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I've been reading the San Jose Mercury News for as long as I can remember. Ten years ago, it was known as one of the best papers in the country, and deservedly so.

What a difference a change in ownership makes.

Days after I was hired on by McClatchy, the company that owns the Sun-Star, my new employer bought the Mercury News and a host of other papers from folding Knight Ridder. Almost immediately, McClatchy sold the Merc off to Denver-based MediaNews.

A fun fact from today's Board of Supervisors meeting: Half of Merced County's registered voters turned out for February's primary.

That's according to Stephen Jones, the county's registrar of voters. He gave a short presentation at today's board meeting, after which the board voted to formally certify February's election results.

 Local election officials had predicted a 45 percent turnout. Jones said actual turnout was 49.9 percent.