A 53-year-old Atwater woman will file a lawsuit against the DMV for revoking her license because she's a medical marijuana user.
Her suit seeks to reinstate her license and also affirm that other residents can't lose the right to drive simply because they use medical marijuana, approved by California voters in 1996.
It was a long night for the members of the Merced Union High School District Board of Trustees.
For two hours of the five-hour marathon public meeting, board members heard arguments from all sides on whether to keep or fire BCA Architects, the Fremont firm that has been working on a planned North Merced high school for nearly four years.
Livingston Middle School eighth-grader Izzak Mireles will travel to Washington, D.C., in January to see the inauguration of Barack Obama.
LIVINGSTON -- In a lot of ways, Izzak Mireles is a typical 13-year-old kid. He plays soccer, likes to listen to music, competes in track and cross country, and has a doting mother.
But Izzak is different from most 13-year-olds.
ATWATER -- Wednesday night's special City Council meeting in Atwater was a mixture of politics, emotions and legal explanations.
Nothing like a 15-foot-tall blank canvas to pique the interest of Merced's taggers.
Danny Dunn's neck tattoo reads, "Ladies love outlaws."
A Sacramento man is in the hospital after a Wednesday shooting that Merced police believe happened in the 1200 block of R Street.
A 29-year-old man who died while in Merced police custody succumbed to cardiac arrest brought on by excessive drug use, according to a report from the Merced County Coroner's Office.
Public Meetings
The county just saved itself more than $10,000 Tuesday by rescinding a raise for the county CEO's wife.
The Merced Union High School District is voting today whether to fire the architect who's been working on plans for the new Bellevue Road area high school for more than three years.
With Merced County's unemployment hovering around 12 percent, a lot of people have lost not only their jobs, but also their health insurance.
Money isn’t falling from the sky to the Merced City School District.
Even before announcing a third-quarter loss of more than $54 million this week, County Bank's parent company was under the gun from federal regulators to come up with additional cash to back its operations.
The Board of Supervisors said it voted to approve an ordinance that will let Merced County join the Central Coast Alliance for Health, a County Organized Health System (COHS), in partnership with Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Glen Gates' law office in Fresno has been busy lately. Business has been booming. "The practice has taken off," he said. "The volume has increased tremendously."
WASHINGTON -- Prayers and politics combined Tuesday as Fresno minister Bill Knezovich joined some 170 activists pleading for help with the foreclosure crisis that's stricken the San Joaquin Valley.
A 20-year-old man accused of committing a cold-blooded murder will wait two more weeks for his day in court.
MERCED COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
UC Merced said its chancellor, Steve Kang, Ph.D., has been named as an inductee to the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame.
In the drama of politics, Merced County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Kathleen Crookham wrote a third act in her play to give thousands of dollars to the Merced Theatre.
A broken connection between power lines caused 1,585 residents to go without electricity late Monday and early Tuesday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. spokeswoman Nicole Tam said.
City officials said applications for the G Street BNSF Railroad Undercrossing Citizens Advisory Committee are available online and at the Merced City Clerk's Office.
Public Meetings
For the first time since it was hit by financial turmoil, County Bank's leaders have signaled that the institution may be for sale if new investors can't be found.
A federal bill that would restore water flows and return salmon to the San Joaquin River had some local water districts worried.
Two steps back, one step forward might be the mantra at the county CEO's office these days.
In an effort to spruce up Merced's main entrances, the City Council approved Monday the issuing of $14 million in bonds to pay for major road upgrades.
UC Merced said Paramount Farms donated $250,000 to an endowed scholarship fund to help low-income students from Kern, Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties at the university.
The Merced Multi-Agency Gang Task Force got a $50,000 boost in its fight against gangs, thanks to a federal anti-gang initiative.
An inmate at the John Latorraca Correctional Center may be looking at more time behind bars after Merced County Sheriff's Department investigators said discovery of his handiwork foiled an escape plot.
STOCKTON -- Caltrans said it unveiled an advance warning system to deal with seasonal fog on Interstate 5 and along Highway 120 in Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
The Ghost of Christmas Past is visiting this year, and he's at the layaway counter.
A 26-year-old flight student is dead after a propeller accident Saturday on the runway of Castle Airport.
Lola Barnett technically has been retired since 2003, but she shows no signs of slowing down.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced this month that he would create a commission to study an overhaul of California's tax system.
Sun-Star Executive Editor Mike Tharp said James Burns will become the media company's new sports editor, effective Nov. 24.
A Stockton man was hospitalized with moderate to major injuries Saturday, following a solo motorcycle collision on South Bear Creek Drive, west of Plainsburg Road.
Merced police reported the arrest of three people on suspicion of burglary Saturday, following a vehicle stop on the 1000 block of East Donna Drive.
YOSEMITE VALLEY -- Unpacking his car after a trip last month, Yosemite National Park boss Mike Tollefson chatted with an intimidating visitor lying next to his sidewalk -- a deer with a large rack of antlers.
Merced police responded to 197 calls in shifts Saturday through early Sunday and 187 calls in shifts Friday through early Saturday. The following is a short list of those calls:
Merced County and its cities are eligible for up to $7 million to buy up foreclosed homes and demolish ones that have become eyesores, the state announced Friday.
Merced College could lose up to $2.9 million if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget cuts are passed by state legislators.
A team of Caltrans workers replaces a guardrail on the side of southbound Highway 99 near Buhach Road in Atwater on Friday afternoon.
Wes Unruh woke up last week, convinced there was a wildfire somewhere in the foothills. He and his wife could smell smoke in the air, and they checked online to see where the fire was burning.
The strange death of Karen Gallaher, a UC Merced employee found dead in the back seat of her car earlier this year, may have moved one tiny step closer to resolution.
The Merced City Council said it will consider at its next meeting the composition of a Citizens Advisory Committee for the G Street/BNSF Railroad undercrossing project.
The Merced Rescue Mission expects to feed 5,000 people this year -- and it needs turkeys.
In an economy where up to 85 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year, Amanda DeJager-Friedman has taken a chance.
Copyright © 2008, The Merced Sun Star.
