Archive for November 28th, 2009

MERCED — The assessor has become the assessed. »

Formalized fees to rent sports facilities and a senior center will be reviewed Tuesday by Patterson City Council members. Examples include $320 for a two-day baseball tournament at Patterson's sports complex; $315 for a seven-week basketball program; and $570 for a wedding reception at the Hammon Senior Center. Also Tuesday, the council will consider... »

Modesto took the first step toward lowering development fees last week, moving to form a task force that will look at whether fees charged to builders and businesses are too high. »

'The Wedding Singer' • RATING: *** • WHERE: Rogers Theater, Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I St., Modesto • WHEN: 2 p.m. today • RUNNING TIME: 2½ hours, including an intermission • TICKETS: $45-$89 • INFORMATION: 338-2100 or www.galloarts.org »

Stanislaus County and five of its cities will have a groundbreaking ceremony Dec. 8 marking the beginning of construction for their new animal shelter. Modesto, Ceres, Patterson, Waterford, Hughson and the county are joining to build an $8.2 mil- lion, 33,538-square-foot shelter west of Ceres to replace the crowded, deteriorating 37-year-old pound on Finch... »

For thousands of Valley pets, the recession is a death sentence. Read comments »

One retired Fresno city fire captain receives an annual pension of more than $190,000 -- more than twice a typical captain's salary. Another receives nearly $180,000 a year. Read comments »

The crowds of teenagers and young adults converged early Saturday morning on the small central Fresno home, drawn to a party announced by cell phone text message. Read comments »

Most of the English language was a mystery to Sergey Saluschev when he left Stavropol, Russia, for Fresno in 2005. Read comments »

"Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan and members of CodePINK Women for Peace rolled their protest against the use of drone aircraft in the war in Afghanistan into the San Joaquin Valley on Saturday. Read comments »

I was shocked to see a nearly vacant Melrose shopping district today. Around noon I took my shoes to the Fluevog store to be repaired, expecting to deal with the post-Thanksgiving shopping masses, but parking was easy, the sidewalks were free and the stores I walked by were virtually empty. At first I... »

The father of an American wanted for ecoterrorism attacks in the western United States said Saturday that his son was sentenced to prison in China after pleading guilty to drug charges in that country. »

The U.S. Attorney's Office says a Humboldt County man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for growing large quantities of marijuana and buying several pieces of land for other people to cultivate pot. »

The Sonoma County coroner has identified an elderly couple whose bodies were recovered near Bodega Bay after they failed to return from a Thanksgiving Day crabbing trip. »

The city of Sparks has joined a cooperative agreement to protect an obscure, rocky site featuring more than 200 panels of American Indian petroglyphs. »