YEAR IN REVIEW:Top 10 high school games highlighted MORE IN SPORTS: Ackerman recaps year of hunting, fishing, shooting and more, C1; Hockey's Winter Classic an outdoor festival, C3
THE MOTHER LODES LEADING INFORMATION SOURCE SINCE 1854 • SO NORA. CALIFORNIA
CE}
FRIDAY
JANUARY 1, 2016
Sierra snowpack
TODAY' S READER BOARD BRIEFING By GUY McCARTHY
But state Department of Water Resources officials say snowfall the rest
The Union Democrat
,lh
of drought, from moderate to severe, extreme and exceptional, according to
of this winter will be the primary fac- scientists with the U.S. Drought Monitor that decides if California's drought tor. More than 44 percent of California, gets "entrenched" for a fifth consecu- including most of the Sierra Nevada tive year. and all of Calaveras and Tuolumne As of Dec. 24, more than 97 per- counties, remained i n e x ceptional vada snowpack is higher than average and far greater than one year ago. cent of California was still in a state drought, the most dire classification. A manual snow survey 90 miles northeast of Sonora shows water content for California's vital Sierra ¹
Nevertheless, there's a lot of deep snow up high right now in the CentralSierra Nevada, and it's a lotmo re than this time last year. Electronic
snowpack readings and precipitation measurements since Oct. 1 show this See SNOWPACK/Back Page
Snow play — The California Highway Patrol urges motorists to be extra careful and park only in designated places this holiday weekend.A2
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
Gary White
Attorney will fight
DOnatIOn —Sonora Regional Medical Center employees donate to the homeless.A2
Seen andHeard
— "What is your New Year's resolution and, if you don't make them, why?" A2
parole
Many say having, choosing a partner is key to success
grant By GUY McCARTHY The Union Democrat
By SEAN CARSON
Outage — A carinto a power pole knocks power out to thousands on New Year' s Eve Day.A2
COMMUNITY
• ELKS AND ATHLETES:Sonora Elks Lodge puts on Christmas dinner for Special Olympic athletes.B1 • FLASHBACK:The Union Democrat shares an unidentified file photo. Do you remember'?B2
NEWS ELSEWHERE • ROSE PARADE: Unprecedented security planned for annual New Year's Day event.A5 • BACKTOTHE WILD: Condor that helped save the nation's largest species of land bird returned to the wild.A5 • CRAB SAFETY:California Department of Public Health lifts health advisory on Dungeness and rock crabs along coast in Southern and Central California.A5
CORRECTION An article in the Dec. 30 edition of The Union Democrat incorrectly described an altercation between a Merced High School basketball player and a Sonora High School fan. The player did not go into the stands. The altercation occurred on the floor near the sideline.
The Union Democrat
A Sonora man, one of two defendants i m prisoned f or
The New Year inevitably brings a tide of resolutions — some kept,
others quickly let slide. Tuolumne County public figures
II
. 3$3g1
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shooting a w oman a n d
are no exception to the annual betterment wishes, and The Union Democrat checked in with a few to see what works and what doesn' t. The commonality: People want to
leaving her for dead in a wa l k -in
stay healthy and active, and finding a partner in this goal is crucial. A heart condition caused avid
robbery at a chicken res-
re frigera-
White
tor during a
taurant at Th e Junction
shopping center in East
runner Dave Urquhart, of Sonora, to
Sonora in 1989, may not
hang up his shoes for a decade. After a heart transplant in 2002, his New
be allowed to walk free on parole after all. Gary Edward White, 47, was found suitable for parole in August. Any decision to grant parole in Cal-
Year's resolution has been the same ever since. He sets out each year to run the 10K Jamestown Run in March, the
10K Old Mill in April, and 12K Bay to Breakers in May, said Urquhart, superintendent of the Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School
ifornia is subject to review
for 120 days and, in this case,the state's executive
board of parole hearings, which includes governor' s
District.
The goal seemed insurmountable after the debilitating transplant.
See WHITE / Back Page
He was so weak at first, train-
ing consisted of slow walks and 1-pound hand weight routines. It was six months before he could jog, but within the year he was laced up
Man with Copper ties accused ofthreats
for Bay to Breakers once again. ''What motivated me was to try
to get back to feeling normal, and knowing I'd done it before," Urquhart said. "I worked very diligently." "I would write down what I did each day and see if I could improve upon that as time went by."
Throughout his recovery, the support of his wife and daughter were crucial, he said.
By GUY McCARTHY The Union Democrat
Aaron Moss, general manager for
r
Black Oak Casino, also said his key
A man identified by
/
/re .
to sticking with resolutions is to
make it a family effort. "If you have resolutions and
authorities as a p orter
1$
with
you' re more likely to succeed in
addresses in Copperopolis
those because you have a partner,"
and C ontra
Moss said. He and his wife wanted to spend
t y is accused
goals that you have in common,
D o nald
Trump sup4',
-
Costa Coun-
more time outdoors with their
Courtesy photos
Erik Hawkins (top, at left) runs with uncle Dave Urquhart (top, center), Superintendent of the Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District, the tripsmore doable asthey get and former Summerville High School teacher Wayne deGennaro, at older, he said. the 2003 Bay to Breakers 12K race in San Francisco. Urquhart comAgain, having support helped peted for the first time in over a decade after a heart condition and Angela Brown, president of the transplant surgery forced him to give up running. Tim Brown (above) stands with mother Angela Brown 15 years after he was crippled by a See RESOLVE / Back Page disease that destroyed his nerves and muscle control.
Cell i
by law en-
children. The couple purchased a
forcement of t hreatening
traveltrailer last year to help make
Muslims outside a Richmond mosque and possessing an unarmed pipe bomb. Since the arrest of William Celli 55 five days before Christmas, additional See CELLI / Back Page
Calendar.....................................A2 O b i tuaries....... ComIcs........................................CS Opinion.....
Community/Religion................ B1 Sports........ C rIme ..........................................A3 T V
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