WEEICENDER:Doobie Brothers to rock Ironstone opener MORE IN WEEKENDER:'Quilt Stroll' returns to downtown Groveland
HEALTH: Beat the heat — Stay cool and hydrated this summer,B1
THE MOTHER LODE'SLEADING INFORMATION SOURCE SINCE 1854 • SO NORA, CALIFORNIA
THURSDA Y
JUNE 11, 2015
TOD AY'S READER BOARD
Yosemite junction
Caltraus
Sierra VieWS:UDITH RODAN
prepeses
BRIEFING S8nlor EXPO — The
upgrades
sixth annual Senior Expo was held Wednesday at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds.A2
Roundabout, traffic signal among ideas
Calaveras High
graduatiOn —Calaveras High School will graduate more than 200 students tonight at a ceremony held on Frank Meyer Field.A2
By ALEX MacLEAN The Union Democrat
Caltrans is proposing to build a traffic signal or roundabout at Yosemite Junction in hopes of improving safety and congestion at the busy intersection, where state highways 108 and 120 meet. The Tuolumne County Transportation Council discussedthe proposalata m eeting Wednesday and unanimously approved a letter to Caltrans suggesting a third option that wouldn't involve traffic lights or a roundabout. "This is the beginning of a longer process," said Tuolumne County Transportation Council Executive Director Darin Grossi. 'They are just laying out alternatives that will be considered in the design and environmental phase, which will occur next year. "This allows them to secure the funding through the state budget ...to move forward with pr a ojectto look atthose alternatives. "
TH Lclk8 — June tg is the new opening date for Twain Harte Lake. A3
OPlnlOn —Rep.Tom McClintock: Leave pot to states.A4
SPORTS • SUMMER SCRIMMAGE:Summerville and Sonora high schools participated in a 7-on-7 passing scrimmageWednesday at Thorsted Field in Tuolumne.C1 • SOCCER:USA
f
-
defeats World C up
champs Germany.C1 • NBA: Golden State Warriors confident of making another comeback.C1
NOTICES
Sonora Cat Rescue President Judith Rodan, of Sonora, holds two kittens at PetSmnet.
Feline welfare a passion for Sonora woman By LACEY PETERSON The Union Democrat
• PASS CLOSEDEbbettsPass on Highway 4 will close from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today for pavement work, according to Caltrans. The road will be closed from Highland Lake Road to Monitor Pass. Motorists are advised to take alternate routes and expect one-hour delays. • PERFORMANCE SET —The Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, an award-winning nonprofit performing arts organization, will give a public performance at 7 p.m. today at the Bret Haite High School football field. "This is not a fullblown concert with costumes and everything," said Corps Manager Charles Frost. "But we are going to do a community appreciation (performance)." The Vanguard is a competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Santa Clara and is a six-time Drum Corps International World Champion. Members of the Vanguard spent a week rehearsing in Weed before coming to Angels Camp on Monday, where they have rehearsed from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.
Maggie Beck/Union Democrat
Purchasephotos online at www.uniondemocrat.corn
If Sonora Cat Rescue President Judith Rodan had one wish, it would be to spay and neuter enough of Tuolumne County's feline population so that the number of cats was equal to the number of available homes. She's not waiting idly by for it to happen though. She works 70 to 80 hours a week to make that dream a reality. "I think Judith Rodan is one of the most motivated, high-energy people I' ve known," said longtime Sonora veterinarian Dr. Wes Wittman, who is Rodan's vet. "That's a testament to the fact of what she's done to help Sonora Cat Rescue spay and neuter as many cats as she can."
In the past 12 months, Rodan and the catrescue have paid for 3,000 localcatstobe spayed orneutered. When she started out as the rescue's president five years ago, the number was 300 to 400 cats being fixed each year. Rodan makes one to three trips
a week to a nonprofit veterinary group in Auburn that will often give her the entire clinic for the day. It has to — she takes 75 catsata tim e. The day starts at 3 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m., with Rodan loading and unloading 75 cat carriers, at eight pounds each, four times. "I tell people I do 24,000 reps," Rodan said of the workout she gets while doing her "cat lady" duties. "My record is 158 (cats fixed) in six days and three trips," Rodan said. "I was sick tired." The trips also include a mountain
of paperwork. Each spay or neuter procedurerequireseightforms tobe filled out, she said. "I'm getting good at forms," Rodan said.
Ironically, Rodan doesn't think of herself asa "catperson,"butrather a "dog and horse person." Rodan grew up in the Bay Area town of Woodside in San Mateo County and had seven horses and several dogs. She had a career in sales, publicity and printing, which has come in handy for promoting the cat rescue and its endeavors.
It was while living in France many years ago that Rodan first be-
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came interested in the issue of cat
overpopulation. Her husband of 25 years, Simon Rodan, a professor, was attending university near Paris, and the couple lived in France for nearly nine years. Judith Rodan was walking down the street one day and saw an older woman feeding a troupe of stray cats. In her broken French, Rodan told the lady how irresponsible it was to have too many cats. The lady proceeded to read Rodan the riot act, explaining to her she was trying to help the cats and how the strays needed to be fixed. It sparked something in Rodan, and her mission became bringingcatsjustice,she said. Rodan got some of her university contacts who were veterinarians and started getting the French cats fixed. When Rodan and her husband moved back to the states, they ended up retiring to Tuolumne County.
GrovelandCSD
Customers required to cut back by
33 percent By GUY McCARTHY The Uni on Democrat
Groveland Community ServicesDistrict customers are now required to use 33 percent less water than they did in 2013. The Groveland CSD Board of Directorsvoted June 3 to increasethe district's conser-
SeeVIEWS /Back Page
vationrate to 33 percent due
to concerns about state-mandated 24 percent conservation restrictions and potential ines ofup to$10,000 perday. f Before last week's vote, Groveland CSD customers were required to use 20 percent less water than they did in 2013.The move was partof a resolution to declare a water shortage emergency and shift to Phase IV mandatory conservation measures. The board vote was unanimous, 4-0, with Director Bruce Carter absent.
Construction OK'd at 3amestown School Jamestown School eighth-grader Thomas Moylereceived a specialaward for not missing one day of school since The Jamestown Board of Trustees he started at Jamestown in kindergarmet Wednesday to move forward with ten. one of many renovations on the JamesAfter the ceremony, the board aptown School campus planned for devel- provedallbids associated with the reopment, as well as to honor students. pairs to a Jamestown School classroom Wednesday's meeting opened with an and the surrounding walkways. award ceremony for students who either Two contractors bid more than remained on the district's honor roll all $41,000 to complete all the repairs, year or received perfectattendance. which have been broken into three By SEAN CARSON
separateprojects:Replacement of the
The Union Democrat
classroom foundation, repair to ut ili-
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ties and drainage pipes running under the building, and re-landscaping of the grassy area surrounding the building. The landscaping will replace the grass with a concrete walkway, planters and cement structure for students to sit on.
The district divided construction on
Weather Page C6
Meet Dr. Singhal. An expert in cancer. And kindness.
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