Cannella chats at home

Anthony Cannella held a Ceres town hall meeting attended by about 50 people last week and explained his controversial stand against his own party on a number of votes in the state Senate. Cannella, the former Ceres mayor who represents the 12th Senate District, bucked members of the Republican establishment by voting for a reformation of enterprise zones. Cannella said the zones created jobs, especially in the Valley, but that Gov. Jerry Brown ...

Council to vote on skate park move

The decision to relocate the Brandon Koch Memorial Skate Park from its current Starr Avenue location to Donnelly Park has garnered applause, dismay and outcry from the Turlock community.

Denham talks immigration with area residents

All eyes were on U.S Rep Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) as he spoke to members of the community about the need for immigration reform on Tuesday. The meeting, held at the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, was set in an open forum discussion and members of the community were given the opportunity to express their concerns, questions and qualms with the country's immigration issue. Denham, unlike many of his House counterparts, has ...

State declares August Child Support Awareness Month

The month of August is typically associated with cooling temperatures, the start of school and the end of summer vacation. For some state officials, however, the month of August means something a lot more. Last week, the California Department of Child Support Services stated that it would be commemorating the month of August by recognizing California's 51 local child support agencies in counties across the state, ...

City receives award to help first time home buyers

First time home buyers in Turlock could be getting a little help from the state. Last week, the City of Turlock received a $1 million award from the California Department of Housing and Community Development to help low-income first time buyers make their dreams of owning a home a reality. The award comes as a part of the CalHome program. According to City Manager Roy Wasden, Turlock has been a recipient of ...

Denham hopes to get undocumented workers to join armed forces

U.S. Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) wants to make gaining legal status for illegal immigrants easier. His solution? Join the armed forces. On Tuesday, Denham spoke in front of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security regarding his Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training, or ENLIST Act. The bill would allow otherwise qualified undocumented immigrants brought into the United States ...

Mayor's task force to court industry

The Turlock City Council got serious about bringing new businesses to town on Tuesday night by establishing the Mayor's Economic Development Team, a specialized task force designed to create and sustain economic development in the Turlock community.

New program aims to save native fish

The Stanislaus River is under invasion, and Congressman Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) wants to do something about it. So who are these pesky invaders? Non-native fish. Last week, Denham introduced H.R. 270 or the Stanislaus River Native Anadromous Fish Improvement Act, a pilot program to protect California's native salmon and steelhead fish populations from consumption from non native fish, mainly the striped bass. "Through ...

Council waives insurance for road closures; let the block parties continue

Residents wanting to obtain a road closure for future block parties will be able to do it without paying a dime, for now. On Tuesday, the Turlock City Council voted to waive the requirement for insurance for street closures. The requirement for insurance has always been a part of the city code, but city staff was not aware of it until June. According to the Municipal Code, all applicants for street closures must ...

More work in store for fire, police

The city of Turlock's current budget means vacancies at the police and fire departments will remain empty for the foreseeable time, but both agency chiefs are hopeful an allocation for overtime spending will bolster staffing levels and maintain public safety standards. "We're going to do the best we can with what we have," said Turlock Police Chief Rob Jackson. "Our goal is that no one will notice a change in service." Over ...

New task force aims to boost Turlock economy

It's not exactly the Justice League, but it comes close. On Tuesday night, the Turlock City Council will consider establishing the Mayor's Economic Development Team, a specialized task force with the goal to create and sustain economic development in the Turlock community. The purpose of the team will be to identify strategies to make Turlock a stronger economic competitor. According to a city staff report, some of the team's responsibilities will include: monitoring economic trends, ...

City stalls road tax decision

The Turlock City Council has decided to table a proposed road tax for the time being and wait to see what avenue Stanislaus County is going to take on a possible county-wide measure. The Council was scheduled to provide city staff with direction on implementing a special tax initiative for repairing the city's network of roads at Tuesday night's meeting. However, the Council decided to not take any action on the matter after ...

Turlock moves waste to Merced County

Waste from Turlock will be no longer be calling Stanislaus County its home. In a 4-0 decision, the Turlock City Council voted to direct Turlock Scavenger, the city's primary waste management company, to take waste to Merced Regional Waste Authority for the next 120 calendar days in an attempt to reduce costs. The decision to no longer process waste within Stanislaus County comes in light of ...

Block party comes with bigger price tag

Throwing a block party in Turlock just got a lot more expensive. On Tuesday, the Turlock City Council will discuss a recently-enforced policy that requires all street closure applications to have special event insurance. The requirement for insurance has always been a part of the city code, but city staff were not aware of it until June. According to the Municipal Code, all applicants for street closures must provide proof of general liability insurance in ...

New Civil Grand Jury members selected

The 2013-2014 Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury was impaneled Monday with 19 members and four alternates.

Council to tackle food vendor zoning

Tuesday evening marks the last City Council meeting for 2013, with the council taking on a full agenda.

Keyes biorefinery plant against Olsen ethanol bill

Over the past several months, Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto) has been adamantly calling for a reduction in corn-based ethanol requirements contained in the Renewable Fuel Standard – the federal program regulating the minimum volume of renewable fuel that must be contained in transportation fuel sold in the United States. Although Olsen claims that the standards are nearly impossible to achieve while negatively affecting dairies in California, others view the standards included in the ...

Food truck future in downtown looks dismal

Food trucks may not be included in the future of Turlock's downtown, following Thursday's Planning Commission meeting where the general consensus was not in favor of the mobile facilities. During Thursday's meeting, the Planning Commission and City staff held a public workshop on whether or not food trucks should be allowed in the downtown core district, running primarily along Main Street from Palm to Lander. The purpose of the meeting, said planning ...

High Speed Rail faces more setbacks

TID makes progress with Don Pedro Project

The Turlock Irrigation District continues to make significant progress with the Don Pedro Project - a relicensing process that has been moving forward since 2011. Last Tuesday, TID and the Modesto Irrigation District worked together to file their Draft License Application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. According to TID, the DLA provides an opportunity for public review and comment on the application before the two districts file the Final License Application in ...

Economic development task force reviews City’s accomplishments

Sometimes you cannot know where you are going until you know where you have been. This was the mantra of the Mayor's Economic Development Task Force on Tuesday, as the group reviewed the City's accomplishments over the past 10 years to discuss how Turlock might continue moving forward. Noting the economic development plan of 2003, members of the task force highlighted some significant changes that have occurred in Turlock in the span ...

City seeks community input on food trucks