Stanislaus County News

A 17-year-old male has drowned in the main irrigation canal in Waterford, Ca., according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.

A Modesto man was expected to take the witness stand today to explain the stress he was under during repeated interviews with investigators who didn't believe he had simply panicked and buried the body of a roommate he found dead on the bathroom floor.

The cost for May's commencement at the University of California at Merced - with a keynote address by first lady Michelle Obama - finally has been tallied: $1,047,338.82. Private contributions of more than $185,000 added to $500,000 in interest on a private endowment fund, managed by the UC Office of the President, have helped offset the cost.

The sudden withdrawal of a major utility company from the controversial powerline project has resulted in postponement of the July 9 meeting in Orland between Glenn County officials, the public and Transmission Agency of Northern California.

A Bay Area attorney said Tuesday a lawsuit over a river death is moving ahead. It was in March, 2007, that 13-year-old Jeremy Wilson died while playing with friends in the river just below the Ninth Street Bridge in Modesto.

Stanislaus County has enough cash on hand to ride out the state controller's increasingly likely move to begin issuing IOUs this week in place of payments that support education and social services.

At today's meeting, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to: - Hear a presentation on the TANC high-voltage wires project.

Swine flu, though not the headline-maker it was a few weeks ago, remains a concern.

Two men who were shot in Riverbank on Tuesday night were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, according to Stanislaus County Undersheriff Bill Heyne.

The city of Modesto is taking a tough stand this year by issuing citations to people who are caught using them.

Property taxes will be reduced for nearly 62 percent of Stanislaus County's homeowners this year because house values have plummeted by $3 billion, the county assessor revealed today.

As supervisor of economic crimes for the Modesto police, Sgt. Craig Plante had a little time left in his schedule, so he decided to take a crack at a missing persons case that had been cold for eight years, according to his testimony Monday in Stanislaus County Superior Court.

Eleven Stanislaus County schools are among 92 statewide finalists in the 2009 Governor's Challenge Competition, a contest that promotes increased physical activity and better health among California's youth.

A second suspect in a Turlock attack and carjacking was arrested Friday morning in Fresno.

A Stanislaus County plan that says developers must preserve an equal amount of farmland when they build new homes is unconstitutional, a judge said in a recent ruling.

The Stanislaus County district attorney's office recently announced convictions in the following auto theft cases: * A Modesto man who stopped a stolen car along Highway 99, then fled from California Highway Patrol officers who pulled over to offer assistance, was sentenced to four years in prison for auto theft and evading a peace officer.

Fifty-two hundred screw-ups with public money represents a step in the right direction for Stanislaus County, auditors and county leaders agreed Tuesday.

Stanislaus County supervisors Tuesday unanimously: * Accepted a $157,400 federal stimulus grant that might enable the reopening of senior nutrition centers in Riverbank, Salida, Ceres, Denair, Keyes and Knights Ferry.

Acting United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced today that Lisa Shae Allen, 37, of Modesto, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of mail fraud and admitted that her conduct resulted in a $1.6 million loss to her former employer.

Valley counties differ sharply over renewed congressional efforts to promote Highway 99 into a federal interstate.