Paper Trail Podcast

Reedley Chamber of Commerce CEO, Erik Valencia joins Paul on the podcast today.  Paul and Erik has been friends since 2016, and he has played a major role in Mineral King Publishing's expansion into Reedley. In fact, as a former reporter for what was formerly The Reedley Exponent, Erik had a vested interest in the future of the community paper.  And so in 2022 he was the one who introduced Paul an...

Serena Bettis joins Paul and Ryan on this podcast.  Serena attended a ceremonial event that ushered in an expanded flight school program at Reedley College. With nearly 300,000 more pilots needed by the year 2030, Reedley College is seeking to do their part by bringing more candidates into the cockpit in the Valley.  For more on the story visit midvalleytimes.com 

Component Coffee co-owner, Jon Anderson joins the podcast today. Jon and Paul met during their time on the Young Professionals Network for the Visalia Chamber of Commerce. Since then they've stayed in touch through the pandemic, and now well after the pandemic has ended.  And on this episode they talked about leadership, Component's expansion into Fresno and Tulare, their employment histories and...

Paul and Ryan are joined by Karis Caddell, who has been following the unfolding situation between Springville residents and their water provider company, Del Oro.  Karis visited Janette Hardman's home to see for herself what the situation is like on the ground for a family of six, subsisting on only 6 gallons of water per week. She goes into the businesses that Janette lost as a result, and the ex...

Paul is joined by Adrianne Hillman for part 2 of their conversation. Continuing on from their part 1, they discuss the much broader prospects that lead people to homelessness. They talk about why some people heavily involved in politics are so unhappy. And what are some of the keys to happiness in life. You can find Salt + Light on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and on their  website .

Paul and Ryan are joind by Serena Bettis for both topics today. The three of them talk about the City of Sanger's move to declare an emergency for their water treatment plant. The move cuts through laborious red tape that may exacerbate an already delayed problem, and could lead to a more dangerous public health situation. Then they discuss the Sequoia Safety Council's, Sierra Kings Health Care Di...

Salt + Light Village CEO, Adrianne Hillman joins Paul on the podcast today. Paul and Adrianne have known each other since she joined the Paper Trail Podcast in 2019 in light of the launch of her nonporift. Following administrative hurdles, utilities, funding and supply chain issues, Adrianne hopes to open the Salt + Light Village in Goshen this September. Paul and Adrianne talk about the work her...

Paul is joined by well known radio host for MY97.5FM Mike Pesto. Mike and Paul first met in 2020 with Mike began his pandemic podcast passion project (I didn't have to write it like that, but I love all the "P's"). But since then they had only reached out occassionally, despite the fact that Mike has been on stage with Paul's best friend, and best friend's wife, for Icehouse Theatre.  Nonetheless,...

Paul and Ryan begin the show by reading a couple of testimonies from folks who have been listeners of the podcast for its first 500 episodes.  But they bring in Karis Caddell to talk about her story from last week where the County Board of Supervisors voted to turn down a new ordinance that would restrict short term rentals in Tulare County. Then Serena Bettis joins the pod to talk about the recen...

Paul is joined by The Naxon Group's CEO Sam Ramirez. Sam is more commonly known for the venues his company owns such as The Woodlands, Bello Vita, and plenty of others including The Hyde currently under renovation.  Together Paul and Sam talk about business, confidence and home in business and then service. And they aren't shy about talking about some of the biggest blunders they've seen and made...

Ryan is out sick this week, but Paul brings on Karis Caddell to talk about her Springville water story that published this week. Springville residents who receive water from Del Oro Water Company have been experiencing water quality issues and rate hikes for over a year. The county is now seeking ways to help, with Supervisor Dennis Townsend asking the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agenc...

Fresnoland Executive Director Dani Bergstrom joins Paul on the podcast today.  Dani began a career in city planning before pivoting toward local journalism. Observing an obvious lack of funding in the local journalism space, Dani began Fresnoland in 2019. Her plan was to plant a flag in the nonprofit journalism space for the Valley, and pull away from the withering advertising journalism model.  P...

Paul and Ryan are joined by Serena Bettis to discuss why Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux dropped his bid for Congress and fell in line behind the presumptive winner in November, Vince Fong.  Karis Caddell joins Paul and Ryan next to give an update on Lindsay's administrative future after the council lands on former Exeter Public Works Director Daymon Qualls to take their top job.

Paul is joined by long-time Fresno TV/broadcast journalist Faith Sidlow. Now as a mass communications and journalism professor at Fresno State, Faith's main career push is to prepare the next generation of journalists. Together they explore the nonprofit, educational and for profit role of journalism in the Valley. Of course they also get into the long career Faith has had on radio, behind the anc...

Paul and Ryan welcome reporter Serena Bettis back to the pod.  Serena reported on the back and forth between Selma Mayor Scott Robertson and city manager Fernando Santillan . By the end of several allegation, Santillan accepted a settlement that included a 5-year extension, $350,000 and an apology from the council. The Fresno Bee announced that they will reduce their print publication frequency fr...

Former city manager for Exeter and Visalia, Randy Groom, joins Paul on the podcast today.  As Paul notes, Randy became an archtype of sorts for how he viewed the role of city managers. Since Randy left city administration in 2021, there have obviously been a revolving door of city managers in cities throughout Tulare County. Some good, some bad.  So on this episode the two talk about the role of a...

Political science professor Nick Hernandez joins the podcast today. Nick lectures at Fresno City College. Nick's been a follower of the Paper Trail Podcast for years, and has been an avid reader of The Sun-Gazette.  As a professor he's invited Paul to lecture his students on the importance of media in politics. On today's pod Nick and Paul talk about whether grades truly gauge what students learn,...

In this episode, Paul and Ryan delve into two significant stories impacting local communities. First, they explore the controversial hydrogen blending project proposed for Orange Cove, discussing the community's backlash and safety concerns. Next, they turn their attention to the financial and operational challenges facing the Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TCRTA), and the potential implic...

Strathmore Spartan head football coach, Jeromy Blackwell joins the podcast. Jeromy is a two-time state championship winning head coach. However, one of his biggest fights wasn't on the gridiron or with X's and O's. It came after he collapsed in his backyard and aspirated in mud for hours, sending him into an 8-day coma while doctors fought to bring him back to health. Jeromy's story turns from one...

Paul and Ryan talk about Terra Bella residents' concerns over Ever Well's attempted expansion plans and Dinuba's successful avoidance of legislation that threatened its sales tax agreement with Best Buy.

Paul's realtor, Jordan Mulroony, joins the podcast to talk about the local realtor market. With housing inventory tight in Tulare County (but also all over California), realtors are feeling the pressure to help potential home buyers find a home. Where most realtors expirement with cheesy social media marketing, Jordan has taken the much longer road of crafting long term relationships in his commun...

Paul and Ryan discuss the follow-up to the TCRTA debacle and the potential for a Visalia Cannabis Tax . Richard Tree, Porterville Transit Director, and Porterville City Management respond to the accusations made by the TCRTA, stating that Tree disclosed his family involvement with subcontractors under Transdev's bid. They also address the concern about Tree's relationship with SM Transit while bei...

Rock Yard Tavern owner Landon Wilcox joins Paul on the podcast today. Landon has been a fellow Exeter-ite his whole life, but he became a local business stakeholder since he opened the Rock Yard Tavern in 2017. He named the business after his father's landscaping business. Landon's father, Nick, would collect large rocks for people to decorate their yards with. But where he would store them became...

Paul and Ryan discuss the backlash over the City of Visalia's new logo , which residents have called ugly and uninspired. They also cover the results of the California Congressional District 20 special general election, in which Vince Fong is leading Mike Boudreaux by a significant margin. They break down the fundraising and spending numbers for both candidates and analyze the factors that may hav...

Paul introduces KVPR's (Valley Public Radio) News Director Cres Rodriguez on the podcast. Cres has been a reporter all over the Valley in several different mediums and outlets. He took his first management role with KVPR, but he's been angling for an editorship since the beginning. Cres tells Paul where he's found leadership so far in his short career, what diversity does for a newsroom, the recen...