Maegan Letras of Ceres is among a key contingent of fans for the book/movie franchise: women in their 30s and 40s captivated by the fierce romanticism of Stephanie Meyer's tale of a handsome, chivalrous teen vampire, Edward Cullen, and the awkward girl he loves, Bella Swan.

Bring your résumé and a smile to the Modesto Employment Development Department Workforce Winter Job Fair today.

It may seem a bit early for Christmas lights, but Will Solymanbeyk and Wendy Wong started decking out their Modesto home Sunday to get ready for a big Thanksgiving weekend debut.

Maybe it was a pudding that didn't jell and a turkey full of the internal organs you forgot to remove.

Modesto City Schools Associate Superintendent Daisy Lee will leave the district in January to take over as superintendent of the 2,400-student Galt Union High School District.

Get out your umbrellas. Forecasters say residents of Modesto and Stanislaus County should expect rain showers, which began around 3:30 this afternoon, to continue this evening. The rain should ease up after midnight and give way to mostly sunny conditions during the day Saturday.

People interested in maintenance plans on Hetch Hetchy water pipes across the San Joaquin Valley are invited to comment by Monday.

A pit bull wandering loose next to G Street in Merced this week sparked a few calls to the Merced Police Department's dispatch line.

WASHINGTON — A 2,074-page health care bill unveiled in the Senate this week omits funding for proposed medical schools at the University of California at Merced and other institutions.

Modesto Junior College's chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society will offer a 2009-10 Honors Seminar Series of DVD lectures entitled "The Paradox of Affluence: Choices, Challenges and Consequences" featuring nationally known speakers.

75 YEARS AGO: A runoff election was scheduled in the Riverbank township with the hope of breaking a deadlock between Robert H. Adams and Lester M. Corporan for the office of constable. In the general election, each received 247 votes.

We want to make sure the information in this paper is accurate. Please call 578-2330 to bring mistakes to our attention, so we may correct them.

Three Stanislaus County Superior Court judges busted a few myths about the legal system for students at Enochs High School on Wednesday. Judges Ricardo Córdova, Dawna Reeves and Nan Jacobs talked with students about their rights and the consequences of activities such as spray painting buildings.

Most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in state history. Modesto City Schools, the county's largest district with nearly 30,000 students enrolled, retained the 20-to-1 ratios this school year

Nearly one in six school children in Stanislaus County is living in poverty, U.S. Census Bureau statistics released Wednesday show.

If the city can take in enough revenue from green fees, it won't have to consider closing the nine-hole Muni golf course, said Julie Hannon, director of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods.

Five-year-old Ellen O'Neill didn't suffer permanent injury after she was given the wrong medication at the Walgreen Drug Store at Hatch Road and Central Avenue in Ceres, said Wilma O'Neill, her mother.

WASHINGTON -- Central Valley fire departments could pump more money under a revised $11 billion grant program approved Wednesday by the House of Representatives.

Emergency responders practiced for disaster Wednesday at a dramatic training session centered on the Modesto Airport. The scenario was based on a plane crashing shortly after take-off from the airport. It featured screaming and disoriented victims, rescue crews tending to injured passengers and fire trucks rolling down Modesto’s Tioga Drive.

SONORA -- Visitors to the Stanislaus National Forest soon could find out what new limits will be placed on motorized travel.

A Southern California assemblyman whose financial exchanges with Central Valley Republican fund-raising groups fell under a state investigation returned $31,000 to the Stanislaus County Republican Central Committee this week.

MERCED -- After being closed more than two years, Evergreen Funeral Home and Memorial Park is back in business.

MODESTO

Connecting Stanislaus, a group promoting technology access, will celebrate its 10th anniversary from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Friday at Galaxy Theaters, 2525 Patterson Road, Riverbank.

The Stanislaus National Forest has scheduled meetings to explain its soon-to-be-announced rules for motorized travel:

50 YEARS AGO: Modesto High School sophomore Daniel Church won the Stanislaus County Voice of Democracy broadcast script-writing contest. The script by Daniel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Church, was sent to Bakersfield for the state competition.

Most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in the state's history.

A California Watch survey of the state's 30 largest, K-12 school districts found that class sizes in kindergarten through third grade are increasing beyond 20 in many districts.

How did the program start?

Select any state on the left to see how it compares to California in terms of student-to-teacher ration for public, K-12 schools.

The Second Harvest Food Bank in Manteca is juggling a higher demand for Thanksgiving turkeys even as the donations it typically collects are declining.

People in the market for a used car all are looking for the same vehicle. They all want one that's no more than 3 years old in excellent condition. And if they find it, they're willing to pay a premium.

Malaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working on a vaccine to prevent it. Many could be on the market in five years or less.

The Modesto Irrigation District might need to raise electricity rates at least 3 percent next year, officials said Tuesday. Also Tuesday, the Turlock Irrigation District board approved a budget for 2010 that calls for no power rate hikes.

Modesto City Schools officials are preparing to cut $25 million in spending for the next school year, 10 percent of the district's budget. The extent of those reductions weighed heavily on two dozen managers, teachers, staff and community members at the district's budget advisory committee meeting Tuesday afternoon.

A man was struck in the head with a pipe during an altercation in downtown Modesto on Tuesday afternoon, police reported.

The Stanislaus County Employees' Retirement Association has started to show signs of recovery from the stock market downturn and other problems of the past two years.

A Stanislaus County landowner faces a $405,000 fine because he let too much sediment spill into the Tuolumne River, say water quality regulators.

A Modesto man's unique vehicle — a yellow and purple motorcycle — was the tip that led police to bust him for selling cocaine and possessing methamphetamine. Manuel Pineda, 46, faces nearly 10 years in prison after being convicted of those charges.

Family Christian Center at 1901 W. Rumble Road has a sign posted discouraging people from tagging its property. The church has had problems with graffiti and took this novel approach.

A man was injured after the car he was driving rear-ended another and flipped over on its roof in central Modesto today just after 9 a.m.

The U.S. Supreme Court put the final nail in the coffin of a lawsuit against the city of Patterson this week when it refused to review a lower court decision that struck down the city's affordable housing fees.

Many of the nation's Santas want to be given priority for the vaccine and not just because of those runny-nosed kids. There's also the not-so-little matter of that round belly. Research has suggested that obesity could be a risk factor.

Oakdale police officers will give up their crossing guard duties along F Street on Dec. 18.

Are you unemployed? Have you been looking for work this winter with no success? Please contact Bee staff writer Marijke Rowland and share your story.

MERCED — The brown and white pit bull came into the Merced County animal shelter skinny and unloved.

There's a budget for new buildings at the University of California at Merced — but no money yet.

Stanislaus County

40 YEARS AGO: The Modesto Board of Education changed its dress code to allow girls to wear jeans to school. The revised code said "Long pants, hemmed at the bottom, may be worn by girls."

WASHINGTON — Federal health officials said Tuesday that a variety of popular heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.