Local News Section
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Election Preview 2010 - Challenger Camp Critical Of Police Cuts This is the second in a series of articles profiling Oakdale City Council candidates. Five Oakdale residents are running for two council seats, while former council member Pat Paul is once again challenging Oakdale Mayor Farrell Jackson for that position. The election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 2. 
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Oakdale Cowboy Museum Announces 2010 Honorees The Oakdale Cowboy Museum announced the honorees for their 2010 Dinner Auction fundraiser, which will take place on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Rocha’s Valley Enterprises.Special recognition will go to Leo, Jerold and Reg Camarillo, renowned rodeo champions from Oakdale. Posthumously, the Museum will recognize Dave and Vi Ramont, a rodeo and ranching family also from Oakdale.The Camarillo trio moved to Oakdale in the ...
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City Expanding Volunteer Program If you have a couple hours a week to spare and are interested in doing volunteer work, Brea DeRespini has a place for you.DeRespini, the City of Oakdale’s volunteer coordinator, is preparing to expand Oakdale’s stable of volunteers into weekend and evening assignments, and is seeking residents who want to help their community.She currently coordinates volunteers who help out with everything from graffiti ...
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Volunteer Program Assists Seniors Janis Paredes, 75, of Oakdale, likely never imagined that when she hit her golden years she might not be able to function by herself. It’s likely she never thought her grown children might become so caught up in their own lives that they might overlook her needs. And most certainly, Paredes likely never imagined that her final years might be shadowed by the pervasive presence of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Moving On - OPD's Eggener Ready To Retire Oakdale Police Department’s loss will be another’s gain as Patrol Sgt. Michael Eggener, a 23-year law enforcement veteran, turns in his badge as of Aug. 31 and prepares for a career change in the private sector.
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Weekly Farmers Market Wrapping Up Schedule The music will stop, all the farm-fresh produce will be gone, and Oakdale residents who are still looking for a taste of summer will have to wait until next year.
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Election Preview 2010 - Brennan Looking For Another Term This is the first in a series of articles profiling Oakdale City Council candidates. Five Oakdale residents are running for two council seats, while former council member Pat Paul is once again challenging Oakdale Mayor Farrell Jackson for that position. The election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 2. When Oakdale City ...
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Marine Corps Marathon Draws Pair Of Local Runners He’s been running in marathons for several years, but this October will be a little different for Mike Pitassi. |
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City Response Disputes Grand Jury Findings The City of Oakdale disagreed with findings made by the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury in a probe involving Police Chief Marty West, instead supporting the actions of West in a letter sent by City Attorney Tom Hallinan to the presiding judge of the Stanislaus County Superior Court. |
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Powerhouse Failure - OID Board Eyes Recouping Losses The Oakdale Irrigation District’s Board of Directors participated in discussion about recovering insurance funds for a Tri-Dam Project powerhouse failure at the Aug. 17 regular meeting. |
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Council, Hospital Elections Set The slate is set for fall elections for the City of Oakdale and the Oak Valley Hospital District, with newcomers and incumbents alike vying for seats on the city council and hospital board of directors. |
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Fatal Wreck Claims Modesto Man A 43-year-old Modesto man was killed Friday, Aug. 13 when the vehicle he was ejected from landed on top of him in a solo vehicle accident that occurred around 7 p.m. on Orange Blossom Road, west of Lancaster Road between Oakdale and Knights Ferry, said officials with the California Highway Patrol. |
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National Night Out Brings Neighbors Together The annual National Night Out event Tuesday, Aug. 3 brought neighbors together in an atmosphere of family-friendly fun and camaraderie that included food, games, animals, and cars — depending on where you ended up. as there were multiple block parties throughout the city from The Estates on Atlas Road to Bridle Ridge on the west end of town. Brea DeRespini, Community Volunteer Coordinator, called ...
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Weekly Farmers Market Slowly Winding Down Only a few more Thursdays are left for Oakdale residents to enjoy fresh produce, mingle with neighbors, and enjoy a warm summer evening in downtown Oakdale as the city’s Certified Farmers Market ends its season at the end of August.
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Police Chief: Tioga Response Warranted Oakdale Police Chief Marty West told a police dispatcher that sending Oakdale police officers to an unincorporated area of Stanislaus County to assist a relative of Mayor Farrell Jackson might “pay off’ in budget negotiations, according to a recording of the phone call obtained by The Leader. |
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Mormon Battalion Exhibit At Museum When Oakdale resident Denny Hoeh retired from Stanislaus County a few weeks ago, he found himself with some extra time on his hands. A 32-year employee of the county, the former Department of Agriculture manager realized he would now have the time to pass along his love of history to local residents.
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Moving Forward – Hospital Faces Money Crunch As state and federal agencies struggle with what some economists are calling a probable double dip in the economy, local organizations continue to try to meet demands for service while battling reduced revenues. |
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OID, Leaders Find Common Ground A little cooperation could go a long way toward helping meet needs and cut costs. |
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OVHD Shuffles As Election Approaches With four seats up for election this November, the Oak Valley Hospital District Board of Directors held an election of their own at the Wednesday, July 28 board meeting. |
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Le StoryTeller Opens Store Front In Downtown Area EdaMarie Boschetti, owner and creator of Le StoryTeller, knows locked away in everyone’s cache of private memories is a great story waiting to come out — and she’s just the lady to make it happen. Boschetti, a retired Naval accountant who always dreamed of putting her journalistic roots to good use, has found her calling in the creation of customized books for people looking to ...
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Hospital Board Taps Cummins Oakdale fire captain Dan Cummins was selected by the Oak Valley Hospital District Board of Directors to fill the vacant seat formerly held by Stacey Morgan-Foster. Cummins will hold the seat until November, when it will be up for election.
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One Year Later - Family Schedules Memorial Mass For Fallen Oakdale Teen On Aug. 6, 2009, Raul Arellano, Jr., a boy excited about starting the eighth grade, died from complications stemming from a solo bicycle accident. As the anniversary of Arellano’s death draws near, a memorial mass is scheduled on Aug. 5 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 6:30 p.m. for friends and family.
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Local Plans In Motion For National Night Out The war on crime will continue with the annual National Night Out event, which will be held Tuesday, Aug. 3 and the planning process is well under way |
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Chamber, Cowboy Museum, Businesses Honor Heritage Oakdale paid homage to its Western roots with a celebration of all things cowboy and ranching on Saturday, July 24. The day was observed as the National Day of the American Cowboy and included a variety of competition at the Oakdale Saddle Club Rodeo Grounds, in addition to special sidewalk sales and deals at multiple stores around town.
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Fair Changes Impact Oakdale Exhibitors Changes were made to this year’s Stanislaus County Fair, one of them being that the fair’s date was moved to take place sooner in the month since the California State Fair did the same. However, even though the county fair dates were adjusted, there is still overlap with the state fair. In some cases, it worked out for some exhibitors to show at both fairs, but not for all of them.
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Critics Slam City Leaders Local residents packed the Oakdale City Council chambers Monday night, July 19 to question and criticize council members over a recent grand jury report, cuts to the police department, and alleged favoritism within the city.Earlier this month the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury found fault with Oakdale Police Chief Marty West and his actions surrounding the investigation of the arrest of an adult and a juvenile for ... |
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City Fire Q&A On Budgets, Changes With the new fiscal year in full swing, The Oakdale Leader thought it would be prudent to sit down with Oakdale City Fire Chief Michael Botto and find out how the city fire department is weathering the budget crisis and how the changes might affect the community. (Answers may have been edited for content.) What structural changes within the department will be made to ... |
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Communities Rocked By Tragic Loss Four men, known for their deep and abiding friendship that spanned decades, were killed when their boat capsized in heavy surf off Point Reyes National Seashore, Wednesday, July 14 during an annual fishing excursion with a tight-knit group known as the “Oakdale Offshore Fishermen.”Coast Guard crews pulled the bodies of Henry Medrano, 62, of Riverbank, and Melvin Cox, 67, of Imboden, Arkansas (formerly of Riverbank) from the ... |
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Group Seeks To Renew ‘Lost Youth’ Plaque An idea for a plaque to memorialize Oakdale’s “Lost Youth” originated in 1990 by families who had grieved the loss of their own children and wanted to memorialize all the young people in the area who had passed so they would not be forgotten.The plaque lists the names of young people in the Oakdale school district — Oakdale, Valley Home, Knights Ferry, and Waterford areas — who ... |
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Community Blood Drive Scheduled This Month On Friday, July 30 the Oakdale Leader and Riverbank News team up to sponsor the Oakdale Community Blood Drive for Life to be held at the Gene Bianchi Community Center between 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.All registered donors will be treated to fun, live music, complimentary meal, candy from Sconza, event T-shirt to the first 100 donors and drawings for gifts from local merchants all day long. |
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FFA, 4-H Clubs Prepare For Fair Local 4-H and FFA members are washing and grooming their animals, canning fruits, decorating cakes, and working on sewing projects to exhibit at the upcoming Stanislaus County Fair, which runs July 16-25.That’s just to name a few things that the young fair exhibitors are doing to prepare. There’s a lot involved in getting ready for the fair. Along with Oakdale FFA, there are several 4-H clubs — ...
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Hospital District Vote Split On Union Oak Valley Hospital District employees went in two different directions during voting July 8 and 9 regarding seeking union representation from the United Steelworkers. While hospital employees voted 93-37 to join the steelworkers union, employees at the Oak Valley Care Center rejected union representation by a 57-39 vote.“They really went heavy on the anti-union information in the last couple of weeks,” said Bob Gooch, an organizer for ... |
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Jackson, Paul Rematch Possible In November Former Oakdale City Council member and Stanislaus County Supervisor Pat Paul and current Mayor Farrell Jackson have both pulled papers to run for mayor this fall. Two other residents, Bill Camp and John Kanno, have tossed their hat in the ring for two open city council seats.The filing period for the two city council seats and the position of mayor opened July 12. ... |
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Former Mayor Garcia Passes Former Oakdale Mayor Elmo Garcia, 74, died Tuesday, July 6 with his family at his side after a long and courageous battle with cancer.He was born and raised in Oakdale to Pablo and Micaela Garcia. He attended Oakdale schools.By the age of 21, Mr. Garcia was already showing his commitment to the City of Oakdale when he assisted with forming Oakdale’s first Police ...
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OID Vents Delta, Tri-Dam Concerns The Oakdale Irrigation District’s water counsel Tim O’Laughlin spoke to the Board of Directors at the regular July 6 meeting about the status of Delta issues regarding water rights and uncontrolled, unregulated, and possibly illegal diversions there. O’Laughlin’s talk was part of an agenda item about possibly responding to a June 2010 editorial about “Delta attacks” in the San Joaquin Farm Bureau News penned by its Executive Director Bruce Blodgett. |
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Hospital Board Split On Filling Vacant Seat Four Oak Valley Hospital District board members could not come to an agreement to select a replacement to fill the seat of former director Stacy Morgan-Foster, and the decision will go to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors for resolution. |
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Chief, Council - Under Fire For Favoritism Amid allegations of favoritism shown to some city council members, the City of Oakdale and Police Chief Marty West were taken to task by the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury for West’s handling of an explosives case involving an 18-year-old Oakdale High School student last year (See related article on this page.) |
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Holiday Hectic For Region There were no drownings, no major accidents and no fires in the Oakdale area but there was still plenty going on as heavy traffic clogged roadways and police chased down drunk drivers and busted criminals right and left during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
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Civil Grand Jury Faults Police Chief Oakdale Police Chief Marty West has been criticized by the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury for actions he took in May 2009 when an 18-year-old adult and 15-year-old juvenile were arrested by Oakdale police for possessing two homemade devices that utilized dry ice to cause plastic containers to explode. One device was set off in an orchard, and the other was discovered by officers in a park and ... |
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Hospital Union Vote Looms The United Steelworkers Union and the Oak Valley Hospital District have agreed to hold a vote for approximately 300 employees to decide whether they wish to be represented by the union. |
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Alternative Education Buildings Removed An empty lot remains where two portable classrooms had stood together for many years at the Alternative Education location on the corner of Hinkley Avenue and G Street, just west of Oakdale High School. The two portables were approximately 25 years old and were recently removed to make way for three newer relocatables from Oakdale Junior High School, which are no longer needed due to the completion of ... |
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Local Family Participates In Television’s Wife Swap A family who live the lifestyle of 1840s pioneers, including traditional roles for men and women, swapped with an Oakdale family obsessed with modern technology whose mom, Heather Logan, is the breadwinner, on “Wife Swap,” which aired Friday, June 25 on the ABC Television Network.
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Holiday Closures, Fireworks Scheduled The Fourth of July falls on a Sunday this year, which means many locations will also be closed on Monday, July 5 for the holiday observance. All Oakdale city offices will be closed on July 5. There will be no mail delivery that day, banks ad businesses have the option of closing. The Oakdale Leader office will be closed on ...
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Budget Approved, District Faces Deficit The Oakdale Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees approved the 2010-2011 proposed budget at the regular June meeting. Trustee Mike Tozzi was absent. |
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Students Learn By Doing At Art Day Camp In an art studio tucked into the countryside of Oakdale, 12 young art students are learning about various art mediums while developing their self-esteem at an art day camp.
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Budget Woes - City, Police Near Impasse Negotiations remain ongoing but representatives of the Oakdale Police Officers’ Association (OPOA) have revealed that the membership unanimously rejected the city’s last, best and final offer, sending negotiations in the direction of an impasse as the June 30 deadline looms. |
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Districts Join Forces In Fight To Save River It’s not exactly “Jaws” but the predators that lurk in the Stanislaus River unmercifully attack the young. |
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City, County Team Up For Services In an environment of struggling city budgets, the recession, and falling tax revenue, the concept of regionalization is the new buzzword in local government. |
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Clydesdales Returning To The County Fair Fair officials announced that the Budweiser Clydesdales will be returning to the Stanislaus County Fair this summer for the 10-day run. These beautiful Scottish horses will be appearing all 10 days at the 2010 Stanislaus County Fair. The Clydesdales made their first appearance in Turlock at the 2008 Stanislaus County Fair and became a popular attraction for people to watch. ...
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Battle Shaping Up For Mayor’s Post Even though voters recently went to the polls for a primary election, candidates for local races are gearing up for the November election season. |
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