News & Notes

Feeling haunted? Contact The Bee

Is your home haunted? Is there a ghost hiding out with the skeletons in your closet? The Bee is collecting ghost stories, the kind that make the little hairs on your neck stand up. The stories can be old or new, but please keep them local, within The Bee's boundaries of Stanislaus, Merced, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Mariposa and San Joaquin counties. Send your submissions, 150 words or less, to: Roger Hoskins, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352; or e-mail them to rhoskins@modbee.com. Include your name and a daytime phone number where you can be reached.

Arts center builder is facing lawsuit

The primary contractor that built the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto is being sued by a steel company, alleging it is owed $91,000 for its work on the $40 million project. Pacific Coast Steel of San Diego is seeking a final payment from Clark & Sullivan, the company that won the contract to build the arts center in 2003. Page B-2

Yesteryears

50 YEARS AGO: Dr. Morris Kirschen, a Modesto optometrist, developed an instrument for the assessment of color aptitude. The instrument, called the Color-Rator, and how to use it were described for the first time when Kirschen read his original paper describing his invention at the annual meeting of the alumni association of the University of California School of Optometry. The Color-Rator was meant for lay personnel to assess the color aptitude of employees working in color-sensitive jobs.

25 YEARS AGO: The Berkeley Ballet Theatre, a 25-member company, performed in the Orestimba High School gymnasium in Newman. The performances included dances by David Lopes, a Newman native who was the company's resident choreographer.

-- Karen Aiello