archives

I cruised around Castle Commerce Center Thursday before I met up with the military folks for the story I wrote about Operation Hydra.

First I stopped by the former American School of Aviation headquarters, which had a couple broken office chairs in the parking lot, some trash from Carls Jr. and a lock on the front door.

It'll remain a sad chapter in Castle's redevelopment history.

Then I checked out the much-hyped terminal, which will accommodate commercial travel in and out of the airport. It's an airport, right?

Twice in the past six weeks the Merced City Council has broken its regular routine of meeting on the first and third Monday of the month to call "special meetings". Instead of waiting until its next regularly scheduled meeting, the council has met to vote on items its says need urgent action.

What's so important in Merced these days? Dealing with the impact of the housing bust.

In both cases, the council called special meetings to vote on actions that directly address foreclosures and a frozen real estate market.

Starbucks released the full list of the 600 stores it's shutting down, and the one at Bellevue Road and Winton Way in Atwater is among the casualties.

It's the only one in Merced County, though there are a bunch others closing in the Valley. No date for when the barista will serve up the last iced Americano.

The full list can be viewed here.

Though Aug. 8 -- the deadline to run for office -- seems eons away, the council races I cover are finally heating up.

It's just a notch above lukewarm now that I got a press release from Joe Rivero (not the one already on the council) announcing his candidacy.

This means that it will be a three-person contest for two seats. Lesa Rasmussen and Gary Frago are the incumbents and now Rivero has tossed his name in.

At this week’s Merced Union High School District board meeting, a presentation was given on the district’s BTSA induction program.

BTSA, or beginning teacher support and assessment, is a state-funded instructor induction program co-sponsored by the California Department of Education and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. It is designed to support the professional development of beginning teachers. Along the way, the program also helps those teachers meet the requirements to finalize their teaching credentials.