Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 1447
The Shafter High baseball team opened their SSL campaign with a split against Chavez High School. On Tuesday, the squad dropped an 8-2 decision to the Titans, but bounced back on Thursday and beat Chavez, 7-5. In the victory, seven different Generals had at least one hit in the game, continuing the Generals prowess at the plate. The team is averaging over 7 runs per game this season. Matteo Martinez had a great series, going 3-4 at the plate and scoring three runs in the win....
The Shafter High softball team opened its SSL season with a 0-0 tie against Chavez High School. This game was a pitcher's duel, with both teams finding it hard to find some offense. The Lady Generals then competed in the Fowler Softball Tournament, opening with a game against highly touted Orange Cove. The Lady Generals fought hard, but came up short in the contest, dropping the game by a score of 5-2. The loss drops Shafter's season record to 9-4-1. Coached by Sharaya Durant...
At the Shafter Chamber of Commerce Banquet last week, the awards committee recognized Maria Martinez with the Health Award. Martinez has spent the last couple of decades dedicated to the health and happiness of Shafter's seniors. Martinez is the senior adult coordinator for the Shafter Recreation Department, heading up a variety of programs and activities that are geared to keeping Shafter's seniors moving. "I think that our seniors can be an active, productive members of the...
The students in the Richland School District have had a busy month of March, with several events and activities in each of the Shafter public elementary schools. At Golden Oak Elementary, they held their annual Open House event. Students had a chance to show their parents examples of their work and art, as well as the classroom environment that they spend so much of their days in. The parents also had a chance to meet with their children's teachers, getting to know them, as...
Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Shafter’s Timothy Sheldon to the California Corrections Peace Officers Commission. This position is a part of a commission that optimizes the well-being and performance of correctional peace officers. The commission’s mission is to prioritize the correctional peace officers’ well-being, resilience, and performance by elevating training through standards development, apprenticeship improvement, and training evaluation. Sheldon has worked in co...
The Shafter Recreation Department will be installing a solar array with part of a federal grant for just over $230,000 for improvements at the Walker Senior Center. The grant also will fund an upgrade to the parking lot. According to District Manager Phillip Jimenez, the grant was a pleasant surprise. "We didn't know what to expect when we applied for the grant. We are pretty small compared to other organizations that got a similar grant from the same program. We are very...
The Shafter City Council Tuesday afternoon discussed the status of the city's budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, and also talked about the future numbers dealing with the fiscal year 2024/2025. The city saw an increase in the net position financially, with an increase of $8.1 million, giving the city a net position of $235 million in assets. This increase, according to Financial Director Roger Sanchez, is a result of an increase of sales tax and property tax revenue. Sanchez...
Camryn Eubanks was named the Distinguished Young Woman of Shafter for the Class of 2025 on Friday night. Camryn won $2,300 in scholarships, in addition to a medal and the opportunity to represent the city at the State DYW program to be held in July in Bakersfield. She was sponsored by Mashburn Transportation and is the daughter of Nick and Roya Eubanks. Winning the First Alternate title was Celeste Perez, and the Second Alternate was Adriana Moreno Bravo. The Shafter program...
The Richland School District broke ground recently on a new building that will house a portion of its Expanded Learning Opportunity Program, servicing local elementary school students. The ELOP, explained Richland's Jaime Cherry, is an after-school program that gives students an opportunity to learn, as well as have fun after school. "The program allows parents to have a sense of peace while they are at work, knowing that their children are being provided extra opportunities...
Shafter has been and is a city "where everything grows," Mayor Chad Givens emphasized in his State of the City address at the Chamber of Commerce Awards Saturday night. "Over 100 years ago, people found this land, and realized that this was land where everything would grow," Givens started his address to nearly 200 in the Ford Theater. "Today, the city is still that. Shafter is the city where everything grows." Givens was not just talking about crops, or the population, but...
FRESNO – The Shafter Spartans youth wrestling team traveled to the State Tournament last weekend and came away with several medals, including a State Champion. The tournament was held at the Selland Arena in Fresno. Led by Coach Eli Espericueta, the Spartans had a champion in Jayden Gonzalez. Gonzalez, along with his brother Julian and sister Janali, all came home with medals. The Gonzalez family is no stranger to winning, with their older sister, Julissa, becoming the f...
Retired Assistant Chief of Police Diana Burnett will lead this year's Cinco de Mayo Festival. Burnett was delighted by the festival committee's announcement and thinks that it is a huge honor. "I am so surprised and really humbled by their decision," said Burnett. She said that she has always loved the festival and is looking forward to being a part of it. "I have worked it so many years, and I just love all of the colors, the dancing, music and the wonderful time that the...
The city will spend up to $1.5 million for a new General Plan. The City Council approved a contract with Place Works, Inc., to create the updated document.. The agreement includes making a vision for the city for the next 20 years. This will include economic, business, retail expansion and education plans. The process is expected to take about two years to complete. The council also discussed regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the city. This includes...
It has been a busy year for the Class of 2024's Shafter Distinguished Young Woman, Emily Mcguire. In addition to representing Shafter in the state competition, Emily had the opportunity to attend events such as the Cinco de Mayo Parade and the Christmas Parade. She also had the opportunity to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the Fourth of July Celebration, cut the ribbon for a new caboose at the Shafter Train Depot, light the town's Christmas tree and sing carols with her DYW...
The Shafter Chamber of Commerce held its annual Awards Banquet on Thursday night, celebrating select individuals and groups who have helped make Shafter the city it is. The evening at the Ford Theater began with a State of the City address by Shafter Mayor Chad Givens (see separate story) Before the regular awards, a special award was given to the late Helen Gaede, which was accepted for the family by Shafter Depot Museum Curator Stan Wilson. Gaede had worked tirelessly for...
Last week, Chevrolet executives from Detroit, including Zone Manager Michael Stinner, arrived at Richland Chevrolet in Shafter to present dealer Jeff Millwee with a plaque commemorating 25 years of service as a Chevrolet dealer here. This milestone was celebrated with great pride and recognition of the dealership's unwavering dedication to its customers and the Chevrolet brand. The event culminated in a special photo session, capturing a feature on Millwee in the trade...
The Shafter High School track and field team is off to a quick start, with a strong showing at the Kern Invitational track meet last weekend. The highlight was sophomore Jocelyn Pierucci, who won the discus event, throwing a distance of over 122 feet, outdistancing her competition by 22 feet. Pierucci is continuing her high school athletic career after having an outstanding freshman season, advancing all the way to the Central Section Masters meet, just missing qualifying for...
The Shafter Chamber of Commerce Banquet and Awards event is Thursday, March 14, beginning at 5 p.m., with an hors d'oeuvre hour followed by dinner and then the awards. Before the awards presentations, the mayor of Shafter, Chad Givens will be giving the State of the City address, which highlights the accomplishments of the city the past year, as well as the future. Givens gave a speech last year that was full of hope and promise, with several of these goals coming to fruition,...
Shafter High girls basketball Coach Shawn Pennell has retired after 20 seasons at the helm, completing a transformation that took the Lady Generals from the bottom of the SSL to Central Section supremacy. Pennell ended his career a few weeks ago when the Lady Generals made it to the Central Section Division III semifinals and lost a tough game to the eventual Regional Champions, the Bakersfield Christian Eagles. The team won their own basketball tournament and also finished...
Schools in the Richland School District celebrated the Reading Across America event last week, with classrooms filled with special guest readers of numerous Dr. Seuss books. The event encouraged reading in and out of the classroom and shows that reading is an enjoyable event, not just an educational tool. There were dozens of guests at local elementary schools that helped celebrate the joy of reading. Members of the Shafter community came to read to the students, including...
This article features the second half of the contestants in the Shafter Distringuished Young Women program set for this month. The other eight were in last week's paper, which can be seen at TheShafterPress.com. A total of 16 young women will be vying for the title of Shafter Distinguished Young Woman at this year's competition on Friday, March 22. The event is one of the oldest scholarship programs for junior girls in the state, with the Shafter event celebrating over 40...
The Shafter Chamber of Commerce will hold their annual Community Awards on Thursday night, March 14, at the Ford Theater. The event honors individuals, groups and businesses that have enriched the community and helped make Shafter a great place to live. The honorees will join others, such as Fred Starrh, Jack "Woody" Colvard and Jon Johnston as recipients of the awards recognizing outstanding contributions to the community. Recipients this year are: Hitchcock Auto Parts, who...
The Shafter City Council listened to the annual financial report for the fiscal year of 2023 at its meeting Tuesday night.. Christian Townes, CPA partner with LSL, Inc., gave a report on their audit of the city finances. Townes said that the company performed detailed testing of account balances and transactions. The results of the audit said that the city's financial statements were accurate and reliable for the year ending June 30, 2023. They identified no fraud, waste or...
David Couch appears to be headed to another term as in his race for re-election, according to the Kern County Elections office, with results as of early Wednesday morning. In the race for supervisor of the 4th District, Couch has amassed a big lead, with 52% of the vote, enough to return him to office without a runoff. Candidate Veronica Cruz Vasquez has received a little over 17% of the vote, with Wasco Mayor Alex Garcia with 16% and Salvador Solorio-Ruiz with 14%. If the per...
The first of two articles featuring this year's Distinguished Young Woman of Shafter participants. The other half will be presented in next week's paper. The annual Distinguished Young Woman of Shafter scholarship program is on tap for Friday March 22, at the Fred Starrh Performing Arts Center at Shafter High School. Each girl is in her junior year at Shafter High and will be competing for over $5,000 in scholarship money. There are 16 participants in this year's competition....
