For Sheree Lustgarten, the newly elected city councilwoman, scars — physical and emotional — of domestic violence and homelessness are something personal.

Omissions relating to Sheree Lustgarten's personal financial history during a hard-fought campaign last fall could cause trouble for the new city councilwoman.

Tim and Diana Walker returned home to Waterford from Russia with their new daughter, Sasha, on Dec. 16, just days before that country shut the door on similar adoptions to the United States. "We were so thankful to have been able to get her home before it all blew up," Diana Walker said Friday.

A demographic portrait of who lives in every Northern San Joaquin Valley hamlet — including several obscure places — now can be drawn, thanks to thousands of statistics recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

To prevent injuries or fatal accidents, police around the region are out in full force, looking for people violating cell phone laws. Through enforcement and education, they hope to drive down the number of wrecks caused by distracted driving.

Rebecca Furtado put up a Christmas tree this year, but she isn't sure why. The 32-year-old Patterson resident is among the Californians slated to lose their unemployment benefits at the end of December.

An emerging debate over fairness in electricity and irrigation bills might not be getting traction if power hadn't become so expensive. In olden days, power sold by the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts was relatively cheap.

When two Stanislaus County sheriff's deputies recently went to evict a man from his home on the outskirts of Oakdale, they found a note taped to the door. The letter was a red flag for deputy Tom Letras. He and the other deputy needed to get more information about the man inside.

Its name sounds the same and its legal documents are suspiciously similar, but a new Modesto nonprofit group has denied any connection to organizations run by Joe Gibbs or programs operated by the controversial charity formerly called SCAP.

Several days each week, Ramon Alvarez drives his sign-laden minivan to some corner in downtown Modesto.

When Ollie Usher heard Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson publicly pledge to be more generous with gun permits two years ago, he wasn't sure whether the election-season promise was a campaign stunt or a significant policy shift.

An ordinance outlawing homeless campsites is going to the Modesto City Council for possible approval Tuesday. Police would discourage unauthorized camping by citing homeless people.

Seven downtown businesses burned to the ground this weekend, ripping a costly chunk out of the town's economy and putting several dozen people out of work.

Casting director Robert Ulrich and his wife, actress Kim Johnston Ulrich, were welcomed as Hometown Heroes in the sold-out Foster Family Theater of the Gallo Center for the Arts on Saturday night.

A government-funded nonprofit agency has proved profitable for the Modesto couple that runs it. Joe and Denise Gibbs earned more than $1.32 million in four years working for the Stanislaus Community Assistance Project. A federal investigation has been launched into how the city of Modesto spent federal tax dollars.

Another week, another fresh batch of mug shots entered into our gallery of April auto theft suspects in Stanislaus County. The mugshots were taken at the county jail in Modesto.

Law enforcement officials in Stanislaus County say medical marijuana delivery services are nothing but clandestine pot operations hiding behind the state law that protects people using the drug to alleviate chronic afflictions.

The signs of the recession in the valley are everywhere: vacant storefronts along Modesto's McHenry Avenue and an unemployment rate approaching 20 percent. The economic downturn also has struck at one of local governments' most critical revenue sources: sales taxes.

In 2000, Modesto landlord George Apostos Souliotes stood trial for the second time, charged with murdering three tenants. His first trial ended in a mistrial. His second ended with a guilty verdict and a recommendation of life in prison. Now, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals is deciding on a possible third trial.

A flourishing and unregulated industry of pot delivery services is circumventing bans on storefront dispensaries and bringing medical marijuana directly to people's homes, offices and more unconventional locations across the state, records and interviews show.

Candidates running for office in the Northern San Joaquin Valley didn't quite have the cash to steal air time from GOP governor candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner. Nevertheless, the region has a slate of competitive races set for Tuesday.

"This is no time to stand back and complain; this is the time to stand up and be counted," CIA Director Leon Panetta told graduating students at California State University, Stanislaus, periodically urging all Americans to be "citizen soldiers."

One question stands out for many people running for office: Can they walk the walk? Can they walk the miles upon miles it can take for an on-the-ground campaign to succeed?

Area Events

Coming up with $140.7 million to pay for the soon-to-open Gregori High has not been easy for Modesto City Schools.