OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE LEMOORE …...July 2017 300 E Street, Lemoore, CA 93245 (559) 924-6401...

July 2017 300 E Street, Lemoore, CA 93245 (559) 924-6401

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE LEMOORE DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

It is the mission of the Lemoore Chamber of Commerce to be the leader in our community for building sustainable economic growth, advocating for a

pro-business climate and enhancing Lemoore’s working relationships with Naval Air Station Lemoore, City, Education, Tourism, Business and Agricultural Interests.

We Kicked off the summer concert series with the band ~“Kevin Blake Willard & the Cadillac Cowboys on June 16th. The series is full of fun, family excitement every Friday night through July 21st. If you missed the first concert, you missed a good one. We had a great crowd and fun was still had by all, despite the hot weather. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the second and third Friday due to the high temperatures, we do expect to see you all out here on July 14th for Disco night. Be ready to BOOGIE and dress to impress because you will be judged by your love of the Funky spirit. The featured band is The Fabulous Enchantments, so put on your dancing shoes come and get your groove on! Music starts at 7:00pm and ends at 10:30pm, admission is free! This is a family fun-filled event

with a variety of vendors and a beer and wine gar-

den available for the adults to enjoy. So bring out

your lawn chairs to enjoy an evening of fun and

great entertainment!

You may not know what it really takes to make “Rockin’ the Arbor” such a great event, we would not be able to pull

this event off, if it weren't for our amazing volunteers. This year we have Dale Jones as our set up crew chairman who

replaced Larry Avila, who was our team leader last year. This crew shows up at the hottest part of the day and deliv-

ers ice, sets up chairs and tables, puts out signs and any other heavy lifting or tasks we may have. We are thankful to

have them as our RTA Crew. We also have a separate crew that cleans and returns tables and chairs to storage at the

end of the night. Janson Cunningham is the Crew leader that heads up this amazing team . We ask if you know any of

these volunteers, give them a big thanks for all they do for our

community!

Thank you to the many donations as

well!!!!!!!

Lemoore Stadium Theater

Chicken Shack

Fatte Albert’s Pizza

Starbucks Coffee

Pep Boys - Hanford

Elite Perfomance

LuLaRoe Jessica

Valenzuela

— July 2017 Lemoore Chamber Newsletter

2017 LEMOORE CHAMBER BOARD OF DIRECTORS Executive Board Directors Chairman Victor Rosa: LUHSD William A. Parry: William Parry Law Michele Costa-Ruble: DaCosta Farms Chair Elect Dustin Fuller: TulareLake Drainage Dist. TBD Deanna Patterson: Tachi Palace Vice Chair Gina Arcino: Modern Broker Grace Parriera: Blue Door Massage & Spa Sunny Law: Sushi Table Asian Bistro CFO Jody Ruble: West Hills College Lemoore Ex Officio Liaisons Past Chairman Marlana Brown: NAS Lemoore Frances Perkins: Best Western Inn & Suites Kylie Valentino: YEA! Program Graduate

CHAMBER STAFF

Amy Ward Interim Chief Executive Officer

[email protected]

Brenda Martin Events Director/Office Manager

[email protected]

Brittany Reece Membership Director/YEA! Program Manager

[email protected]

I have had the privilege of working along-side the Chamber for the past several years and it is something that I have been extremely proud of. Through my partici-pation on our Chamber Board, various committees and recently launching the Kings Young Professionals, I thought I had an accurate picture of all the services the Chamber provides for our wonderful community. However, over the past few weeks my eyes have truly been opened. The Chambers role in our community goes much deeper than even I realized. The day to day operations of the Cham-ber include so many unique situations that I was unaware of. On any given day Chamber staff can be found assisting business members with services ranging

from social media marketing to basic computer assistance to community rela-tionship building. Often they can be found assisting community members find local resources or helping neighboring community members find support here in Lemoore. Sometimes they are communi-cating important information from Sacra-mento that directly affects our local busi-nesses. This is all in addition to hosting weekly, monthly and annual events that benefit not just Chamber members but the community of Lemoore as a whole. I am in awe of the energy and passion that both Brenda and Brittany bring to this Chamber. Their work far surpasses any expectation and you can see their love of this community shine in everything they

do and they inspire me to be better and do better for this community. Change is a necessary part of life and as

we move forward into the second half of

2017 I am encouraged by all this Chamber

has accomplished thus far. We will con-

tinue to work with local leaders and the

community to ensure that Lemoore con-

tinues to be the gem that it truly is!

-Amy Ward, Interim Chief Executive Office


ServiceMaster by Benevento has been a

member of the Lemoore Chamber of

Commerce for almost ten years! What an

honor for us to have such an incredible

partnership with a company that truly val-

ues our chamber and our community.

ServiceMaster by Benevento has been serv-

ing the Tulare, Kings, and Fresno counties

for over 30 years! Founded by Larry Bene-

vento in 1985, Larry, and his two sons, are

known for their excellent customer ser-

vice. They created a great name for their

company and live up to being, “The clean-

ing people WHO CARE.”

ServiceMaster by Benevento offers a varie-

ty of services that include: Business Clean-

ing, Carpet Cleaning, Disaster Recovery,

Rebuilding Services, Sewage Cleaning and

much more. Make sure to visit their web-

site for a full list of services:

www.servicemasterbybenevento.com

ServiceMaster Restore has been in the

cleaning and disaster restoration business

for more than 50 years. Marion E. Wade,

founder of ServiceMaster, developed

strong core beliefs which transformed into

the Philosophy that ServiceMas-

ter Restore companies stand be-

hind:

To honor God in all they do

To excel with customers

To help people develop

To grow profitably

Their mission is: Restoring or-

der to chaos with compassion.

Here at the Lemoore Chamber we have

had the pleasure of working with Debbie

Gullord of ServiceMaster by Benevento.

Debbie has worked for ServiceMaster for

almost 15 years! Debbie has not only

served on our board of directors but is now

an amazing ambassador for our organiza-

tion. “Being an Ambassador is a very high

privilege, working with the elite of mar-

keting professionals, you are not a profes-

sional if you are sitting on the sidelines

watching,” stated Debbie. She makes every

effort to be at each luncheon,

and is the first to volunteer for our

events! ServiceMaster by Benevento recog-

nizes the importance of community in-

volvement and continuously sponsors the

Lemoore Chamber of Commerce.

When disaster strikes your home or busi-

ness make sure you call ServiceMaster by

Benevento. You will receive prompt, and

courteous service, no matter what the

emergency might be!

Facebook.com/ServiceMaster-by-

Benevento

Kings Lions Club donated to 3 different

organizations at the Kings Brewfest on

June 10th:

Sarah A. Mooney Museum: $2,000

Kings Co. Sheriff’s Explorers: $2,000

Lemoore Parks and Rec: $2,500

We love seeing our community members

giving back! Way to go Kings Lions Club!

Congratulations to

LuLaRoe Jessica Valenzuela on your One-

Year anniversary with LuLaRoe!

Keep on an eye out as United Health Centers

is going to launch and open a brand new

facility later this year. They will be offering

more services including: Optometry and

Dental!

Jeb’s Blueberry Hill is undergoing a name

change! They will soon be known as Country

Waffles!

Debbie Gullord and other volunteers at our 2016 Pizza Festival!


How Important Are Customer Reviews For Online Marketing?

Jayson DeMers , FORBES Magazine

If you’ve ever bought anything online, you’ve encountered a typical online review. You might have found an aggregated “star” rating for a product you wanted to buy, or a poorly-spelled review about one user’s traumatic experience with it. Though customer reviews range in thoroughness and comprehensibility, they do hold a powerful effect on the behavior of your audience—and therefore, the performance of your brand. It’s no secret that online reviews can be signifi-cant, but just how important are they to a mar-keting campaign? Can they really make or break a sale? Can the quantity or quality of the reviews you receive have that big of an impact on your company’s bottom line? Buying Decisions The number of online consumers who read and trust online reviews is increasing. According to a survey by BrightLocal, 88 percent of consum-ers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation—which is astounding, con-sidering most online reviews are posted by to-tal strangers. The same survey found that only 12 percent of the population did not regularly read reviews for consumer products. What this means is that not offering user re-views (or ignoring them as a potential market-ing opportunity) is akin to alienating 88 per-cent of your buying population, depriving them of information they want to help them make their buying decisions. On-site Ranking Benefits Enabling customer reviews on your site can have a positive effect on your company’s or-ganic search rankings in search engines. For starters, each new review written about a product on your site increases the amount of unique content your site offers on that product, meaning you’ll be seen as having higher au-thority, more relevance, and, as such, a higher chance of getting those pages ranked. If that weren’t enough, there’s actually a way to microformat the reviews on your

site so Google GOOGL +1.18% can index them directly and hold them as possible “rich an-swers” for user queries. Ostensibly, this would allow a review of your product to be featured above the fold of normal search results for que-ries specific to the product in question, giving you even more search visibility. Off-site Ranking Benefits The number of positive reviews you have on external websites might actually have a bigger impact on your rankings than the reviews on your own site. This is because Google’s local search algorithm incorporates data from a number of third-party directories and review sites, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor TRIP +4.44%. These sites tend to review entire busi-nesses, rather than specific products, but this is what’s responsible for the higher impact. Ra-ther than an aggregate review influencing a buyer’s decision regarding a single product, your business’s aggregate reviews could affect whether or not a consumer considers pursuing your brand in general. The more reviews you have on these sites, and the more positive they are, the higher chance you’ll have at ranking in Google’s local 3-pack, which is valuable regardless of whether you only operate locally or work on a national scale. Plus, some Google reviews could be in-cluded as “rich snippets” associated with your business directly. Higher Conversions Having more reviews for a product means you’ll have a higher conversion rate. This may not seem strange until you notice I said “reviews” and not just “good reviews.” That’s because the presence of bad reviews can also have a positive effect on your conversion rate. A blend of good reviews and bad reviews shows that you aren’t trying to hide anything, and makes the good reviews seem more sin-cere. Imagine finding a product with hundreds of 5-star reviews and not a bad or critical re-view in sight—you’d probably be suspicious, wouldn’t you? The more reviews you have, and the more honest they are, the more products you’re going to sell—as long as the negative reviews don’t overwhelm the positive ones.

Rising Significance It’s also worth mentioning that the importance of online reviews is rising in almost every con-ceivable area. BrightLocal surveys indicate that the importance of consumer reviews to buying decisions is increasing every year. Google’s lo-cal SEO algorithm changes only seem to in-crease the weight of consumer reviews in visi-bility and rankings. Plus, new tools and tech-nologies for consumer reviews, such as new review platforms and new mediums like video, are emerging and quickly becoming more com-mon. User reviews are here to stay, and the longer you wait to start optimizing your re-views, the more you stand to lose. The Bottom Line The simple answer to the questions I posed at the beginning of the article is yes, online re-views are tremendously important. Not only are they critically important to a vast majority of online shoppers, they’re also responsible for securing your online visibility in organic search rankings, and as they increase in im-portance and more competitors start doing more to encourage customer reviews, your in-volvement is only going to become more neces-sary. Thankfully, you don’t need any special training to encourage positive online reviews; in fact, getting things started is easy. All you’ll need to begin is a review function on your site, mi-croformatted for Google’s web crawlers (if you don’t already have one), and a claimed pres-ence on as many local review sites as possible. From there, it’s on you to encourage reviews however you can—it’s against the terms and conditions of Yelp and most other third-party directories to buy or even ask for reviews di-rectly, but you can always indirectly influence review submissions by making your presence known (and making it easy for users to review you). From there, it’s all about taking action on negative reviews and reinforcing positive ones. In a matter of months, you’ll have a wealth of reviews to work with and support your other online marketing campaigns.


California Employers Will Soon See New Workplace Regulations

Rules on transgender discrimination and crim-inal history use take effect July 1

Jun 26, 2017, Benjamin Ebbink Fisher Phillips SHRM

In recent months, the California Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC) has finalized two new sets of regulations that will both go into effect on July 1. Cali-fornia employers should pay close attention to these new rules touching on criminal history use and transgender discrimination. You may need to adjust your policies and practices for compliance in the very near future.

Criminal History Information The FEHC approved proposed regulations related to employer use of criminal history information in Janu-ary. On the one hand, the regulations reiterate various provisions of existing state law that prohibit employ-ers from using very specific criminal history infor-mation in employment decisions (such as hiring, pro-motion or termination). However, once the regulations take effect, you may not consider any nonfelony misde-meanor conviction related to marijuana possession that is more than two years old (rather than the cur-rent list of only specified misdemeanors). In addition, the regulations also add significant new language prohibiting you from using criminal history information that has an "adverse impact" on employ-ees based on protected category (such as gender, race and national origin), unless use of such information is job-related and consistent with business necessity. The regulations also set forth new standards that must be met and a complex procedural process that must be followed when considering criminal convictions in hir-ing, with most of the burden falling on employers to satisfy certain requirements of the law. Adverse Impact. The regulations largely echo federal cases and a 2012 informal guidance issued by the fed-eral Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that state that use of criminal history may have a "disparate impact" on individuals in protected classi-fications. The FEHC regulations use the term "adverse impact," but provide that this term means the same as "disparate impact" as used by the EEOC. While the applicant or employee bears the initial bur-den of proving an adverse impact, the regulations state that this may be done through the use of conviction statistics or other evidence. The regulations specifical-ly provide that state or national-level statistics that show a substantial disparity are presumed to be suffi-cient to establish an adverse impact. Given the wide-spread availability of data correlating criminal history, employment, and protected categories, it would be relatively easy to meet this burden of proof. Employers could overcome this presumption by showing there is reason to expect a markedly different result based on things like geographic area, the particular criminal conviction at issue or the particular job at issue. Employer groups that opposed the FEHC regulations objected strenuously that there is absolutely no legal authority or support to establish a presumption of ad-verse impact based on national or state statistics. Even the EEOC guidance upon which these regulations are purportedly based did not create such a presumption, instead merely stating that national statistics are only one factor among many that the EEOC will consider in deciding whether to conduct an investigation. Never-theless, California employers will soon be faced with the responsibility to comply with these regulations. Employer Rebuttal: Job-Related and Business Ne-cessity. Once the employee establishes that an adverse impact exists (which, as described above, is not a heavy lift), the burden shifts to the employer to prove that the use of the criminal history information is nonetheless justifiable because it is job-related and consistent with a business necessity. In order to do so, employers must show that the use of criminal history information is appropriately tailored, taking into ac-count the following factors: The nature and gravity of the offense or conduct. The time that has passed since the offense or conduct and/or completion of the sentence. The nature of the job held or sought. In order for an employer to demonstrate that a policy

or practice of considering conviction history is appro-priately tailored for the job for which it is used as an evaluation factor, the regulations require employers to either: Show that any "bright-line" conviction disqualification policy can properly distinguish candidates who do and do not pose an unacceptable level of risk and that the convictions have a direct and specific negative bearing on the person's ability to perform the duties of the po-sition; or Conduct an individualized assessment of the applicant or employee, including providing notice that the per-son has been screened out because of a criminal con-viction. The individual must be provided a reasonable opportunity to demonstrate that the exclusion should not apply in that specific case. The employer, in turn, must consider whether this additional information warrants an exception to the exclusion. Moreover, the regulations provide that a "bright-line" policy that takes into account convictions that are sev-en or more years old creates a rebuttable presumption that such a policy is not sufficiently tailored to be job-related and consistent with business necessity. In ad-dition, the regulations state that regardless of whether the employer has a "bright-line" policy or completes an individual assessment, if the employer obtains the criminal history information from a source other than the applicant, the employer must give the person no-tice of the disqualifying conviction and a reasonable opportunity to present evidence that the information is factually inaccurate. If the individual does so, that information cannot be considered in the employment decision. The Employee's Last Bite at The Apple: Less Discrimi-natory Alternative. Even after the employer does all of that, the employee still gets one final shot at proving a violation of the law. The regulations provide that, even if an employer shows that the use of conviction infor-mation is job-related and consistent with business ne-cessity, the employee can still establish a violation of law by demonstrating that there is a less discriminato-ry alternative that serves the employer's goals. This could include a more narrowly targeted list of convic-tions or another form of inquiry that evaluates job qualifications or risk as accurately without significant-ly increasing the cost or burden on the employer. All of this adds up to a complicated series of obliga-tions and procedures you must soon follow when con-sidering criminal convictions in the hiring process for which any misstep can give rise to litigation. A Big Year For the "Ban-the-Box" Movement. This likely will not be the end of legislative or regulatory involvement in the use of criminal history information by employers. Many state and local governments (including San Francisco and Los Angeles) have adopt-ed "ban-the-box" measures that require private em-ployers to remove questions or "boxes" about criminal history from job applications and reserve those inquir-ies for later in the decision-making process. Therefore, you should always be mindful of local ordi-nances with which you must comply, in addition to state statute or regulations. Under legislation enacted in 2014 (A.B. 218), state or local agency employers are already subject to such "ban-the-box" restrictions. Labor Code section 432.9 prohibits these public employers from asking about conviction history until the employer has determined that the applicant meets the minimum employment qualifications as stated in the notice for position. And there is pending legislation in Sacramento—A.B. 1008—that seeks to impose a version of the Los Ange-les ban-the-box ordinance on all private and public employers throughout the State of California. It would prohibit inquiries into criminal history until after a conditional offer of employment has been made. A.B. 1008 has already passed the state Assembly and is now pending in the Senate.

New Transgender Regulations Several weeks ago the Office of Administrative Law also approved regulations related to transgender iden-tity and expression promulgated by the FEHC, which also go into effect on July 1. As formal regulations, these rules represent a more formal follow-up to guidance on transgender employees' rights (Transgender Rights in the Workplace) issued by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing last year.

These regulations represent the latest effort in a move-ment to expand the scope and applicability of Califor-nia's employment discrimination statute, the Fair Em-ployment and Housing Act (FEHA). In 1999, the California Legislature amended FEHA to prohibit discrimination in employment and housing on the basis of "sexual orientation." Four years later, the definition of "sex" in FEHA was expanded to include discrimination on the basis of a person's gender identi-ty or gender-related appearance and behavior. The Legislature further amended FEHA in 2011 to ex-pressly enumerate "gender identity" and "gender ex-pression" as protected classes. You should be aware of the following major provisions of the new regulations. Expanded and New Definitions. The regulations broaden the existing definitions of the terms "gender expression" and "gender identity," most notably to in-clude the "perception" of an individual's gender ex-pression or gender identity. In addition, the regulations add a new definition of "transitioning" to mean a process some transgender people go through to begin living as the gender with which they identify, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. This process may include, but is not lim-ited to, changes in name and pronoun usage; facility usage; participation in employer-sponsored activities (e.g. sports teams, team-building projects or volun-teering); or undergoing hormone therapy, surgeries or other medical procedures. Use of Preferred Gender Name. The regulations pro-vide that, if an employee requests to be identified with a preferred gender, name, or pronoun (including gen-der-neutral pronouns), an employer who fails to abide by the employee's stated preference may be liable un-der FEHA. Moreover, the new regulations state that you are permitted to use an employee's assigned sex at birth or legal name as indicated in a government-issued identification only as necessary to meet a legal-ly-mandated obligation, but otherwise must identify the employee in accordance with their gender identity and preferred name. Grooming and Dress Standards. The new regulations prohibit you from imposing any grooming or dress standards which are inconsistent with an individual's gender identity or gender expression, unless you can establish a business necessity. Use of Facilities. The new regulations require you to permit employees to use facilities (such as restrooms, locker rooms, and similar facilities) that correspond to the employee's gender identity or gender expression, regardless of the employee's assigned sex at birth. The regulations also provide that employees shall not be required to undergo, or provide proof of, any medical treatment or procedure, or provide any identity docu-ment, to use facilities designated for use by a particu-lar gender. In addition, the regulations require those employers with single-occupancy facilities to use gen-der-neutral signage for those facilities, such as "Restroom," "Unisex," "Gender Neutral" or "All Gender Restroom." Unlawful Inquiries. The new regulations make it un-lawful for you to inquire about or require documenta-tion or proof of an individual's sex, gender, gender identity, or gender expression as a condition of em-ployment. Moreover, inquiries that directly or indirect-ly identify an individual on the basis of sex, including gender, gender identity, or gender expression, are gen-erally unlawful. However, you may ask an applicant to provide such information solely on a voluntary basis for specified recordkeeping purposes only as author-ized under existing law. In addition, the regulations provide that nothing pre-cludes you from communicating about these issues with your employee when the employee initiates com-munication regarding working conditions. Discrimination Against "Transitioning" Employees. The regulations prohibit you from dis-criminating against an individual who is transitioning, has transitioned, or is perceived to be transitioning. As discussed above, "transitioning" is defined in the regu-lations as a process some transgender people go through to begin living as the gender with which they identify, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth, and may include things like changes in name and pro-noun usage, facility usage, undergoing hormone thera-py, surgeries, or other medical procedures.


New Leave Mandate Passes Assem-bly Policy Committee

CALChamber Jun 22, 2017

A job killer bill that mandates a new protected leave of absence passed the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee yesterday. SB 63 (Jackson; D-Santa Barbara) prohibits an employer from refusing to allow an employee with more than 12 months of service with the employer, who has at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, and who works at a worksite in which the employer employs at least 20 employees within 75 miles, to take up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The bill also prohibits an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes this leave. CalChamber has identified SB 63 as a job killer because the legislation targets and could signifi-cantly harm small employers in California with as few as 20 employees by adding to the existing burden under which they already struggle. Gov-ernor Edmund G. Brown Jr. vetoed a similar, but narrower, proposal just last year. The bill now moves to the Assembly Judiciary Committee; no hearing date is currently set. Overwhelms Small Employers SB 63 targets small employers with as few as 20 employees within a 75-mile radius and requires those employers to provide 12 weeks of leave, in addition to the other leaves of absence California already imposes. This mandate will overwhelm small employers as follows: SB 63 Creates a Combined Seven-Month Pro-tected Leave of Absence on Small Employers. California already requires employers with five or more employees to provide up to four months of protected leave for an employee who suffers a

medical disability because of pregnancy. SB 63 will add another 12 weeks of leave for the same employee, totaling seven months of potential protected leave. Such an extensive period of time is unreasonable to accommodate for a small em-ployer with a limited workforce. SB 63 Could Affect Worksites that Have Sub-stantially Fewer than 20 Employees. SB 63 is applicable to any employer that has 20 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. Employees at multiple worksites are aggregated together to reach the employee threshold under this pro-posal. Accordingly, a worksite that only has five employees will be required to accommodate this mandatory leave if there are other worksites in a 75-mile radius that have enough employees to reach the 20 employee threshold. The worksite of the employee who takes the leave is the loca-tion that will feel the impact of the protected leave. Exposing employers with a limited number of employees at a worksite to this extensive man-datory leave will create a hardship. SB 63 Imposes a Mandatory Leave, with No Dis-cretion to the Employer. As a “protected leave,” with a threat of litigation to enforce it, SB 63 mandates the small employer to provide 12 weeks of leave. The leave under SB 63 must be given at the employee’s request, regardless of whether the employer has other employees out on other California required leaves. This man-date on such a small employer with a limited workforce creates a significant challenge for the employer’s ability to maintain operations. SB 63 Imposes Additional Costs on Small Em-ployers that Are Struggling with the Increased Minimum Wage. Even though the leave under SB 63 is not “paid” by the employer, that does not mean the small employer will not suffer added costs. While the employee is on leave, the em-ployer will have to: (1) maintain medical benefits while the employee is on leave; (2) pay for a tem-

porary employee to cover for the employee on leave, usually at a higher premium; or (3) pay overtime to other employees to cover the work of the employee on leave. The cost of overtime is higher given the increase of the minimum wage, which will add to the overall cost on small em-ployers. SB 63 Exposes Small Employers to Costly Liti-gation. labels an employer’s failure to provide the 12-week leave of absence as an “unlawful employment practice.” This label is significant as it exposes an employer to costly litigation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). An employee who believes the employer did not provide the 12 weeks of protected leave, failed to return the employee to the same or comparable position, failed to maintain benefits while the employee was out on the 12 weeks of leave, or took any adverse employment action against the employee for taking the leave, could pursue a claim against the employer seeking compensato-ry damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. California Already Imposes Numerous Family-Friendly Leaves of Absence on Employers California is already recognized by the National Conference of State Legislatures as one of the most family-friendly states given its list of pro-grams and protected leaves of absence, including paid sick days, school activities leave, kin care, paid family leave program, pregnancy disability leave, and the California Family Rights Act. This list is in addition to the leaves of absence required at the federal level. In a recent study titled “The Status of Women in the States: 2015 Work & Family,” California was ranked No. 2 for work and family policies that support workers keeping their jobs and also caring for their family members. Imposing an additional 12-week, man-datory leave of absence targeted specially at small employers is unduly burdensome.

Marketing is available to all members of

the chamber as part of your membership.

If you need assistance or ideas on how to

promote your business, give the chamber

a call: 559-924-6401


Joe Wright Veterans Services

VETERANS CORNER

Reduced-fee

Hunting/Fishing Licenses

R educed-fee licenses are available for any hon-

orably discharged veteran of the US Armed Forces with a service–connected disability

rating of 50% or greater. To prequalify to pur-chase a disabled veteran license, submit a letter from the Veteran’s Administration document-ing that you were honorably discharged from the US military and have a service–connected disability rating of 50% or greater. After your eligibility has been verified, your customer rec-ord will be updated. Once you receive notifica-tion from the Department that your customer record has been updated, you will be able to purchase a low cost disabled veteran sport fishing license and/or hunting license any-where licenses are sold. Reduced-fee hunting licenses are also available for recovering service members. The Fish and Game Code defines a recovering service mem-ber as a member of the Armed Forces, includ-ing a member of the National Guard or a Re-serve, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy and is in an outpatient status while recovering from a serious injury or illness related to the member’s military ser-vice. Submit a letter from your commanding officer or from a military medical doctor verify-ing your eligibility as a recovering service member. Please have your commanding officer or military medical doctor include the expected recovery date in your verification letter. The Department will enter this date into your cus-tomer profile and allow you to renew your li-cense until this date without submitting anoth-er letter from your commanding officer or doc-tor. For more information on this or any of the many other veterans benefits, for which you may be eligible, please contact our office. The Kings County Veterans Service Office can complete the DMV Veteran Status Verification Form for the new California Veteran Designa-

tion on your driver’s license and also issues Veteran I.D. cards to honorably discharged vet-erans. Contact Scott Holwell if you would like to receive periodic veteran’s information by email. There are many state and federal bene-fits and programs available to veterans and their dependents. To determine if you are eli-gible for any of these benefits, call or visit our office. We can and will assist you in completing all required application forms. You can get in-formation on the Web from the Kings County Veterans Service Office webpage at www.countyofkings.com/vets.

Veterans Outreach

I n an effort to assist veterans and their de-pendents in receiving state and federal vet-

erans benefits that they may be eligible for, our office will make home visits. These home visits are designed for those that cannot travel to our office. We can assist with the appropriate pa-perwork and file a claim for benefits. We also work with family members who are trying to assist a veteran or dependent in obtaining ben-efits. We can also assist with transportation arrangements to the Veterans Administration hospital in Fresno. We coordinate with KART, who provides transportation to and from the hospital once a day. Our office also does speaking engagements. We can come to your facility and speak about both state and federal veteran’s benefits. We will speak to community service organizations, NAS Lemoore commands, groups of veterans, or any group that has an interest in veteran’s benefits. Our talks normally last about 30 minutes but can be tailored to fit your needs. We can also be available to answer questions about specific veteran’s issues. To inquire about a home visit, or to setup a speaking en-gagement, please contact our office.

Scott Holwell, retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer, is the Deputy Veterans Service Officer for Kings County. Send your questions to the Veterans Service Office, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd, Hanford, CA 93230; call (559) 852-2669; or e-mail : [email protected]

Mental Care Update

Update: Mental healthcare for OTH vets In my Veterans Corner article of March 2017, I reported the Secretary of Veter-ans Affairs announced his intention to ex-pand provisions for urgent mental health care needs to former service members with other-than-honorable (OTH) adminis-trative discharges. On June 27, 2017 De-partment of Veterans Affairs (VA) re-leased finalized plans that lay the frame-work for providing the aforementioned care. This is the first time a VA Secretary has implemented an initiative specifically fo-cused on this group of former service members who are in mental health dis-tress. “Suicide prevention is my top clinical pri-ority,” said Secretary Shulkin, also a phy-sician. “We want these former service members to know there is someplace they can turn if they are facing a mental health emergency — whether it means urgent care at a VA emergen-cy department, a Vet Center or through the Veterans Crisis Line.” Effective July 5, all Veterans Health Ad-ministration (VHA) medical centers, such as the one located in Fresno, CA, will be prepared to offer emergency stabilization care for former service members who present at the facility with an emergent mental health need. Under this initiative, former service members with an OTH ad-ministrative discharge may receive care for their mental health emergency for an initial period of up to 90 days, which can include inpatient, residential or outpatient care. During this time, VHA and the Veterans Benefits Administration will work together to determine if the mental health condition is a result of a service-related injury, mak-ing the service member eligible for ongo-ing coverage for that condition.

The Kings County Veterans Service Of-fice can complete the DMV Veteran Sta-tus Verification Form for the new Califor-nia Veteran Designation on your driver’s license and also issues Veteran I.D. cards to honorably discharged veterans. Contact Scott Holwell if you would like to receive periodic veteran’s information by email. There are many state and federal benefits and programs available to veter-ans and their dependents. To determine if you are eligible for any of these bene-fits, call or visit our office. We can and will assist you in completing all required application forms. You can get infor-mation on the Web from the Kings County Veterans Service Office webpage at www.countyofkings.com/vets. Scott Holwell, retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer, is the Veterans Service Of-ficer for Kings County. Send your ques-tions to the Veterans Service Office, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd, Hanford, CA 93230; call (559)852-2669; or e-mail [email protected].

Agenda Items for August City Council

CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS

CANCELLED July 4th

July 18th

August 1st


SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1

Community Swap

Meet

7am City Park

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Lemoore Lions Mtg 7pm @ Lemoore Vets

Mem. Bldg.

Chamber Office Closed

INDEPENDENCE DAY

CANCELLED City Council Mtg

BINGO

6 pm@ Senior Center

Kings Lions Mtg 6:30pm@ Lemoore

Civic Auditorium

Senior Center Lunch

w/ Bingo 11:30am-1pm

Vets/Seniors

Breakfast 7:30-9am VetsMemBldg

ROCKIN’ THE ARBOR CANCELLED

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Mooney Museum Open Noon – 3:00 p.m.


Mem. Bldg.

Planning Commission Mtg 7pm @ City Hall

Senior Center Lunch


Lemoore Rotary Mtg

Noon-1pm @ Skye Lemoore

BINGO

6 pm@ Senior Center


Civic Auditorium

Senior Ctr. Lunch


Vets/Seniors

BreakFast 7:30-9am VetsMemBldg ROCKIN’ THE ARBOR

6-10:30pm Arbor on E Street

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Mooney Museum Open Noon – 3:00 p.m

Senior Center Lunch


Lemoore Rotary Mtg


Lunch & Learn - Noon

CANCELLED City Council Mtg

BINGO

6 pm@ Senior Center

Kiwanis Club Mtg 6pm @ Train Depot

Senior Ctr. Lunch


Vets/Seniors Breakfast

7:30-9amVetsMem Bldg

ROCKIN’ THE ARBOR 6-10:30pm

Arbor on E Street

23/30 24/31 25 26 27 28 29

Mooney Museum Open Noon – 3:00 p.m.


Mem. Bldg.

Lemoore Rotary Mtg


Senior Center Lunch


Chamber Board Mtg 4pm @ Train Depot

BINGO

6 pm@ Senior Center


Civic Auditorium

Senior Ctr. Lunch


Community Breakfast

8:30am Tachi Palace Bingo Hall

God’s BreadBox

Packing 2pm @ Christ Church

Vets/Seniors

Breakfast 7:30-9amVetsMem Bldg

God’s Bread Box

Distribution 9-11am @ Christ Church

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE LEMOORE …...July 2017 300 E Street, Lemoore, CA 93245 (559) 924-6401...

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Transcript of OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE LEMOORE …...July 2017 300 E Street, Lemoore, CA 93245 (559) 924-6401...