News & Notes

Out & About

Three things to do this weekend, plus Free Fun:

1

Have some good, clean fun at a benefit for the clean-and-sober Alano Club with the Vintage Blues Band. Today, 8 to 11 p.m. Alano Club, 1660 Herndon Road, Ceres. $3 for singles, $5 a couple. 538-7369.

2

Catch the Grammy-winning a cappella sound of Sweet Honey In the Rock, a collective of five black women and a sign language interpreter who sing a mix of blues, spirituals, rap, reggae, jazz and more. Sunday, 3 p.m. Mary Stuart Rogers Theater, Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I St., Modesto. $18 to $35. 338-2100.

3

See the Alfred Hitchcock suspense classic

"Rear Window," with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, as part of the Modesto Film Society's ongoing season. Sunday, 3:30 p.m. State Theatre, 1307 J St., Modesto. $8. 527-4697.

FREE FUN: Enjoy

A Children's Festival, part of the Stanislaus Association for the Education of Young Children's Week of the Young Child festivities with the Voices 4 Children Child Development Club. Activities, games and more for the family. Today, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. California State University, Stanislaus, 1 University Circle, Turlock. 495-6597.

-- Marijke Rowland

Tuolumne County forest fire planned

It might get a little smoky in Tuolumne County starting Tuesday. The U.S. Forest Service will conduct a burn about five miles northwest of Strawberry. The plan is to burn 1,570 acres with a goal of reducing the amount of fuel to decrease the chance of a major forest fire, the Forest Service announced. The burn is expected to last two days.

Nuts raise money

Tuesday is United Cerebral Palsy Night at the Modesto Nuts game, when the home team will take on the Lancaster Jethawks at 7 p.m. at John Thurman field. The local United Cerebral Palsy group is selling general admission tickets. The $5 tickets can be exchanged for any regularly scheduled game this year and can be obtained by calling 577-2122.

Yesteryears

50 YEARS AGO: Construction was to begin within three months on the first unit of what developers said was a proposed $1 million shopping center on a 10-acre site at the northwest corner of Coffee Road and Orangeburg Avenue. The first building would be a food market with 15,000 square feet of floor space.

25 YEARS AGO: A chemical waste spill from an overturned tanker at Carpenter Road and Maze Boulevard in west Modesto disrupted the area for most of the day. Chemical specialists were called in for the cleanup, and 500 area residents were evacuated from their homes.

-- Karen Aiello