Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Visalia, CA

VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The 2023 Miss California and Miss California Teen Competition begins Saturday in Visalia where outgoing Miss California Catherine Liang will crown a new titleholder.

Liang is a 2021 graduate of the University of Southern California. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, carrying a 4.0 GPA and getting her B.A. in International Relations and Global Business with a minor in Piano Performance.

“It’s been so incredible and I must say, this is a full circle moment because this was my first ever appearance as Miss California, way back when, but 365 days later and 245 appearances later, I’m back here about to crown the 99th Miss California,” says Liang.

Finals for the 2023 competition begin on Saturday, July 1, and Liang says there is so much to be excited about leading up to the finale.

“We have 43 incredible women vying for the title of Miss California and I think her life will truly change. Across two preliminary nights and finals night, we’ll see a lot of talent, a lot of social impact initiatives, really reaching out into their communities and making a difference and a lot of young women who you’ll see as our future leaders,” says Liang.

Not only will the new Miss California get to travel across the state and make an impact in the communities, but Liang also says the financial impact for college the competition offers to the winner is something that can change the new titleholder’s career.

“The Miss California organization is a branch of the Miss America organization and their mission first and foremost is to provide scholarships for young women. I personally won over $22,000 in scholarships last year,” says Liang.

On top of the scholarships, Liang says the competition also has the “Community Service Initiative” and it gets to go towards any philanthropy of the winner’s choosing. Liang’s initiative was “Be a champion of courage,” which she says she teaches the importance of emotional intelligence to young school children all the way to members of the Fortune 500 community.

Liang says it’s bittersweet going into the weekend as she will crown a new Miss California in a new venue and host city.

“We found a different home, I remember being crowned in Fresno so we are very grateful to the Fresno community, but Visalia has honestly opened its arms wide open to us and we are so grateful that we are kind of ushering in a new era, after all, this is a changing and growing body so we are excited to connect with the local community there,” says Liang on the move from Fresno to Visalia.

The Miss California’s Teen finals begin at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 1, with the Miss California finals following at 5:00 p.m.

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Joy and excitement were in the air for local shoppers who lined up to be the first to check out Nordstrom Rack in Visalia.

The soft opening was by invitation only, including the Big Brothers and Big Sisters local chapter.

Nordy-Card members, media influencers and frequent shoppers were all invited.

Among them were Heather Woods and Joy Compolongo, who were the first in line and had been waiting for this moment for weeks.

"Yes, I am so excited. I can't wait to come shopping, and it really is about finding the right deal. That's my thing," says Heather. Joy continues, "I'm just happy to be here and excited that I was invited to the VIP."

Locals say the shorter commute is welcomed by those who would typically drive close to an hour to get to the Fresno location.

The Visalia store is located at the Sequoia Mall.

It's a space that hadn't been used in years.

Now, new plans to revitalize this area are coming to fruition.

"The Sequoia Mall was the place to shop when it was first open back in the '60s, and everyone I have talked to says I hope you bring back the same Sequoia Mall I used to shop at when we were kids. So, that's been our goal, and that's our goal still today to bring that back, one retailer at a time," says Jeff Sanders, Vice President of Paynter Realty and Investments Inc.

Paynter Realty and Investments, the developers, say Visalia is the perfect location as it sits between two major ports, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In the coming weeks, Barnes and Noble and Sprouts will open.

And in the coming months, Carters, Oshkosh and Sketchers will take over the rest of the mall.

"We are very passionate about Tulare County and the city of Visalia. We have been part of this community for over 30 years trying to bring retailers to the community whenever we can, and we are so excited to have Nordstrom Rack," explains Jeff Sanders.

Nordstrom Rack will be open for everyone on Thursday, October 5.

Doors will open at 9 am, and people can start lining up at 8 am.

Barnes and Noble and Sprouts will be opening by the end of this year.

Visalia, Dinuba, Tulare and Woodlake are among the 100 fastest growing cities in the state; housing growth outpaces population growth but not by enough to solve the existing shortage

TULARE COUNTY – Four Tulare County cities were among the fastest growing in the state in 2022.

Visalia ranked 25th in the state for population increases adding 965 residents in the last year, while Dinuba ranked 68th adding 247 people, followed by Tulare (220 people) at No. 74 and Woodlake (102 people), which ranked 102 of the state’s 482 incorporated cities. As a percent of population, Dinuba and Woodlake outpaced Visalia and Tulare with .98% and .84% increases, small gains but far larger than the state’s overall loss of 0.2% of the population. The numbers were announced May 1 as part of the state’s annual demographics report from the California Department of Finance.

Delano and Kingsburg, which both have a small portion of their cities in Tulare County, saw even larger increases. Kingsburg was the 9th fastest growing city, with an increase of 3.48% to 12,865. Delano was just shy of Visalia’s mark with an additional 945 residents despite being about one third the size, 51,727 people compared with Visalia’s 143,031. As a percentage of population, Delano was the 23rd fastest growing city with a 1.86% increase.

In general, only counties in the Central Valley and Imperial Valley saw increases in population while every coastal county except San Benito (0.2%) saw declines. Of the ten largest cities in California, only three gained population: Sacramento had the largest percentage gain in population (0.2 percent, or 1,203) followed by Bakersfield (0.2 percent, or 882) and Fresno (0.1 percent, or 599). San Joaquin County, Kern County, Butte County and Yuba County all had cities where housing production drove population growth.

In Tulare County, five of the eight cities and the unincorporated areas increased housing at a rate faster than the population growth. Visalia increased housing units by 1.4% compared with 0.7% in population growth; however, that is not enough to solve the housing shortage for the population that is already here.

And things won’t be getting better any time soon based on preliminary permit numbers so far this year. Visalia has permitted 73% fewer new homes in the first four months of the year compared to the same period in 2022. Builders permitted only two new homes in April, according to the latest City of Visalia figures. Home builders had permitted 245 new homes by May 1 of 2022, but so far this year, the city has issued only 66 new single family residential permits. The trend puts Visalia on pace for the slowest new home construction year in decades. Overall, the total value of all permits is also down by 62% although residential remodels for the year to date are up .High interest rates have slowed building plans as well as the sale of existing homes in the city.

Stable births, fewer deaths, and a rebound in foreign immigration slowed California’s recent population decline in 2022, with the state’s population estimated at 38,940,231 people as of Jan. 1, 2023.

The 0.35-percent population decline for 2022, roughly 138,400 persons, marks a slowdown compared to the recent decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2021 and 2022, California’s population decreased 0.53% or 207,800 persons, due mainly to sharp declines in natural increase and foreign immigration. For 2022, natural increase – the net amount of births minus deaths – increased from 87,400 in 2021 to 106,900 in 2022. Births decreased slightly from 420,800 in 2021 to 418,800 in 2022, while deaths declined gradually from 333,300 persons in 2021 to 311,900 persons in 2022.

Foreign immigration nearly tripled in 2022 compared to the prior year, with a net gain of 90,300 persons in 2022 compared to 31,300 in 2021. While foreign immigration to California has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, natural increase has not rebounded. Total births remain low due to fertility declines; while deaths have eased gradually from their pandemic peak, they remain elevated. With slower domestic in-migration and increased domestic out-migration, likely the result of work- from-home changes, declines in net domestic migration offset the population gains from natural increase and international migration.

Statewide, 46 of the state’s 58 counties lost population. The ten largest percentage decreases were: Lassen (-4.3 percent), Del Norte (-1.3 percent), Plumas (-1.2 percent), Santa Cruz (-1.0 percent), Marin (-1.0 percent), Tehama (-1.0 percent), Napa (-1.0 percent), Lake (-0.9 percent), Monterey (-0.8 percent), and Los Angeles (-0.8 percent). The state’s three most populous counties all experienced population loss: Los Angeles declined by 73,293 persons (-0.75 percent), San Diego by 5,680 persons (-0.2 percent), and Orange by 14,782 persons (-0.5 percent).

In the state, Larthrop in San Joaquin County was the fastest growing city adding 3,505 new residents and bringing their population to 35,080. Paradise in Butte County was the fastest growing city as a percentage of the population, with an increase of 24.09% or 1,775 people. Both were on the list of the top five cities where housing production drove population growth: Paradise (24.1%), Lathrop (11.1%), Duarte (6.6 percent) in Los Angeles County, Wheatland (4.6%) in Yuba County, and Shafter (4.3%) in Kern County.

Company plans to build three-story office building next to its converted warehouses on Santa Fe St. in downtown Visalia

TULARE COUNTY – The design firm 4Creeks has helped many organizations build for future expansions in the last 15 years. Now they are putting their resources into doubling the size of their own downtown expansion.

The company, founded in 2008, filed preliminary plans with the city of Visalia this week to build a new three-story, 12,000-square-foot building adjacent to their current warehouse offices on Santa Fe. The plans retain its existing office but call for demolishing a 2,000 square foot warehouse next to it. In its place they would erect a three-story office that includes an outdoor patio. The new development would bring the company’s office space to a combined 24,000 square feet.

4Creeks has six locations overall including Tulare, Hanford, Clovis, Denver, San Luis Obispo and Visalia. Records show the firm has about 35 full-time employees and the CEO is Danielle Avila.

4Creeks takes its name from its founding in Visalia, where four creeks run through the city, which made it an ideal place for settlement. The company is a collection of engineers, surveyors, construction managers, developers, designers, architects, programmers and business leaders.

Besides their work on public and private developments, the company has a strong agribusiness development component working with ag firms, water districts, agencies, dairies and farmers on water and energy projects.

The warehouse next to 4Creeks isn’t the only thing that might be demolished. The Tulare City Council is considering the demolition of the vacant old public library on F Street. In 1963, the City built a public library at 113 North F Street, the site once occupied by Central School. This was the home of the Tulare Public Library for 47 years. In July 2010, the library moved to its current location at 475 North M Street.

The old library building has been vacant for the past 13 years, adding expenses to the city with the electric, alarm, landscaping and water services. Staff is recommending the demolition of the building not only because of recurring expenses, but because the building is continuously vandalized presenting a safety concern for the area. The city council tabled the discussion at its Oct. 3 meeting.

Visalia Finance Director Renee Nagel said preliminary results for the last fiscal year ending in July show that Visalia sales tax revenue is about on target at just under 2% growth when compared to the year before. That was what the department forecasted after two strong growth years surprised the city during the pandemic.

Nagel has noted that in 2021 sales tax income grew by 12% and was projected to be the same in 2022. The higher-than-normal growth has also inflated the sales tax base used to prepare projections for the 23/24 budget in place now, which is why Nagel’s department continued budgeting based on historic growth averages. Growth in receipts, based on a budget that did not count on that money, was key in boosting the City’s General Fund and enabling the City of Visalia to move forward on big capital projects like the new Civic Center being built mostly on a cash basis.

-This article was updated at 6:48 p.m. PDT on Oct. 4, 2023.

VISALIA, Calif. – A few hours before Mass began, a line of parishioners was already waiting to be let inside St. Charles Borromeo church.

“[We are] always early to church. That’s just my belief. I always want to be early to church. I don't want to be way in the back,” said Charles Blue of Visalia.

Although he and his wife Carrie Blue had seen some photos of the church online, they wanted to be among the first to enter the facility.

“I’m wanting that feeling of walking in and saying, ‘This is home, This is where we were meant to be,’” says Carrie Blue.

The Blues had a reason to be excited. With the construction and opening of St. Charles church within the Good Shepherd Catholic Parish, the Central Valley is now home to the largest Catholic parish church in the country – and all of North America.

On a recent February day, the Blues were part of the ceremonial dedication Mass.

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The architecture of the building was designed to resemble the Spanish missions across the state of California.

Esther Quintanilla / KVPR

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The chosen artwork in the sanctuary is meant to resemble the Renaissance, according to the Diocese.

Esther Quintanilla / KVPR

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The mural behind the pulpit pays homage to the rich agriculture in the Central Valley.

Esther Quintanilla / KVPR

Construction on St. Charles started in 2019. When the pandemic started a few months later in 2020, plans were delayed due to labor shortages and supply chain issues.

But after nearly three years of rescheduling, the $21 million parish church is ready to seat 3,200 people in a single Mass.

In the United States, there are roughly 17,000 parishes. Parishes are subdivisions of the larger system of Catholic dioceses -- of which there are 12 in California.

'That's us. That's our story'

Walking through the arched doors of the church, thousands took in the first glimpses of the sanctuary.

Pillars line the rows of seats at the back of the hall, with a narrow path leading up to the pulpit. A ray of sunlight seeps into the room through a rounded skylight above the altar. A mural depicting different saints floating in the cosmos circles the beam of light and looks down at the pews where the Blues would take their seats.

“The dome, what you see up in the clouds, that's taken from the Hubble telescope,” says Father Alex Chavez, the priest in charge of the church.

He says all the artwork in the sanctuary was intentionally chosen to resemble the renaissance.

The architecture of the building was inspired by the Spanish missions across California. The Trinity was carved out of wood and sent from Spain, Chavez says.

The painting behind the pulpit depicts more than just the Trinity and the saints. It also pays homage to the region.

“You see the mural, you see the valley field crop, the valley oak tree that we’re known for the California poppy. You see the little patches, the Valley, the Sierra [Nevada]. That's us. That's our story,” Chavez says.

'A towering light in the city'

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno has more than a million registered members. It stretches across 200 miles of the San Joaquin Valley, from Atwater in Merced County to Frazier Park in Kern County.

“This is literally centrally located for the dioceses of Fresno and and pretty much centrally located for the state of California,” says Bishop Joseph V. Brennan, the head of the diocese. “It's a perfect location to draw people from every corner of the diocese.”

The church is expected to help alleviate the smaller churches in Visalia, which the diocese notes have outgrown their campuses.

“This city, this county, it's still exploding. [It’s still] building everywhere,” Brennan says.

Brennan noted the church may also address the shortage of priests in the region. The church will be able to consolidate church services without calling on numerous priests to tend to the up to 17 weekly Masses in Visalia, he said.

Chavez says there are already more than 14,000 families registered to attend St. Charles. He also estimates the church will serve more than 15,000 people each week.

The church will host three weekly Sunday services, two in Spanish and one in English. For those who will attend, the church brings a special feeling.

“[St. Charles] is going to be a towering light in the city. This will be the place for everybody to come. It's a blessing,” says Blue, who was eager to make it early.

This story is part of the Central Valley News Collaborative, which is supported by the Central Valley Community Foundation with technology and training support by Microsoft Corp.