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Former student stands by accused Modesto teacher in court

MODESTO, CA - The sexual misconduct trial of former Modesto teacher James Hooker was postponed by a month on Tuesday.

Story: Modesto teacher, James Hooker, in court on sexual misconduct charges

Hooker, who is accused of having sexual relations with a former high-school student, appeared in Stanislaus County court on Tuesday with another former student, Jordan Powers, at his side.

Hooker's recently hired attorney requested a postponement to give her sufficient time to get up to speed on the case. Hooker had previously been represented by a public defender.

The case for which Hooker is on trial involves claims that the former teacher performed oral sex on a female student under the age of 18 in 1998.

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Peach processor consolidating operations to Modesto

KINGSBURG, Calif. (AP) -- Del Monte Foods is closing one of its peach processing plant in California's San Joaquin Valley, resulting in the loss of 70 full-time and 1,100 season jobs.

The closing of the Kingsburg plant in Fresno County will take place over the next year.

San Francisco-based Del Monte says it is consolidating its peach processing operations into one plant in Modesto.

The Fresno Bee says the Kingsburg plant has processed cling peaches to be packed into metal cans for 90 years.

Del Monte will continue to buy peaches from Kingsburg-area growers, who supply about 25 percent of its peaches.

Ceres High students accused of sexually assaulting classmate

CERES, CA - Two Ceres High School students were arrested on May 1 for an alleged sexual assault of a fellow female student on campus.

The 15 and 16-year-old boys assaulted a 15-year-old girl outside of a classroom and were subsequently detained by school staff until police arrived, said Ceres City Manager Art de Werk.

The youths were booked into Stanislaus Juvenile Hall for sexual assault.

No names of involved parties were released due to their status as juveniles.

Cindy Young Honored for Educational Leadership

Each year the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) bestows awards on educational leaders whose work goes above and beyond to positively impact the students of California.  At ACSA’s Region VII conference in South Lake Tahoe, CA, May 4-6, Cindy Young, Director of ROP/Career Technical Education programs at the Stanislaus County Office of Education, was named the 2012 Classified Manager of the Year.

Young began her career at SCOE 32 years ago as Secretary to the Director of ROP (Regional Occupational Program).  She was hired as a result of her training through ROP and has had a strong commitment to ROP since that time.  Young works closely with the 14 districts and numerous instructors in Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties.

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Help Knock Cancer out of the Park with Memorial Medical Center and The Modesto Nuts!

Help Knock Cancer out of the Park with Memorial Medical Center and The Modesto Nuts!

The public is invited to “Knock Cancer Out of the Park” with Memorial Medical Center and the Modesto Nuts on Saturday, June 9, when the Nuts challenge the Bakersfield Blaze at John Thurman Field in Modesto. The event will highlight breast cancer awareness and feature valuable health information, fireworks and a great night of baseball!

Commemorative “Knock Cancer Out of the Park” t-shirts, game tickets and special seating will be available for breast cancer survivors on a first-come, first-served basis. Breast cancer survivors may call 209-569-7789 for more information.

Entertainment begins at 6 p.m. and game time is 7:05 p.m. Staff from Memorial will provide cancer awareness information and sell special pink t-shirts in honor of the occasion.

Modesto cemeteries vandalized

MODESTO, CA - Dozens of headstones at cemeteries on Scenic Drive in Modesto were pushed over last Sunday night or early Monday morning.

Five cemeteries sit on about 50 acres of land, just east of downtown Modesto.  Work crews were busy all day Monday putting the grave markers back in place.  Some of them weighed many hundreds of pounds.

The vandalism was upsetting to people who volunteer their time helping to maintain the facilities.

"Very devastating to hear the news.  I don't understand the motive behind it.  I think it boils down to disrespect.  It brings up anger in towards the people who do it," said Alan Hamilton.

Modesto police were at the cemeteries Monday collecting evidence. No arrests have been made.

Similar vandalism happened at the same cemeteries about two and a half years ago.  Managers said it was not affordable to install high fencing because of the size of the properties.

Stanislaus Co. prosecutor's death is 3rd in 2 years

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) -- The Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office is grieving the death of its third prosecutor in less than two years.

Assistant District Attorney Carol Shipley says Deputy District Attorney Frank Alvarez died Sunday at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in north Modesto.

Shipley said the circumstances and causes surrounding Alvarez's death are not immediately known.

Alvarez, 57, also was the commander of a local Latino veterans group and is survived by his wife and daughter.

Alvarez is the third Stanislaus County deputy district attorney to die in less than two years. Prosecutor Shawn Barlow, 40, died of natural causes at his home in Turlock in Sept. 2010. Prosecutor Nate Baker, 42, died a month earlier in a San Francisco hospital where he was awaiting a heart procedure.