THE ICRAMERS:Celebrating a 70-year love story
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MORE IN COMMUNITY:Veterans honored at special ceremony,B1 INSIDE: Mother Lode pets up for adoption,A3
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1 HE MOl HER LODE'S LEADING INFORMAl ION SOURCESINCE1854 • SONORA, CALIFORNIA g
FRIDAY
AUGUST 21, 2015
lucero trial
TOD AY'S READER BOARD
o ice vi eo s own in court
CHRISTELLE HARRIS
BRIEFING
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By TORI THOMAS The Union Democrat
The day Cheryl Lucero was arrested,she told authorities she was the person who fired the g un that killed wellknown Sonora Police Depart-
MiXin'it uP -The Tuolumne County Library held an interactive art program for children of all ages Thursday.A2
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Founders' Day
ment volunteer
— Entrance fees will be waived and special events will be held at Yosemite National Park onTuesday.A2
Rick Roberts in February 2014. Luc ero "I didn't do it on purpose," she said. Lucero's words were cap-
News Notes-
tured on police video and played in Tuolumne County Superior Court T hursday, where the 46-year-old Twain Harte woman is standing trial for the Feb. 16, 2014, murder of Roberts.
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Upcoming events in the Mother Lode.A2-3
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Seen andHeard
Courtesy photo
Christelle Harris, of Sonora, is one of 5.3 million Americans who live with a traumatic brain injury.
— This week's photo opinion asks, "What is the first thought that comes to mind when you think 'back to school?' "A3
L ucero was
Woman struck by distracted driver suffered traumatic brain injury By LACEY PETERSON The Union Democrat rc
OPlnlOn — Lines blur Christelle Harris spent seven years in the U.S. Air Force, flying around the world as an airplane mechanic. She later earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and was about to finish a master's program in clinical psychology when a distracted driver ran a stop sign and changed the trajectory of Harris' life. Harris has recovered her physical fitness, but she is one of 5.3 million Americans who live with a traumatic brain injury. For her, that means even everyday tasks such as shopping can be difficult. She makes listsof stores she needs to visit so she doesn't forget where she is or what she is supposed to buy. The consequences of severe TBI can afFect all aspects of life, relationships with family and friends, work, household tasks, driving. Severe traumatic brain injuries, like Harris,' can have long-term effects on cognitive function/thinking (attention and memory); motor function (extremity weakness, impaired coordination and balance); sensation (hearing, vision, impaired perception and touch); language (communication, expression and understanding); and emotion (de-
further between citizens and non-ci tizens;Some people choose to be homeless.A4
Victims ID'dTheidentities of three people who died in a car accident Saturday afternoon have been released.AS
Parole denied- Albert Sydney Ward, 70, formerly of Sonora, was denied parole at a hearing Wednesday.AB
SPORTS • SUMMERVILLE SOCCER:The defending Mother Lode League and Sac-Joaquin Section Division Vl Champion Summerville Bears boys' soccer team practiced Wednesday and Thursday at Standard Park.C1 • ACKERMAN:Remote lake gives up sizeable rainbows.C1 • MLB:Giants trade for OF Byrd; Dodgers' luxury tax payroll could top $300M.C1
By SEAN CARSON
NBNS:editorLsunIondemocrat.com FEATUR ES: featureslunIondsmocrai.corn SPORTS: spodslunIondsmocratcom EVENTS ANDWEEKENDER: weskend erIunIondemocratcom LElTERS: leiersIuniondemocratcom CALAVERA SBUREAU:770-7197
The Union Democrat
The Sonora Union High School Board of Trustees Thursday announced the sale ofa second bond for facility improvements and the first meeting of a schoolsafety committee, two subjects discussed frequently over the summer. The district can expect $9.86 million
NEWSROO MFtDL53241451 SUBSCR IBERSERVICES: 533-3814
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See TRIAL / Back Page
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jeane Presson
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Body of Purchase photos online at www.uniondemocrat.corn
Columbia woman found
Maggie Beck/Union Democrat
Harris was riding a bright orange beach cruiser in Salt Lake City when a texting driver hit her and gave her a traumatic brain injury. pression, anxiety, aggression, impulse control, personality changes). TBI can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson' s disease,and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age, the CDC said. Harris has seizures when she is overly tired or stressed. She's on
permanent disability. She suffers from momentary brain lapses that cause her to collapse.
On a recent Friday night, Harris was at a barbecue with her boyfriend and she was tired from having helped him move his belongings into her apartment. When they were walking out of the party, "all of a sudden, my brain just shut off and I just fell over," Harris said. "Everyone thought I was super drunk, but I wasn' t. It happens a lot — if I'm super fatigued."
By LYDIA BROWNING The Union Democrat
See HARRIS/Back Page
Board sells bond, tackles school safety
PHONE: 770-7153,5884534
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SonoraHighSchool
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June 2014 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Roberts' death, with whom she had a threeyear afFair. The jury of four men and eight women sat quietly as the footageplayed on a large televisionscreen. Lucero oc-
in bond money byThursday affer the sale of a second bond in the $23 million Measure J passed by voters in 2012, according to Superintendent Pat Chabot. The money will be used for renovationsto the school cafeteria and track and field. Bids for construction will go out in September, with work on the field beginning as early as Nov. 2 and the cafeteria later that month, said Chabot.
The timeline would not disrupt the regularfootball season, with the last scheduled home game Oct. 30. Should the team progress to play-offs, home games will need to be relocated. Summerville High School is the likely choice, Chabot said in July. An initial bond was sold last year for See SCHOOL / Back Page
Jeane Ileen Presson loved to sew and to garden and usually stopped to chat with neighbors as she walked aroundthe mobilehome park in Columbia where she lived with her husband. W hen s h e was r e ported missing on July 25, a Saturday, her n e i ghbor Pre sson Stevie Moreno, 36, was shocked. She was used to seeing Presson working in her garden. "Jeane was a really great friend," said Presson's mother, Betty Souza. Thursday, Moreno and the other neighbors at Columbia Mobile Home Park on Parrotts Ferry Road learned Presson was dead, the victim See PRESSON/Back Page
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