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• Yosemite hiking tips: 4 advanced day hikes

  While Yosemite National Park is one of the most beautiful places on earth, it is also very busy with lots of visitors.…

• Rainbow Pool – A Great Swimming Hole on the South Fork of the Tuolumne

  photo by adam blauert A cool place to cool off If you’re looking for a place to cool off in the water, many areas will be more dangerous than usual.…

• Tuolumne Meadows – The Other Yosemite

  PHOTO BY ADAM BLAUERT Far fewer visitors Yosemite Valley is one of the most magnificent places on earth.  It can also be one of the busiest during the summer months.…

• Remembering on Memorial Day

  Last year in Merced, my wife and I attended one of several ceremonies honoring those who gave their lives in the battles of the nation. We had not been to one of these ceremonies in quite a while.…

• Catapults and College Students, Teamwork at Merced College

  It takes a basic understanding of physics, lots of team work, and a desire to have fun.…

• Modesto Reservoir Regional Park

  Modesto Reservoir Regional Park Popular with residents of Modesto and Turlock, this park is surprisingly close to Merced and offers a lot of recreational opportunities and facilities.…

• McConnell State Recreation Area

  PHOTO BY ADAM BLAUERT McConnell State Recreation Area Like the other Merced River Parks, McConnell has a lot of shade. It’s also a bit more developed than Hatfield and further from the highway.…

• The Mail Pouch Tobacco Sign Makes Merced Building the Barn of the Year

  Mail Pouch Tobacco Every town should have an icon that immediately tells people why that place is special. San Francisco has the Golden Gate and Bay bridges.…

• 50 Years on the Job

  Imagine going to work, finding just the right job within the company, and staying with that company for fifty years.…

• The Pink House in Town

  photo by steve newvine My grandparents lived in a pink house on the same street as my parents’ home in a small village in upstate New York.  To my family, Grandma and Grandpa lived down the street.…

• The ER returns to Merced, and other items

  Modesto Bee There’s a columnist for the Modesto Bee by the name of Ron Agostini who uses a writing technique that is appealing to me.…

• The Beatles, the Ed Sullivan Theater, and Memories of New York City

  It was fifty years ago this month that the Beatles made their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show live on CBS television from New York City.  I have many thoughts about that event: the band, the venue, and New York City.…

• "Only What you can Carry"

  bring only what you can carry [/caption] The orders came down in 1942, striking fear into the hearts of Japanese-Americans of Merced County and Northern California.…

• Ten Years in California

  photo by steve newvine The picture here is of a miniature snowman I made one afternoon.  A coworker had returned to Merced from the higher elevations in Mariposa with his pick-up truck box filled with snow.…

• The Merced County Library

  library [/caption] Merced County Library Amy Taylor, County Librarian 2100 O Street Merced For more information call:(209) 385-7478 See our website at: - - - -www.mercedcountylibrary.org The Merced County Public Library,…

• Looking Back

  photo by steve newvine Just about every newspaper or magazine I read in late December or early January is filled with lists of the best and worst things of the year.…

• Hopeless Collector and Hoarding

  photo by steve newvine I'm in deep I am what you might call a hopeless collector.  I’m not one of those hoarders you see on cable television, although people who know me well might dispute that statement.…

• Excerpt from "Sign On at Sunrise" by Steve Newvine

  photo by steve newvine Grey arrived at the station onSunday atabout ahalf-hour before his shift was to begin.…

• The All Souls Day Procession in Hornitos

  The All Souls Day Procession in Hornitos has been one of those things my wife and I have wanted to do ever since her friend Judy took her to this historic ghost town upon our arrival in Merced about seven years ago.…

• Bakersfield gets the Nashville Treatment

  photo by steve newvine There’s a new compact disc out from Vince Gill and steel guitaristPaul Franklin called Bakersfield.…

• My Friend Dan

  The man working in this picture is my friend Dan.  When he was no longer able to work at his regular job due to kidney disease, he’d spend a little time making toys and other things out of wood.…

• Port of Stockton Celebrates Eighty Years

  Agriculture, food processing, and several other Merced County industrial sectors rely on the transportation and logistics systems in place throughout the state of California.…

• A Buffalo Bills Sweatshirt and a Season of High Hopes

  photo by steve newvine I will be pulling out my faded blue Buffalo Bills sweatshirt soon as the National Football League season gets underway.  The sweatshirt is now over twenty years old.…

• Remembering the Day Elvis Died

  photo by steve newvine I was twenty years old the night I heard that Elvis Presley had died at his home in Memphis.  The date was August 16, 1977.…