Virtually every event or story comes with "what ifs?" What if this or that had happened a bit differently along the way, altering or saving lives or preventing even greater tragedies? Earlier this month, a federal court judge overturned the case against George Apostos Souliotes. He's the Modesto landlord convicted of starting the fire that killed a mother and her two young children on Jan. 15, 1997.

When the DMC Foundation closed a few weeks ago because of financial problems, it left roughly 75 Miller's Place health care clients and 20 people with Alzheimer's disease with no place to spend their days. But as always seems to be the case, there are stories within the story.

Lincoln Ellis is coming home, or within 30 miles of it. Ellis, 60, will become the first president and chief executive officer of the fledgling Modesto Boys & Girls Club, just a half-hour south of Stockton, where he grew up and joined that city's boys club as a ninth-grader in 1967.

With family and doctors at his bedside last Monday, Brandon Dybdahl took his last breath, and the Modesto man's 23-year reign as one of the longest-living heart transplant recipients in history ended in a sea of tears, grief and relief.

Retiring Modesto Junior College instructor Doug Smith says his photography class -- which uses old-school technology like film and a darkroom -- is a favorite among the school's art department students and an art form worth preserving.

For more than an hour Monday, Turlock resident Desiree Silva inched her way toward the barrier near the Boston Marathon’s finish line on the city’s famed Boylston Street.

Over the past 35 years, Gary Brister could only envision and imagine. Brister knew them only from memories prior to Jan. 29, 1978. Because from that day forward until two weeks ago, the Ceres man couldn't see a thing. His world existed in the form of a dense fog, a blur and memories.

Saigon’s fall to North Vietnamese forces in 1975 bothered Craig Johnson deeply. When refugees poured into the United States, the Johnsons opened their home to three of them. The families only recently reunited.

This is one of those stories that involves the usual combination of odds and circumstances but can be told only because of honesty. An Orange County woman's diamond bracelet, the sand dunes at Pismo Beach, a Modesto man's golden find ...

Some of the residents at 1205 Rouse Ave. call their landlord a slumlord. Property owner Steve Arakelian, on the other hand, claims he's the real victim.

With thousands of acres of grazing land being transformed into vineyards and orchards east of Oakdale, other landowners are concerned about the effect it will have on groundwater supplies.

To most of us, the radio dial represents a favorite station here, music that annoys you beyond belief there, or chatter in a language you don't understand.

Some crimes involve details so strange they are difficult to forget. The case involving Russell David Baxter is one of those.

Last week, Modesto Irrigation District ditch tender Jett Hoag came across something he just doesn't see every day when cleaning out canal grates: four packs of California Lottery scratchers game cards.

In November 2011, Modesto's DMC Foundation nearly closed its Miller's Place adult day health care and Alzheimer's day care programs because the state considered eliminating the funding. Now, the money's there, but the inability to get to it in a timely fashion leaves the nonprofit facing possible closure.