Inspectors Manning and Clarghilfrey from the State Vehicle Department, with county traffic officer Priest, dropped into Manteca Tuesday evening without warning and the things they did to automobilists who had neglected to obey the new automobile laws was something to be remembered. Between dark and 10 o’clock about 30 drivers had been stopped and their machines inspected.

After being thwarted from an intended robbery during the early hours Thursday morning, a would-be burglar emptied his revolver at Ralph Martin, proprietor of the West Manteca Service Station and sped away in his car. Martin’s place has been robbed on two or three occasions during the past few years.

John Dinsdale Jr. was elected chairman of the Calla Farm Bureau Center at a meeting Thursday night. He succeeds Benjamin Goodwin, who was chosen vice-president and director-at-large the coming year. Robert Goodwin was re-elected secretary-treasurer.

Interest of parents in the local schools and in their children’s education was well illustrated at the regular meeting of the Manteca Parent-Teacher Association last Thursday night in the high school cottage. More than 130 parents attended the meeting to hear Neil Hafley, superintendent of the Manteca Elementary Schools, discuss “Know Your School--Know Your Child”.

A plaque honoring the late Ed Powers, early day pioneer of Manteca, has been erected by the Manteca Lions Club. The memorial is located in the triangle formed by Yosemite, Pacific and Manteca Avenues. The ground which the memorial is located on formerly belonged to Powers, but is now owned by the Tidewater Southern Railroad.

Speculative fears that there might be a major discrepancy in Manteca Unified School District’s financial condition were dismissed this week by a special fact-finding committee. Panel members, speaking before trustees Monday night, were Harry McPherson, UC-Berkeley; Kenneth Cuttle, California School Boards Association; and James Sutton of the California Teachers Association.

Dreams finally came true for the Manteca High School marching band and other Mantecans yesterday when the bandsmen appeared on national television in the Gimbel’s Thanksgiving Day parade from Philadelphia. The band only appeared on the screen for about 45 seconds, but that was enough to keep them in “incredibly high spirits”, band director Greg Souza said last night in a telephone interview.

By a 6-0 vote, the Manteca Unified School District Board of Education approved the first reading of a dress code aimed at banning attire promoting alcohol, drugs or gang affiliations on school grounds or at school events. Board member Robert Wahl abstained from the vote.

Union Court, a 68-unit apartment complex in Manteca, is being cited by the city for several building code violations. Those violations include leaky roofs, heaters that are not working, cockroach infestations and several health and safety hazards. The situation is so bad for at least one family, whose members include a 7 year-old child, have moved out of their apartment and have since last week been staying alternately with family members at local motels.”Talk about one that’s a problem,” Chief Building Inspector Joe Meath said of the situation at Union Court, formerly named Casa Del Sol Apartments on the corner of South Union and Wawona, across the street from Sequoia Baptist Church.