Almond Blossom dinner on Jan. 14

RIPON - The Ripon Chamber of Commerce is holding their 48th Annual Almond Blossom Kick Off and Tribute Dinner on Thursday, Jan. 14, at the Ripon Community Center, 334 Fourth Street at 6 p.m.

ODDS & ENDS

Manteca regional attractions

Every wonder what attracts people to visit Manteca?

1969: City Council raises garbage collection rates to $2.25 per month

CORRECTION

The Manteca Unified Student Trust, or MUST, will be conducting its team basketball clinic this Saturday at Manteca High's Winter Gymnasium.

McKinley Ave: Where will it go?

McKinley Avenue could one day define the outer reaches of southwest Manteca and how that part of the community develops.

Let it snow, let it snow in Manteca!

Valley commuters on their way to work in the Bay Area early Monday morning were treated to a rare visual treat in the Altamont: white chocolate hills that turned the normally brown and green vista into a winter wonderland magic.

Fire district flap flares up over half hour of OT pay

LATHROP – It may not turn out to be as expensive and as laboriously long as the City of Lathrop's Matt Browne case, but a personnel issue involving the demotion of a 15-year fire captain with the Lathrop-Manteca Fire District is also being reviewed by an administrative law judge.

Turning blight into senior housing

Six months ago, the only shelter that the 1.4-acre parcel wedged between Grant Avenue and the back of Dribbles' Car Wash and Burger King provided was for a homeless encampment amid rubbish and weeds.

1,060 families may go without Christmas meal

Sue Teunissen at this point wouldn't mind at all if the community was able to come forward with just enough money to put hams on the tables of struggling families in Manteca, Lathrop, and Ripon this Christmas.

Delicato Vineyards fine art show entries open on Dec. 26

Delicato Vineyards is holding its 22nd annual Fine Art Show from Saturday, Jan. 16 through Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. All art in this show will be available for sale.

Violent sex offender is registered in SJ County

The Megan's Law Website lists recently released sexual predator Dewayne Michael Smith as a resident of San Joaquin County – not San Francisco, where he was said to be working after a short stop at his parent's mobile home address in Manteca.

Brock Elliott Pancake Slam

The fourth annual Pancake Slam takes place at Brock Elliott School on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 7 to 11 a.m.

MUST planning basketball fundamentals clinic on Dec. 23 at Manteca High

Shane Carpenter knows the importance of fundamentals to the game of basketball.

Holiday Affair set for Dec. 16

Manteca Soroptimists are planning their upcoming 30th Annual Holiday Affair.

SERVING RIPON

Ripon's Harvey Douma, 97, is the ironman of community service.

MUSD-Beijing sister-school venture explored

Three Manteca Unified School District employees could find themselves in Beijing, China, late this month through early July.

Lathrop adds muscle effort to fight weeds

LATHROP – The Lathrop Manteca Fire District offers no breaks when it comes to weed abatement.

McCreath tapped for FC School principal

For Suzanne McCreath, the days of being vice principal of two elementary schools in Manteca Unified will end at the beginning of school in August. That's when she will assume her new post as principal of French Camp Elementary.

Enrolment available for upcoming Manteca Police Junior CSI Academy

Youngsters can learn some of the police procedures on collecting evidence at a crime scene.

Legal costs: Fatal blow?

The front entrance to The Hair Company is blocked off by caution tape.

Store aisles not wide enough

Manteca Feed was like the Toys 'R Us for farmers in Manteca and surrounding areas for more than half a century.

Lawyer creates fear in business community

Paranoia strikes deep

200-year flood threatens 30,000 Manteca, Lathrop, WR area residents

All of Lathrop west of Interstate 5 and east of the San Joaquin River, every dwelling in Weston Ranch as well as southwest Manteca neighborhoods could end up under upwards of 10 feet of water in the event of a major flood rated as a 200-year occurrence.

Manteca may add one police officer, one firefighter

Manteca may expand its public safety force by one police officer and one firefighter during the fiscal year starting July 1.

Non-profit groups get bucks for small bangs

They get the best buck for every small bang they can sell.

Attorneys utilize Google Earth in search for ADA parking lot issues

The top 10 items in demand letters and claims for businesses to watch out for in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that some attorneys are eyeing in their check list for civil suits have been issued by the California Commission on Disability Access.

Cox appears in Las Vegas courtroom

Manteca pastor Robert Cox has maintained his innocence in the murder case of 55-year-old Link Ellingson from the start.

Illegal fireworks already going off

The BOOM! and POW! that pierce the still of the evening, rattling windows and triggering a chorus of howls and car alarms, signal not the start of summer but the fireworks season.

SERIOUS FUN

The Friday Unity Night in the Neighborhood (FUN) Club is again providing the youth with a safe haven on Friday nights this summer.