PITCH PERFECT:Hukkanen is most outstanding MORE IN SPORTS:All Mother LodeLeaguesoftball players named, C2 OPINION: Mariposa Sheriff's action too extreme,A4
THE MOTHER LODE'SLEADING INFORMATION SOURCE SINCE 1854 • SO NORA, CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY
MAY 22, 2015
Droulht
TOD AY'S READER BOARD
ons oe more wa er
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND •
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BRIEFING Open hOuSI. — The Summeiville Parent Nursery School held an open house for potential new members Thursday. Parents had a chance to see the school in operation.A2
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Vital StatS — Alist of marriages, births and deaths recorded in Calaveras County.A2
By ALEX MacLEAN The Union Democrat
WATCHLegacy
LunCh — About 160
people attended the first ever Legacy Lunch fundraiser to benefit WATCH Resources inc., held Wednesday.A3
Summer
aCtiVitieS -The Bureau of Reclamation will hold a series of free interpretive programs and activities at New Melones Reservoir this summer.A3
COMMUNITY • KINDNESS:Senior project uses kindness to help stamp out bullying. B1 • FLASHBACK:The Union Democrat shares an unidentified file photo. Do you remember?B2 • STUDENTS OF THE MONTH:Schools announce April's outstanding students. B4
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Purchase photos online at www.uniondemocrat.corn
Guy McCarthy/Union Democrat
North Dome, Tenaya Canyon and Half Dome are prominent features in Yosemite National Park. The park will get many visitors this holiday weekend.
Brace for busy roads, crowded parks and swimming holes
Usually busiest time of year at Yosemite National Park
By GUY McCARTHY
By GUY MCCARTHY
The Union Democrat
The Union Democrat
Brace yourselves Mother Lode people. Tourists are ConllIlg.
Officials at t h e
A m erican Automobile Association
Northern California predict the coming Memorial Day weekend will see the highest number of travelers statewidefortheholiday since 2005. A travel survey projects more than 4.4 million Californians plan on traveling 50 miles or more this Memorial Day holiday weekend, an increase of 4.6 percent from last year, according to the AAA. See WEEKEND / Back Page
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CLARIFICATION A news article on Page AT of Tuesday's Union Democrat reported members of the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District board of directors voted 3-1 to adopt amendments to current 50 percent mandatory water conservation requirements that include allowing outdoor watering for ornamental landscaping two days a week. Board member Emery Ross opposed the amended measure, describing the verbal amendments as "confusing." Later in the meeting, Ross and three other board members voted 4-0 to adopt another measure allowing outdoor watering two days per week.
This weekend could be one of the busiest of the year in the Mother Lode, and the same is true at
Maggie Beck/Union Democrat
Manteca residents Matthew Schneider (left) and David Schneider camp at the Glory Hole campground at New Melones Reservoir this weekend.
Rangers in Yosemite National Park are advising people they expect an "extremely busy" Memorial Day weekend. "It'sbeen a very busy year so far,and the park expects high visitation, especially from 1Yiday afternoon until Sunday," Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said Thursday. 'Visitors are strongly urged to avoid arriving at the park during the peak hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. "Arriving early in the day or late in the afternoon are the best ways to enjoy the park," Gediman said. "Once in the park, visitors are urged to park their vehicles and enjoy the park utilizing the free shuttle-bus service, bike paths and hiking trails."
As of Thursday evening, Highway 120 east of Crane Flat and Tioga Pass were closed due to snow accumulation, according to Yosemite and Caltrans officials. Whether the road re-opens between today and Monday will determine if most people visiting the park this weekend will be restricted to Yosemite Valley destinations. All other park roads were open as of Thursday SeeYOSEMFIX / Back Page
Columbia school cuts ribbon on mural fornia Arts Council. TCAA Arts Education Director Louise McPeeters said Columbia ElemenColumbia Elementary School celtaryreceived $2,000 in grant money for ebrated the completion of a campus the project. The school then raised more mural Thursday with an assembly students. than $15,000 for the project through thanking the student body and the comThe program is funded through community donations. munity for support on the project. grants awarded by the California Arts Classrooms collected money from parThe mural — a mosaic depicting a Council. TCAA applies for the grants ents and students, and 15 of the classes prospector and mule in a foothill valley each year. School districts are then able raised at least $100 — an amount that — is the design of local artist Dianne to receive the funds through TCAA, but Stearns. are not able to apply directly to the CaliSee MURAL / Back Page By SEAN CARSON The Union Democrat
In '
Stearns was hired by the Tuolumne County Arts Alliance to install the mural aspart ofthe organization'sArts In Schools program, which brings artists into local districts to teach fine arts to
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See LYONS / Back Page
one ofthe region'stop tourist attractions.
Highway120 and ' rloga PaSSCIOSMI artg
Lyons Reservoir near Sierra Village will get an additional839 acre-feet ofwater this summer, providing up to two more weeks of supply for nearly44,000 Tuolumne County residents. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. confirmed this week that it will be able to bypass a statemandated curtailment order and provide the water to Lyons for use this summer by Tuolumne Utilities District, the county's largest water purveyor. PG&E provides water to TUD through the company's complex set of water rights on the South Fork Stanislaus River. Since the April curtmlment order issued by the State Water Resources Control Board, the 5,500 acre-foot Lyons Reservoir has remained only about 85 percent full. Meanwhile, the brimful 18,360 acre-footPinecrest Reservoir,
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reopens after evac By AUSTEN THIBAULT The Union Democrat
The Sonora branch of the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency will be fully open again today after an electrical issue and potential fire threat closed the historic office building Wednesday afternoon.
The Northtown Professional Offices building at 427 N. Highway 49 — which also houses Dr. James Mosson and Foothill Pregnancy Centerwas evacuated Wednesday afternoon after the Sonora Fire Department responded and shut down power to the building becauseofa potentialfire threat. Staffers had called the fire department around 1 p.m.
after smelling a burnt odor and noting that a few lights and appliances in their break room had quitworking, according to Hre Chief Aimee New. Fire staff found the source of the smell to be a burned-out See ATCAA/Back Page
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