r eand l i s t en as th i s twi t con t inuedto make a spec t ac l e o f he r s e l f .Th i s pe r son i s expec t i ng g ro -ce r ies on the government ’ s d imeand ye t i s incensed tha t a lcoho li sn ’ t i nc luded in the package?But , how is she supposed to ge td runk and ignore her ch i ld ren i fthe governmen t doesn ’ t p rov idehe r bee r , t oo? I know seve ra lpeop l e accep t i ng food s t ampswho we lcome the as s i s t ance r e -ga rd l e s s o f wha t migh t no t beinc luded . She shou ld have ju s tbeen gra te fu l tha t the re i s a pro-g r am ava i l ab l e tha t pu t s g ro -ce r i e s in he r home and tha t sheis e l ig ib le , because not everyonei s and many peop l e go hung ry .Ra the r t han compla in ing , how

I don’t know about you, butwhen someone offers to buy mylunch for me, unless I am al-lergic and will die, I smile andfind something on the menuthat I can eat. Pickiness is theluxury of the person pickingup the check.

Please see GENWHY on P. 7

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about be ing thankfu l tha t becauseo f the t ax paye r s , whom you a reho ld ing up in l ine wi th your l i t t l et i rade . I t i s poss ib le for your chi l -d ren to ea t ra the r than s ta rve . Ge thammered on you r own d ime ; Ishou ldn’ t have to pay for i t .

I n ano t h e r examp l e , a p r eg -nan t f r i end o f mine has been ask -i ng he r f r i e nd s and f am i l y t odona t e an i n f an t c a r s e a t t o he r .Seve r a l peop l e have come to he rr e s cue and o f f e r ed he r t h e i r i n -f a n t s e a t s t h a t a r e no l onge rneeded , bu t she keeps dec l i n ing .Why? Wel l , one wasn ’ t t he s ty l es h e l i k ed . Appa r en t l y sh e l i k e sthe type wi th a base tha t s t ay s int h e c a r s o she c an j u s t l i f t t h ec a r r i e r ou t f o r conven i enc e . I tsu r e i s conven i en t t ha t you don ’ th ave t o sp end 50 buck s o f you rown money on t h e t h i ng , bu t Igue s s s h e d i dn ’ t t h i nk o f t h a t .She dec l i n ed t h e nex t one be -c au s e i t wa sn ’ t t h e r i gh t co l o r .She was hav i ng a l i t t l e boy andjus t d idn ’ t wan t h im in a p ink ca rsea t . I r emind you , wha t you havea sked fo r i s a f r e e ca r s e a t … i fyou wan t t o shop fo r a c a r s e a t

t h en you a r e go i ng t o have t ospend money . E i the r show a l i t t l eg r a t i t u d e t h a t you r f r i e nd s a r ew i l l i n g t o g i v e you some th i ngt h ey cou l d e a s i l y s e l l , o r p r yyou r wa l l e t open and buy i t you r -s e l f .

Th i s gene ra l f ee l i ng o f en t i -t l ement i s a po i son tha t i s spread-ing th roughou t ou r na t i on .Somewhere someone go t the ideatha t t hey were owed some th ingjus t fo r hav ing the courage to bea l i ve . You a re owed on ly wha tyou ea rn . You work fo r a l i v ing ,you a re owed a paycheck , andwhen you pay fo r goods o r se rv -i c e s then you a re owed tha t . I fyou ask for someth ing f ree , l ike adesk or a car sea t o r grocer ies , i fyou are lucky enough to rece ive i tyou should fee l g ra te fu l , no t en t i -t l ed . You should be thankfu l , no tc r i t i ca l . And for the love of God ,you need to come to g r ip s wi ththe fac t tha t i f you are , in fac t , abegga r , you have fo r f e i t ed you rr igh t to be a chooser .

This column original ly ap-peared in the August 2012 issue ofthe Ranchos Independent.

-- Editor

GEN WHY cont. from P. 6

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Super School Lunches

by Jean BrinerWell, school has started –

where did the time go? Vacation isover, but summer won’t be overuntil Sept. 22. It is still hot – Ithink if was 101 today. As I’ve saidso many times, the best thing aboutsummer is I know winter is on itsway. Yes, I like the fog and rain.

For you families with schoolchildren that are up in the morningtrying to get them fed and lunchesfixed, I have seen the menu for thelocal cafeterias and some of themlook quite tasty. For those daysyour child doesn’t want to eat inthe cafeteria, there is always thebox lunch from home. When wewere in school, most everyone atein the cafeteria.The food wasexcellent. It wascooked on thepremises and al-most like homecooking. Theonly time I re-member takingmy lunch wasthe three yearswe lived in SanFrancisco duringWWII. I canstill remembermy mom’sbologna sand-wiches. I don’t know what was sospecial about them, but I lovedthem. Thinking back it just mayhave been the bologna that webought at a meat market. It was astick that you sliced at home and ithad a wrapping on it that you hadto peel off before eating it. We did-n’t have the plastic wrap or thesandwich bags we have today.Everything was wrapped in waxpaper, even potato chips and cook-ies. And did you get an orange inyour lunch? Mama always “scored”it (run the tip of a paring knife in acircle around the top and stripsdown the sides) so it would be eas-ier to peel.

Have you had trouble in thepast wi th someone stea l ing yourchild’s sandwich out of his lunchbag? I have the solution! There isa s i te on the internet for Ant i -thef t Sandwich bags . After look-ing at them, I can understand whyno one would want to eat the

sandwich they jus t s to le . Thissandwich bag is made to look likethe sandwich in it is al l moldy. Iknow some kids that would thinki t a blas t for someone to t ry tosteal their sandwich.

Sandwich IdeasThere are so many combina-

tions available today for sand-wiches. There isn’t just white orbrown bread; there is pita bread,mini croissants, sandwich rolls(cut to the size your child can han-dle), and tortillas for wraps. Or

how aboutpeanut butter onraisin bread?And so manydifferent kindsof fillings. Notjust bologna,ham or cheese,or combinationsthereof. Mymom wouldtake the left-over Sundayroast and put itthrough thefood grinder(they didn’t

have food processors in thosedays), added Miracle Whip – ofcourse you could add mayo – anduse it as a spread for sandwiches.

I love a good tuna fish sand-wich, but I want to eat it as soon asit is made, because I don’t like tolet it sit and make the bread soggy.When I worked, I would fix thesandwich as usual, only not put thetuna on. I would put the tuna in aseparate container then put it onthe bread when I was ready to eatlunch.

I was on the internet lookingfor ideas for this article and Ifound some excellent sites. IGoogled “school kids lunches” and“school kids sandwiches.”

Having trouble getting yourchild to eat a good whole wheatbread because he or she only wantswhite bread? How about using oneslice of white and one slice of

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. . . a piece of le f t overpizza – yes, I know kids (andadul ts ) that wi l l eat coldpizza . Or a spaghet t i sand-wich – yes, spaghett i! Buttertwo sl ices of bread, put thespaghetti on one and top withthe other and Voi la! Aspaghet t i sandwich. I knowadults that wil l eat that!

whole wheat with a design on each.Put the two slices of bread togetherbefore putting in the filling, andusing a cookie cutter, cut a designfrom the center of each slice. Thentake the design from the brown sliceand put it in thespot that was cutfrom the whitebread and do thesame with thewhite slice. Atleast you’ll getthem to eat halfbrown bread.

Or how abouta wrap? Put aflour tortilla inthe microwave forabout 20 secondsso it will be easierto roll. Using yourchoice of fillings:lettuce that hasbeen sliced very thin, grape tomatoes,sliced olives, red bell pepper that hasbeen chopped, grated cheese, andsliced turkey or ham lunch meat.Spread the tortilla with ranch dress-ing and layer each ingredient on half

of the tortillas. Fold in each side ofthe tortilla and roll the wrap from theend with the filling, making sure totuck in the filling as you roll. Youcan cut the roll in half if you wish tomake it easier to handle.

Sandwich on a Stick?Or how about a sandwich on a

stick for fun?Using the ingredi-ents your childwould like in asandwich, put iton a stick. Cube aslice of bread,cheese of choiceand lunch meat.Slide onto askewer with otherfoods your childwill eat. Olives,pickles, grapetomatoes or apiece of lettuce.You might wantto add a little

container of ranch dressing for dip-ping. Also, I would suggest not usingthe skewers that look like big tooth-picks – don’t think the school wouldappreciate a child playing with themafter they eat their lunch. I’ve seen

www.The Ranchos.com

RECIPE cont. from P. 8

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packages of the sticks used for candyapples in the grocery story that mightwork better than the skewer.

Who says lunch has to be a sand-wich? There are all kinds of thingsyou can use for box lunches. Howabout a thermos of warm leftoverstew or soup from the night beforedinner? Or a piece of left over pizza– yes, I know kids (and adults) thatwill eat cold pizza. Or a spaghettisandwich – yes, spaghetti! Buttertwo slices of bread, put the spaghettion one and top with the other andVoila! A spaghetti sandwich. I knowadults that will eat that!

I hope I have been able to giveyou some ideas for lunch boxes orbags. And I didn’t even get into thedesserts available. There all kinds ofprepackaged cookies and some just100 calories, and there are all of theprepackaged gelatins, puddings andfruit that are available. If you areafraid to send one of your goodspoons (I know they can be tossedwith the wrappers), why not pur-chase a package of disposablespoons so you don’t need to worry?

This article originally appearedin the August 2010 issue of the Ran-chos Independent.

-- Editor

. . . how about a wrap? Puta f lour tort i l la in the mi-crowave for about 20 secondsso i t wi l l be easier to rol l .Using your choice of fi l l ings:le t tuce that has been sl icedvery thin, grape tomatoes,sl iced olives, red bell pepperthat has been chopped,grated cheese, and sl icedturkey or ham lunch meat.


SAY YOU SAW IT INthe Ranchos Independent

To Keep or Not to Keep

Experience creates perspective that canbeattainednootherway.For instance,howwethink about our stuff. Years ago, my sister-in-lawhadminutes to choosewhat tograbbeforetheir home burned down in the Santa BarbaraTea Fire. I think about the families that transi-tion fromhome-owners to refugeeswhencivilwar or terrorism forces them out. When mygreat-grandparents immigrated to the UnitedStates, a large wooden trunk held their be-longings.

“Stuff used to be rare and valuable,” saysPaul Graham in a thought-provoking essaycalled Stuff, (www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html).“Stuffhasgottena lotcheaper,butourat-titudes toward it haven’t changed correspond-ingly.We overvalue stuff.”

Mostofyouwon’t havedramatic experi-ences like the ones listed above, so whatshapesyourperspectiveon stuff?Howdoyoudecide what to keep and what to let go of?Here are some tips from the perspective ofwhat not to keep.

Don’t keep things that don’t bring youjoy.This isMarieKondo’smantra and I thinkit’s valid. Of course, there are exceptions, likedivorce papers and other things you need tokeepwhether you like themor not. But, over-all, it’s a good place to start.

Whenmymother-in-law recentlypassedaway, theonly thingswequickly letgoofwerethe items related to her cancer—pills, equip-ment, etc. Sometimesmyclientswant to hangon to everything related to a deceased lovedone. Ask yourself, does this bottle of pills, oreven this picture, bring happy memories orsad?Keep the things that bring you joy.

Don’t keep things you’re not using. Sooften drawers and cabinets are so full of stuffnotbeingused, thatyoucan’t findwhatyoure-ally need.But,when you look into the drawer,youconvinceyourselfyouneed it all!One trickis to take a drawer or shelf and empty the con-tents into abox.Keep theboxnearby, but onlyreturn an item to the drawer or shelf if you’vepulled it out and used it.What’s left in the boxafter a reasonable amount of time can go.

The same idea works with the clothes inyourclosetby turningyourhangersbackwardsand only turning them the right way afteryou’ve worn something. If you’re not using a

good deal of your wardrobe (too big, toosmall, not comfortable), stop crowding theitems you do use.

For paper files, DVDs, VHS movies(yes, I know you have them), try attachingbrightly colored sticky notes after you’veused/viewed them. After 6-12months, you’llclearly see which have been used and whichhaven’t. Let the unused go.

Don’t keep things just because youspent a lot of money on them. This is toughfor a lot of people, but think about it. How doyou feel every time you see that item— re-gret, frustration, guilt? Probably.And it’s tak-ingupvaluable space so it’s costingyoumore.Let it go.

Don’tkeep thingsoutofobligation.Mostofuswouldn’twant our belongings to becomeaburden to our family members when we’regone. If, after the passing of loved ones, yourhouse feels more like a storage facility than ahome, youhavepermission to let some thingsgo. Whatever’s stashed out in the garage isprobably there because it’s not a favorite orthere’s simply no room.Offer it to family andwhat’s left can be sold and the funds donatedto your loved one’s favorite charity. That’smuch more honoring that letting things dete-riorate in a garage or storage unit.

Anexception to theobligation rule is this:If you receive a gift from someone that willlook for it and be hurt if he/she doesn’t see itat your place, and you value the relationshipenough tohave it outwheneverhe/she is there,then the relationship trumps the discard. But,if it’s sitting in a closet, never to see the lightof day again, let it go.

My mother-in-law’s passing influencedmy own perspective on stuff. Her belongingsrepresenther tastesand interests, but I findmy-self most drawn to the photos and things shehad written down. Above and beyond theseare thememories I have of her subtle wit, hercompetitive spirit during our card games, herlove for babies and years of service in thechurch nursery, and as my sister-in-law says,her super-power of coziness. I will miss youMomMac.

DanielGAmen,M.D., clinical neurosci-entist andpsychiatrist says,“Themostprecioustreasures we have in life are the images westore in the memory banks of our brains. Thesumof these stored experiences is responsibleforour senseofpersonal identityandour senseof connectedness to those arounds us.”

Feel free to add as many precious treas-ures as you’d like to the storage in yourmem-ory bank.

ContactOrganized byChoice (becausethings don’t always fall into place) atP.O. Box 26152, Fresno, CA 93729, call559-871-3314 or email [email protected]. You can also visit www.organizedbychoice.com.

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By Betty Van Valkenburg

Whatmany (not all, of course) youngerfolks don’t realize and haven’t been taughtis that this nation, although in serious de-cline, has provided the greatest standard ofliving and liberty that the world has known.So they aren’t grateful for it and don’t un-derstand the principles of limited govern-ment instituted specifically to keep us safefrom external aggression and protect therights of the individual against governmentexcesses, allowing us the freedom to pros-per and follow our dreams as we see fit.

Instead, sadly, many are taught the op-posite – when taught history at all – that ourconstitutional government and free-enter-prise capitalism areevil, and that –through some overlytwisted logic – moregovernment interven-tion is the answer toall problems. Theyare accustomed to aculture where, increasingly, intact familiesare passé, dependency is an acceptedway oflife, traditional values are ridiculed, reasonand civility are gone, God is dead and hate-filled rants and violence are commonplace.

Older folks remember when the en-croachment on individual liberty was ad-vancing slowly and we spoke out against it.Fast forward a decade or three, and youngergenerations who have lived entire livesunder an increasingly socialistic/paternalis-tic government don’t miss the freedomsthey never had and so are conditioned totrade personal freedom for dependence.

Butwait – that doesn’t let us older folksoff the hook. Many of us have also boughtinto government largesse as a way of life.Others of us who know the pitfalls of anoverreaching government haven’t taken thetime to teach our children and grandchildrenabout the blessings of liberty and about thesacrifices made to secure the freedoms thatwe seem to regard so lightly.

Younger generations have every rea-son to believe the lie of a socialist paradise.They’ve lived during a time when educa-tion, entertainment, government, media,

unions and other sectors of society have pro-moted increasing government control overour lives in the form of socialism, progres-sivism or paternalism. They are told thattheir rights include free health care, freefood, free education, free love, free housingand freedom from being offended – and thatanyone who disagrees with them is a hate-monger.

Now, with the groundwork laid tomake it acceptable and even desirable, so-cialism is easy to sell, thus Bernie Sanders’popularity. After all, exercising freedom bytaking care of oneself is hard, and the lureof “free” taxpayer-funded “help” is hard toresist, even at the price of government con-trol that comes with every proposed pro-gram. Conversely, buying votes withtaxpayer-funded “compassionate” give-away programs is impossible for mostpoliticians to resist. Little by little, drip bydrip, personal sovereignty has been tradedfor empty promises.

Those whose education has left themignorant of history, who rely on socialmedia and talking heads for news and opin-ions, andwho are immersed in the “gimme”and “bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you” culture,increasingly follow leaders promisingmoreof the same. Then, not finding the socialist

utopia they’ve beenpromised, the believ-ers become increas-ingly moredissatisfied with itsfailures but blamethose whom they’vebeen conditioned to

hate (conservatives, Republicans, old folks,white folks, black folks, rich folks, poorfolks, whoever and whatever) and demandeven more socialist intervention in theirlives.

Perhapswe should tell our children andgrandchildren about nations that endured theboot of real socialism and communism, andabout the misery endured by its citizens.Venezuela is a living example of the mis-eries of socialism, not the least of which isthe lack of toilet paper! That ought to gettheir attention.

Soon after ratification of the Constitu-tion, Benjamin Franklin cautioned that theframers had given us a republic – if wecould keep it. That was his warning to beever vigilant in preserving constitutionallyprotected freedoms against those whowould usurp them. Others warned that wewould fall from within. Let’s take thosewarnings seriously and do all in our powerto preserve liberty for all.

Visit the Central Valley Tea Partywebsite at www.centralvalleyteaparty. comfor more information.

Give youth a break.They can’t know

what they don’t know.

... Benjamin Franklin cau-tioned that the framers had givenus a republic – if we could keep it.

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Get fully downloadable back issues of theRanchos Independent (beginning with April 2006). Learnhow you can add your Ranchos-area business to this site!

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Liberty High Cheer BoostersHot Rod the Ranchos

Liberty High Cheer Boosters opened thedoor to even the RYL youth cheerleaders at theirinaugural car show.

Fernwood Gardens provided part of thebackdrop for the LHS Cheer Boosters’car showon Sunday, Aug. 13.

Chevys were well represented at thefundraiser that helped raise money for LHScheerleaders. Approximately $2,000 was raised.

Pontiacs were on hand as well as thisGrand Prix will attest. The boosters are hopingto make the car show an annual event.

Corvette or T-bird? Why choose? Howabout one of each? The LHS Cheer Boosters’carshow had over 50 cars on display.

Hurst Hardware also opened up its parkinglot for the Cheer Boosters’ show. Hamburgers,hot dogs and drinks raised the most money.

It’s not a Thunderbolt, but still an excep-tionally nice Ford Fairlane. Fords were in abun-dance at the inaugural car show.

Now HERE’S something you don’t seeevery day. You don’t see a lot of Studebaker pick-ups; you REALLY don’t see them hot rodded.

The mouse that roared: The mighty Chevysmall block. Booster spokeswoman Stacy Dewallsaid the consensus was “Do it again next year!”

From rat rods to full-on customs, not a badshow for something put together in about twoweeks.Hopefully an annual Ranchos event is born.

tional Party. That political organization’s pri-mary goal was California's secession from theU.S. While in Moscow last fall, Marinelli gotinvolved in a pro-secession conference backedby the Kremlin. Although he and Evans sawnothing wrongwith their involvement, donorsto their group began dropping like flies out offear of being associatedwithRussianPresidentVladimir Putin. Evans eventually resigned asvice president of Yes California, citingMarinelli’s Russia ties. Claiming they had be-come a distraction, Evans determined the con-nections were killing the organization’sfundraising.Evanswas quoted as saying, “Peo-ple got scared. They got spooked bywhat theysaw on the news and pulled out.”

In retrospect, two campaign committeesthat had been associatedwith this first initiativeattempt reported that they had raised absolutelyno money for the project. Further, it ultimatelywas unclear howmany signatures had actuallybeen collected, or whether any had been. Thisinitiative sought to remove language fromCal-ifornia’s constitutionclassifying the state as “…an inseparablepartof theUnitedStatesofAmer-ica, and the United States Constitution is thesupreme law of the land.”

After the incident,Marinelli, although stillactive in theCalifornia secessionmovement, an-nounced that he intended to seekpermanent res-idence in Russia. After the split withMarinelli,Evans said that the leader of the new group isBritish-bornClareHedin, a “soundhealer”wholectures atSanFranciscoStateUniversity and isa singer-songwriter.

Another PlayerAnother player in the game, although tak-

ing a different tack, is Jed Wheeler. He’s thevice-chairmanof the left-leaningCaliforniaNa-tional Party and agreeswithEvans that as an in-dependentnationCalifornia couldkeepmoreofitsmoney that atpresent isgoing toWashington;it could also call its own shots on topics like im-migration and healthcare. He thinks the answeris to form a political party of secessionists,therebyhaving favorable politicians inplace forthe longhaul insteadof just aquick fix likeabal-lot initiative. His greatest fear is that a quick fixwould undermine the whole pro-secession po-litical party. The California National Party hastaken no position on the 2018 secession drivebutWheeler has indicated that he thinks the ini-tiative is a loser.

Just to make things more interesting, BritNigel Farage, a huge proponent of Brexit in

Britain, and coincidentally an outspoken Don-ald Trump supporter, visited California talkingof aplan to split the state right down themiddle.Farage’splanwouldcall for a“WestCalifornia”that would encompass the coastal areas and“EastCalifornia” thatwouldbeeverything that’sNOT on the coast. Most Californians find itamusingbutpro-secessionists see it as adistrac-tive move to take the emphasis off of their “se-rious” intent of state independence.

Jefferson?Anyonewhohasdrivennorth toOregon is

aware of yet another independence movement,but this one has roots stretching back toWorldWar II. Signs pop up near the Oregon borderproclaiming the state of Jefferson, “the 51ststate.”

The idea behind Jefferson is a handful ofrural northern California counties and southernOregon counties that are far away from Sacra-mento and Salem, respectively, and who feelthose state capitols are not responsive to theirneeds.The idea started in1941andhadbegun tobuild steamwhenPearlHarborgotattacked.Na-tional unity overshadowed themovement and itdied on the vine – almost.

Jeffersonproponentsdon’twant secession,they want to carve out a new, 51st state that’smore responsive to their lifestyle. A Jeffersonproponent was heard to remark, “We want toadd a star to the flag, not take one off.”

AContrary ViewOn the Tucker Carlson showon Fox,Vic-

torDavisHanson, a senior fellowat theHooverInstitution of Stanford, a professor at FresnoState anda lifelongCalifornian,wasasked to re-spond to one of the Calexit supporters.

“Yes, well, it is unhinged. Because about75 percent of the geography ofCalifornia is redand we have these two Californians from SanDiego…

“[California is] where about 30 millionpeople live. But if youwere going to secede, allof theminerals, the oil, the agriculture is farmedor worked or mined by conservatives. Andwhen theygo, theyarenot leaving to spreadCal-ifornia values. They are leaving because theyhave 13 percent income tax, the second highestsales tax, third highest gas tax and yet theirschools are rated46th in thecountry.AndI thinkForbes rated our freeways 49th in the country.

“So, we have one out of every four peoplein California who was not born in the UnitedStates. And we have 22 percent below thepoverty level, one out of three onwelfare. So, itisMississippi inMassachusetts inonestate.Andpeople are leaving to get away from that.”

CALEXIT cont. from P. 2

www.The Ranchos.com

Senior Report

Seniors Want to Improve with ImprovBy Patti Groh

I am sitting here thismorning, doors open, really enjoying the cool temperature. I see peo-ple outworking in their yards, people outwalking and itmakesmehappy. Please enjoy the coolmornings and be happy too.

Lots of activities here in the Ranchos and that includes the Seniors Center. The Hot Au-gust Nightwas not largely attended. If that type of event isn’t of interest to you, please plan onattending our planning meetings, the third Tuesday of every month at 12:30 p.m. We needyour input. As Hot August Nights usually includes a car show, our twist on that was a displayofHotWheels. Itwas kind of funwith the voting forBest of Showaward going to the ’32Ford.

TheNo-Bake sale continues, but Sept. 2will be our usualmonthly salewith baked goods,the boutique and the garden. Unfortunately, the Treasure House (which sells the second-handtreasures) will not be open. We had a car go into the front that wiped out the support and it isunsafe at the present time. We are working on getting it repaired and will let everyone knowwhen it is open again. In the meantime, please don’t go through the caution tape.

The Christmas in August sale was a success. Lots of nice thingswere sold. There are a few things still available and on display, so cometake a look.Bingo at the Center has been cancelled for now. The Liberty High

kids are having Bingo and we want to offer our support tothem.A new member at the Seniors is Margaret Tynan and she is in

charge of an upcoming event called “ImprovisationActingClass.” I’m look-ing forward to it andhopemanyof you can attend.The classwill be held at theRan-

chos/Hills SeniorCenter at 37330BerkshireDr. and the classwill be held for four consecutiveMondays: Sept. 11, 18, 25 and Oct. 2 from 4 to 6 pm. There is no cost for the class.

The instructor isMikeBeevers, amember of theValley Improvisational Playerswhoper-formed and taught Improv throughout the San Joaquin Valley for over nine years. He studiedwith Gary Austin, founder of the Groundlings in Los Angeles.

Improvisation (Improv) is an art form that has many benefits for participants. It will helpyoudiscover, explore and express your creativeself, find your inner comedian, share yourideas, meet interesting people and have lots offun. Improv is popular in many senior centersthroughout the country.

Improv is not only fun, but contributes tooverall health. Experts say acting offers cogni-tive, emotional and physiological benefits be-cause it stimulates activity in the brain. ACenter forAging,Health andHumanities studyatGeorgeWashingtonUniversity showed sen-iors involved in the arts have fewer falls, fewerdoctor visits and fewer pills to take, and theyare in better health than those who do not par-ticipate in the arts.

If you are looking for fun and an inter-esting way to spend the afternoon, join theclass. Guests 50 years and above are invited.Call Ranchos/Hills Seniors, (559) 645-4864to register.

Valley ImprovisationalPlayersmember MikeBeevers is leading the Improv class at the Ran-chos/Hills Sewnior Center. He has taught Improvthroughout the San Joaquin Valley for over nineyears and studied with Gary Austin, founder of theworld-famousGroundlings in LosAngeles.

As kids head back to school, please re-duce your vehicle emissions. With schoolback in session the Valley Air District isasking the public to reduce vehicle emis-sions by carpooling or walking their chil-dren to school and to refrain from vehicleidling during school pick-ups and drop-offs. Triple-digit temperatures and multiplewildfires may begin to impact Valley airquality over the weekend and into nextweek and the public’s help is crucial in re-ducing the risk of spikes in ground-levelozone and exceeding federal air qualitystandards.

“Thanks to the vigilance and coopera-tion of residents and businesses throughoutthe Valley, we continue to see improve-ments in air quality every summer,” saidSeyed Sadredin, the District’s air pollutioncontrol officer and executive director. “Weurge the public to be even more mindful oftheir contributions to poor air quality dur-ing this crucial Back-to-School window.”

Valley air quality has shown tremen-dous improvement over the past severalsummer ozone seasons compared to manyyears ago and has continually set new im-provement records over the past 35 years.These improvements would not be possiblewithout the success of the District’s controlstrategy through its various attainmentplanning efforts, its robust incentive pro-grams and the commitment from Valleystakeholders doing their part to reduceemissions as much as possible.

To ensure that these clean air trendscontinue during the Back-to-School season,the Valley Air District may call for the pub-

lic to take action when conditions such asincreased emissions, high temperatures andstagnant air flow are favorable for ozoneaccumulation. Residents and businesses areurged to reduce vehicle emissions by driv-ing less, refraining from idling their vehi-cles, carpooling or vanpooling and avoidingthe use of drive-through services. Othermeasures, such as shifting ozone-creatingactivities, including lawn maintenance toearly mornings, can also help offset risingozone levels.

To help minimize pollution associatedwith school site vehicle idling, the Districthas partnered with hundreds of Valleyschools through the Healthy Air LivingSchools program. The program givesschools tools and materials to encourageparents to “Turn the Key & Be Idle Free”when picking up or dropping off students.

In addition, the program trains schoolson how to use the Real-time Air AdvisoryNetwork (RAAN) and Real-time OutdoorActivity Risk (ROAR) Guidelines. Schools,parents or any Valley resident can checkcurrent, localized air quality by subscribingto RAAN, which links a computer oriPhone app to any air monitoring station inthe District’s Valley-wide network. Hourly,automated emails are delivered when airquality is changing. To explore these tools,visit www.valleyair.org/RAAN orwww.valleyair.org/WAAQS. Residents canalso check their daily air quality forecast bycalling 1-800 SMOG INFO (766-4463)plus they can visit the District on Facebookor Twitter by searching “Valley Air Dis-trict.”

Back-to-School Traffic PollutionCould Cause Valley Ozone Spike

Yosemite Fire Air “Very Unhealty”The U.S. Forest Service has deter-

mined the air quality for the Wawonacommunity in Yosemite to be “veryunhealthy” and will become“hazardous” as the SouthFork fire in southernYosemite NationalPark continues togrow. As of Satur-day, Aug. 19 the firewas just under 3,000acres and was only10 percent contained.As a result, there wasa mandatory evacuationorder for the Wawona com-munity of more than 1,000 peo-ple. One result of the Yosemite-areafire was increased unhealthy air for

Madera County, including the Ran-chos.

Wawona is only approximately 1.5miles from the fire and the U.S.Forest Service has closeddown areas of Highway41 near there. Fire-fighting crews are onscene trying to getthe fire under controlbut they don’t expectcontainment of thefire until Sept. 3.Thunderstorms andwinds in the area are ex-

acerbating the situation.Live fire updates are avail-

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Hello 93636,Lots of training this month

(Brake/Anti-Lock class, Hybrid HighVoltage Class and GM DuramaxDiesel Class). A spontaneous and veryinteresting discussion was generatedduring the Anti-Lock/Crash Avoid-ance portion of the Brake Class. Ithought the Ranchos Independentreaders might also be interested in ourdiscussion so I did a little Google re-search to add some detail. I was sur-prised how many do not know aboutGoogle’s autonomous vehicles.

In 2015, Google announced their23 self-driving vehicles had drivenover 1 million miles, encountered200,000 stop signs, 600,000 trafficlights, and 180 million other vehicles.As of July 2015, those vehicles havebeen involved in 14 minor collisionson public roads. Based on Google'sown accident reports, human driverswere at fault 13 times. Eight timesGoogle's vehicles were rear-ended ata stop sign or traffic light. It was notuntil 2016 that a Google car's soft-ware caused a crash. That occurred inFebruary, 2016 when a Google self-driving car attempted to avoid sand-bags blocking its path. During themaneuver, it made contact with a bus.

In the United States annually,42,000 people are killed and morethan 2.7 million people are injured intraffic accidents. According to CoreyHarper of Carnegie Mellon University(the Autonomous Vehicle Researchhub), "… widespread implementationof blind-spot detection, lane departureand forward collision warning tech-nologies could prevent or reduce theseverity of as many as 1.3 million ac-cidents, or about 25 percent of allcrashes [annually in the U.S.]"

In the recent past, automotivemanufacturers have focused on en-hanced onboard safety features likeanti-lock braking systems, air bags,side air curtains, vehicle to vehiclecommunications and structural de-signs to increase crash survivability.The industry's new focus is on "crash-avoidance technology" which at-tempts to avoid the crash all together.

It appears the original focus ofself-driving vehicles was for use bythe United States Military. The De-fense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency (DARPA) annually sponsorscompetitions for American self-dri-ving vehicles and pays cash awards.DARPA's mission is to gain revolu-tionary, high-payoff research thatbridges the gap between fundamentaldiscoveries (civilian) and military use.The first DARPA contest was held inthe Mojave Desert on March 13, 2004.

In 2005 the team from StanfordUniversity created the robotic vehicleStanley which won the 2005 DARPAGrand Challenge and its $2 millionprize. The team that developed Stan-ley consisted of 15 engineers workingfor Google.

Fast forward to May, 2014.Google revealed its new prototype dri-verless car, which has no steeringwheel, gas pedal or brake pedal. Theprototype began its testing on SanFrancisco Bay Area roads in 2015.Google's prototype cars have an esti-mated $150,000 in Crash AvoidanceTechnology on board, including a$70,000 LIDAR System. The rangefinder mounted on top of the vehicleis a Velodyne 64-beam laser. TheVelodyne System allows the vehicle tocreate a detailed 3-D map of its envi-ronment. The system then takes thosegenerated maps and combines themwith high-resolution maps of theworld, producing different types ofdata models that allow it to drive it-self.

However, if you’re betting on Sil-icon Valley stars like Google, Teslaand Uber with autonomous drivingtechnology, don’t. That’s the key take-away from a new report. According toNavigant Research, whose newly re-leased “leaderboard” report ranksplayers not just on their ability tomake a car drive itself, but on theirability to bring that car to the massmarket.

Ford – YES, Ford, that Detroit-based, 113-year-old giant – is winningthe race to build the self-driving car,with General Motors running a closesecond. Renault-Nissan, Daimler andVolkswagen round out the top five.Google sits in sixth place with Teslain twelfth.

Beyond the safety benefits of self-driving vehicles, the automotive in-dustry is also looking at these vehiclesto help meet the new tough U.S.

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Say you saw it inthe Ranchos Independent

CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Econ-omy) standards. Self-driving vehiclesdo not speed or drive with a heavy foot,do not get lost and can avoid traffic de-lays by adjusting their course. Thesequalities make for a more fuel-efficientvehicle.

Another advantage of a self-drivingvehicle is you can send it home after itdrops you off at work. No more parkinglot fees or, even worse, parking meters.Also, since it's home, it's available foruse. It's estimated the average familywill need less vehicles when one ofthem is a self-driving vehicle. Thatmeans less California licenses/registra-tion fees, not to mention fewer vehiclesto insure.

In 2014, Nathaniel Fairfield,Google’s principal engineer, usedGoogle’s prototype vehicle to providehis old friend, who is legally blind, thefirst driverless ride on a public roadwhich was not accompanied by a test

driver or police escort.With self-driving vehicle technol-

ogy, age or physical disabilities may nolonger be a barrier to mobility. Just sci-ence. Can't wait to get one of these inthe shop. I think I'll add a gas pedal tomine.

That’s all for now. Hope it was asfun and informative to you as it was tome.

As always, I'm looking for interest-ing automotive topics to write about. Ifyou have any recommendations, sug-gestions or questions regarding a vehi-cle or the automotive industry ingeneral, I can be reached at [email protected], Face-book Complete Car Care or text907-7661.

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CHP Looking for Senior VolunteersThe California Highway Patrol’s

Madera Office is looking for motivatedcitizens who want to give something backto their community as Senior Volunteers.Senior Volunteers are CHP employeeswho assist in both administrative and fieldcapacities. The objectives of the CHPSenior Volunteer Programare: To assist the CHPin providing en-hanced publicservice to thecommunity; toprovide an oppor-tunity for seniorcitizens to make adefinitive contri-bution toward im-proving publicsafety and service;and to instill amongparticipating volunteersan understanding and ap-preciation of the justicesystem, human relations andethics in the field of law en-forcement.

The duties of CHP Senior Volun-teers will include administrative func-tions, such as filing, data entry,photocopying, answering phones and as-sisting the Watch Officer at the frontdesk. Field functions will include work-ing at community events, directing traf-fic, surveys in high-traffic locations/school zones, deploy radar trailers andshuttle vehicles/equipment. Senior Vol-

unteers drive marked CHP cars in uni-form while performing field duties. Vol-unteers attend shift briefings andoccasionally ride along with officers tolearn and assist as an additional set ofeyes in search of violators.

“We are interested in citizens who areinterested in public service

and effecting changein their commu-nity,” LieutenantKevin Clays,Commander of theCHP, Madera Areasaid. “Volunteerswill find workingwith the CaliforniaHighway Patrolextremely reward-ing and fun.” The requirements

for being a CHP SeniorVolunteer includes being

55 years and older, able towork a minimum of four hours

per week, pass a backgroundcheck, have a good driving record

and complete the CHP Senior Volun-teer training program.

Citizens interested in the programmay call Sergeant Darren Long (ProgramCoordinator) at 559-675-1025 or emailhim at [email protected]. Additionally,they may call Tina Keyser at 559-675-1025 or email her at [email protected]. Interviews will be conducted inSeptember of 2017.


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The Bookshelf

ByAmanda Judd

The Ranchos Library just finished upanother successful Summer Reading Pro-gram. It was so much fun to see the excite-ment for reading and all of the attendees atour weekly events. I especially enjoyed ourIce Cream Social this year and the buildingactivities that wewere able to do.Wewouldlike to congratulateAnnabelleKoop forwin-ning ourGrandPrize, a full year subscriptionto a monthly Spangler Science box.

Annabelle completed her reading log eachweek.Great job readingAnnabelle, congrat-ulations!Also, congratulations in the toddlerwinning group: Judah Totten and his RobotFactory. Keep up the great work Judah.

We also want to remember to thankeveryone whomakes this program possible.Thank you to Friends of Ranchos Library,Educational Employees Credit Union andRanchos/Hills Seniors for your generous do-nations to fund this program.Also thank youto all of my amazing volunteers, we simplycould not do any of this without you.

Wewould like to remind everyone thatwe have resumed our Preschool Story Time.Mrs. Maxfield’s story time is on Thursdaysat 11 a.m. Ranchos Library Story Time is afun, read-play-learn activity session that iscustomized each and every week. It is defi-nitely something that you do not want tomiss.

September is Library Card Sign-UpMonth. If you have your card,make sure youare getting good use of it. If you do not haveyour library card, help us celebrate thismonth and come in and get your card. It onlytakes a few minutes and you will be so gladyou did.

On another note, I have some news thatI need to share with each of you. You willnotice a fewchanges in theRanchosLibrary.Effective the second week of August I willhave relocated to the Chowchilla LibraryBranch. While I am very excited for a newchallenge,RanchosLibrarywill always holda very dear place inmy heart. Thank you forwelcomingme in as your neighbor and yourfriend. It has been an honor and a pleasure toserve all of you in the Ranchos. I have lovedwatching your children, grandchildren,nieces andnephewsgrow. Iwill always cher-

TheMadera Ranchos

Library37167 Ave. 12 • 645-1214

Sun-Mon ClosedTue 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Wed - Thu 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.Fri-Sat 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

www.MaderaCountyLibrary.org

want to pay for.Credibility and past history indicates

that the BOS/BOD and temporary employ-ees working for this county do not manageour water system or our money in a trans-parent, accountable or proper manor. Whatthey have done is violate our 1996 agree-ment and misspend millions of our dollars.What they have done is not replace theknown leaking pipes in the 21 years theyhave been able to with our money. Whatthey did do is spend up to $3 million on amunicipal well outside our service area thathas negatively affected the water supply toour neighbors in the Dublin Well area.What they did not do is notify people be-yond 300 feet of that well site that theywere going to do it, keeping MD-10a

ratepayers in the dark on that one, exceptfor those few people that have the ear of thesupervisors and other temporary countyemployees. Every MD-10a ratepayer thatshows up at the August 29 public meetingat the Middle School should be able to col-lect a fresh $100 bill from the appropriateMadera County employee in charge of thatdepartment.

Show up at this meeting or just smilewhen your monthly water bill goes to $300a month because you did not challengethese special people that have been helpingthe county employees do this to us for allof these years. Don’t snivel in a couple ofyears because here and now is where therubber is hitting the road.

Chuck La RueMadera Ranchos

LETTERS cont. from P. 4

ishmy timewith the TransitionLearningCen-ter and the incredible work you have done, notjust in the library, but in yourselves and inme.Iwill be back from time to time and Iwill con-tinue to be involved in the functions of the li-brary until my replacement arrives. It shouldbe a fairly seamless transition.

I would like to express my sincerest grat-itude to Friends of Ranchos Library. You are

an amazing group of people. I will be eternallygrateful for the support that youprovide not justto this library, but to me as an individual. Ivalue each and every one of you and yourunique talents that contribute to Ranchos Li-brary being the amazing success that it is. I amexcited to see what the future holds for all ofyou and the Ranchos Library. I expect nothingbut greatness from you all.

Successful Programs and Big Changes in Store for Madera Ranchos Library

www.The Ranchos.com

ANSWERS

Have friends or familywho love the RanchosIndependent but liveoutside the area? Are

you moving but you stillwant to keep in touch with

what’s happening in theMadera Ranchos?

to the Ranchos Independent

37167 Ave. 12, #5CMadera, CA 93636

SUBSCRIBE!

local news • local events • local happeningseditorial • games • real estate • columns

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645-0634 • fax 645-4002 • [email protected] IndependentThe


Alteration Services

Madlin's Alterations - 45 years ex-perience - Tailoring, repairs andleathers. Fast service. NEWHOURS: Monday-Thursday 8-5.36027 Ruth Ave. Call 559-645-4583.

Child Care

Child Care - Susan Ryan Day Care.Newborn to 5 years old. Licensed. Call661-4725 or 706-0424.

Chimney Sweep

Paul the Chimney Sweep Guy- 29years of experience. Wood stove inserts,pellet stoves and fireplaces. Also cleandryer vents. REMEMBER THINKSAFETY, BURN SAFELY! Call 559-908-9332.

Construction

New construction, remodels, room addi-tions, barns and patios. Lic. #719500.Call 559-970-4476.

For Sale

Misc. furniture for sale. Excellentcondition. Call for information.Ruth 559-645-5807 or Cathryn559-645-4332.

White Whirlpool 28-inch self-cleaning electric oven - used. Goodcondition. $400. Call 559-312-0891.

Gardener's trailer 5'x10' tandemaxle w/side and rear doors $825.Utility trailer 4'x6' $300. Assortedphone booths (including “Super-

©2017 King Features Syndicates, Inc.

Classifiedman” style) and complete payphones. Call Tim at 559-777-0981.

Gutter Services

The Gutter Doctor special iz ing inboth cont inuous and standard raingutters. General Contractor. RepairMaintenance. 12 years working inthe area . **NEW PHONE NUM-BER: 559 - 908 - 0759**

Housecleaning

Housecleaning Service - Haveyour house spring-cleaned all yearlong. Exper ienced, Responsible ,Honest. Fair prices. Call 416-2585.

Recyclables Pick Up

KEEP IT LOCAL - FREE RECY-CLABLE PICKUP - KIDS 4 RECY-CLING offers pickup of all recyclablematerials including paper, plastic,glass, aluminum and cardboard. CallDiana at 999-6832 or 645-1048.Funds support Ranchos communityorganizations and schools.

Share House/Roommate

Need a roommate?Looking for a room/houseto share.Non-smoker, non-drinker, nodrugs, nodrama.Call Tim at 559-777-0981.

Tractor/Trenching Services

BOBCAT WORK - DRILLING POSTHOLES - Trees - Trenching - Clean Up.TRACTOR WORK Discing - Rototill-ing - Mowing - Scraping - Stump Grind-ing. Call John at 908-1066.

Tractor Work - House Pads, lot level-ing, driveways, trenching, concrete workand underground utilities installed.Lic. #719500. Call 559-970-4476.

Window Cleaning Services

Most windows $5 inside/out -Screen, track, sills included. Removehard water stain on home windows,shower doors and car windows. Cobwebremoval too. Fully insured. Call Nickat 285-1723. Free estimates.Ask about our SENIOR DISCOUNT!

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SAY YOUSAW IT INthe RanchosIndependent

SAY YOU SAW IT INthe Ranchos Independent

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If you are considering buying or selling a home, call Nancy Watson. She is anexperienced agent who has served the Ranchos with honesty and integrity for 24years. A Ranchos resident since 1977, Nancy is dedicated to serving her clientswith the highest level of care and commitment. Please call Nancy Watson for allof your Real Estate needs. 8/17

ARanchos resident for over 30 years, I am a full-time professional agent workingMadera,Fresno and Clovis. We offer first class service for sellers and buyers. Unable to sell atcurrent prices? We offer full property management and will rent your home for top dol-lar and handle all the details. Call me today! 490-1989 • DRE#: 01323109 8/17

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Property Management -we can rent your home:

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Real Estate

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8/17

the Ranchos IndependentSAY YOU SAW IT IN

By Jeff Mc Grath

Wow, here it is August already, foot-ball has started, kids are going back toschool and the harvest season is upon us.Time sure does fly.

I hope everyone took the time to readKaren Petryna’s great three-part article ad-dressing the water problem here in SouthEast Madera County. It was very informa-tive and factual. Kudos to Karen.

Karen mentioned that the Ranchoscommunity is “Characterized as a ‘leaveme alone’ community, resulting in a publicthat is less and less inclined to participate.”This leaves us with two options: The first isdoing nothing to improve the community;the second is letting the county Board ofSupervisors make decisions for us. Thinkback to the Austin Quarry, Measure Lbeing put on an extra ballot rather thanbeing added to the fall election, the misin-formation on the Dublin well or solving theissue of contaminated water at both theTeen Ranch and Golden Valley schools.

Community member Chuck La Ruehas published a letter addressing theCounty’s mismanagement of the MD-10a

water system and he urges everyone to at-tend Brett Frazier’s town hall meetingscheduled on Aug. 29 at the RanchosMid-dle school starting at 6 p.m. The point iswe have a community that I believe is con-cerned with what is happening, but a com-munity that is characterized by manysplintered groups. To be an effective voicein this community, we need to band to-gether. South East Madera County United(SEMCU) is such a group – “For the Com-munity, By the Community.”

SEMCU has provided resources forsoccer clinics, computers for the Ranchosbranch library, Boy and Girl Scout proj-ects, recharge basins, a grant for low-flowwater devices and a new grant for energyefficient washing machines. The moremembers we have, the more the countyBoard of Supervisors will have to listen tous. I urge you, if you have an interest or astake in something that would improve ourcommunity, join us. The more voices wehave the more strength we have.

We have committees that are in needof members to direct them and we haveroom to add a committee of your choos-ing. Have a say in your community; don’tlet outside sources make that decision foryou. Your life time membership dues of$10 will allow you to be heard, so joinnow. We meet every third Monday at 6p.m. at the Pizza Factory. SEMCU’s webpage is www.semcu.org.

by Samantha Weaver

• It was 20th-century playwright Lor-raine Hansberry who made the followingsage observation: “The thing that makesyou exceptional, if you are at all, is in-evitably that which must also make youlonely.”

• Yes, zebras run in herds. It is more in-teresting, though -- and just as correct -- tocall such a group a dazzle of zebras or a zealof zebras.

• If you're planning a trip to India, keepin mind that in that country it's consideredrude to whistle in public.

• One day in 1994, DuffMcKagan, theoriginal bass player for rock band Guns N'Roses, was bored. With little else to do, hedecided to take a look at the band's finan-cials -- and realized he couldn't make senseof the info. Frustrated,McKagan enrolled in

a basic finance course at a community col-lege. One thing led to another and he endedup at Seattle University's Albers School ofBusiness. Now, the rock star is becoming amoneymanager, founding wealth-manage-ment firmMeridian Rock to help other mu-sicians in the same boat.

• If you saw two ships run into eachother, you'd likely call it a collision -- andyou'd be correct if both boats were movingat the time. Technically speaking, though, ifone of the boats is stationary, it's known asan allision.

• Those who study such things say thatwhen amale beaver gets in awrestling fightwith a female beaver, the female usuallywins.

• As it turns out, cuddling isn't just fun-- it's good for you, too! Research shows thatsnuggling upwith a loved one stimulates therelease of oxytocin, which (among otherthings) can help wounds heal faster.

• Thought for the Day: “Kindness ismore important than wisdom, and therecognition of this is the beginning of wis-dom.” -- Theodore Rubin

© 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.


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ARIES (March 21 to April 19) As eager as you are to take on that new challenge, it would be bestto temper that spurt of "Ram"-bunctious energy until you have more facts to back up your decision.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) This is a good time for hardworking Bovines to take a breakfrom their hectic on-the-job schedules to bask in the unconditional love and support of friends andfamily.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Pay attention to what you hear in the workplace. You could pickup some hints about possible changes. Meanwhile, a new infusion of creative energy sets in by week'send.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Try to be more flexible in dealing with a suddenly difficultsituation, whether it's on the job or in the home. Others might have some good points to offer. Listento them.

LEO (July23 toAugust22) You might think you're not getting the royal treatment you deserve. But becareful not to become a royal pain by complaining about it. Be patient and allow things to work out.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Watch that penchant for being super-judgmental at work.It might create a bad impression with someone whose decisions could determine the course of yourcareer.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You've been your usual busy-bee self, gathering nectarwherever you can find it. But now's a good time to kick back, relax and just enjoy smelling the roses.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) That pesky personal situation seems to beimproving. But change comes slowly, so be patient. Expect someone to bring more positivenews by week's end.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Whoa! Ease up on that hectic pace you've beenputting yourself through. Take time to recharge your energy levels before going full gallop again.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Try to be intrigued, not intimidated, by theissues you're suddenly facing, and you'll be ahead of the game. Don't be afraid to demand answers toyour questions.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) New associates freezing you out of their innercircle? Never mind. Put a warm smile on that friendly face of yours, and you'll soon thaw them alldown to size.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your wise guidance helps colleagues agree tocompromise and move forward. Meanwhile, there are still vital issues you need to deal with in yourpersonal life.

©2017 King Features Synd., Inc.

You enjoy being free with your emotions, but you also canexercise disciplined focus. You would make a fine artist.

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1. MOVIE: What 1980s movie had thetagline, "One man's struggle to take iteasy"?2. GEOGRAPHY: Which is the largest ofthe Great Lakes?3. MUSIC: How many notes are in themilitary bugle call "Taps"?4. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the onlyAmerican president born on July 4?5. EXPLORERS: What European explorerdiscovered the Grand Canyon?6. FLAGS:What kind of tree is featured onLebanon's flag?7. BUSINESS: What firm was originallyknown as the National Biscuit Company?8. TELEVISION: Who starred as KuntaKinte in the original miniseries "Roots"?9. ANATOMY: What is the normaltemperature of the human body in Celsius?10. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: At whichschool are Rhodes scholars invited tostudy?

1."FerrisBueller'sDayOff"2.LakeSuperior3.244.CalvinCoolidge5.GarciaLopezdeCardenas6.Cedar7.Nabisco8.LeVarBurton9.37degrees10.UniversityofOxford

Answers

TRIVIA TESTBy Fifi Rodriguez

© 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.

© 2017 King Features Synd., Inc. © 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.

www.The Ranchos.com

SSuuppeerr Crossword

Washing Machine certified as:

NEW State Grant AwardedUP TO $350*REIMBURSEMENT FOR EACH

Sign up** list for those interested in more information:

1. The Golden Valley Chamber of Commerce37167 Ave. 12 #5C, Madera Ranchos, CA 93636

2. Email: [email protected] heading “Washer Grant Interest”

“Energy Star Qualified”

to residents of South East Madera County

IN ADDITIONFREE Low Flow equipment

is STILL available at the Golden Valley Chamber of Commerce

*Grant monies are awarded to SEMCU, by the Department of Water Resources, (DWR), to help ourcommunity members within the 93636 zip code better manage and conserve our water resources.

(Estimated reimbursement amount based on participation)

For more information Email: [email protected] or Call: (559) 363-9095SEMCU meets at 6 p.m. on the third Monday of every month at The Pizza Factory

By the Community, For the Community!!!

8/17

**As soon as details are approved with the State we will follow up with those on the lists.

theranchospage3 8/17 thegoldenvalleychamberofcommercewouldlovetosee...

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