County celebrates 4th

Local residents of all ages lined up Friday for pieces of cake the size of their heads and larger at Lemoore City Park. Hundreds were eager to do their part in finishing the cake that the city annually serves up to celebrate the anniversary of our nation's independence. This year's attendees finished the 27 sheet cake in less than two hours.

The cake was among a list of many attractions at the park on Friday, as a slightly larger crowd than last year showed up to mark their patriotism and have some fun. On Friday evening, several thousand more local residents poured into Neighbor Bowl at Hanford High School for some more patriotic festivities and a fireworks display. Hanford's 2008 fireworks at the bowl were a mark of community support as the event's 55th year represented a funding transition from being sponsored by Rotary Club to becoming a community sponsored event.

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KCOE hears pitch for vocational training

For students across the country, vocational education -- the teaching of trade skills to students who may or may not be on the track to college -- has largely decreased in recent years, with most funding and curriculum being geared toward basic academics.

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Council okays tattoo business in Lemoore

Lemoore City Council members took care of business in quick order July 1. The council meeting lasted less than an hour. After listening to city attorney Dale Bacigalupi explain how conditional use permit conditions cover the site, and not the people who own or operate the business at the site, the council unanimously voted to approve a conditional use permit to Karol Cooper to operate Body Art Studio at 55 E. D St., Suite M.

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Groefsema, Coyotes at home on Armed Forces Night

FRESNO -- The Central Valley Coyotes will try to get back on the winning track when they play host to the Stockton Lightning in an afl2 game tonight at Selland Arena.

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Our view: Be prepared for a new age of energy use

Travel experts say many Americans will be sticking close to home this holiday weekend. It's not so much because home is where the heart is, but because into the gas tank is where the family budget is going.

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Ethier's big swings rally Dodgers past Giants
SAN FRANCISCO - Joe Torre has a feeling his team is starting to come together.

Small plane makes emergency landing on Seal Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The pilot of a single engine plane has suffered minor injuries after making an emergency landing on the water off Seal Beach.

Fire breaks out near Malibu state park
MALIBU, Calif. - A fire has burned at least 10 acres of dry brush near a state park in Malibu.

Sharks grab D Dan Boyle from Lightning for Carle
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Although Dan Boyle felt betrayed when the Tampa Bay Lightning decided to trade him, the standout defenseman is feeling much better about it after landing with the San Jose Sharks.

Crews brace for winds in Central Calif. blaze
GOLETA, Calif. - Firefighters braced Friday for the return of evening winds that a day earlier caused a wildfire on California's Central Coast to double in size and race dangerously close to hundreds of homes in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains.

Twin fires raging along California's central coast
BIG SUR, Calif. - A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California's central coast Friday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening a total of more than 4,500 homes.

US marks Independence Day with fireworks, revelry
NEW YORK - The nation's largest fireworks display exploded in a spectrum of color over the East River, temporarily stealing the spotlight from New York's world-famous skyline and helping to create a brilliant end to a day of July Fourth celebrations nationwide.

Former Republican Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86
RALEIGH, N.C. - Former Sen. Jesse Helms, an unyielding champion of the conservative movement who spent three combative and sometimes caustic decades in Congress, where he relished his battles against liberals, Communists and occasionally a fellow Republican, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86.

Jesse Helms: Polarizer, not a compromiser
WASHINGTON - "Compromise, hell!" Jesse Helms screamed in a 1959 editorial that captured what would become the legacy of his Senate career and his place in the conservative movement.

Statue of Liberty's crown may reopen to public
NEW YORK - The National Park Service is considering reopening Lady Liberty's crown for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to documents a congressman released on July Fourth.

Farmers say salmonella scare has hurt tomato sales
FRESNO, Calif. - Expect fewer slices of red, ripe tomatoes next to the grill this holiday weekend.

Haywire brain chemical linked to sudden baby death
WASHINGTON - Scientists have new evidence that the brain chemical best known for regulating mood also plays a role in the mystifying killer of seemingly healthy babies _ sudden infant death syndrome.

Some psych patients wait days in hospital ERs
NEW YORK - When staffers at a Brooklyn hospital spotted a middle-aged woman lying face-down on a waiting room floor last month, it hardly seemed like cause for alarm.

Scientists: Watermelon yields Viagra-like effects
LUBBOCK, Texas - A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra _ but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks going all night long.

Filipina with upside-down feet walks for 1st time
NEW YORK - A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers _ the first shoes she's ever worn.