March 17, 2025
Hanford Insider: Traffic Signal Updates, City Council News, and the 5th Annual Autism Awareness Run
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Life in small towns moves at its own special rhythm, and the latest Hanford Insider podcast captures that beat perfectly with updates that matter to our community. After months of questions from frustrated residents, we finally have answers about those troublesome traffic signals at 10th and Lacey - mark your calendars for early June installation! The podcast also previews Tuesday's City Council meeting where they'll tackle everything from backyard chicken regulations to zoning for 326-home subdivision proposal in south Hanford.
At the heart of this episode is a powerful conversation with Bree Vargas about the upcoming 5th Annual Autism Awareness 5K Run/Walk on April 5th at Quail Run Park. What began as a mother's response to limited resources when her son was diagnosed with autism has blossomed into a community cornerstone. Vargas shares how this event creates a vital hub of information and support for families beginning their autism journey. With over $2,000 in raffle prizes including an Apple Watch and Giants tickets, the run has grown significantly while maintaining its core mission of building connections within our community.
The community calendar is packed with opportunities to engage this spring - from the Kings Players production at Temple Theater to multiple car shows and the South Valley Winter Arts Association competition for students. History buffs will appreciate the agriculture display at Carnegie Museum, while music lovers might consider auditioning to sing the National Anthem at the Civic Auditorium's centennial celebration. We wrap things up with local sports coverage and an invitation to join our comprehensive weekly newsletter. Whether you're new to town or a longtime resident, the Hanford Insider continues to be your window into the heart of our community. Subscribe, share, and join the conversation!
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
Thank you for supporting the show!
Chapters
00:00 - Episode Introduction & News Preview
01:04 - Hanford Traffic Signal Update
02:26 - City Council Meeting Preview
03:40 - Community Calendar Events
05:12 - Autism 5K Run Walk Interview
10:15 - Hanford Sports Report
11:37 - Closing & Contact Information
Transcript
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On this episode of the Hanford Insider, bree Vargas gives us a preview of the fifth annual Autism Awareness Run.
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You'll get an update of Hanford news and the community calendar Then.
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Later I'll be back with your sports report.
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This is the Hanford Insider, the podcast where we dive into what makes our community tick, from local stories and hidden gems to conversations with people shaping our neighborhood.
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We're here to celebrate, explore and connect.
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I'm your host, rob Bentley.
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Whether you're new to Hanford or a long-time local, this is your source for everything happening in our town, from events and news to unique conversations with people who make Hanford such a unique community.
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I hope you enjoy the format.
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Let's take a look at this week's community news.
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Many of you have been asking if the traffic signal lights at 10th Avenue and Lacey Boulevard will ever be repaired.
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It's been over a month since our last update from the city, so I contacted Public Works Director Russ Sterling this week to get an update.
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He told me that he checks on the status of the pole and mast arm that have been ordered on a weekly basis.
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This past week he was finally provided with the delivery date of May 30th.
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Plans are being made to have it installed and operational the first week of June.
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He went on to say that this intersection is an older intersection in town and each pole is specific to the location and because of this, the required pole is not that type that will typically be in stock.
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He's reached out to other agencies and contractors but has had no luck in locating another pole for a faster repair.
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He told me he's been looking into some kind of temporary signal pole for this location.
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However, there are some requirements that could potentially hold up that possibility as well.
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Even a temporary pole must still meet all guidelines and be able to communicate with the current signal cabinet and other signals to function properly.
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So there you have it.
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I've seen a lot of criticism online of city staff regarding the issue, but I appreciate Mr Serling being open and honest about the frustration he and his staff have been feeling over this problem.
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I want to thank Russ for providing this update for us.
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In other city news, the Hanford City Council will be meeting this Tuesday, march 18th.
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During the afternoon study session at 5 pm they'll be reviewing possible changes in the Municipal Code regarding the keeping of chickens and have a discussion related to the number of chickens that are allowed in residential zones.
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During the regular meeting at 7, there'll be a public hearing regarding a request to annex and pre-zone property along the south side of Hanford Armowner Road between 12th and 13th Avenues for a new 326-home subdivision.
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In general business they'll be considering some consulting contracts and approval of Falconer Services to keep the Crows under control, not only in downtown but for other areas as well.
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Not only in downtown, but for other areas as well.
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If you can't make it to the meeting in person, you can always watch online through the City of Hanford website at hanfordcagov.
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The Hanford Civic Auditorium turns 100 this year and a special celebration is being held on June 7th.
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The committee planning the event is looking for talented singers to sing the national anthem at the ceremony that day.
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If you can sing the Star-Spangled Banner or you know of someone who can contact me at hanfordinsider at gmailcom and I'll give you the tryout details.
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Auditions close on March 31st.
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Here are some things coming up on our community calendar.
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This is the last week of the Kings Players production A Ghost of a Chance at the Temple Theater in Hanford.
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For tickets and information, visit kingsplayersorg.
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A history of Kings County agriculture display at the Carnegie Museum is now open.
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The museum is located at 109 East 8th Street and is open Friday, saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm.
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Visit carnegiemuseumofkingscountyorg for more information.
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The museum is sponsoring the annual Downtown Hanford Kickoff your Summer Car Show on June 7th.
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Visit carnegiecarshowcom for more information and registration.
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Speaking of car shows, the Hanford Fraternal Hall Car Show is on Saturday, march 29th Coming up.
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This Saturday, the South Valley Winter Arts Association competition for high school and middle school students will be held at Sierra Pacific High School.
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For more information, visit svwaacom.
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If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together.
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Send your information to hanfordinsider at gmailcom.
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Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a complete calendar of events.
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It's the most comprehensive community calendar available.
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Coming up on Saturday April 5th is the fifth annual Autism 5K Run Walk, and we're here with Bree Vargas.
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How are you doing, bree?
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Hi, I'm good.
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How are you?
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I'm great.
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Hey, it was great talking with Stacey last year about this event and I know it's a very important event to the community and especially to the people that are putting it on.
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But can you tell us about the event on the 5th of April?
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Yeah, so we decided to put together a run back in 2020, and it's a run-walk, so it's for all fitness levels, kids as well.
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They can bring their scooters, bikes, roller skates, but all it is is a 5k just around the downtown area, but the Hanford area, and it's just to help raise awareness for autism because it is near and dear to our heart.
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So it's going to be held at Quail Run Park, I understand.
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Yeah, right off of Flint and Glacier, right in the middle of a residential area.
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It's a pretty big park.
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We have yet to outgrow it but I think this might be the year that we might be our last year there.
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But yes, quail Run Park.
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So does it circle the park or does it go around the surrounding neighborhoods there?
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It actually goes down Flint, 11th, fargo and then back down Glacier.
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It's just one big circle that makes almost exactly three miles.
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Yeah, that's a great route, Definitely a scenic part of town, with the Stonecrest Park there.
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It begins at nine and if people are interested in signing up for it, where should they go to?
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Who should they contact?
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They can contact myself or Stacey.
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We do have an Instagram.
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It's the Autism Awareness Run and there's the link in the bio there where you can register.
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We also are taking walk-ups the day of.
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The only thing that won't be available for purchase will be shirts.
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That does close on 3-22, which I believe is next Saturday, but you can walk up and register day of.
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If I remember right, last year you had different vendor booths and carnival games for the people who maybe weren't involved in the actual run part of it, but I also see that you're having a raffle this year as well.
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Yeah, we pulled out the raffle last year.
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So we did have one last year but we were kind of new to it, but this year it really took off.
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So we do have some great prizes, and I mean great prizes.
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We have an Apple Watch, we have Beats headphones, san Francisco Giants ticket, tvs, tablets.
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I mean we have great prizes.
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This year over $2,000 worth of prizes over $2,000 worth of prizes.
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Yeah, that sounds like some great prizes, bree.
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Now I know this event brings awareness to the cause for autism and it has a deeply personal story for those that are involved, and I'd like, for a moment maybe, if we could just kind of talk about why this event is so important for you and why it's so important to get the word out to the community.
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For us it is so important for you and why it's so important to get the word out to the community.
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For us it is extremely important because our oldest son, luke, was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old.
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He is nonverbal and when I started this journey with Luke, there weren't a lot of options as far as ABA therapy groups, just informational groups in general, parent groups.
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There just wasn't a lot, and that's been about seven, eight years ago and I just felt like we needed something that would bring everyone together so that parents that were new to this autism group they knew where they could go to find resources.
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And that's what we've really tried to do with this run.
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Every year we've tried a little bit harder to bring more informational boosts out there so that if parents are new to this autism journey, they have places that they can go and say, hey, look, you know where do I start, because it is a journey and it is a lot of questions, a lot of places that you have to visit prior to getting your child into school, and it's just nice to have something that everyone can go right, you know right from the beginning, and have information.
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We didn't have that with Luke.
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There just wasn't a whole bunch of stuff.
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It's great to see over the years how much the autism community has come together and formed this really big circle of helping hands.
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Well, that's fantastic.
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That's such a special event and, once again, it's the fifth annual Autism 5K Run Walk and it's going to be held on Saturday, April 5th at the Quail Run Park.
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You can walk or run or just come and see the vendor booth.
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There's lots of great stuff out there.
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If you'd like to register for the event or you would like more information, you can contact me at HanfordInsider at gmailcom and I'll get you in touch with Bree or Stacey, who are coordinating the event.
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And Bree, thank you so much for coming on the show again and the best of luck with your event.
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Thank you so much.
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We appreciate all the help getting the word out there and we event.
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Thank you so much.
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We appreciate all the help getting the word out there and we would love for everyone to come out and join us.
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And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric.
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Bentley.
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Unfortunately the rain had an impact last week, postponing several games and tournaments.
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So only a few scores to report this week, and we'll start with softball, where Hanford West improved to a perfect 5-0 to start the year with a 2-1 victory over Garces Memorial before taking down Hanford High 8-3.
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As for the Bullpups, they took on Chowchilla and Orange Cove in the Central tournament, but we weren't able to get any scores reported from those.
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And Sierra Pacific fell to Dinuba 12-2 and also took on Hanford High in a game that we weren't able to get a score update from.
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And in baseball, hanford High picked up a 4-2 win over Central before falling to Bakersfield Christian 4-3.
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Hanford West fell to Madera 13-3 in their only action of the week, and Sierra Pacific also only played once, losing a close one to Lemoore, 4-3.
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As you can tell, sometimes these scores are hard to find and this is where you come in.
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If you have a score report or a story idea, make sure to email hanfordinsider at gmailcom.
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I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.
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Well, that's all the time we have for this week's show.
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If you enjoyed this podcast and you'd like to show your support, you can go to buymeacoffeecom slash Hanford Insider to make a donation.
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If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by my website at hanfordinsidercom to sign up for updates.
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You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter in your inbox each week.
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I also need your help getting the word out about the show by liking and sharing on social media or telling a friend For more information about this show.
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You can find this podcast on Facebook, instagram, threads X and YouTube at Hanford Insider.
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If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at hanfordinsider at gmailcom and I'll look into it.
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Thanks for listening.
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Have a great week.
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