Stories from July, 2026
Stories from July, 2026
The Farmersville Transit Center is now the home of the Farmersville Senior Center & Community Resource Hub. A ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 22 celebrated the repurposing of the city's 1,400 square-foot transit center at 550 W. Front St. to serve Farmersville seniors. The facility also includes a 2,000-square-foot covered outdoor seating area. For years, the Farmersville Senior Center has been sharing space with other community groups at the Farmersville Community Center on...
During an investigation of a fraudulent call center in India, Special Agent Ron Miller identified a potential American victim in her 70s likely being scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars. Miller, who is assigned to the Washington Field Office, uncovered the victim's identity as part of an investigation that included monitoring shipments of bulk cash linked to the Indian-based call center targeting U.S. citizens. Time was of the essence, so Miller quickly tried to...
Construction has begun on Gardenia Courtyards Senior Apartments, a housing project in Farmersville. The apartments, for those 62 and older, will be located at North Farmersville Road and East Kristen Street, and include 42 units. Thirty-four of the units have one bedroom, eight have two. The gated community will include a park, a dog park, a bocce ball area, and a covered picnic area. Rents are structured to accommodate individuals with incomes between 30% and 60% of the...
Sierra Hills Senior Living in Porterville unveiled its newly renovated facilities on June 16 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony conducted by the Porterville Chamber of Commerce. The $180,000 renovation improves both the individual living spaces and the shared common areas across the community's 121 apartment homes and cottages. Pictured above is its new dining room and below is its new game...
June was World Elder Abuse Awareness Month and observances were held in both Tulare and Kings Counties. To remember seniors who reported some form of abuse in 2025, Tulare County HHSA and county officials planted purple flags on the lawn at Tulare County Government Plaza in Visalia. On June 2, both the Tulare and Kings County Board of Supervisors adopted resolutions proclaiming June 2026 as Elder Abuse Awareness Month in their respective counties. On June 12 in Armona and...
Adventist Health Tulare is expanding access to advanced heart care with the launch of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty. This minimally invasive, lifesaving procedure, which treats blocked or narrowed arteries, will allow community members to receive timely treatment close to home without needing to leave the city or undergo open-heart surgery. PCI is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat coronary artery disease, which is a...
Stressful caring responsibilities reduce brain function for people aged 50 and over, whereas light caring duties can actually be beneficial to middle-aged and older people's mental abilities, a new University College London (UCL) study finds. For the study, published in Age and Ageing, researchers used 2004-05 to 2021-23 data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a long-running, UCL-led nationally representative survey that gathers a wide range of information...
For many of us, Social Security will be a significant source of income in retirement. In fact, the Social Security Administration (SSA) reports that Social Security benefits are about 30% of income for people over age 65. According to the 2026 fact sheet, the average monthly Social Security check for retired workers is $2,071. But did you know there’s an important step you need to take before you reach retirement age? Money expert Clark Howard has one secret to share that...
The National Council on Aging (NCOA), a national organization dedicated to the right to age well, has updated its interactive Benefits Participation Map that shows more than 9 million older adults are missing out on $58 billion in benefit programs that can help them pay for food, medicine and other daily costs. (The map can be found at www.ncoa.org by clicking on "Press Room," then "NCOA News" and scrolling to the press release.) Developed with the Urban Institute, the map...
The idea made so much sense to Jasper Harrell, a wealthy Visalia businessman, and his small group of investors that they moved forward with starting a small commuter railroad line that ran between the neighboring towns of Visalia and Tulare. Residents of the towns interacted a lot, so the train seemed to be perfect. This short line was called the Visalia & Tulare Railroad (V&TRR). The V&TRR incorporated as a company on October 1, 1887, and held the inaugural dedication event...
The Granny Basketball League exhibition game in Visalia led to a May 16th meeting to start a league team in Visalia. The April 10th game, which featured members of two league teams, the California Poppies and the Oakdale Broncos, was arranged by Barb Trammell, founder of the 800-player league with teams representing 57 cities in 11 states and one Canadian province. A few local women watching the game found themselves on the court, playing their first basketball game under...
Regularly taking part in arts activities such as reading, listening to music or visiting a gallery or museum may slow the pace of biological aging, suggests a new study by University College London (UCL) L researchers. The study,published in the journal Innovation in Ageing, looked at survey response and blood test data from 3,556 adults in the UK. Researchers compared participants' arts and cultural engagement with chemical changes to DNA that influence biological ageing...
There is a particular loneliness that does not show up in the studies. It is not the loneliness of being alone. It is not the loneliness of the empty house, the unanswered phone, the chair across the table that nobody sits in anymore. Those lonelinesses are real, and they are written about, and there is a small industry of advice around them. The loneliness I mean is quieter, and harder to name. It is the loneliness of having changed faster than the people who knew you. I am...
Due to the summer heat, July and August can be a light work month in the garden. Continue to repair water leaks and keep up with warm season weeds. July and August are also perfect for the following tasks: Planting This is the time to plan for planting seeds for cool season vegetables such as Asian greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, leek, lettuce, pea, spinach and Swiss chard. You can also direct-seed another crop of beans. You can plant some ornamentals, but it will be...
Question: I would like to stay in my home as long as I can, but my children do not feel confident about that decision. What can I do to make my home a safer environment? Many older adults want to age in place at home, and there are tools available to help. Simple fall prevention home adjustments and supportive devices can help reduce risk and increase comfort. According to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury for adults ages 65 years and older. Over 14 million, or one in four...
The Rawhide Rustler classic competition, the "Belle of the Ballpark," took place on June 10 and, while the weather was warmer than usual, the participants enjoyed their activities as much as ever. The Belle of the Ballpark this year was sponsored by American Quality Life Hospice and Lux Dermatology. This year, the Belle of the Ballpark participants participated in "Cheek Pinching," a "Strut Your Stuff" contest (a walk through the Kaweah Health Grandstands at Valley Strong...
"The Oldest Person in the World" is a decade-long odyssey chronicling the ever-changing record holders of the title of oldest person alive. As the title inevitably passes from one supercentenarian to the next, acclaimed filmmaker Sam Green traverses the globe to meet each new record holder, his personal fascination with what the title means becoming entangled with events and milestones in his own life. What begins as a portrait of longevity becomes a poignant meditation on...
In "Winter Hymns," a film currently making its way through the festival circuit, Dr. Linda Vobernik (Colleen Madden) meets a series of patients and families in a single hospital room on a cold, gray winter day. All of them are dealing with the end of life. One is a farmer who refuses to accept that his body is failing him. Another, an English teacher, is concerned about her students' futures, while a young electrical line worker is dealing with how cancer has stolen his own...
If you close your eyes and imagine someone playing video games, a specific picture may enter your mind, but most video game players are probably not who you think, according to the 2026 report from The Entertainment Software Association. The report finds that playing video games is more popular than ever. More than two-thirds of Americans (67%) play at least one hour each week. The number of Americans who play video games every week totals 212.3 million, up 3% from last year....
When I was growing up in the late nineteen hundreds, there was a saying: If they don’t know who you are, then they don’t know what you’ve done. But now, in modern times, the saying should be: If they don’t know who you are, then they don’t know what benefits you’re eligible for. This brings us to this topic: Identification Cards. We get a lot of questions about the different types of IDs, and hopefully, this will answer some of the most frequently asked questions...
