Porterville News

A helicopter hovers above a home as it prepares to dip water from the nearby Merced River in El Portal, Calif., on Monday, July 28, 2014.

The Porterville-based parent company of Bank of the Sierra said July 17 that it is purchasing Santa Paula-based Santa Clara Valley Bank in an all-cash deal that includes three branches and $105 million in deposits.

All cowboys, cowgirls and all of their friends from Madera, Chowchilla and Porterville are urged to participate in the National Day of the Cowboy Blood Drive.

Forty-one-year-old Tonya Huff died over the weekend from burns she suffered in the February fire in Porterville.

Two Porterville were sentenced to life in prison for the 2008 murder of Samuel Guzman, 20, also of Porterville.

Sierra Bancorp, the Porterville-based parent company of Bank of the Sierra, reported a profit of $4.2 million, or 30 cents per share, for the second quarter of the year.

It's believed to be the first jail to break ground under phase two of AB900, the jail construction law of 2007.

The largest banking company based in the central San Joaquin Valley is about to grow bigger with the purchase of a Southern California bank.

Zachary Janoko, 27, was arrested Tuesday after a two-week investigation by the Tulare County Sheriff's Department, the Tule River Fire Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

As of today, July 15, 2014, the N ational Weather Service has issued warnings for heavy rain at times in the Stanislaus National Forest, and the Stanislaus National Forest website has reported lightning caused fires are occurring due to the thunderstorms which have been rolling across the area.

A 32-year-old Porterville man shot himself in the head just after midnight Sunday when the gun he was handling discharged, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said.

The crash happened at Westfield Avenue and Westwood Street about 5:15 a.m. when 20-year-old Juan Ahumada ran a stop sign as he headed north.

Anne Magana, manager of the Consolidated Waste Management Authority in Tulare County, demonstrates how to use a medical sharps disposal kiosk on Wednesday, July 2, 2014.

The retired barber washed his tractor every night and parked it in the garage, a source of gentle amusement to the veteran growers around him.

Fireworks displays, like this one at the Freedom Festival in Porterville, Calif., are beautiful but the sound is terrifying for pets.