The next steps being taken on Mt. Whitney High School’s upgrade are in process. The Visalia Unified School District is working on drawing up plans to build a new administration, library, and classroom buildings. The first stage is a two-story admin/library/classroom building in currently vacant space on the campus, followed by the demolition of the current admin/classroom building and the construction of a new, single-story classroom building.
The big issue for many Mt. Whitney alumni, and other interested citizens, is the preservation of a large oak tree on the campus. It’s dedicated to the memory of “The Winningest Coach in Pioneer History”, Douglas P. Rudolf. Coach Rudolf was at Mt. Whitney from 1969 to 2012. Early presentations showed one of the new buildings sitting directly where the memorial and historic oak currently exist.
The District heard loud and clear from the public, as well as Whitney alumni and teachers (current and retired), that removal of the tree and memorial was not acceptable. The have adjusted their plans accordingly.
The District, in current presentations, is saying the tree and memorial will be preserved.
The other trees in the same area will probably not survive the project. One is clearly dying, if not already dead. The others may not be able to, one, survive the construction-caused disruption to the ground in the area, and two, may end up being too close to the new buildings to allow them to remain.
Final design work is being done now, and the District will be holding more public meetings to inform the public of the plans, and to take input on those designs. The District has not, as yet, determined the exact footprints of the buildings, nor their final appearance.
Current timelines have construction of the new, two-story, building beginning in June of 2028, and taking 13 months. There is no current timeline on demolition and replacement of the current admin building, but bids are expected in March of 2028.
Funding is from 2018’s Measure A, of $37 million, “other” funding of $36 million, for a total project cost of $73 million. In several years time, grant funds of $33 million will come from the State of California as part of the project. That money will go to other projects in the District. (In a confusing (to me, anyway) government shuffle, in about three years the state of California will provide funds designated for this project. Money from the bond will then be “freed up”, and be available for other projects.)
Stay tuned.
Needles in the Flock Haystack
October 9, 2026
Jim Reeves commentary, News, Personal ai, ALPR, Flock, Flock Camera, flock liccense plate reader, License Plate Reader, News, technology, visalia, Visalia Police, VPD Leave a comment
On September 10, 2026, I filed a California Public Records Act request of the City of Visalia, and the Visalia Police Department. On October 5, I got my response.
A lot to digest there, but let’s start with “5. The Department’s case/incident number is withheld.” A lot of verbiage to deny giving me the case numbers associated with each incident that was allegedly solved with the use of the Flock ALPR system.
They’re also saying they don’t have to release “arrest and incident information” that is more than a year old, and that “much” of my requested information predates that by “many months”, but they are giving it to me (minus what they decided to withhold) “in the interest of transparency”.
They tell me how generous they were being by including information that was more than a year old, citing a court case that they claim means they didn’t have to.
Visalia, I hate to say it, but “transparency” went out the window a long time ago. (Encrypting police radio transmissions and removing a data field on the Flock transparency page was just the beginning.)
Other information gleaned from the “response” –
From January 1, 2025 through May 29, 2026, there were 123 incidents solved which were attributed to Flock ALPR use by the Visalia Police Department.
To justify mass surveillance, proponents of ALPR systems often talk about two types of incidents: missing persons, and stolen cars. In Visalia’s record, there are no cases of missing persons found using the Flock system. Out of 123 incidents that were attributed to the Flock system, only 45 are stolen vehicles.
Six were violent crimes – assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, and a home invasion.
The rest of the cases “solved” by Flock ALPR data are not classified as violent crimes.
I had asked for location information, as well. Either addresses of incidents, or the hundred block and street name. They refused to provide that, stating the “existing” data only listed VPD “area” zones, and they didn’t have to provide the address or location information more detailed than that.
In the time period covered by the data released, Flock ALPR cameras took more than 5,950,000 images of license plates. Perhaps many more. The “transparency” page lists an average monthly “unique plate reads” of more than 300,000 every 30 days. Multiply that by the 17 months of data released, and the total number surveillance images is staggering.
And, at $3,000 a year per camera, expensive. (The cameras are not bought by and owned by Visalia. They are a subscription. The cameras and related equipment remain the property of Flock.)
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