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They show up for a hot meal and a place to stay. That's the easy part. The bigger challenge is in giving homeless people dignity and a chance to succeed on their own. "It's great to be able to put a full plate of food in front of somebody," said Barbara Detherage, executive director of the Modesto Gospel Mission. "But to be able to give someone the tools they need to get food on their own is the cherry on top of the sundae."
A mother of three stood in the Tuolumne Elementary School cafeteria with her arms crossed, her bottom lip almost quivering and her voice filled with desperation. She's afraid. Her teenage son has been skipping school and hanging out with the neighborhood's bad crowd. She's hoping a program designed to scare students straight will help her child. That's why she waited to speak to Jorge Perez last week after a gang awareness meeting he organized at the school.
Taylor Lentz once hated gymnasiums. "I wasn't comfortable with all that noise," the 17-year-old Beyer High School junior said.
District elections are supposed to change the face of city politics, but the first go-round did little to nudge Modesto in a new direction. Voters rejected the only Latino candidate in a field of seven; turnout was abysmal.
Holiday shoppers will be more careful with what they're buying this year, but if an informal survey Saturday is any indication, they will, indeed, be buying.
Six Stanislaus District boys water polo teams qualified for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 Championships, which tipped off Saturday at Johansen High School.
President Barack Obama says it's now up to the Senate to take the baton from the House and pass a bill aimed at overhauling the nation's health care system.
WATERFORD — Derek McGinnis proudly points to a display of running bibs hung on the wall of his garage.
Why do so many people waste their time writing letters to the editor solely for the purpose of preaching gloom and doom upon our society? What is there to gain with that sad mentality? Our society needs leaders, not whiners. Dogs whine for attention; must we stoop to that level for social progress?
Police in Florida say a graffiti artist who apparently ran out of paint midway through a spray-painted creation left a note to potential critics to explain the unfinished work.
Jim Carrey's Scrooge collected holiday donations from movie fans with his new take on "A Christmas Carol," which took in $31 million to open as the weekend's top movie.