The greatest tragedy in the history of Manteca took place Wednesday night about 10:30 when F. S. Stith shot and instantly killed his son-in-law, Louis LaSarge. The shooting was the outcome of family troubles, the wife of the murdered man being the daughter of the man who killed him. As soon as the shooting occurred, Stith walked to Marshal F. M. Roundtree’s office and surrendered.

E. Powers, S. L. Steele, Frank Jardine and Geo. D. Murphy were among those from Manteca taking rides in the Standard Oil Company’s big twelve-passenger airplane at the Stockton Airport Monday afternoon. They were the guests of Roy Briggs, agent for the Manteca district of the Standard Oil Company.

Chief of Police Tom Brockman, Officer Howard Summers and Constable J. A. Brashear are attending the school being conducted in Modesto by the Federal Bureau of Investigation every night for two weeks. Local officers are attending only the sessions when subjects of particular interest to their work are being discussed.

The twelve bids opened by the Manteca Elementary School board of trustees Friday night for the construction of a one-story school building on West Yosemite Avenue were rejected because of an irregularity in bidding procedure. The forms supplied the contractors by the architects did not contain a provision whereby a single bid could be submitted for the construction of both the eight-classroom Yosemite School and four additional rooms at Lindbergh School.

An ordinance setting the fees for connections to the outfall sewer line and for sewage connections inside the city limits was given its first airing at Monday night’s council meeting. A base rate of $50 for each private dwelling was pretty well accepted as a fair rate, with $100 for duplexes and $150 for a triplex. Unit charges would decrease after five units.

A stack of pending work, mostly with the upcoming budget, awaits incoming City Manager Donald Weidner when he assumes his office duties Friday. The following Monday night, August 4, Weidner will face his first public city council meeting.

Lathrop Municipal Advisory Council moved a step nearer reality Wednesday evening when an ad hoc committee of community leaders met to further plan for its formation. The meeting was chaired by Rev. Apolinar Sangalang. Such a council, after it is established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, would become a forum for a rapidly growing rural community.

California’s Office of the Attorney General gave its official authorization Thursday for CalTrans to install a divider on the Highway 120 _bypass. The state will spend about $1.5 million on the project. CalTrans workers will kick into action Tuesday or Wednesday to place construction warning signs on the highway, which is expected to take about three days.

Production homes surpassing 4,000 square feet are going on the market in Manteca in the next few weeks. Atherton-Kirk is launching sales of the Aster tentatively August 15 at Woodward Park south of the Highway 120 Bypass. The price for the base plan of 3,596 square feet hasn’t been set yet but director of sales Kathy Hollenbeck expects the models to start above the $250,000 mark.