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Merced's music community recently lost one of its most well-regarded members, longtime bass player Gary MacKenzie.

I have never met Gary personally, but Mike Meroney, guitarist for the Atwater-based rock band Killer Jays, attended his funeral last Friday at Yosemite Church. Gary died from lung cancer. "He was one of the most gentle souls you'd ever meet in your life. Just a super-sweet guy," Meroney said.

What a day Saturday, March 1, 2008 was. A day of excitement and
disappointment.

First of all, the weather was questionable,
but as the day went on it became quite tolerable. This was the big
day of races, MERCO CYCLING Classic downtown Grand Prix, presented by
McLane Pacific. I was there to photograph the races, the Sun-Star Pee
Wee Classic, the women's Elite 1/Pro and the men's Elite 1/Pro.

In the last few years, the issue of abandoned shopping carts has flown on the local radar. Things got so bad the Merced City Council enacted an ordinance outlawing the removal of shopping carts from store premises and requiring store owners to post warning signs and come up with plans to keep their carts in place. But I need the public's help in compiling information for a story on wayward carts.