Stay-at-home mom & her bundle of joy

Jessica Becker knows what it's like to be there when her daughter wakes up every morning and when she goes to bed every night – relishing in the bundle of joy and energy that 4-year-old Lauren brings to her family.

Fire engine, picnic shelters

What could Manteca do with an extra $1.8 million? Fire Chief Kirk Waters would buy a water tender to fight grass fires plus purchase a new fire engine. Mark Hall of the Parks & Recreation Department would build new picnic shelters for Lincoln and Northgate parks and toss in a new restroom facility at Northgate. Police Chief Nick Obligacion would purchase new patrol units and pay for additional officer training. Those were all in response ...

6-year-old dies following bathtub mishap

Charlie Jayne Crandall Davis was a happy 6-year-old who wore red-framed glasses, loved to dance and refused to be defined by Down's Syndrome.

Council chambers work: $787K

It cost just under $30,000 in 1924 to build Manteca's original brick two-story city hall that still stands across from the downtown Library Park.

Get ready for 40 mph speed limit on Cottage

The speed limit on Cottage Avenue is going to go up by a third. That's because state law requires cities to set the actual posted speed within 5 mph of how fast 85 percent of the vehicles travel on roads they use radar for the enforcement of speed. The speed limit is currently 30 mph. The posted speed will need to be changed to 40 mph according to city staff based on a citywide speed ...

Jack Miller joins Hall of Fame

Jack Miller - a coach and teacher lauded for his "pay-it-forward attitude" - is being inducted into the Manteca Hall of Fame.

Home is where the travel agent is

When the foreclosure crisis leveled the local economy, June Hum knew she was in for a bad trip.

FUN TIME AHEAD

FUN Club Program Inc. has a new location with more room and amenities. But, according to Rev. Quincy McClain, the message remains the same: "Education, education, education," she said on Friday. McClain is the director for FUN – an acronym for Friday Unity Night in the Neighborhood – for the past six years. The previous five were held at her Southside Christian Church at 314 Locust Ave., Manteca. "Every Friday night after the FUN Club, ...

$2.6M upgrade for Austin/99

Moffat Boulevard between Austin Road and Woodward Avenue will be widened to four lanes under a $2.6 million plan to secure employment centers in the first phase of the 1,050-acre Austin Road Business Park. Ramps at the Austin Road and Highway 99 interchange would be widened including allowing the southbound off ramp to 99 to have two left turn lanes and a right turn lane. There would also be traffic signals at the off ramps. ...

‘Bowling alley’ yard maximizes every inch of space

Robi and Ray Cornelius describe their Del Webb home's back yard as something akin to a two-lane bowling alley. Yet, the garden that they have created in that limited space is nothing close to a "tunnel vision," as Robi Cornelius puts it.

Developer offers city $1.8M

Bonus bucks may start flowing again. Atherton Homes is volunteering to pay $1,068,000 to bolster Manteca police and fire staffing plus contribute $712,000 for the municipal general fund for one-time expenditures as part of a development agreement they are proposing to allow them to build 356 single family homes over the next five years in Southeast Manteca. Bonus bucks is the shorthand name given to the money paid per proposed home to assure sewer allocation ...

STORYBOOK ENDING?

Shelves and stacks of books, some reaching from floor to ceiling, create a labyrinth inside this Main Street store.

Generations facility may open by next summer

LATHROP – A few months ago it was unofficially known as the "teen center."

Cinco de Mayo celebration Sunday at downtown Manteca’s Library Park

Everything from a low rider car show to Mexican bands are part of the free Manteca Cinco de Mayo celebration taking place this Sunday, May 5, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Library Park in downtown Manteca.

There are now 71,164 Mantecans

Manteca has bumped Turlock to become the fifth largest city in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

He’s been a Ford man through & through for 41 years

Michael Shrope had a unique piece of wall art arrive in the mail earlier this week.

T-n-T powers Manteca growth

There was a time when Manteca's leaders dreamed of landing employers in the same genre of PeopleSoft, AT&T and LSI Logic to power the city's economic engine.

JUNIOR CSI ACADEMY

Growing up, April Smith loved to play the role of police officer – collaring the "bad guy" in living-room and neighborhood standoffs.

Scharmann will teach low-income in Las Vegas

Here's a hunch: Bet on Heather Scharmann.

Serving as MRPS queen a Teicheira family tradition

Mabel Teicheira is a mother of two, the grandmother of three, and great-grandmother of nine.

1,619 more Manteca homes?

Get ready for a new McMansion Era in Manteca.

UNITY CAN BE FUN

Youngsters of the Friday Unity Night in the Neighborhood were still getting used to their new digs following the ribbon-cutting event.

Diocese mulls bankruptcy after sexual abuse settlements

By ROSE ALBANO RISSO

Non-profit benefactors of PG&E embrace rate hike

STOCKTON – Non-profits in and around San Joaquin County are appreciative of the money that San Francisco-based PG&E has given out to them over the years.

SJ County Fair opens 5-day run Wednesday

STOCKTON – The San Joaquin County Fair is back after a brief run this past fall.

Manteca murder mystery

It was a long unsolved missing person's murder "cold case" that covered more than two decades until police were tipped off last month that skeletal evidence was buried in or around Manteca. The grave of a missing Stockton woman is yielding clues to a murder mystery that began with the disappearance of Karen Michelle Sterzl, 36, in December of 1990, from a houseboat on the Tuleburg Levee that she shared in Stockton with Manteca upholstery ...

Twin tunnels: Death knell for Delta farming?

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could become saltier if the state builds the two massive diversion tunnels Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to supply water to the Central Valley and Southern California. And if that occurs, it could lay waste to $560 million of San Joaquin County's annual farm production of $2.2 billion. Water with high salt content ultimately renders soil toxic to Delta farm crops. Once fertile soil laden with salts - either intentionally or ...

Lathrop may go solar to counter PG&E costs

LATHROP - Could hedging power costs end up saving taxpayers a bundle? It all depends upon where electricity costs do over the course of the next three decades. Last week the Lathrop City Council heard a proposal by a solar energy firm that could eventually lead to an overhaul of the way that the municipality pays for its electricity. They would shun the standard PG&E model and go instead with an extensive solar power system ...

MUSD provides free meals to 2,000 plus kids

Zimmerman’s attorney walks tight line in defense in shooting of teen

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - George Zimmerman's lead attorney will be walking a fine line as he tries to convince jurors that his client didn't murder Trayvon Martin: He needs to show why Zimmerman felt threatened by the African-American teenager while avoiding the appearance that either he or his client is racist.