City of Imperial’s State of the Address engaging more residents

After the community had the opportunity to delight themselves with great food at the annual Tri-Tip Cook-Off on Saturday in downtown Imperial, they also had the opportunity to listen to Mayor Geoff Dale’s State of the City Address.

His address was short and to the point, extolling last year’s accomplishments and featuring this year’s projects. It was a good way to engage the community during an event that draws thousands each year. Kudos to a job well done.

Central Union Adult School opened its doors

The Central Union Adult School opened its classroom doors during a ceremony a week ago.

Located at 2345 S. Second St. the new school is set to provide more programs for adults seeking their GED.

The refurbished facility, which once housed the Social Security office, saw nearly $700,000 of improvements. Kudos to all the organizations involved in making this happen.

Winterhaven public safety facility breaks ground

Public officials applauded the relatively short amount of time it took to design, approve and begin construction on a new public safety facility in Winterhaven during its groundbreaking Tuesday.

Although the $3.8 million project had encountered some delays on account of an initial budget shortfall, the project’s overall two-year timeframe distinguished it from other time-consuming development projects.

Kudos to officials for providing the facility, which will allow them to provide more services for the community. David Dale, new city manager in Calexico

The Calexico Council is looking to get the city back on track financially, and it believes David Dale is the person to do it.

During a regular meeting a week ago, the Council here unanimously voted to make Dale the permanent city manager — he’d been serving as interim since former city manager Armando Villa stepped down in December.

Congratulations to Dale, and good luck to him.

Holtville earns top honor at speech and debate tournament

The Holtville High School debate team took first place in its category at the 2018 ICOE-Migrant Education Region Speech and Debate Tournament on Saturday and now is looking to build on its success at the state-level competition in May.

More than 200 local students participated in the tournament, which was held at Imperial Valley College.

The Holtville High team won the high school division while the Calexico Ninth Grade Academy won the middle school division.

Tucker wins the 90th annual Elmer Sears Lettuce Golf Tournament

Jeremy Tucker took home his second title in the 90th annual Elmer Sears Lettuce Golf Tournament at the Del Rio Country Club here Sunday.

He beat Blaise Smith in the championship flight after 34 holes of the scheduled 36-hole match.

With two holes left, Tucker led by three holes in the match-play format, eliminating any possibility of Smith winning the title.

Tucker had previously won in 2015 and finished runner-up in 2016 and 2017.

Congratulations to Tucker for the win.