Home Care In Kingsburg, CA

family background/ Ty graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in ag business and plant science. He’s the son of Becky and Andy Muxlow.age/23grower/Kingsburg, Californiacrops/Peaches and nectarinesbusiness/Family Tree Farms

How did you get your start?Some of my first experiences were learning how to irrigate a field, understanding what it means to grow a commodity. As a kid, I pruned, I picked, I did pretty much everything under the sun to grow a piece of fruit.

Those lessons really helped me to understand what work and manual labor has to be done in the field to get fruit to market.

I enjoyed being out in the field, out in nature getting my hands sweaty. It grew into a passion of mine and gave me an entrepreneurial spirit.

What other things helped direct your path?When I was 12 years old, instead of my dad investing in a college fund for me, he invested in a “college farm.” We leased some ground near our home and started a new orchard. It’s something that I enjoyed — getting the opportunity to grow something that young and learn from my mistakes and successes.

When we planted the farm, I remember measuring different spacings to see what might work, whether it was going to be a 9-foot tree spacing or an 8-foot tree spacing.

My dad helped me with those calculations, and it taught me a lot. After the planting, I remember training the trees up with the crews and learning about scaffolds, the main branches and where they should be. We decided on a quad-V planting, which I believe is the most efficient style to pick and prune.

After planting, I became the full-time irrigator. I learned that you could control three basic aspects of a tree: You can control the light, water and amount of fertilizer. I was able to get that hands-on experience, helping me grow into the farmer I am.

What are your current challenges?Some of them concern labor and water. I’m looking at ways to make the tree smaller, find ways to use platforms and utilize drip irrigation systems.

We are experimenting with platforms. They’ve been widely used in the apple industry and we’re trying to mimic that to make it more efficient to pick our crop.

How do you approach platforms with stone fruit?Setting up a stone fruit orchard to be successful with platforms, I believe you must ensure the row spacing is just right for the platform to fit. We’ve found there are spacings that work perfectly for the platform.

Also, we can’t put a platform into a furrow-irrigated orchard. We need to use a microsprinkler or drip irrigation system instead, so the ground is flat where the tires will roll. We must keep branches out of the rows.

The tree training needs to be perfect, so I chose a Tatura trellis system to help with tree uniformity and better utilize light as well. It takes more initial cost with a Tatura system and drip irrigation, but it makes sense in the long run financially because of the cost variability of labor and water.

There’s fixed costs and variable costs. Variable costs are much more expensive over time than fixed costs.

What’s your advice to other young growers?I would say it’s very important to know your books and know your costs of farming. You’ll need to know what things cost and how it applies to your acres. For example, if you’re picking a certain size of fruit and it’s not getting packed, then you’re wasting your pickers’ time.

Knowing your books and understanding the expense side of your farm will help you better manage the business. The most useful course I took covered Excel, how it works and what kind of macros can be used to help forecast future business numbers.

—TJ Mullinax

A long-awaited T-Mobile call center anticipated to bring 1,000 jobs to Kingsburg now has a confirmed site set for the Fresno County city.

T-Mobile confirmed that it had signed a lease for the former Kmart space on Sierra Street, west of Highway 99. At more than 95,000 square feet, Kmart was Kingsburg’s largest retailer before the store closed in March 2017. The terms of the lease were not disclosed, but a 2019 financial analysis for the project estimated that annual lease costs for the call center would be about $1.5 million.

“In the coming weeks, T-Mobile plans to begin demolition and start improvements to the building – consistent with the city’s heritage and aesthetic – to prepare for the center to serve customers starting in 2022,” the company said in a statement.

T-Mobile first announced its plans to locate its new “customer experience center” in Kingsburg almost two years ago, as the mobile-phone carrier was in the midst of engineering a merger with rival Sprint.

But the location came with a catch – the call center, and its promise of 1,000 new jobs for Kingsburg and surrounding areas of Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties, would only become a reality if the $26 billion merger was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.

The Kingsburg location and its jobs, as well as other call centers proposed by the wireless companies, became a major talking point of a lobbying and public relations campaign by T-Mobile pushing for the merger.

Federal antitrust regulators approved the merger in July 2019, followed by the FCC. The state of California and several other states sued to block the merger based on concerns about diminished competition in the cellular market, but a federal judge ultimately ruled in favor of the merger.

Prior to the merger, T-Mobile and Sprint were the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers in the U.S., well behind Verizon and AT&T. The merger vaulted the new combined company into a more solid third place. To allay federal antitrust concerns, T-Mobile was required to sell off the popular Boost Mobile prepaid wireless service, and other Sprint assets are being sold to DISH, the satellite TV provider that will now get into the wireless phone business.

The 2019 economic analysis commissioned by T-Mobile forecast that the Kingsburg call center would have 1,007 employees. “T-Mobile estimates that employees at the center will have an average weekly compensation between $1,129 and $1,254” in both salary and benefits,” the analysis by Berkeley Research Group stated. Total payroll at the center – which would be expected to be fully staffed and operational in 2022 – is expected to be between $56 million and $65 million a year.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno County jury awarded a Kingsburg family nearly $50 million in damages for injuries the husband suffered at the hands of American Ambulance.

The $49.8 million verdict is the second highest ever awarded by a Fresno County jury, but the family would give it all up to have things the way they were before March 2018.

Nicholas Merlo was getting his home ready for a new addition when he posed for a picture constructing a crib in early 2018.

"He was 39 years old," said Merlo family attorney Daniel Baradat. "His wife was 8 1/2 months pregnant."

Nick was a mortgage broker; his wife, a middle school administrator.

The first-time father-to-be went to have an endoscopy at Pristine Surgery Center, but his oxygenation levels dropped during the procedure.

A nurse anesthetist gave him a breathing tube before sending him to Clovis Community Hospital via American Ambulance.

The ride ruined his life.

A paramedic removed the breathing tube and couldn't insert a new one.

By the time he reached doctors at Community, Merlo suffered cardiac arrest and a severe lack of oxygen.

"They kept him alive," Baradat said. "However, he's badly badly brain-damaged. He's in a persistent vegetative state. That's been three and a half years and he's going to remain like that for the remainder of his life."

Merlo could still live for decades, but doctors believe he'll never regain consciousness.

His family sued over the medical mistake.

"Six very qualified doctors said if you don't pull that endotracheal tube, he doesn't have this brain injury," Baradat said

After seven weeks in trial, the jury only needed a few hours to agree - American Ambulance was grossly negligent.

They awarded the Merlos a $49.8 million verdict, including $30 million in non-economic damages for pain and suffering.

California's medical malpractice law written in 1975 limits pain and suffering damages to $250,000 per plaintiff, so a judge would reduce the total award to $20.3 million.

The American Ambulance administration sent Action News a statement saying they'll appeal the verdict.

"This is a very sad situation," said American ambulance chief administrative officer and general counsel Erik Peterson. "Our paramedics treated Mr. Merlo like they would any patient, using their training and procedures to do everything they could to improve his declining condition."

"It's kind of offensive to the Merlo family for them to say that," Baradat said, adding that he hopes other patients get more competent treatment.

Since American Ambulance is appealing the verdict, the Merlos won't get any money for now.

But the jury award racks up interest at 10% per year during the appeals process.

Roadhouse 99 in downtown Kingsburg is helping change perceptions about this small city with the Swedish theme.

KINGSBURG, Calif. (KFSN) -- Some restaurant owners love to show their hometown pride.

Roadhouse 99 on Smith near Draper in downtown Kingsburg is helping change perceptions about this small city with the Swedish theme.

Owners and brothers, Ernie and Adrian Perez, got started in the food industry when they were barely in their 20s.

Now with Roadhouse 99, they've created a new vibe in town with delicious dishes and craft cocktails.

"For a long time, you would leave to go have a nice meal, right? You'd go to Fresno, you'd go to Visalia because Kingsburg was too small and everything closed early," explained Adrian.

That's no longer the case.

Dishes like the New York steak sandwich have been a hit for the Perez brothers.

"We're taking a New York strip, prepping it ourselves. Topped with grilled mushrooms and onions. We make our own garlic aioli sauce and we put it on a Basque roll," said Ernie.

Ernie says the house chips seem to be more popular than the fries.

This is a place where you can grab a burger called "Get Figgy With It."

"That was a crazy concoction by my brother there," Ernie said.

"So, it's a half-pound burger patty, pork belly, blue cheese crumble, fig jam, and balsamic production sauce," said Adrian.

The brothers' creativity is on full display with their pork belly bites. They're sliced and smoked.

"After pulling it out of the fryer, we sit it on a little bit of cole slaw with a little bit of housemade honey siracha sauce and siracha mayo that we make ourselves," explained Ernie.

Ernie and Adrian had a small eatery along Highway 99 for eight years before moving downtown.

Customers couldn't wait for this place to open in August.

"Yeah, it's a small town so anything new, obviously everyone's on it," said Jared Murray, a customer.

"We wanted to keep that same kind of vibe and make it very family-friendly. But we also wanted to add something that wasn't around so we added the craft cocktails," Adrian said.

"We're known for our old fashioneds. They're very tasty."

They also feature a large ice cube with the restaurant logo.

"If you want to go super healthy we have the salad here, with a little chicken of course," Ernie said.

"Right now, we're using local strawberries from right down the road from Fry's Strawberry Stand."

"Our Brussel sprouts are very popular. Flash-fried with bacon, dried cranberries, and blue cheese crumble," said Adrian.

With its modern take on food and cocktails, Roadhouse 99 offers a toast to Kingsburg.

People loved that pork belly so much that the Perez brothers started putting it into different dishes.

The fate of the former Swedish Mill in Kingsburg may be in jeopardy, if the owner of the iconic property can’t pull together a deal to reopen it as a new restaurant.

For nearly 50 years, the building has stood as one of Highway 99’s most recognizable landmarks through the San Joaquin Valley. Its 50-foot-tall windmill and 36-foot-long sail stood as a sort of watchtower over the surrounding vineyards and fruit trees.

But it’s been years since the restaurant served its legendary smorgasbord, and the property’s latest owner, Joe Ghazale of Bakersfield, has struggled to find a tenant. He bought the property in 2014 and at one point planned to reopen as an Irish pub-style restaurant. That never happened.

Over the last several years, the building at 475 Sierra St. has sat vacant as squatters moved in, weeds grew in the parking lot and graffiti covered some of the walls. A towering sign near the highway for exit 112 reads “Kings Buffet,” a Chinese food restaurant that was the building’s last occupant.

Frustrated by the blight, city officials gave Ghazale an ultimatum in October: Fix the property or the city would begin the process to do it themselves.

The council targeted three properties, including the Swedish Mill, that they wanted cleaned up. They also beefed up their ordinances, giving them the ability to apply pressure to property owners who drag their feet.

If the property owner continues to ignore the city, it can bulldoze the building and bill the owner for the demolition.

“The council hears so much about the impact of vacant buildings and we are trying to be responsive to everyone that has invested in Kingsburg, but at the same time we have to be respectful of property owners and work towards a resolution,” said Alex Henderson, Kingsburg’s city manager.

“But when that starts to stall or we feel like we are being led on, we have the opportunity to take the next step.”

Ghazale said he understands the city’s concerns and has vowed to make things right. City officials acknowledge he has made some strides, including adding a new roof, new windows and new paint job, but the building is still without a new restaurant. And that makes city officials a little anxious.

Mayor Michelle Roman, said no one on the City Council , including herself, wants to tear down the building. But they also don’t want one of the community’s most recognizable landmarks sitting vacant with weeds sprouting in the parking lot.

“We have been doing a really good job in Kingsburg, and we are at a great turning point,” Roman said. “We have a thriving downtown with boutique shops and restaurants, and we are trying really hard to be a destination point on Highway 99. But when you come off the highway on Conejo Avenue, one of the first things you see is that building.”

Jolene Polyack, consulting economic development coordinator for Kingsburg, said not only is the city’s downtown thriving, but the area around the Swedish Mill building is also undergoing changes. Plans are in the works for the nearby former K-Mart building to become a State Foods grocery store.

The owners of the local grocery store chain will convert a portion of the building into the grocery store and lease the rest to other retail businesses.

“I am grateful that our City Council has done what it takes to improve several of the iconic structures in Kingsburg,” Polyack said.

The city has given Ghazale 30 days to make significant progress or it will use its options for taking care of the problem.

Kelly Allred, who works for Ghazale, is optimistic the city won’t have to take any action. The plan is to turn the Swedish Mill into a 24-hour Country Waffles restaurant. A portion of the restaurant will have a full-service dining room while also having a grab-and-go bakery option for travelers who want a quick bite and coffee.

Ghazale, who owns a food service company, is the owner of all 20 Country Waffles restaurants in California. He purchased the chain from H.T. “Chic” Brooks, founder of Country Waffles, Brooks Ranch Restaurant and Jeb’s Swedish Creamery.

As director of operations for Country Waffles, Allred said the company has a potential franchisee for the building and they are waiting for that person to secure financing. Allred said it will take several thousand dollars to bring the renovate the building and make it functional.

“We are talking all new kitchen equipment, flooring and furniture,” she said. “Our goal is the same as the city’s and that is to get this restaurant open. We want to make sure it continues to represent the city well.”

Also part of the plan, Allred wants to pay homage to the Swedish Mill’s past with memorabilia from the restaurant, including menus, waitress uniforms and postcards. She is even looking for the Viking statue that used to stand out front.

If everything falls into place, the new restaurant will employ between 30 to 50 people.

“We are doing everything we can to make this work,” Allred said. “We don’t want to have to sell this property.”

Robert Rodriguez: (559) 441-6327, @fresnobeebob

This story was originally published January 14, 2019, 6:00 AM.