Special meetings on tap for landfill project

A committee tasked with negotiating compensation to the community regarding a proposed Kettleman Hills hazardous waste landfill project has set a new time and day to better facilitate public participation. The Local Assessment Committee will meet the second Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. inside the County Board of Supervisors Chambers in Hanford.

Thursday's decision regarding the committee's regularly scheduled meeting comes after complaints from project opponents that the time and place were inconvenient for concerned residents, particularly those who live in Kettleman City.

Continue reading

NAACP hosts candidates night May 19

People seeking more information on candidates running for the 30th Assembly District seat in the November election, as well as those running for a Kings County Superior Court judgeship this June, will have to look no further than the NAACP meeting on May 19. Candidates Fran Florez, D-Shafter, and Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford, will speak to the NAACP members that night.

Continue reading

Hanford West puts on final band performance of school year Tuesday

Local residents are invited to attend the final performance of the 2007-2008 school year of Hanford West High School band students on Tuesday. Lisa Butts, band director, said audience members can expect "an extravaganza of great music."

Continue reading

Coulon solid in Arizona shutout

TUSCON, Ariz. -- Former Hanford High David Coulon allowed just three hits over seven shutout innings to lift Arizona to a 7-0 non-conference baseball victory over Utah Valley State on Saturday. Coulon improved his record to 7-3, striking out out five, walking four and allowing no runner to get past second base. Daniel Schlereth struck three in the final two innings to complete the shutout.

Continue reading

Bulldogs will square off with Meeks, Sacramento State

FRESNO -- Fresno State will open the NCAA softball regionals at home and the first pitcher the Bulldogs face could be former Hanford West High star Kayla Meeks. The Bulldogs were awarded a No. 16 seed by the NCAA seeding committee on Sunday, and Fresno State will be the host school for a four-team regional. The Bulldogs' first game is scheduled for Friday, 7:30 p.m., against Meeks' Sacramento State team.

Continue reading

So She Thought: I don’t see dead people

The clock which sits on our fireplace mantel has begun chiming the wrong hour again. Sometimes it's an hour off, sometimes three, and occasionally it skips chiming the hour completely. This is frustrating for me, because I replaced my husband's old mantel clock -- an heirloom which belonged to his grandmother -- because of exactly the same problem. So we've basically had two expensive mantel clocks fail since my husband inherited the first one.

Continue reading

Body of dead newborn found in restroom at Las Vegas casino
LAS VEGAS - Police say an autopsy should show whether a baby was alive before its body was found dead in the trash at a women's restroom at a Las Vegas Strip casino.

Policeman says surfer attacked last year tried to fight back
SAN DIEGO - A surfer beaten to death in La Jolla last year by street thugs tried in vain to fight off his attackers.

Sick coyote euthanized day after stalking Redlands toddler
REDLANDS, Calif. - A diseased coyote was captured and euthanized a day after the animal was seen stalking a toddler in a Redlands neighborhood.

Deputies kill 2 people in Riverside County shootout
SAN JACINTO, Calif. - An hour-long gun battle on an Indian reservation ended when Riverside County sheriff's deputies shot and killed two people who had fired at them with automatic weapons.

Vandals slash tires on up to 100 vehicles in San Pedro
LOS ANGELES - Vandals slashed tires on up to 100 vehicles in San Pedro.

Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Hundreds of Marines were conducting a combat training mission in the Mojave Desert when an air patrol spotted something kicking up dust: A civilian pickup truck speeding across the barren landscape.

Judge dismisses case of woman who says veil cost her claim
DETROIT - A federal judge in Detroit has dismissed the case of a Muslim woman who sued a judge for demanding she remove her veil in court.

Deputies kill 2 in shootout near SoCal casino
SAN JACINTO, Calif. - Deputies shot and killed two people who had opened fire near an Indian casino in Southern California and had fired at a sheriff's helicopter as officers chased them into the hills of the reservation.

Survivors remain linked by drunken driving tragedy
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One earned a football scholarship years after burns and lung damage kept him in the hospital for two months. Another poured her grief into preventing other alcohol-fueled crashes and became president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. A third began speaking publicly about the tragedy only after two decades of staring at scars in the mirror.

Another twister reported in tornado-damaged Mo.
SENECA, Mo. - Another round of storms moved Tuesday into tornado-ravaged areas of Missouri, Arkansas and several other states where residents are still picking up from the weekend's killer twisters.

Families make case for vaccine link to autism
WASHINGTON - Parents claiming that childhood vaccines cause autism should not be rewarded by the courts when the scientific community has already rejected any link, government lawyers argued Monday on the first day of a hearing in federal court.

Genetically modified human embryo stirs criticism
NEW YORK - News that scientists have for the first time genetically altered a human embryo is drawing fire from some watchdog groups that say it's a step toward creating "designer babies."

Nagging via text messages to help teens remember meds
WASHINGTON - 4gt yr meds? Getting kids to remember their medicine may be a text message away. Cincinnati doctors are experimenting with texting to tackle a big problem: Tweens and teens too often do a lousy job of controlling chronic illnesses like asthma, diabetes or kidney disease.

Study: Older brains don't benefit from painkillers
CHICAGO - Results from a large government experiment are dimming hopes that two common painkillers can prevent Alzheimer's disease or slow mental decline in older people.

All poultry in Seoul killed after bird flu outbreak
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean officials said Monday they have killed all poultry in Seoul, the capital, to curb the spread of bird flu following a new outbreak of the disease in the city.