Based on state enrollment projections, Stanislaus Countyschool districts likely face at least two more years of tight budgets before their classes start to fill to pre-recession levels and replenish education funding.
Red ink remains on the books, but Modesto City Schools officials say their financial outlook is better than they expected when they adopted their budget.
A 63-year-old Snelling woman was hospitalized Thursday after her Hummer collided with a Merced Irrigation District dump truck, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Cynthia Black stood by a pile of twisted branches, raking out pieces of trash Friday as a groaning water tractor passed by and shot a spray over the dusty ground.
A Snelling man killed Thursday night after he apparently lost control of his car and crashed has been identified as Robert Manriquez, according to the Merced County Coroner's office.
A 51-year-old Snelling woman was arrested on suspicion of spousal abuse after she allegedly knocked over the 74-year-old man she was living with, breaking his hip.
With one bullet, a gunman ended George Tiller's life and the controversial career of an abortion doctor who had been a target for years, killing him as he stood in the foyer of his church Sunday.
Cindy Lashbrook stood in the sunshine at Riverdance Farms, which she runs with Bill Thompson, and supervised fourth- and fifth-graders from the Snelling School as they weeded and rooted native plants along the border of her orchard.
A potentially lucrative crop of pot plants was found during a raid in what officials call a "high-intensity drug-tracking area." Officials said 14,291 marijuana plants, which weighed about 750 pounds, were taken Friday from a remote area near Snelling.
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