Hanford Insider

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Veterans Day is supposed to be about remembrance, but it can start to feel like a slogan until you sit down with people who lived it. We’re joined by three local veterans from our Hanford community, Jim Hayes (United States Navy), Elbie Groves (United States Army), and Ted Berg (United States Navy), for an honest conversation about why they serv...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A bistro that isn’t serving plates yet, but still feeds a town’s need for connection. We head upstairs in downtown Hanford to tour Forgo Bistro with founder Marci Ocampo, and her story is the kind that only makes sense when you hear the turns: selling tamales during COVID, pivoting into party rentals and mini golf, then building a creative event...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Big city projects rarely feel real until you hear the timeline, the tradeoffs, and the “here’s what happens next” details. That’s why we sat down with Hanford City Manager Chris Tavarez for a fast-moving update on what’s currently being built, what’s being designed, and what’s still stuck in the waiting phase across Hanford, California and the w...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A grooming van pulls up to your house, your dog steps inside, and the whole appointment happens without a noisy lobby or a room full of barking dogs. That simple change can mean a calmer pet, a smoother handoff for busy owners, and a grooming experience built around safety and focus instead of chaos. We’re joined by Shamra Bettencourt, Hanford n...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Two weeks left in the regular season and the margin for error is basically gone. We’re tracking the Hanford-area high school football stretch run with a quick, detail-packed update that focuses on the plays that changed games and the matchups that can still reshape league standings. We start with Hanford High’s bounce-back win over Redwood, a ga...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A fall tradition does not have to come from a big theme park or a long drive, sometimes it’s built one pumpkin vine at a time right here in Hanford. We visit Young Family Farms for a behind the scenes look at their Pumpkin Patch and five acre corn maze, and Justin and Nicole Young explain how they turned a leased ranch into a place where Kings C...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Three big community spotlights, a packed local calendar, and the kind of practical info you’ll actually use, this Hanford Insider update keeps you connected to what’s happening across Hanford and Kings County. We start with community news, including the official groundbreaking for new development at 12th and Mall Drive, a quick look at upcoming...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Three major Hanford events are landing on the same weekend, and we’re giving you a clear game plan so you can actually enjoy them instead of hearing about them after they’re over. We start with quick community news across Hanford and Kings County, including support for K9 Officer Jet, a big retirement announcement from downtown’s Salmon’s Furnit...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A town’s history isn’t just in textbooks, it’s in the buildings you drive past, the restaurants you miss, and the events that pull people together on a random weeknight. We start with what’s happening right now in Hanford and Kings County, from the World of Outlaws Valley Clash at Kings Speedway to a beginner Dungeons and Dragons class at the Ha...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Construction signs outside a school can feel like background noise until you hear what’s actually happening behind the fences. We sit down with Hanford Elementary School District Superintendent Joy Gabler and Director of Facilities and Operations Daniel Pierotte to get a clear, practical update on the district’s school modernization projects, in...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A free blues festival that pulls in thousands, packs the dance area, and makes downtown Hanford feel like a different place for one night? That’s the Blues and Roots Festival, and Jim Castleman joins me with a full preview of the 25th annual celebration at the Hanford Civic Auditorium Park. We talk about what makes it more than music: the food v...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! The story of a community college is usually told in brochures and buzzwords. We wanted the real version, the one that starts with who students actually are and what they’re up against. After a quick run through Hanford’s week ahead (City Council topics like murals beyond downtown, AI and local government, wastewater fees, and EV charging permitt...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A small-town podcast can feel like a bulletin board, a scoreboard, and a front porch conversation all at once, and that’s exactly what we’re going for this week on The Hanford Insider. We start with the community news you actually need: the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency ballot and the upcoming public workshops, plus updates o...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Data centers, local control, and real-world community impact are colliding in Hanford, and we dig into what’s happening right now. We start with the Hanford City Council’s upcoming meeting, including a Measure H revenue and expenditures report and an update tied to land use regulations for data center facilities. We also share the City of Hanfor...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A single City Council meeting can quietly steer the next 25 years of growth, safety, and Vice Mayor Nancy Howze breaks down the August 4th Hanford City Council Meeting. We start with a big-picture item that affects everyday life: the Kings County Association of Governments (KCAG) update to the Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communi...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A pawn shop with two vaults in an old bank building sounds like the start of a crime story, but in downtown Hanford it’s really a story about trust. We sit down with Kirsten Bookout of Hanford Jewelry and Loan to talk about what it takes to keep a local jewelry store thriving for 65 years and why “pawn” often means something far more practical t...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A small town feels bigger when you know what’s happening and you’ve got somewhere fun to meet up. We start with the civic stuff that impacts real life in Hanford: major City Council changes, three open seats, who has filed for candidacy, and the fast-approaching deadline to throw your hat in the ring. We also preview the week’s public meetings a...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A reballot powered by neighbors. A budget shortfall that changes what gets maintained. A major public safety project that forces a hard conversation about eminent domain. Mayor Mark Kairis returns with part two of a July 21 Hanford City Council meeting recap, breaking down the votes and what they mean for everyday life in Hanford. We start with...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A proposed data center that the city says it hasn’t been consulted on. Police tech that raises big questions about privacy. And a new California water law that could change what “normal” landscaping looks like across town. Mayor Mark Kairis gives us a fast, practical wrap-up of recent Hanford City Council actions from the July 21 meeting, focuse...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A sealed tube buried in 1976 just told Hanford a story it couldn’t hear anywhere else and the voices are still there. We crack open the City of Hanford 1976 Bicentennial Time Capsule and walk through what was saved, why it was chosen, and what it feels like to hear local life preserved on cassette tapes from KLAN and KNGS radio. It’s a rare kind...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Hiring a new city manager might sound like inside baseball, but it is one of the biggest decisions Hanford will make this year, and it will shape everything from staff culture to how fast projects actually move. We talk with Vice Mayor Nancy Howze about what she’s learning in her first six months on the Hanford City Council, how she’s working to...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! More planes and helicopters circling over Hanford has sparked a lot of curiosity and more than a few rumors, so we decided to go straight to the source. We sit down with Sergeant Jerry Hunter and Senior Deputy Eric Johnson from the Kings County Sheriff’s Department Air Support Unit to get a clear, grounded look at what aerial law enforcement act...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Hanford doesn’t need more buzzwords, it needs roads you can drive on, a public safety facility that actually fits the people working inside it, and utility systems that won’t fail at the worst possible moment. We sit down with Hanford City Manager Chris Tavarez to talk about what’s moving, what’s still in design, and how the city is trying to tu...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! Your street lights, neighborhood landscaping, and park upkeep do not happen by accident, and they definitely do not pay for themselves. Councilmember Travis Payden gives us a clear wrap-up of recent Hanford City Council actions, starting with the annual engineer’s report for Hanford’s 44 landscape assessment districts. We explain what these dist...

Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode! A City Council meeting can feel like a blur until you hear what actually changed and what it means for your day-to-day life in Hanford.  Councilmember Nancy Howze gives us a focused June 16 recap that starts with a boost to public safety: Chief Huddleston introduces six new Hanford Police Department employees and we welcome K9 Ace, a two-and-a-h...