After more than three decades, each, in education, sisters Diana Gonzalez and Cece Foley Gallegos retired from Madera Unified School District, leaving behind a legacy of service, compassion, and dedication that has shaped the lives of thousands of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Gonzalez, her journey began 34 years ago when she was hired by Don Knox at John Adams Elementary School. Foley Gallegos followed closely behind, beginning her teaching career 33 years ago after being hired by Art Davis \u2014 also at John Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout the years, both sisters became deeply rooted in the MUSD community, dedicating their professional lives to helping students learn, grow, and succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although much of their careers were spent at John Adams Elementary, their impact extended across the district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to teaching at John Adams, the sisters also worked with students at Sierra Vista, Washington, Millview, Howard, Dixieland, and in MUSD summer programs \u2014 touching countless young lives along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Known for their commitment to education and their care for students, Gonzalez and Gallegos have been more than teachers. They have served as mentors, role models, and steady sources of encouragement for generations of families in Madera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Education and service run deep in their family. Diana and Cece are the daughters of Philip and Carmen Gallegos, who each dedicated 40 years of service to MUSD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recognition of their extraordinary contributions, Philip and Carmen Gallegos were honored with the Student Champion Hall of Fame Award in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they enter retirement, Gonzalez and Gallegos look forward to a new season of life centered on family, travel, and community involvement. They plan to spend more time caring for their grandchildren, exploring new places, and continuing to give back to the community they have long served. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gallegos is also mayor of the City of Madera and is bringing back the Graffiti\/Litter Program in MUSD this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their retirement marks the end of an era for MUSD, but their influence will continue to be felt in the many students, families, and colleagues whose lives they have touched throughout the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuing this era will be Samatha Mascorro, Edgar Mascorro, PJ Gallegos, Kate Gallegos, Sunny Chimienti, Audrey Igler and Trisha Molina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diana Gonzalez and Cece Foley Gallegos leave the classroom with the gratitude and admiration of a community made stronger by their service.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After more than three decades, each, in education, sisters Diana Gonzalez and Cece Foley Gallegos retired from Madera Unified School District, leaving behind a legacy of service, compassion, and dedication that has shaped the lives of thousands of students. For Gonzalez, her journey began 34 years ago when she was hired by Don Knox at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":48935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,19],"tags":[46,50],"class_list":["post-48962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-news","tag-organizations","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48963,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48962\/revisions\/48963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":48960,"date":"2026-08-01T07:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=48960"},"modified":"2026-07-31T18:25:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T01:25:45","slug":"california-blood-center-urging-blood-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/california-blood-center-urging-blood-donations\/","title":{"rendered":"Centro de Sangre de California insta a donaciones de sangre"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Central California Blood Center is joining the U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s recent nationwide appeal, urging both returning and first-time donors to make blood donation a priority in the coming days and weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blood centers across the country are facing critically low inventories following weeks of declining donations, putting the nation\u2019s blood supply at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seasonal decline in donations during the summer months \u2014 driven by vacations, travel, and fewer school and community blood drives \u2014 has contributed to a nationwide shortage at a time when hospitals continue to depend on a stable blood supply to care for patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every blood donation helps ensure hospitals are prepared for emergencies, surgeries, cancer treatments, premature infants, and other lifesaving medical needs. Without an immediate increase in donations, hospitals could face difficult decisions, including delaying non-emergency procedures due to limited blood availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All blood types are needed every day for trauma patients, surgeries, cancer treatments, emergency care, and babies in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Immediate donations are needed to help ensure local hospitals have lifesaving blood available for every patient who needs it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supplies of O-negative, A-negative, AB-negative blood and AB plasma have dropped to less than a one-day inventory. O-negative is the universal blood type used in trauma situations when there isn\u2019t time to determine a patient\u2019s blood type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eligible donors are encouraged to make an appointment to donate as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Appointments, locations, and hours are available at donateblood.org or by calling 559-389-5433.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donor thank-you offers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Donate by September 7 and receive a free pint of Umpqua Ice Cream and a Brownie Baker cookie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Receive a voucher for free admission to any APCAL Rock\u2019n Ranch event in Madera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Be entered for a chance to win tickets to Fresno Grizzlies games and other summer events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBlood centers across the country are experiencing a significant summer shortage, and our region is feeling that impact as well,\u201d said Christine Hayes, President and CEO of Central California Blood Center. \u201cWe encourage both returning and first-time donors to make blood donation a priority in the coming days. Just one donation has the potential to save multiple lives and helps ensure hospitals throughout the Central Valley have the blood products they need to provide lifesaving care.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Central California Blood Center is joining the U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s recent nationwide appeal, urging both returning and first-time donors to make blood donation a priority in the coming days and weeks. Blood centers across the country are facing critically low inventories following weeks of declining donations, putting the nation\u2019s blood supply at risk. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[29,40],"class_list":["post-48960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-community","tag-health"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48961,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48960\/revisions\/48961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":48958,"date":"2026-08-01T07:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=48958"},"modified":"2026-07-31T18:21:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T01:21:54","slug":"bitter-ends-30-years-in-athletics-at-musd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/bitter-ends-30-years-in-athletics-at-musd\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitter ends 30 years in athletics at MUSD"},"content":{"rendered":"
After a 30-year career in education that took him from a coach to a physical education teacher to an athletic director, and finally an athletics director of Madera Unified School District, Marty Bitter has retired. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bitter made his last drive up the 99 to his office at the end of June, but won\u2019t necessarily be out of work. After retiring, Bitter will now step into the Central Section realm to become the Assistant Commissioner of the CIF Central Section. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMadera Unified is the only place I\u2019ve been,\u201d Bitter said. \u201cI was at a Torres football game, and talking to some of the leadership. I told them that they thought I was the dumb jock. I told them I spent my whole career in education and athletics. I dealt with athletics. I never had to deal with curriculum, kids who didn\u2019t behave. I didn\u2019t have to know all of the education codes. Who\u2019s the smart guy now? That is so rare to go through your entire life in athletics. I love it. To have that impact is so great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bitter began his 32-year coaching career in Kerman, where he grew up, after he played basketball for Kings River Community College (now Reedley College). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He began with freshman boys basketball, and by the second day of practice, he was reinvigorated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe second day in the gym, I re-enrolled in the university and said this was my career path,\u201d he said. \u201cThis changed my trajectory. Multiple times a week, I still talk to players on that first team through texts. To get through this career path, and have the opportunity to have an impact in kids\u2019 lives, is great. You get into education, you might never make a million dollars, but the price to have an impact on a kid\u2019s life is priceless. I went from coaching where you have an intimate relationship with kids, to teaching to becoming an athletic director where I could oversee a school to overseeing a district. Now, I get to do the section. I am a little removed from those close relationships, but I still have an influence on a greater group. I couldn\u2019t ever imagine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we all have a story. I was a brash coach, and kind of cocky. I wanted to take it as far as I could. The boys basketball head job came open, and I put my name in, and I didn\u2019t get it. That kind of kept my trajectory to Madera. The rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he was denied the Kerman boys basketball varsity coaching job, Bitter became a coach under Brian Tessler. Under Tessler\u2019s leadership were future MUSD administrators Bitter, Shandon Schwartz and Todd Lile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bitter began his teaching career in 1996 at Thomas Jefferson Middle School as a physical education teacher. He then became the school\u2019s athletic director. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had the time of my life at Thomas Jefferson. It might have been the best time I had,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After eight years, Bitter moved to the MUSD District Office, where he spent two grueling years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t like the work in the District Office,\u201d Bitter said. \u201cAt the time, my principal, Jerry Staman, started in the District Office. He told me to work at the DO, and finish off the health grant. Then, we\u2019ll move you into an athletic director office. At the same time, they told Randy Blankenship he could be the MHS football coach or the athletic director, but he couldn\u2019t do both. He chose football coach. I had the option of Madera or Madera South. For me, as a new athletic director, I had all these visions, so it was good to open up a new thing, rather than going to Madera, and following Randy with him as a coach. I chose the Madera South job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped open the school in 2006, and stayed another eight years before moving back to the District Office in another capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I was at Madera South, Shane Riddle was at Madera. Things were a little difficult. I had a great relationship with Shane,\u201d Bitter said. \u201cThe opportunity to open a new school at Madera South, and create things like Champions for Life is great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To that point, Bitter was noticing something missing in the District Office, and worked to address the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt took me a while to figure out that every department within a school district had someone at the district level to go to kick around ideas, help solve problems, find solutions and other things, except athletics,\u201d he said. \u201cI talked to Superintendent Ed Gonzalez about any chance of a district athletic director model. We had one at one point, John Denno. They eliminated the position. The other bigger districts have that model. Ed wanted to get that back, but he didn\u2019t know when it was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the fall of 2013, Gonzalez told Bitter that the school board approved the Director of Athletics position for MUSD, and Bitter threw his hat in for the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, at the same time, the director of human resources at Kerman Unified contacted Bitter about an athletic director opening at his alma mater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI asked what my job would be at Kerman,\u201d Bitter said. \u201cHe said I could make it up. I talked to Ed about my chances about getting the district job. Kerman is where I grew up. It\u2019s home. Madera is now my home. I don\u2019t want to leave, but I\u2019m looking to advance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bitter talked with Gonzalez about the job, and Gonzalez imparted some wisdom Bitter still holds today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe told me something that is one of the things I\u2019ve appreciated the most,\u201d Bitter said. \u201cHe said, \u2018I want you to put your name in there, but I\u2019m not going to make you any promises. You are going to have to decide. If John Wooden walks through the door, I have to do what I need to for the kids. If that\u2019s going to happen, probably not. I have to be open-minded to hire the best possible person.\u2019 I decided I would roll the dice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite frequent calls from Kerman upping the ante, Bitter got the job in 2014, and moved from Madera South. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy first goal, when I moved into the District Office, was to create a sense of community,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were kind of broken with the animosity between the two schools. We really tried to get the athletic directors to lead the coaches to understand that these are all our kids. It\u2019s not us against them. Competition tells us to win, but competition is the goal, but not the purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his career, Bitter was a first at three different levels, and will now step into another first position. He was the first athletic director at Thomas Jefferson and Madera South. He restarted the Director of Athletics at MUSD, and now he moves into another new position, assistant commissioner of the CIF Central Section after the previous assistant commissioner was moved to an associate commissioner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve said this to so many people. Every step of my career, I can\u2019t believe how blessed I have been,\u201d Bitter said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Bitter\u2019s Madera career in the sunset, he was able to think about some of the accomplishments of his career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you think is your biggest accomplishment?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MB:<\/strong> When I drove by Buchanan High School, there was always somebody playing. It was important to me to have Madera look like that. You would see kids around. Now, every single weekend, and every night, at every school, there are kids playing. I am super proud of that. I am proud that our participation numbers continue to rise. We have more kids playing in athletics than we ever had. I am very proud that we added Unified, girls flag football, girls wrestling and stunt. Those are more opportunities for girls to play sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you hang your hat on?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MB:<\/strong> I hope I can hang my hat on relationships. I hope to have the ability to build cultures and relationships. Everybody works hard and tries, but we need to find the best in all of those human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How tough was dealing with the beginning of the Madera\/Madera South rivalry?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MB:<\/strong> Squashing the cut throat rivalry is about the positions I have had. When I was at Thomas Jefferson, I had a lot of these kids that are now coaches. Those relationships were established. Now, I can take them to another level and make them understand they are in a bigger role and to have a bigger responsibility. That played a big part of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What are your thoughts about the district\u2019s investment into athletic facilities throughout the district?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MB:<\/strong> Just to be a part of the process to get the new facilities built. Facilities are what sell families to the school district. They want a reason to be a part of the community. Schools are a reason people look. Our facilities are none better. People are seeking us out because of the way we built our facilities. We were thinking outside the box to create space and create opportunities for our kids. I couldn\u2019t be more proud of those facilities. When they do the groundbreaking for the stadium, I want to be there. I didn\u2019t get to see it through to the end. You look at our middle school tracks, I would challenge anyone to find districts in California that have middle school full facilities with lights, all-weather track, turf, bleachers, strength and conditioning, snack bar and restrooms. It\u2019s unheard of. I think our kids are starting to take pride in that. That is something I want to hang my hat on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk about the physical education part of your job over the 30 year career. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MB: <\/strong>The other portion of my job is the physical education aspect. I couldn\u2019t be more proud. We started with three elementary PE teachers. They would teach at four schools a day. Now, we have 29 elementary PE teachers. We\u2019ve developed a program that Fresno State and Fresno Pacific want to send their kids to. We\u2019ve been blessed to have district and board leadership that believes in physical education. We\u2019re one-to-one in elementary PE teachers. Most school districts are grade levels. I am very proud we were able to build that. Our kids are getting active at a younger age.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a 30-year career in education that took him from a coach to a physical education teacher to an athletic director, and finally an athletics director of Madera Unified School District, Marty Bitter has retired. Bitter made his last drive up the 99 to his office at the end of June, but won\u2019t necessarily be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":48936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,23],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-48958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-sports","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48959,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48958\/revisions\/48959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":48956,"date":"2026-08-01T07:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=48956"},"modified":"2026-07-31T18:14:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T01:14:24","slug":"torres-star-running-to-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/torres-star-running-to-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Torres star running to Utah"},"content":{"rendered":" As one of the leaders of the Matilda Torres Toros cross country team, Benjamin Fernandez felt a little bit of responsibility to lift the team as high as they can get to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt felt amazing to know we can be a goal for them,\u201d Fernandez said about he and Hunter Hannah lifting the team. \u201cIf they catch up to us and get near us, it will help the team get stronger. It will push us to get further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That push got Fernandez an unprecedented five Central Section championship team rings and two individual titles. He won four straight team titles in cross country and another in the spring in track. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t even imagine that. It feels like it was earned,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of those days we put in the work after hours at middle school and training through high school, it was earned after all of those long years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of those accomplishments, Fernandez, along with three other cross country running mates, will be headed to college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing. We set a standard for the underclassmen that shows through hard work and patience, they can end up like that in their senior year,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fernandez will now head to St. George, Utah, to become a member of the Utah Tech University\u2019s cross country and track team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are a really good program,\u201d Fernandez said. \u201cThe coach was willing to offer me a scholarship, and they seemed interested in me. The coach seemed willing to put in the work with me and watch me develop for four years. I feel nervous going to Utah because it\u2019s out of state. I think I\u2019ll be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fernandez graduated from Torres with a 3.75 grade point average. He plans to major in engineering, either chemical or nuclear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He also drew interest from Weber State, Utah State and UC Merced, but Fernandez wanted to get out of California, and the opportunity was there for him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think they are a pretty good program,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be like starting at Torres. Begin at the bottom and build, hopefully, a legacy for future college athletes to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fernandez and his fellow seniors came into Torres with high expectations. They were one of the best running teams in the state heading into Torres, and continued that trend, placing third in the state the past two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThose expectations were the main cause and drive for us to achieve and exceed those expectations, and go beyond,\u201d he said. \u201cI think my career was an amazing, outstanding high school career. There were some downs, but very little downs. Overall, it was a really good four years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fernandez officially signed his National Letter of Intent at a signing day at Torres for six student-athletes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt felt amazing to set it in stone,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really glad I get to continue my running career in college and continue doing what I love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His parents were happy with the decision, but more importantly, that he made a decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were happy that I found somewhere and made up my mind. They were happy I\u2019m going to college to do something I\u2019m really good at,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fernandez and his running mates leave Torres as some of the most decorated seniors in Madera Unified history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe finally realized the impact on Torres and the Madera community this year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe felt like a role model because we were the top dogs in the school. We were showing that, one day, this could be them. They can also win these titles, and set these records.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the school year, Fernandez was given the school\u2019s Torres Award, which is given to a student that most represented Matilda Torres\u2019 values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was a little surprised. I didn\u2019t end my track season the best. I was glad I got the award,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to have your name on the wall. It\u2019s about all the hard work paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After six years, Fernandez, Hannah, Alfonso Del Toro and Azarel Barrios-Meza will go their separate ways after leading Torres to five Central Section titles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho beats who is a little thing we have with the team. I think I have the lead, by not much,\u201d Fernandez said. \u201cI don\u2019t want Hunter and Alfonso to beat me.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As one of the leaders of the Matilda Torres Toros cross country team, Benjamin Fernandez felt a little bit of responsibility to lift the team as high as they can get to. \u201cIt felt amazing to know we can be a goal for them,\u201d Fernandez said about he and Hunter Hannah lifting the team. \u201cIf […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":48937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,23],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-48956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-sports","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48957,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48956\/revisions\/48957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":48954,"date":"2026-08-01T07:06:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=48954"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:31:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:31:51","slug":"letters-ground-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/letters-ground-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Ground water"},"content":{"rendered":" I read an article that was presented by KQED, a public station in the Bay Area. They stated, scientists reported that California\u2019s ground water is not sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, what do you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have been in California for 65 years, and every measurement has been lower. Eighty feet when I moved to Madera. Now? Two-hundred thirty feet. I am not a scientist, but I know its going down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ok, San Francisco by the Bay. Duh? Sea water. Desalinate! No brainer. San Diego has, and has had more fresh water than they can use. The Central Valley keeps planting high density houses with no real plan about tomorrow\u2019s water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s trees and shrubs along every road, and in the middle! Ornamental too! No benefit. Just obstruction of viewing for safe driving. New round about on Avenue 17. Not only trees and scrubs, but a mound of dirt in the middle so you can\u2019t see traffic on the opposite side! Wow! Engineers! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Give me a bunch of old farmers any day over \u201cengineers\u201d and \u201cscientists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Bill Hoffrage,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Madera<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I read an article that was presented by KQED, a public station in the Bay Area. They stated, scientists reported that California\u2019s ground water is not sustainable. Well, what do you know? I have been in California for 65 years, and every measurement has been lower. Eighty feet when I moved to Madera. Now? Two-hundred […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-48954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-agriculture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48955,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48954\/revisions\/48955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":48949,"date":"2026-08-01T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=48949"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:24:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:24:04","slug":"opinion-morality-in-america-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/opinion-morality-in-america-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Morality in America, part I"},"content":{"rendered":"