Nearly 20 years after they were proposed, plans for the largest housing development in Merced County's history will soon be up for approval.
Dubbed the Villages of Laguna San Luis, the 16,000-home development could eventually house 45,000 people -- or more than half the population of the city of Merced.
Sam Matthews hits a bong for his daily dose of marijuana last summer. Matthews is a medical marijuana patient, one of four in Merced County.
Nearly two years ago, medical marijuana advocate Sam Matthews set out to prove he was on the right side of the law in his battle with the city over his seized marijuana buds.
He was vindicated Monday and awarded $800.
TURLOCK -- Gemperle Farms accused an animal rights group of staging an undercover video that shows employees abusing hens, claiming that the footage was manipulated and workers were coerced.
"We have reviewed the video images claiming to represent our practices, and find the accusations to be a staged, vicious attack on our reputable company," said Gemperle Farms in a statement released Monday.
ATWATER -- Despite the pleas from a handful of business owners, the City Council voted Monday to keep charging the controversial fire inspection fees.
After calls from witnesses, Merced police arrested a woman Saturday who allegedly left her 7-month-old baby alone in a car.
Merced needs more jobs -- that's the rallying cry of politicians and residents alike.
Vandals vented their wrath on Merced's Golden Valley High School over the weekend but most of the damage was cleaned up or repaired before students returned Monday morning. Merced police arrested two 16-year-olds on the school's roof following the incident.
About 300 tons of almond hulls worth $45,000 were destroyed Monday night in a fire of undetermined origin, Battalion Chief Brian Neely of the Merced County Fire Department said.
Incoming college freshmen interested in attending fall semester at UC Merced have returned 1,065 Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) forms to the school -- a move university officials say will boost enrollment this year.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors and the Merced County Planning Commission will host a joint meeting today to discuss the county's ongoing general plan update.
TURLOCK -- On Thursday, Foster Farms Director of Finance Trudy Pauley will be recognized with an award for her support of California State University, Stanislaus, master of business Administration academic programs during the College of Business Administration's Recognition and Awards banquet at the university's student union event center, One University Circle in Turlock.
May 13, 1958
Public meetings
Hundreds of people call the No Homeowner Left Behind hotline each month and speak to one of 20 counselors trained to help families facing foreclosure.
Depending on whom you ask, livestock farms house healthy, contented animals or dirty, little secrets.
HILMAR -- Paper towels, a paintbrush and an old set of sculpting tools sat near two small pie tins filled with plaster of Paris in a kindergarten classroom at Elim Elementary School.
When the car flipped right in front of him, Danny Inacio almost didn't believe what he was seeing.
Though many valley students live with their parents or families while in college, others search each spring for apartments or houses to rent. For many students, finding a low-priced place close to campus is the ultimate goal, according to students, real estate agents and property managers.
Several photos believed to have been taken in the aftermath of the 1945 nuclear attack on Hiroshima may not be so remarkable after all.
EL PORTAL -- I write this story drenched with river water, exhausted and more than a little sore.
Six people were arrested by the Merced Police Department's Gang Violence Suppression Unit on Saturday following a probation search on a residence on the 300 block of West 19th Street.
Merced police are searching for an arsonist who uses Molotov cocktails, following a small house fire Sunday that broke out at a residence on the 1400 block of West 8th Street.
A grass fire burned 16 acres off Baker Drive between Planada and Merced on Saturday as firefighters scrambled to save several homes threatened by the blaze.
Members of the Merced Multi-Agency Gang Task Force made eight arrests Friday, following reports of increased gang activity in Livingston.
Hearing Officer at 8:30 a.m. 2222 M St. Info: 385-7654
Merced police responded to 204 calls in shifts Saturday through early Sunday. The following is a short list of the reports:
Veterans of Foreign Wars post No. 4327 will serve breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday and on the 3rd Saturday of each month thereafter, in the east wing of the Veterans Memorial Building. Some of the proceeds will go to Modesto post no. 3199 to help rebuild the location, which was destroyed by fire in August.
May 12, 1958: It was a wasp-shaped seaplane and it circled the airport for three hours and nobody knew if it would land, crash, or fly away.
Regularly scheduled passenger flights could be taking off from Castle Airport as soon as July.
With gasoline prices over $4 a gallon, the last thing anyone wants to worry about is whether the gas they buy will mess up their vehicle.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday whether to publicly reprimand county auditor Stephen Jones for inappropriately responding to employees' harassment complaints.
The fifth-graders couldn't help but stare in awe as they stepped apprehensively into one of Cruickshank Middle School's many outdoor walkways.
It all started with an otherwise minor reference in a library archive at Stanford University.
LIVINGSTON -- Zack Guettinger's alarm sounds at 3:45 a.m., bringing with it a cruel reminder that he must drag himself out of bed for another three-hour drive to his job in San Ramon.
Kole Upton has watched fuel prices go up and up. The Merced County farmer has also watched prices of his crops -- corn, wheat, almonds, pistachios and cotton -- rise to record highs.
It's Merced County's favorite nut, and it's facing another boom year.
A 24-year-old man is dead after police say he lost a game of Russian roulette in front of his friends early Friday.
Special events
SACRAMENTO -- He denounced it as a political stunt and power play, but was the recall campaign against state Sen. Jeff Denham the best thing to ever happen to his political career?
State Sen. Jeff Denham said he's breathing a sigh of relief now that Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has called off the campaign to oust him from office -- but that doesn't mean Denham's halting his own campaign.
YOSEMITE -- A school outing to Yosemite National Park was cut short Thursday after one school bus rear-ended another on Big Oak Flat Road, about a mile north of El Portal Road.
Alteon Training, a subsidiary of aerospace giant Boeing Co., will launch a $25 million pilot training center at Castle Commerce Center early next year, Merced County officials announced Thursday.
A 74-year-old man suffered a seizure and crashed into an apartment building near the corner of G Street and Yosemite Avenue on Thursday.
There was a whole lotta spittin' going on at the Merced County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
From Brazilian guitar ballads to traditional Chinese songs to operas about Malcolm X, Federico Rojas' compact disc collection could satisfy any musical palette.
In a wide-ranging debate that touched on issues from the foreclosure crisis to health care, candidates vying to fill two open seats on the Merced County Board of Supervisors squared off Thursday night.
LOS BANOS -- Mayor Tommy Jones may be facing a recall on the same ballot that he is seeking re-election in November. On April 28, Los Banos resident Gene Forte filed a notice at City Hall of his intent to circulate a recall petition.
Remember last week when Loose Lips broke the story of District 2 County Board of Supervisors candidate Jim Sanders' radio ads? Unfortunately, we were so excited about our scoop that we missed a glaring factual error. Sanders' ad about open government promises that if elected supervisor, he'll press for "live coverage of the Board of Supervisors meetings." Duh! The supes meetings are already on the telly, as live as Larry King. (Well, maybe better make that Katie Couric.) The meetings have been broadcast on Comcast since 2003, we learned.
SACRAMENTO -- California is more aggressive on addressing climate change than other states, but attitudes in much of its Central Valley seem a world apart.
Copyright © 2007 The Merced Sun Star.
