LAFCo forcing SSJID to spend $1.9M on effort to lower rates

It's been 44 months since the South San Joaquin Irrigation District filed its current application before the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission for permission to sell retail electricity to customers in Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon at rates 15 percent below PG&E prices.

Neighbors worry about French Camp fertilizer

FRENCH CAMP – Helen Carter watched the news on Wednesday night and cringed. A building with flames reaching high into the Texas sky suddenly and violently exploded – blowing the windows out of homes and businesses within a five block radius. While she undoubtedly felt empathy for those killed in the blast, Carter also became immediately concerned about a complex located less than a mile from her rural French Camp home that stores the same ...

Former Manteca resident returns home for concerts

Katie Byrd arrived in Nashville knowing the cross-country move was a Hail Mary. The songstress began dazzling crowds as a child in Missouri, where'd she win multiple talent shows and awards. The former Manteca and Ripon resident even flirted with a career in the country music capital of the world. But she was young – and without many contacts or much of a plan. Byrd returned to Nashville in March of 2012 a stronger, more ...

Magazine cover features Mantecan’s photo

How many ways can you photograph a sunflower? The cover of this issue shows one perspective.

Could West Texas inferno happen here?

LATHROP – The image of a West Texas fertilizer plant exploding Wednesday night startled a nation already on-edge after the terrorist bombing of the Boston Marathon earlier this week.

THAT’S THE TICKET

It takes reserve Manteca Police officer Eugene Estrella less than 30 steps to chase down a purse snatcher while on-duty.

BMX track reopens with Strider track

Municipal staff cut through the red tape to allow the Spreckels Park BMX track to reopen Thursday with the Strider track intact.

GETTING IN SHAPE

He looks like a miniature version of the Hulk, minus, of course, the green skin. Broad shoulders. Big arms. A square jaw. It's hard to imagine Alex Avila, Manteca's traveling personal trainer and a former Sierra High football standout, as a heavy child. But he was. Avila says he was 6 when he first took control of his body, laying the framework for a life in physical fitness. Back then, he had high hopes of ...

Remove ‘bumps’ & BMX track reopens

Removing a series of "bumps" that max out at two feet in height will allow the re-opening of the Spreckels Park BMX track that was chained off Monday by the City of Manteca.

Scholars debate roles of constitution, government

The panel discussion between Mike Winther and Steven Routh was supposed to center on the Second Amendment.

Dairy princess touts benefits of milk

Annalicia Machado-Luis wears a crown and sash and rides atop sleek convertibles, waving and smiling to scores of people from Sacramento to Turlock.

Manteca Garden Tour features 6 gardens

Six residential gardens in Manteca will be showcased in the 2013 Manteca Garden Tour which will be held on Saturday, May 11, the day before Mother's Day.

MOMS fundraiser helps help children in foster care

The Manteca-Lathrop MOMS Club is coming to the aid of the children of the Agape Villages Foster Family of Manteca.

Ripon runner finished ahead of explosions

Armando Ibarra-Espinoza had just arrived at a friend's house in a suburb outside of Boston when his cell phone began to chirp.

City locks kids out of BMX track

Mayor Willie Weatherford believes it is a classic case of making a mountain out of a molehill.

Manteca Police plan checkpoint for DUI on Friday

Drivers beware – police are out to snare drunk drivers Friday night at a DUI checkpoint.

Greg Leland being inducted into Manteca Hall of Fame

Greg Leland - whose dedication to young people has spanned 27 years - is being inducted into the Manteca Hall of Fame.

100th birthday celebration for longtime Manteca resident

Nearly life-long Manteca resident Gilbert Simoni is celebrating his 100th birthday today from noon to 1:30 p.m. at The Commons at Union Ranch.

Daughter: ‘She was still my father on the inside’

Editor's note: First of two parts. In Friday's Bulletin the transgender spouse and non-transgender spouse share their thoughts.

READY TO ROCK OUT

Jim Anderson turned toward "Fingers" on the keyboard and let his legs shake, dipping his left knee as the music reached a crescendo.

LAFCo treating SSJID differently than Lathrop power provider

The request by South San Joaquin Irrigation District to take over a chunk of the PG&E service territory isn't the first rodeo for the San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission.

Veterans laud McNerney efforts on their behalf

LATHROP – The war wounds that Al Alexander suffered during the 13 months that he spent in Korea still plague him to this day.

Firefighters go to bat for dying colleague

Tuesday morning was not about softball.

Community gets taste of top chef creations at Merrill Gardens event

Chef Jose Morales knows how to pick a menu.

What to do with Cottage Avenue?

Councilman Steve DeBrum wants Cottage Avenue made safer between the Highway 99 overpass and Louise Avenue and he doesn't want to spend thousands on a consultant to do so.

Renewable law enhances value of SSJID power by 70%

Dropping power prices may actually make it more feasible for South San Joaquin Irrigation District to leverage Tri-Dam Project receipts to deliver on a promise to reduce power costs by 15 percent assuming they get past the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission.

Running for Boston to raise funds to help

Tracy Crane has organized memorial races, uniting the heavy-hearted in a common cause.

CIGNA Healthcare recognizes DHM as certified bariatric center

Weight-loss patients in Manteca now have a CIGNA Healthcare certified Bariatric Center at Doctors Hospital of Manteca, according to its CEO Nicholas Tejeda.

RELAY FOR LIFE

It wasn't the weather that brought Virginia Zore to California. It wasn't Disneyland or Hollywood or San Francisco or any of the other trappings of The Golden State. It was cancer. It was the Relay for Life. After flying clear across the country to visit friends in Manteca, Zore - who was diagnosed with lung cancer on Oct. 12 – represents the fighting spirit that the event promotes and the tenacity that one person can ...

(Almost) 50 shades of green