There have been several untruthful and foolish stories in circulation during the week about the diphtheria scare which has frightened a lot of parents. The truth is that there has been but one new case in town this week and this is not serious.

Thirty-five new families have moved to Manteca during the past month, it is shown by the water connections which have been made by Water Superintendent F. M. Leventon. There were said to be only a very few vacant houses in town at the present time.

F. H. Whelan represented the City Council as official delegate to the convention of the League of California Cities held in Oakland four days last week. Mayor E. G. Fairbank also attended the final day’s session.

A blaze in a room at the Marion Hotel, believed to have been caused by a lighted cigarette, called out the city firefighting equipment last Thursday morning, but people in the hotel had put out the fire before the firemen arrived.

Building permits totaling $378,530 were issued during the month of September, about $200,000 more than the previous month. This was one of the largest months in history, according the P. H. Thompson, building inspector.

The Manteca High School administration building and Tower - the one-time object of pride for a small community - is being reduced to rubble and a memory this week and next. Destruction of the structure comes more than a year following an early morning fire which caused severe damage and abandonment of use of the structure.

Few land rushes have matched the current demand for farm land in the Manteca-Ripon area. “It’s strictly a seller’s market,” said George Dadasovich of Yosemite Realty. Agricultural land prices have skyrocketed, with open land now selling for about $6,000 an acre.

The Bulletin has received a letter from an attorney for Councilman Al Mezzetti, who contends that his client was libeled by a Bulletin article on August 28, 1989. Mezzetti’s attorney claims that the Bulletin article falsely accused Mezzetti of harassment regarding Barbara Mickelson’s lawsuit against him.

Pumpkins started rolling in earnest in Manteca 25 years ago. That’s when the now defunct Manteca Jaycees gave birth to the first Pumpkin Fair. After a rain delay, the first event attracted just 150 people in Library Park. Over 20,000 people are expected to make their way downtown and to the carnival at Yosemite and Cottage Avenues today and Sunday for the 15th annual version of the Sunrise Kiwanis Manteca Pumpkin Fair.