Top 15 Stories of 2015: Counting down from 10 to 6

Continuing our countdown of the top news stories of 2015 in Merced County, we look at the wild success and impressive achievements of some of our best student athletes and brutal violence that gained national attention.

The list was compiled by the Merced Sun-Star’s newsroom staff based on several factors, including the stories that were read online the most and the ones most likely to affect county residents in the future. On Tuesday, we looked at stories 15 to 11.

10. Violence affecting Merced County

In August, the Merced Sun-Star released a three-part series that explored the connection between Merced’s growing street violence and residents’ health. The series found that the mental and physical health of victims, their families and even perpetrators were impacted at some level.

The past two years have been some of the bloodiest in Merced County, with more than 60 homicides. Based on the county’s estimated population of 255,793, that is equivalent to 12.51 homicides per 100,000 people. The state average is 4.6 homicides per 100,000 people, according to the California Department of Justice.

Living with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, experts said, affects more than a person’s mental health. Chronic pains are common and the ability to function in society is hindered.

The series was completed as part of a California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship, a program of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

9. Merced High’s Madilyn Nickles plays for Junior National Team

It was quite a summer for Merced High softball star Madilyn Nickles. The Bears senior spent the bulk of her summer traveling across the country while playing for the 2015 Junior Women’s National Softball Team.

The summer culminated with Nickles and her teammates accomplishing their No. 1 goal: a gold medal.

Team USA defeated Japan 8-1 in the championship game of the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation Junior Women’s World Championship in Oklahoma City in August.

“It was a dream come true,” said Nickles, who played shortstop and first base. “That’s what we worked hard for all summer. To step on the podium, receive the gold medal and listen to the national anthem playing … it was an awesome feeling.”

Nickles, who has been named the Sun-Star Softball Player of the Year the past three seasons, hit .400 during the tournament with 10 hits in 25 at-bats. She hit a two-run homer in a 7-0 win over the Czech Republic.

Nickles, 17, was the youngest player on the Junior National Team.

Nickles, who is listed as the No. 2 recruit in the nation by FloSoftball, signed her national letter of intent with UCLA in November. Nickles is the only high school player in the country to be invited to try out for the Team USA’s National Team in January.

8. Two men attack dog with machetes

Merced made national headlines in May when two men tied a dog to a fire hydrant, slashed it with machetes and left it to die.

The stunning cruelty sparked protests from animal rights groups, who rallied on city streets and courtrooms to speak out against the violence.

The animal, a Siberian husky called Lucious, was eventually put down by animal control officers. The men, 46-year-old Myron Patillo and Aaron Carney, 29, attacked the dog on the morning of May 1 at the corner of Austin Avenue and Conestoga Drive in Merced.

Police said Patillo attacked Lucious in retaliation for an incident earlier that same day in which the husky apparently bit a dog owned by Patillo.

Both men eventually pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty.

The attack marked the second high-profile case of the year in Merced County involving extreme violence against a dog.

Anthony Clendenin and his 25-year-old son, Samuel, have pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges in connection with the Jan. 16 death of a German shepherd that entered their backyard.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in February next year.

7. UC Merced celebrates its first decade

The year marked perhaps the two biggest milestones yet for UC Merced, which both reached its 10th anniversary and cleared key hurdles for the next phase in growth.

The 6,685 students enrolled in September were slightly under the earliest projections for the 10th campus in the University of California system. Nonetheless, the research university has sprung up to about 1 million square feet of classrooms, laboratories, offices and student housing.

By all accounts, the university has benefited this rural town and is an economic driver many look toward to brighten the local economic future. The university has also touted its plans for a $1.14 billion expansion, which received a key approval in November from the UC Board of Regents.

The plans, dubbed the 2020 Project, include doubling the campus’s footprint to add housing, classrooms, laboratories and other facilities to accommodate an enrollment of 10,000 students and about 400 permanent employees by 2020.

Officials have said the project is expected to create 10,800 construction jobs in the region and 12,600 statewide. They estimate the work will pour $1.9 billion into the regional economy – $2.4 billion across the state.

6. Third year of 30 or more homicides in Merced County

Violent deaths have plagued Merced County during the past three years, with more than 90 homicides reported during that time.

As of Wednesday, a total of 31 homicides had been reported in the county in 2015, one off the all-time high of 32 set a year earlier. The county could end up matching that record, depending on the outcome of an alleged drunken-driving-related death reported on Monday.

Capt. Bimley West said the death of 21-year-old Jose Paniagua is under review and the suspect, Juan Orejel, could potentially face murder charges. Orejel, the alleged driver in a crash on West Avenue, had a blood-alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit, according to police.

“We’re waiting to hear from the District Attorney’s Office on that case,” West said. “It could be determined to have been a murder or they could determine it was a vehicular homicide. That decision is still under review.”

Merced County reported 30 homicides in 2013, a record at the time, and 32 the following year. Law enforcement officials continue to scramble for solutions while combating low staffing and high turnover in local agencies.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Top 15 Stories of 2015: Counting down from 10 to 6."