Pentathlon athletes bring home top honors

Denair Middle School seventh-grade students were big winners at The Stanislaus County Academic Pentathlon, held last Saturday in Modesto. The Pentathlon is a one-day, five-event competition for county seventh and eighth grade students. After weeks of coaching, studying and preparation, students gather and are tested on their knowledge in literature, math, science, social science, speech and essay writing. Other local seventh grade winners included Sarah Reedy (TJHS- silver ...

First grader raises money for Japan tsunami victims

Marissa Reyes, a first grader at Medeiros Elementary in Turlock, proves that you can never be too young to care about the world.

Math wiz

Alexander Aliaga, an eighth grader at Turlock Junior High School, took home the top spot in mathematics at the Stanislaus County Office of Education Academic Pentathlon last weekend. Aliaga competed in the "Honors" division for students who have a grade point average of 3.75 to 4.0. He answered questions for algebra 1 and geometry to earn his math title. He also took home a third place finish for ...

Musical partnership

Students from Dutcher and Turlock Junior High schools teamed up to perform in front of a nearly sold out crowd at Pitman High School during the District Music Festival on Tuesday. More than 720 students throughout Turlock Unified School District will participate in the festival, which spans four shows in four nights this week.

Student overcomes loss of teacher, friend

For most high school seniors the start of their final year on campus is a time of excitement and determination for meeting their goal of graduation. For Denair High School senior Leina Mansilla the start of her senior year was a time of tragedy and confusion.

Cooking up a win

For Turlock High School, last year's Iron Chef loss to cross-town rival Pitman High was a bitter pill to swallow. This year, however, the Bulldogs took the lion's share of points and emerged the winner of the second annual Iron Chef Turlock, held Saturday evening at the Assyrian-American Civic Club.

Homeless prepare for shelter closures, options available

About 15 months ago Turlock resident Eddie Lopez was staying at the We Care Cold Weather Shelter in downtown Turlock. Before the shelter opened he found himself with no where to stay and he was forced to spend several weeks sleeping on the streets with nothing more than a blanket.

Memo resurrects flag flap

An internal memorandum from Denair Unified School District Superintendent Edward Parraz to district staff recants the entire course of events that took place last Veteran's Day when Denair Middle School student Cody Alicea removed a United States flag from his bike, claiming it was done at his mother's insistence.

Joining Uncle Sam’s team

Three plus years ago when I left the Navy, I remember thinking "I will never tell anyone to join the military." I thought the only thing I learned from my five years in the Navy was that I could accomplish a lot without having to deal with the rigors of military life.

Keyes girl knows keys to success start with education, commitment

At 11 years old MacKylah Miles has seen and overcome many obstacles in her life.

Egg farmers ask to join JS West in lawsuit

The Association of California Egg Farmers (ACEF), an industry association that represents 70 percent of California's egg farmers, filed an application to join JS West, a Modesto-based egg farming company, in a lawsuit against the State of California and the Humane Society of the United States.

eCademy ready for state approval

Pending state approval, the eCademy at Crane charter school will open by the start of next school year for students in grade K-12.

Local students earn ag scholarships

The future of agricultural education is strong thanks to 11 local college-bound students who intend to keep their talents in the ag community for the foreseeable future.

Pitman student overcomes language, cultural barriers to excel

Pitman senior Ziti Qin, 17, proves that where there's a will, there's a way.

Wakefield siblings learned fairness in the home

March Character Counts Profile: Fairness

Can Tree gearing up for season of giving

As the season of giving arrives in the coming weeks the Turlock Christmas Can Tree Project begins its quest to help feed thousands of needy area citizens over the holidays. Can Tree is part of a three pronged approach to fighting hunger during the holidays, which includes the Salvation Army and Turlock Together. Since 1982 local realtor groups volunteer their time and talents to hold annual fundraising efforts to raise money for ...

2012 fair kicks off with a mob

Crane Park residents cry foul on proposed bocce ball court

Crane Park resident Dan Palmquist says living across the street from Turlock's most-used recreation area is like coming home after a hard week of work to see and hear a party that lasts all weekend, every weekend - only he is never invited to it. Another recreational amenity, a proposed bocce ball court, he says, would only make that on-going party bigger. The City of Turlock Parks and Recreation Commission voted to oppose ...

UC Merced continues commitment to increase first-generation college students

When the University of California, Merced campus opened in 2005 it was supposed to be the beginning of a new era of access to higher educational opportunities for San Joaquin Valley students. In 1995, the University of California Board of Regents specifically selected Merced because it was in the heart of the state's largest and most populous region without its own UC campus - which hindered opportunities for residents and left a need for ...

Turlock, Hilmar receive Cal Trans grant to improve pedestrian safety around schools

The State of California Department of Transportation announced that Turlock will be receiving a nearly $320,000 grant through the Safe Routes to School Program for pedestrian safety construction in front of Turlock Junior High. Funding is part of a $48.5 million statewide effort of 139 projects aimed at increasing safety and helping to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities among children in grades K-12 who walk and bicycle to school. City ...

Livingston celebrates

The Livingston 4th of July Celebration kicked off on Friday, extending the Valley's Independence Day festivities. The event continues Saturday from 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. On Sunday, the Livingston Sweet Potato Festival returns for the first time in 15 years. Visitors can expect everything from sweet potato pie to fries from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday's events will feature the carnival, more talent show acts, a car show, live bands including ...

All things dairy

Dairy parents steaming over fair changes

Tempers are flaring among some 4-H and FFA dairy parents over what they say is a major scheduling debacle by the Stanislaus County Fair. For nearly four decades the county fair has held dairy cow judging, showings and sales from the first day the fair opens to the public to the last. But this year the fair changed the schedule and the vast majority of at least 300 dairy cows will only be ...

Horsing around at the county fair

Hundreds of 4-H and FFA youth put their skills to the test Tuesday at the Showmanship and Western horse competitions held at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds. Tuesday's competitions were just two of the events held during this week's pre-fair horse events. "Horse shows are a great part of Fair," said Laura Moore, exhibits manager. "We hope everyone comes out to see the spectacular events." Pre-fair horse events continue Wednesday with 4-H/FFA ...

Turlock Sikh Temple holds first parade

The world comes to Turlock

This summer more than 200 young adult Catholics from around the globe will converge on Turlock for the 2012 Young Adult Teams Of Our Lady International Meeting, which will be held at California State University, Stanislaus in July. YATOL is an international young adult Catholic movement built on the principle of youth serving youth, which began in1975 in France and is now headquartered in Seville, Spain. YATOL is for young adults who are ...

Turlock dad, daughter recovering well after kidney transplant

This Father's Day Turlock resident Les Crutcher will receive the greatest gift he could ever receive - a simple day with his family. On May 1, Les donated one of his kidneys to his 5-year-old daughter Isabella, who had suffered from acute kidney failure after she ingested the E. coli bacteria strain, resulting in a kidney infection. Les and Isabella recovered at a remarkable speed, and ...

City permit required for all garage sales

Before putting out one box of knick-knacks or rack of clothing onto their front yard on Tuesday, the Cotton family obtained a permit from the City of Turlock to hold a small garage sale. The Cotton family was one of only about a dozen homes that obtained the mandatory $15 permit for that particular day. While the Cottons followed the city ordinance pertaining to yard sales, not all do. In just a mile radius ...

Hilmar graduates its centennial class

Hilmar High School celebrated its 100th commencement Thursday night at McSweeney Field. After the last high school diploma was handed out a massive fireworks display lit up the night sky as a flashing "Class of 2012 100 Years" sign made the night's event one to remember.

KTL educator retires after 40 years

When Keyes to Learning Principal Lee Ann Stangl launched one of the state's first charter schools in 1995 there was a lot of resistance to the idea, but she remained steadfast to her belief that parents and students wanted a choice in education - something that was not readily available at the time. Choice in education is now at the forefront in national news and Stangl was diligently working behind the scenes in the ...