Merced’s top news: Theater’s new season, Vallarta grand opening, school vape arrest

From a new theater season to a long-awaited grocery store opening and an investigation into vape product sales to schoolchildren, here’s a roundup of the biggest news in Merced County this week.

These are the stories Merced Sun-Star readers followed most closely. Here are key takeaways:

• Playhouse Merced announced its 33rd season lineup, featuring “Misery,” “Mean Girls,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Oklahoma!” and “Finding Neverland.” The Playhouse Merced Young Artists Conservatory, with performers ages 8 to 17, has four productions planned for 2026-27, including “The Addams Family” and “Finding Nemo Jr.”
• Vallarta Supermarkets will hold a grand opening celebration on Wednesday, June 10, for its first Merced County location at 851 W. Olive Ave. in the Marketplace at Merced. The first 300 customers will receive a free reusable bag filled with groceries, and five schools and charities will share $7,500 in donations. The 52,000-square-foot store created 175 jobs.
• No Merced County businesses received an unsatisfactory grade in the latest round of health inspections from May 28 to June 3, with 22 of 23 businesses rated “good” and one rated “satisfactory.”
• A 19-year-old, Alexis Valverde, was arrested in Los Banos on charges related to selling cannabis to minors and conspiracy after an investigation into an Instagram account allegedly selling marijuana and nicotine vape products to students as young as third grade.
• Hilmar Cheese Company awarded $41,000 in scholarships to 63 students through its annual program, which has run since 2003 and supports students pursuing agricultural degrees and children of employees and dairy farm families.
• Merced County leaned Republican in Tuesday’s primary for California governor, even though the county has 9% more registered Democrats than Republicans. About 23% of local voters have no stated party affiliation. Democrat Anna Caballero, a state senator representing Merced, topped all vote-getters in the California treasurer race with 31% in Merced County — the lone state race where Republicans did not outperform locally.

This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Merced’s top news: Theater’s new season, Vallarta grand opening, school vape arrest."