The Manteca district will now have a union high school and thus takes its place among the progressive cities of the state in educational matters. The vote on the matter at the election held Wednesday stood 544 for the school and 125 against it. The six districts of Manteca, Rustic, Veritas, Calla, Summer Home and Golden West voted practically solid for the school, having 15 voters against it and 502 for it. The three districts of Lathrop, Mossdale and Castle voted practically solid against it, having 100 votes against it and 12 for it.

J. M. Luck, former mayor, will act as master of ceremonies at the dedication of the new Memorial Hall on Yosemite Avenue tonight, and will introduce the speakers and announce the numbers on the program. He will also review the movement which led to the financing and erection of the new hall, which is located on property donated by Mrs. Sara M. Mikesell in memory of her late husband, William M. Mikesell.

The vacancy on the City Council created by the resignation of C. W. Forbes was filled at a special meeting Tuesday afternoon. The new member is Joe Pfister, manager of the Safeway Meat Market and a resident of Manteca for several years. Mr. Pfister was sworn in at the meeting and assumed the commission of parks and streets.

Ordinance 100, establishing a five-man recreation commission in Manteca, passed its final reading at a meeting of the city council Monday night. The recreation commission, composed of five members, will be appointed by the mayor. Three of the members will be selected by the council and the other two will be appointed on recommendation of the elementary and high school boards.

Annexation of the Golden West School site on North Main at Louise Avenue came in for considerable discussion Monday night at the City Council meeting on matters pertaining to sewer and water connections. The 14-acre site, outside the city limits, is in the process of being annexed to the city. The city had requested the school district to pay all the costs of running sewer and water lines to the site, which city engineers estimated will cost around $23,000.

Manteca city councilmen have taken a step to end air pollution of one variety. During their session Monday night, the panel voted 4-1 on Councilman Robert Behrens’s motion to ban smoking from the council chambers and to provide a smoking break “somewhere in the middle” of each meetings’ agenda. Councilman Charles Shaefer, a smoker, cast the lone “no” vote.

“If we can’t correct it, then we are all dumbnuts.” C. P. Mello made that statement after he was told of the long list of procedures it would take to change Manteca’s name. Citing a mistake made some seven decades ago, Mello urged the city council Monday to change the city’s name to Monteca, which means butter in Portuguese. Mello takes exception to Manteca, which means lard in Spanish. “We were never in the pork industry, but always in the dairy business.” City attorney Don Asher put a damper on Mello’s request when he listed the legal procedures involved in re-naming the city.

The passage of Proposition 111 is necessary if the Highway 120 bypass is to be widened to four lanes in this century, Assemblyman Patrick Johnston said Friday. Johnston, along with Mayor Jack Snyder, County Supervisor Evelyn Costa, Manteca Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Pat Keenan and CalTrans District Director Donald MacVicar advocated passage of Propositions 111 and 108 during a morning press conference next to the Airport Way/120 bypass intersection.

Homes may be built in the Califia project, the former Gold Rush City, in West Lathrop before any of the planned major theme parks are started. Califia Development Group is now asking the city of Lathrop to review sections of the 1996 development agreement which specifically mandate that the theme parks be constructed before any residential development is allowed. Califia managing partner Norman Jarrett has informed city officials that this requirement, as well as the lawsuits filed by groups opposed to the project, have been two of the major stumbling blocks in getting the project started.