Charles Whisnand, Porterville Recorder Journalist Profile

Articles

What's Happening: PLJ ribbon cutting Friday

2 days ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

FRIDAY, JUNE 6CITY POOL – The Murry Park City Pool will be open to the public from 3 to 5 p.m. and 5:15 to 7:15 today, 1 to 3 p.m. and 3:15 to 5:15 Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8 and from 12:45 to 2:45 p.m., 3 to 5 and 6:15 to 8:15 June 9-12.
Council puts more 'teeth' into homeless encampment policy

2 days ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

The Porterville City Council approved revisions to the city's encampment policy that mayor Greg Meister has said adds “teeth” to the ordinance. The ordinance was passed by last year's council to deal with homeless encampments in the community. By a 5-0 vote the council voted for a draft resolution providing for the revisions to the ordinace with Meister, vice mayor Ed McKervey and councilmen Stan Green, A.J. Rivas and Raymond Beltran all voting in favor.
Figueroa-Jones Memorial Tree vandalized; flowers temporary replacement

2 days ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

The Porterville Fire Department has rallied around their fallen comrades to make sure they continue to be remembered properly after a recent act of vandalism. At the end of Tuesday's Porterville City Council meeting mayor Greg Meister talked about the Memorial Tree in honor of Porterville Fire Captain Raymond Figueroa that was next to the fire hydrant at fire station 71 on Cleveland that was recently vandalized.
Say It Ain't So: Porter Theater being torn down

3 days ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

Tuesday, June 3, 2025, will forever be remembered in Porterville as The Day The Movies Died. The iconic Porter Theater will be no more. The theater at Mill and Second was being torn down on Tuesday. City of Porterville Assistant City Manager Michael Knight said a fire at the theater in February was the reason why the theater had to be demolished. A homeless person who had to be rescued from the structure as a result of the fire was accused of starting the fire and was arrested.
Meister writes letter denouncing transathlete competing

4 days ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

Porterville mayor Greg Meister has written a letter denouncing the participation of a transathlete at this past weekend's CIF State Track Championships. Meister addressed his letter to Clovis Vice Mayor Diane Pearce, who was among those who brought the transathlete being able to compete at the state meet to the forefront. The state meet was held at Buchanan in Clovis.
Mission Skyhawk: Fighter Jet delivered to Porterville

1 week ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

Mission Skyhawk is almost accomplished. Actually it's the Porterville Memorial District's Skyhawk project in which 11 months of effort came to fruition on Friday with the delivery of a Vietnam War era fighter jet. As part of the effort to spruce up the Memorial Garden adjacent to the Porterville Veterans Memorial Building, a Douglas A-4L Skyhawk fighter will be displayed at the garden in perpetuity.
Tulare County considered sanctuary jurisdiction

1 week ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

While Tulare County can be considered Trump country it's also considered a Sanctuary Jurisdiction by the Trump Administration. Tulare County was one of more than 500 jurisdictions that was put on noticed by the Trump administration as Sanctuary Jurisdictions late Friday afternoon. While Tulare County has always supported President Trump as a presidential candidate there's no denying the county also depends heavily on undocumented farmworkers.
Council set to move ahead with Main Street reconstruction

1 week ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

y Council is set to approve the next phase of the Main Street Reconstruction Project at its next meeting. The matter is a consent calendar item on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting which will begin at 6:30 p.m.The city is set to move ahead with Phase 2B of the project which includes Main between Olive and Garden Avenue. The project will consist of the removal and replacement of existing asphalt.
Council to review homeless encampment policy

1 week ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

The Porterville City Council will look at revising its ordinance governing how the city deals with homeless encampments at its next meeting. The council will also look at a “reunification” policy modeled after programs adopted by other cities to help the homeless. The council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The matter is a scheduled item on Tuesday's agenda. The council approved the ordinance to deal with homeless encampments last year.
City continues process of tackling budget

1 week ago | recorderonline.com | Charles Whisnand

This is the time of year in which the Porterville City Council considers the city's operating budget for the next fiscal year. And for the third time in six years the city of Porterville will have to adopt a provisional, interim budget to keep the city's operations going before it can adopt a final budget for the upcoming fiscal year. At its May 20 meeting the council unanimously approved this approach as it approved revising the timeline for approving the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.