FR E E TI M E SWEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE – THE TIMES • WEEK OF JANUARY 1, 2015

2014— A YEAR INPICTURES

HERE'S A LOOK BACK AT THE PAST YEAR THROUGH THE LENSES OF TIMES PHOTOGRAPHERS,INCLUDING LYNDA BROMMAGE, JOHN MILLER AND JONATHAN WHITAKER.

Vern Warnke

celebrates as

November election

night results

come in to reveal

he will become

the next Merced

County Sheriff.

TIMES PHOTO BYJONATHAN WHITAKER

TIMES PHOTO BY JOHN MILLERThe first Central Valley Honor Flight to originate at Castle Airport in Atwater returns in late October with great fanfare to honor a group of local World War II

veterans who had a chance to visit Washington, D.C. and their war memorials on display there. SEE MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE B2

TIMES PHOTO BY LYNDA BROMMAGEJamie Hooraert, the first woman to reach the finish line at the first-ever MERCO

Half Marathon in June. Time in at 1:35:19.

TIMES PHOTO BY JONATHAN WHITAKERMing Luke, the new interim conductor of the Merced Symphony, makes his debut

at the Merced Theatre in early November.

THE TOP 14 STORIES OF 2014We hesitate to rank by num-

ber the top stories that we cov-

ered in Merced County this past

year, but we'd like to take a mo-

ment to remember the ones that

immediately stick out in our

minds as we also celebrate the

promise of the New Year 2015.

• Water

Well at least we're talking

about it. The lack of water, or

drought, if you will, brought the

U.S. president to a Los Banos

farm, and prompted emergency

measures from Sacramento.

Farmers complained, some got

into the well drilling business,

the Merced Irrigation District up-

dated policies, and the county

starting thinking of an ordinance

to stop water exports. Politicians

like Congressman Jim Costa

had his hands full as debate

swirled, and State Senator An-

thony Cannella and Assembly-

man Adam Gray buddied up and

pushed a bipartisan state water

bill that includes plans for more

storage. They all won re-election

despite some criticism that this

sort of action to protect the Cen-

tral Valley during dry years

should have happened years

ago.

• New Sheriff

A new era of public safety di-

rection for the entire county is

starting after a void was left in

2014 with the sudden resignation

of Sheriff Mark Pazin for a job at

the statewide level. The race for

a new sheriff that ensued was

ripe with competition and debate

on tough local issues including

gang and drug violence, an un-

acceptable homicide rate, county

jail woes, and gun rights. For the

grand finale, it was Pat Lunney,

a very experienced lawman and

administrator, versus Vern

Warnke, the down-to-earth,

hands-on retired Sheriff's ser-

geant. Warnke appeared to have

stronger support in the county's

rural areas and won the coveted

position to become the county's

top law enforcement official.

See Review, Page B4

B2 THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015 THE TIMES

2014 — A YEAR IN PICTURES

TIMES PHOTO BY JOHN MILLERDespite the struggling local economy and the need for community donations, the commu-

nity of Atwater pulled off one of its biggest Fourth of July celebrations in 2014 with a big

parade, party in the park and a grand finale fireworks demonstration at the Castle Com-

merce Center and Airport.

TIMES PHOTO BY LYNDA BROMMAGEA riveting dance performance in August by students

of MCOE with disabilities. Morgan Boyle with cere-

bral palsy, center stage, brought tears to the eyes of

the audience.

TIMES PHOTO BY JOHN MILLERLe Grand hosted its 86th annual Community Day during the Memorial Day week-

end of late May. The theme was 'History Tells the Story,' celebrating 100 years of

Freedom from the beginning of WWI in 1914 to present day.

TIMES PHOTO BY LYNDA BROMMAGEA happy baby is snuggled in a blanket during the

Breast Feeding Lactation Graduation in August.

TIMES PHOTO BY JOHN MILLERThis wild action shot was taken at the bull riding demonstra-

tion during the Merced Couinty Fair in June.

HILMAR TIMES PHOTO BY STEWART SCHULZEHilmar native Dave Ramos and his mighty machine takes off under a cloudy sky during the 14th annual Hilmar Tractor Pull in July.

TIMES PHOTO BY LYNDA BROMMAGEJules Comeyne, a Vietnam War veteran, volunteered

his time showing visitors into the famed B-52 at the

Castle Air Museum during the month of May.

Merced

leaders

celebrate

the 125th

anniversary

of the city's

incorporation

with a cake

in the form

of the

historic

Merced

Theatre.

TIMES PHOTOBY JONATHANWHITAKER

SEE MORE PHOTOS ON B3

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015 B3THE TIMES

BUSINESS DIRECTORYAIRCONDITIONING

SEE YOURAD HERE

Call 358-5311

2014 — A YEAR IN PICTURES

TIMES PHOTO BY JONATHAN WHITAKERJacquelain “Jackie” Cole, a 72-year-old woman strug-gling with homelessness and living with her belongingsin a downtown Merced alley, came to community atten-tion as the cold days of winter approached in 2014. Whileshe has some Social Security benefits, she says it’s notenough to get into housing. Reportedly, an anonymousdonor was helping Jackie get into a small apartment forthe new year.

TIMES PHOTO BY JONATHAN WHITAKERLocal government leaders break ground on the $52 million "Phase 1A" of the Atwater-Merced Expressway project. The project, which involves the wideningof the San Joaquin Valley's busiest highway, will provide motorists with a safer route to and from Castle Airport Development Center and the University of Cal-ifornia, Merced. Phase 1A of the project will involve construction of the first section of the AME from SR-99 to Green Sands Avenue. It's scheduled to be com-pleted by February 2016.

TIMES PHOTO BY LYNDA BROMMAGEA little girl from the Denisa's School of Dance is thrilled to perform for the audience durning Art Hop thispast summer.

SEE MORE PHOTOS ON B4

• Major Expressway

It seems bigger for Atwater, asMerced is still trying to get a vi-able Campus Parkway plan offthe table. But the Atwater-Merced Expressway (AME) con-struction is really big for theentire region. It will widen High-way 99 and eventually providemotorists with a quick, directroute to and from the CastleCommerce Center and maybeeven U.C. Merced. The $52 mil-lion "Phase 1A" of the projectstarted in 2014 and will extendfrom 99 to Green Sands Avenue.It's scheduled to be completed inFebruary 2016.

• Improved Gateway

The Bradley Overpass inMerced was finally opened inMerced after a few, long years ofCaltrans construction. Also, theHighway 99 expansion near Ar-boleda was also completed. Bothfeature significant traffic andsafety improvements.

• District Elections

Merced's city elections havemade lots of news in the past,but not for the process itself. Ittook the threat of a lawsuit from aLatino civil rights group to get theattention of everybody as the hotsummer started. The MALDEFgroup, and local sympathizers,targeted Merced's "at-large" vot-

ing system for the absence ofLatinos and South Merced resi-dents on the council, especiallyconsidering Latinos make up halfthe population of the city. A set-tlement included a city spon-sored ballot measure to draw up"by-district" elections. Voters ap-proved. Look for the process tomake headlines in 2015.

• Main Street Unity

Fed up may be strong words,but something had to be done,they say. The Merced MainStreet Association formed thisyear to help improve the busi-ness climate in downtownMerced. It's a grassroots organi-zation made up entirely of down-town merchants who are willingto volunteer their time and effortto improve the business climateon and around Main Street. Anytime now, members say, they willcontract with the city to managea big chunk of the "double tax"money downtown merchantspay. They are looking to improvepublic safety, maintain services,and attract shoppers with specialevents.

• Parsons Plan

It's a road expansion ideathat's more than 50 years old andit won't go away despite the factthat many residents living alongthe route don't want it. Little by lit-tle, city planners want to continueon with right-of-way access andtargeting grant money for an-other "north-south corridor" on

Parsons Avenue through town.Well this year, the Merced CityCouncil finally held a specialpublic meeting on the project,and before a packed audience ofpassionate opinions, leaders de-cided to keep the plan on thebooks, albeit with a lower priority.They still have to work on Cam-pus Parkway, you see.

• 125th Anniversary

It was a great party idea fromCity Councilman Mike Murphy,and then former Council memberMary-Michal Rawling joined in.The year 2014 marked the 125thAnniversary of the founding (orincorporation) of the City ofMerced. Leaders, volunteers andresidents came together in for ayear's worth of celebrations in-cluding a birthday cake cere-mony at the Merced Theatre,concerts at Courthouse Park, ahistory exhibit at the CourthouseMuseum, and the return of MercyGulch Days on Main Street.

• Homeless Camps

They're still around. In fact,last year's Homeless Countrecorded an increase in theMerced area. In Los Banos, thenew city manager spent a greatdeal of time last spring working tofind housing for the residents ofa camp on a site destined to bemade into a state courthouse. InMerced, the camp near the AutoPlaza at the railroad tracks near16th Street and Highway 99 wasfinally cleared. But another one

near the Bradley Overpassstarted to grow. Look for the newhomeless numbers for count tobe conducted this January.Meanwhile, advocates continueto push for a designated DayCenter in Merced, and the DARTteam of the Merced Police con-tinue to help move transientsalong and away from downtownbusinesses.

• UC Merced Downtown

Sounds great for Merced fansand downtown businesses ... UCMerced was the top bidder for aplot of land in downtown Mercedthat will likely serve as the site ofa building for staff members, asignificant step forward in thecampus’s 2020 Project, designedto accelerate campus growth.The campus is also working withthe City of Merced to lease officespace in the Parcade Building at18th and M streets that wouldserve as a hub for technologytransfer and entrepreneurialism.

• New Atwater Leadership

Forget about all the city's eco-nomic woes, need for police offi-cers, a controversial new firetruck and fears of bankruptcy.After the November election, At-water has a new mayor, JimPrice, and a couple new CityCouncil members who are ex-pected to usher in a new era offiscal accountability and publicsafety improvements. Maybethey'll help get Castle going too!

• Honor Flight At Castle

Perhaps no other communityevent was more touching thanthe Central Valley Honor Flightthat departed and returned toCastle Airport with dozens oflocal World War II veterans.Thanks to the project and dona-tions, these heroes had a chanceto see their memorial in Wash-ington, D.C., along with othersduring an unforgettable trip.

• Peter Fluetsch Dies

Too many standout Mercedresidents died in 2014. But we'dlike to mention Peter J. Fluetsch,who will be sorely missed. Hewas a firm advocate of the BoysScouts of America and manylocal troop efforts for decades.Just before he passed, he wasawarded the Distinguished EagleScout Award. He was alsoMerced's Santa during the holi-days for so many children overthe years. Not to mention hehelped grow one of Merced's old-est family-owned businesses,Fluetsch and Busby Insurance.

• Times Celebrates 50 Years

What can we say? It was anincredible achievement for ourparent company, Mid Valley Pub-lications and its publisher JohnDerby who was told from thestart he couldn't create sustain-able, community newspapersfilled with positive news. Butthankfully, he did.

ReviewContinued from Front Page

B4 THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015 THE TIMES

2014 — A YEAR IN PICTURES

TIMES PHOTO BY JONATHAN WHITAKERThe staff of the Mid Valley Publications, which operates the Merced County Times, The

Atwater-Winton Times, and the Hilmar Times, among other weekly community newspa-

pers, celebrated the company's 50th Anniversary in October along with many community

supporters and local government leaders.

TIMES PHOTO BY LYNDA BROMMAGEDorthea Eldredge, born in 1923, served in the Navy as a shopkeeper from

1944-46. She has been a member at the American Legions Club for 56

years. Her picture as a young women hangs on the wall behind her in this

May portrait.

TIMES PHOTO BY JOHN MILLERA young girl hugs an alpaca at the petting zoo of the Merced County Fair

in June. The theme for 2014 was "Saluting Our Farmers And Ranchers."