HANFORD/SELMA – HealthGrades has named Adventist Medical Centers in Hanford and Selma one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for General Surgery. The recognition honors hospitals that demonstrate surgical and nursing excellence in  bowel obstruction, colorectal, esophageal/stomach, gallbladder removal and small intestine surgeries. The hospitals also achieved 2014 HealthGrades Excellence Awards in Joint Replacement, ranking among the top [...]

OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – The holiday shopping season has come to an end, and to help the millions of American consumers who have received gift cards this year, the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) has released the top five tips to consider when redeeming your retail gift cards. “Our 2013 holiday gift card survey revealed [...]

FRESNO –  A Fresno State student-produced video touting the university’s role in agriculture education is among 10 global finalists for the World Ag Expo 2014 video contest. Now the students seek public support to be chosen as the best. Students Michael Price and Connor Alstrom learned this week that their five-minute submission, “Fresno State Trains Students to Feed Tomorrow’s World” that involved [...]

COALINGA – Sandy McGlothlin has been named vice president of student services at West Hills College Coalinga after serving as the interim VP for several months. “Sandy McGlothlin’s work with West Hills College is distinguished with more than 18 years’ experience in student services that has provided her with a deep understanding of the community [...]

CHICAGO, Dec. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) research experts have polished off the firm’s crystal ball and it reveals a clear path to stronger performance expectations for commercial real estate in 2014. The firm’s top researchers believe the “global real estate disconnect” between buoyant investment markets and more cautious leasing markets that existed during 2013, [...]

TULARE - World Ag Expo and E.M. Tharp, Inc. have teamed up again to provide the “We Believe in Growing” scholarship, created to support agricultural education. High school seniors from Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Kern counties are encouraged to apply by Jan. 17, 2014 to be considered. Two $10,000 scholarships will be awarded to students [...]

SEATTLE, Dec. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Homes nationwide are expected to gain almost $1.9 trillion in cumulative value in 2013, the second consecutive annual gain and the largest since 2005, according to an analysis of Zillow® Real Estate Market Reports. Gains were calculated by measuring the difference between cumulative home values as of the end of 2012 and anticipated [...]

ARLINGTON, Va, Dec. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The pace of private-sector wage growth likely will pick up in the latter half of next year, according to the revised fourth-quarter Wage Trend Indicator™ (WTI) released today by Bloomberg BNA, a leading publisher of specialized news and information. The index rose to 98.78 (second quarter 1976 = 100) from 98.70 in the [...]

FRESNO – Fresno State associate professor of English and published novelist Alex Espinoza  was awarded a 2014 Creative Writing Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). According to the NEA, this fellowship provides $25,000 to published writers so they can set aside time for writing, research, travel and general career advancement. Espinoza is one of 38 authors [...]

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Dec. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — After a year that started with a fiscal cliff and ended with the first bipartisan budget deal in years, diminishing fiscal drag should give way to faster economic growth over the next two years, according to a new report by TD Economics, an affiliate of TD Bank, America’s Most [...]

VISALIA – Kaweah Delta Health Care District has received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for its fourth Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program. In November, Kaweah Delta received accreditation for its Transitional Year Program. This one-year residency will orient physicians to the practice of medicine generally as they pursue a subspecialty residency [...]

NOTTINGHAM, England, Dec. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Will your office have that empty feeling come the New Year? If so, it could be because most of your co-workers don’t trust the boss and want to move on, says social media-based recruitment specialist staffbay.com. A new survey by staffbay.com finds that over 87 percent of people will be looking for a new [...]

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — For the past decade, The Harris Poll has measured the percentage of Americans who perceive 19 large industries as “generally honest and trustworthy.” This year, this perception has dropped for 18 of the 19 industries, as overall U.S. adults seem to have lost trust in most of corporate America. And, the only one [...]

COALINGA – The West Hills Community College District board of trustees has appointed Len Falter to fill the vacant seat left by the death of trustee Bill Henry. Falter will serve the remainder of Henry’s term, which ends in December 2015. He was formally seated during the board meeting Tuesday, Dec. 10. Falter represents Area [...]

FORT COLLINS, Colo., Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Christmas is only a few weeks away and GreenPath Debt Solutions, a nationwide, non-profit credit counseling and education organization, wants to remind consumers that, amongst all the gift-giving, they should make memories a big part of their holiday season. “First, remember what the season really means to you and your [...]

VISALIA – The Christmas wishes of 29 local charities and non-profit organizations were granted, with more than $180,000 in donations raised at the 33rd annual Christmas Tree Auction held December 6 2013 at the Visalia Convention Center.  The spirit of the Giving Tree theme was evident as close to 1,000 guests attended the event aimed [...]

VISALIA – The Creative Center announced that Richard de Ocio has joined the organization and will serve as executive director. De Ocio brings a wealth of experience within the industry of fundraising and non-profits, having spent time over the last six years at the American Cancer Society in Reno, Nevada and recently as a board [...]

NEW YORK , Dec. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Commodities were lower in November due to uncertainty regarding the future of US stimulus measures. Nelson Louie, Global Head of Commodities in Credit Suisse’s Asset Management business, said, “There is increasing optimism among some economists that global GDP will accelerate from a trough of 2.8% in the third quarter of 2013 [...]

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, today released its October National Foreclosure Report which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and the national foreclosure inventory. According to CoreLogic, there were 48,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in October 2013, down from 68,000 inOctober 2012, a year-over-year [...]

VISALIA – Kaweah Delta Medical Center has been designated as a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology (COEMIG) by the AAGL and Surgical Review Corporation. The AAGL promotes minimally invasive gynecologic surgery among surgeons worldwide. The designation follows an intensive on-site survey of multiple inpatient departments conducted earlier this year. The COEMIG program sets standards for safety [...]