BY JOE CORTEZ AND KRISTINA HACKER
Turlock Journal
MAGNI-FICENT — Turlock resident Greg Magni, the athletic director at Ceres’ Central Valley High School, was honored this past weekend when he was tapped to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for Saturday’s doubleheader against St. Martin’s University (the Warriors swept the twin bill 10-1, 7-1)
The southpaw Magni, who played at CSUS from 1997-2000, still holds the school record for most career appearances (88). He fired a strike — we’re being generous — to former CV standout Alex Solis.
“Alex hit a homer on Friday and I told him, you better hit one for me today,” said Magni. “He told me, ‘I got you, Coach.’”
True to his word, Solis connected on Saturday, a solo-blast in the first inning that followed a two-run shot from Luke Davies.
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BLUE SKIES AHEAD — After several days of heavy rain and gusts, the weather forecast for the coming week is mostly sunny with periods of clouds, and temperatures creeping into the 60s.
“There’s no rain in the forecast until Wednesday,” said Bill Rasch, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “And that would be a light rain. For the most part, it’s sunny skies through next week; nothing really impactful. I’m not even seeing any fog in the forecast for you guys. It’s a pretty tranquil pattern.”
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MORE CIVILITY, PLEASE: Former Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools Tom Changnon started the Choose Civility campaign back in 2010 when school board meetings were becoming more contentious as cuts were made during the Great Recession. The campaign encouraged kindness and during its implementation, students, faculty and staff throughout the county could be seen wearing shirts emblazoned with the initiative’s name. Turlock could do with a little civility right now at its public meetings. The Bright Homes housing project which is featured on page A1 of today’s Journal was brought to the city’s Planning Commission on Feb. 6 before going to the city council for final approval. At that 3 and half hour meeting (yes, longer than the “Avengers: Endgame” movie!) multiple residents spoke during public comment to oppose the proposed housing project. As journalists, we at the Journal are all for freedom of speech. However, towards the end of the public comments, residents were becoming more and more aggressive with their rhetoric and at one point called the developers (who were in the room) “stupid.” There is never a need to call people names during a public meeting. A Return to Civility campaign sounds like a good idea for 2025 — right, Mayor Bublak?
Also during this meeting, more than a couple of neighboring residents asked why the property had to be developed at all as a beloved strawberry field and fruit stand has been occupying the land for decades. This piece of property is located off one of Turlock’s main arterial roadways — Monte Vista Avenue. It is bordered by two housing subdivisions, across the street from a third and will soon be across the street from a large apartment complex. There is a housing shortage in Turlock, Stanislaus County and the state of California. Did the residents of a housing subdivision located next to other housing subdivisions and a large piece of undeveloped land think that the strawberry field would be the last urban agricultural space in the city? Infill — developing land that is already within a city’s limits — is considered a positive thing for government, agricultural advocates and environmentalists. The piece of land is surrounded by development and within the city’s existing utilities and emergency services spheres. There is no need to extend water and sewer lines outside of the city or bulldoze over acres of almond orchards to build much-needed new housing.
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NOT JUST FOR ROM-COMS: In the movie “Christian Mingle,” which was revisited in Wednesday’s Turlock Journal, the main character lives in an apartment above the clock and watch shop on W. Main Street in Turlock. While Wednesday’s article talked about how “romantic” Turlock is based on the film, the fact that director Corbin Bernsen and his crew looked around town and decided that a second-story Main Street apartment was the most realistic home for the main character needs more attention. Brownstone Equities started the renovation of the second story of the Berg Building, which is where the “Christian Mingle” main character was shown living, but there still hasn’t been anything new with that property. There are hundreds of square feet of space that could be converted into living spaces and other businesses on the second floors of downtown Turlock’s historic buildings. That’s just the thing, though — historic. All of these buildings were constructed before modern housing codes that take into account earthquakes, fires and accessibility. There are ways to get exceptions to some of these building regulations due to historic sites. Hopefully a developer will come to town and make downtown Turlock’s second-story movie magic into reality.
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TRIVIA: Who was the head coach for the Warriors baseball team during Magni’s time wearing red and gold (1997-2000).
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ANSWER: Last time, in preparation for Valentine’s Day, we asked what was the most popular chocolate sold at the See’s Candies store in Turlock. It’s none other than the milk chocolate Bordeaux, a mix of brown sugar covered with milk chocolate and sprinkles.
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LAUGH IT UP — Speaking of Valentine’s Day, Offline Comedy provided a wonderful evening Friday night, featuring a hilarious lineup of comics, and dinner provided by Farm Truck Catering at The Brick on Geer Road. If you haven’t attended an Offline show, we’d highly recommend it. Tonight’s second act of Offline’s weekend lineup, featuring headliner Eddie Pepitone, had to be canceled for slow ticket sales. Come on, Turlock!
