Tony Maldonado

Writer and web/print designer for the Valley Voice, an online publication (previously a twice-monthly newspaper) in Tulare County, California.

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Valley Voice •

Former HCCA CEO sentenced for crimes running Tulare and Inyo hospitals, avoids jail - Valley Voice

Former Tulare hospital executive Dr. Yorai “Benny” Benzeevi will avoid jail time and serve 463 days of probation in Los Angeles County after pleading no contest to six felonies and two misdemeanors.The charges stemmed from acts undertaken when he and his company, Healthcare Conglomerate Associates, managed Tulare Regional Medical Center and the Southern Inyo Hospital.A negotiated plea deal, which Judge Michael Sheltzer upheld, required Benzeevi to complete 420 hours of community service, 120 day...
Valley Voice •

Former key officials sue City of Lindsay, claiming corruption - Valley Voice

Former Lindsay Police Chief Richard Carrillo and former Lindsay Finance Director Salvador Guzman have separately sued the City of Lindsay. Both claim they were fired wrongly in retaliation for whistleblowing on alleged financial malfeasance by city staff.In his lawsuit, Carrillo says he reported what he found to the Tulare County District Attorney’s office, and that he and Guzman were interviewed by the DA’s Public Corruption Division. While the DA’s office would not confirm or deny the existenc...
Valley Voice •

Minor solicitation case against former Tulare BPU chair, council candidate dismissed - Valley Voice

Minor solicitation charges against Chris Harrell, a one-time chairman of Tulare’s Board of Public Utilities and former candidate for Tulare City Council, have been dismissed after almost four years of court proceedings.He was charged with one count of meeting a minor for lewd purposes and one count of contact with a minor for a sexual offense in a “To Catch a Predator”-style sting operation conducted by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office in October 2020.Harrell was alleged in court documents to...
Valley Voice •

Cal Water infrastructure upgrades underway to improve reliability, protection in Visalia - Valley Voice

California Water Service (Cal Water) is working on major infrastructure upgrades, with more planned in coming months and years, to the water system that provides safe, clean, reliable drinking water to about 145,000 people in Visalia. The utility hosted media at a few of its project sites today to provide a more in-depth view.Currently, construction of a fifth water storage tank and booster station, along with installation of 3,350 feet of new 12-inch and 16-inch water main to support the projec...
Valley Voice •

Former Tulare hospital attorney indicted by grand jury

A grand jury has indicted attorney Bruce Greene on multiple felony and misdemeanor counts related to actions he allegedly took while representing the Tulare Local Healthcare District and Healthcare Conglomerate Associates, the district’s former hospital management partner. The grand jury handed down its indictment with eleven felony counts and five misdemeanor counts on April 30. Greene was arraigned yesterday in the Tulare County Superior Court via Zoom, and pled not guilty to all of the alleg
Valley Voice •

Former Tulare hospital CEO pleads no contest to felonies, misdemeanors, will pay $2.4m and likely avoid jail

On Friday, the 61-year-old pleaded no contest to six felony and two misdemeanor charges stemming from crimes committed while acting as CEO of the Tulare Local Healthcare District from 2014 to 2017. Tulare County Superior Court Judge Michael Sheltzer accepted the plea agreement during a hearing on February 9. Benzeevi will be sentenced in Tulare County Superior Court on July 19. According to the conditions of the plea agreement, Benzeevi will not face jail time. He’ll be under house confinement
Valley Voice •

Hanford man leaves employees, vendors hungry for pay

Vendors, former employees, and tax authorities say they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars from George Sousa after he started and shuttered multiple restaurants in Tulare and Kings counties. The Hanford restaranteur’s four locations – Junior’s Sports Bar and Parrilla and Adobowl in Visalia; Junior’s Express Grill and K&J FroYo and Kafe in the Hanford Mall – all opened and closed in 2022 and 2023. Employees from the first three restaurants have told the Valley Voice that they haven’t bee
Valley Voice •

Lindsay High basketball volunteer charged with sex offenses against student, parents sue district

A volunteer working with the Lindsay High School basketball program was arrested in May and charged with six felony counts of sexual penetration of a minor and a misdemeanor count of child molestation. Krizlynn Balboa allegedly engaged in a relationship with the minor – a student at Lindsay High – over a four month period, according to a probable cause document filed with the court by the Lindsay Police Department. She has pled not guilty to all charges. Separately, the student’s parents filed
Valley Voice •

Plea deal negotiations scheduled in Tulare hospital case, Benzeevi to appeal recusal decision

A plea deal could be on the table for three former Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA) executives, nearly three years after they were charged with alleged crimes during the time HCCA managed Tulare Regional Medical Center and the Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine. In a Friday hearing, Trevor Holly with the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office went so far as to tell Judge Michael Sheltzer “we were going to make an offer today,” speaking of a “package” that would focus on “seized fund
Valley Voice •

Judge rules Tulare County DA Tim Ward may stay on HCCA case

The Tulare County District Attorney’s office may continue to prosecute three former Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA) executives, a judge ruled earlier this month. Yorai ‘Benny’ Benzeevi, HCCA’s CEO; Alan Germany, HCCA’s former CFO; and Bruce Greene, an attorney with Baker Hostetler who served Benzeevi, HCCA and the Tulare Local Healthcare District, were charged in 2020 with a laundry list of crimes allegedly committed during the time that HCCA managed Tulare Regional Medical Center. T
Valley Voice •

DA, AG respond to former Tulare hospital leaders' bias allegations

The Tulare County District Attorney’s office has responded to allegations made by Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA) CEO Yorai “Benny” Benzeevi that his prosecution is due to political pressure against – and bias by – Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward. The California Attorney General’s office backed up Ward’s office with a separate filing and the overarching response from both entities is: Ward wasn’t friends with Benzeevi, he didn’t file charges against Benzeevi in a bid to secur
Valley Voice •

Tulare hospital board settles suit against former attorney and law firm

The Tulare Local Healthcare District now has $3 million more in its bank account after settling a lawsuit against Bruce Greene – its former attorney – and the firm he works for, Baker Hostetler. Other parts of the lawsuit, which named former district board members Parmod Kumar, Linda Wilbourn, and Richard Torrez as defendants, have not been settled and remain active in the Kern County Superior Court. The settlement doesn’t impact charges that the Tulare County District Attorney’s office has br
Valley Voice •

Visalia Medical Clinic to break up with Kaweah Health, eyeing partnership with Adventist Health

Visalia Medical Clinic and Kaweah Health are breaking up – and Visalia Medical Clinic is set to head into the arms of Adventist Health by June 30, 2023, if not before. Kaweah Health and Visalia Medical Clinic (VMC) have been partners since 2015 through a medical foundation now known as Kaweah Health Medical Group. “In early September, we were informed by leaders of Visalia Medical Clinic, our exclusive medical group partner to the Kaweah Health Medical Group, a California 1206(l) medical founda
Valley Voice •

DA gets more time to respond to hospital leaders' bias claims

After an hour-long hearing in the Tulare County Superior Court’s Juvenile Division, the Tulare County District Attorney’s office earned slightly more time to respond to claims by three former Tulare hospital leaders who say they are being unfairly prosecuted. The trio are specifically seeking the recusal of District Attorney Tim Ward and the entire Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, based on allegations that Ward was friends with the lead defendant before allegedly following shifting pol
Valley Voice •

Attorneys for former Tulare hospital leaders accuse DA Ward of biased prosecution

The Tulare County District Attorney’s office may be forced to recuse itself from the long and winding cases against three former Tulare hospital leaders if the attorneys’ claims of bias against District Attorney Tim Ward hold up in court. Attorneys representing Dr. Yorai ‘Benny’ Benzeevi, Bruce Greene and Alan Germany filed a motion on Tuesday that, if approved by Tulare County Superior Court Judge Michael Sheltzer, would force the recusal of the District Attorney’s office. The motion alleges
Valley Voice •

Valley Voice, area news outlets honored in California Journalism Awards

The Valley Voice was recognized with two awards in this year’s California Journalism Awards, which judged the Voice against similarly-sized California News Publishers Association members. Catherine Doe, the Voice’s publisher, received both awards. The Voice’s entries were judged in the digital category for outlets with 100,000 or less monthly unique visitors. Doe received second place in ‘Coverage of Newsom Recall Election’ for the article “Tulare County’s republicans react to recall,” and fif
Valley Voice •

Bail for former Tulare hospital CEO to be reduced

Dr. Yorai ‘Benny’ Benzeevi is set to have his bail reduced to $1m, a sharp drop from the nearly $4.1m it was set at in 2020, after a tentative ruling on Friday by Tulare County Judge Michael Sheltzer. Benzeevi is facing a long list of charges relating to his time as CEO of Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA), the company which managed the Tulare Regional Medical Center from 2014 to 2017 and the Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine, Calif. between 2016 and 2017. He could face up to 40 years
Valley Voice •

Former Tulare hospital CEO to ask for bail reduction

Dr. Yorai “Benny” Benzeevi will ask a Tulare County court on March 18 to reduce his $4.1m bail to zero, according to filings written by his attorneys. Separately, officials with the Tulare County District Attorney’s office moved to freeze bank accounts in his name in Israel. In August of 2020, Benzeevi was charged with a litany of crimes relating to actions taken while managing Tulare Regional Medical Center; in December 2020, Benzeevi was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after vol
Valley Voice •

Milan Institute, KMPH station owner set for Tulare County court battle

The Milan Institute of Cosmetology and television giant Sinclair Broadcasting – which owns four TV stations in Fresno and Bakersfield – are gearing up for a legal battle in the Tulare County Superior Court. Sinclair claims the school owes it money – and Milan claims that Sinclair purposefully smeared its reputation in order to get that money. Sinclair filed its lawsuit in May 2021 over $54,812.84 allegedly owed for advertising. The company owns Fresno’s FOX 26 and CW 59 alongside Bakersfield’s
Valley Voice •

Attorney disqualified from Tulare Local Healthcare District case; board considering next options

In a potential setback for the Tulare Local Healthcare District, Visalia attorney Mike Lampe was disqualified from representing the district in a Kern County lawsuit against its former law firm, BakerHostetler, its former attorney, Bruce Greene, and some of its past board members. The case was moved to Kern County after Greene and BakerHostetler argued that they would be unable to receive a fair trial in Tulare County. Greene and the firm claim that they will call Lampe as a witness, and that h
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