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POETRY CAFÉ DRAWS 75

Wednesday was the Eleventh Annual Poetry Café held at the Ripon Library with the help of the library staff and the Ripon High School English Department in celebration of national Poetry Month – 75 filled the meeting room.

April 20, 2013 | By OLIVIA SHIPHERD Ripon High correspondent | Local Columns


A Marshall Plan to fight Manteca crime

Bruce Lownsbery is by all standards a thoughtful man. He's hardworking and strives to keep an eye on his money including what he entrusts the government to spend on his behalf. He will often pore through tedious government paperwork on city issues before offering a suggestion or his opinion to the Manteca City Council. He isn't overtly emotional and he tries not to let his biases get in the way of a possible solution. You ...

April 20, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


A lost wallet led to snipe hunt in yard

I used to find it amusing when my mom would misplace her wallet. One time we spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out where she laid her wallet after going grocery shopping. For whatever reason, I happened to look in the cupboard where we kept the drinking glasses. I didn't find the wallet but I did find a half gallon of milk. A quick trip to the refrigerator found her wallet – cold cash ...

April 19, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Traffic too fast on Cottage Ave? It’ll get worse

If you think people drive too fast on Cottage Avenue and elsewhere in Manteca, just wait. It's going to get worse. That's because state law dictates Manteca and other cities conduct speed surveys every five years. Posted speed limits – this excludes residential streets, business district streets and school zones that have a prima facie speed limit of 25 mph in California – must comply with speed survey data. Manteca has completed its speed survey ...

April 18, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


RELAY FOR LIFE

On Saturday night, when the sun has set and thousands of tiny lights illuminate the dark of Dino Cunial Field, Kim Bettencourt will whisper softly into a breeze.

April 17, 2013 | James Burns | Local Columns


Paper or plastic may soon drop from vernacular

No one seemed to be happy when the days of Manteca's unlimited garbage came to an end.

April 17, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Feeling overtaxed? General Electric & the Oracle aren’t

The Great American nightmare is over. Well, it is for at least 53.6 percent of us who pay income tax. Everyone else didn't including General Electric. Keep in mind most of the 46.4 percent are retired on Social Security or are too poor. In the case of GE, the corporation makes over $6 billion a year. The Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffet, paid taxes. Rest assured it is not his fair share. Buffet lectures ...

April 16, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


About those grave (marker) robbers

David Massey helped shed some light on one of the area's more intriguing, odd-ball mysteries.

April 15, 2013 | James Burns | Local Columns


Doom & gloom? It’s really a wonderful world

It was a honeymoon with plenty of pain. Three days straight without sleep. Guzzling "horrible tasting" off-brand Asian energy drinks to stay awake. Not leaving your room to eat. Not wanting to go to the bathroom so as not to waste time. She recalls calling her dad Mike in Manteca craving for human contact as she slogged onward. It's the price paid by Lauren Morowit as a Cal Berkeley freshman as she crammed for her ...

April 15, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Candini was part of the Jackie Robinson story

It was the summer of 1951. Sugar Ray Robinson was the middleweight champion of the world, Ben Hogan was victorious at the Masters and the U.S. Open, and Mickey Mantle made his debut in centerfield for the New York Yankees. And in Brooklyn, a journeyman pitcher from a small town in Northern California that nobody from Flatbush – or his teammates from "The City of Brotherly Love" for that matter – had ever heard of ...

April 13, 2013 | Jason Campbell | Local Columns


The inexcusable gestation period for a crosswalk project in Manteca

How long does it take for the City of Manteca to put in a crosswalk? The answer to that question might come this Tuesday, but don't count on it. It's been 25 months since Manteca's elected leaders approved placing a crosswalk across the wide speedway known as Woodward Avenue. It was a decision the council in April of 2011 said they made so kids would have a greater margin of safety going to and from ...

April 13, 2013 | | Local Columns


KICKING FOR A CURE

Justin Coenenberg knew only what he had gathered second-hand – that Riley Simmons was a first-rate 9-year-old.

April 11, 2013 | James Burns | Local Columns


Manteca safety: Here’s 5,000 or so pennies a year for your thoughts

Pennies are rather worthless things when they standalone. They collect like dust bunnies in cars, desks, and jars. Many times we don't even take pennies when getting change for a purchase. Instead we nonchalantly toss them into a container on the counter for someone else to use to complete a transaction. Many of us don't believe it is worth the bother to wrap them in 50 cent rolls and take them to the bank. So ...

April 10, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Teens show how indomitable spirit conquers all

Siblings Weley and Wendy Lin did not speak a word of English when they started school in first grade. Mandarin was the only language they knew. Their parents did not understand English either, so the young girls didn't have the luxury of receiving any help at home with their homework.

April 10, 2013 | Rose Albano-Risso | Local Columns


Call it the ‘close- a-school-&-make- Ripon-Unified- even-better’ plan

It's not every day parents – even if they are educators – suggest to a school board they should close a school especially when all are performing more than decently on state test scores.

April 10, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


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Articles by Section - Local Columns


To the Class of 2013: It’s all about attitude

Dear graduates:

May 18, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Library plans taken out of circulation

Manteca is celebrating an anniversary this year that is one for the books.

May 17, 2013 | | Local Columns


Congress shall make no law . . .

LATHROP – And I wondered why people don't trust the government.

May 16, 2013 | Jason Campbell | Local Columns


Kofa Mountains: A true summer adventure

Ripon – the community – possesses a wealth of heart-inspiring stories in the minds of its many highly respected senior citizens.

May 16, 2013 | Glenn Kahl | Local Columns


Perhaps Manteca should just say no to bonus bucks

It was the white lie of the last decade.

May 16, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Tim Cook is big benefactor of Apple picking

Shame on you, Tim Cook.

May 15, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


EPA mandates: Not too tasty but filling with fiber

The San Joaquin Valley's blessing is its curse.

May 14, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Moms’ greatest gift: Giving their kids the ability to love themselves

Mom didn't die.

May 11, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Soccer field battle offers glimpse of Manteca’s future

Imagine your kid playing on an aging soccer field.

May 09, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Shooting a hole in the debate over gun control

Here's a little nugget for those embroiled in the debate over gun control: Young men kill.

May 09, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Ammo sales & ‘The Obama Effect’

Almost four years ago, I wrote a column entitled "The Obama Effect" in which I described how fear and distrust of our then newly elected President created panic among our citizenry and that there were massive shortages of almost every kind of ammunition imaginable.

May 09, 2013 | By DON MOYER Outdoors Columnist | Local Columns


Safeguards against PG&E style file browsing at Manteca City Hall

Is the plan PG&E proof?

May 08, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Tax Internet sales until virtual cops can protect us

The Internet.

May 07, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


Summer heat and keeping dogs safe

DEAR DIDI: It hasn't been all that hot yet but I noticed when I was walking my English Bulldog the other day he refused to stay on the sidewalk. Can you tell me about temperatures for walks and what I should watch for when I take her in the car? -Worried Mommy in Manteca

May 06, 2013 | By Didi McElroy mycaliforniacanine.com | Local Columns


Taxes you pay go to PG&E & not Headstart

Pundits - and editorial cartoonists - are having a field day over Congress' decision to restore funding for air traffic controllers while letting programs such as Headstart for low-income kids and Meals on Wheels for shut-in senior citizens take federal budget hits.

May 06, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns


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