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With the support of his wife Karen, Don Foster recently underwent surgery and a 24-day hospital stay for a rare type of cancer he is battling. Amy Alonzo Rozak/The Union Democrat, copyright 2009

In August 2008, after being diagnosed with an extremely rare form of pancreatic cancer, Foster, 53, of Sonora, went on to beat the odds.
 

To skeptics, Tuolumne County’s plan to use federal stimulus funds to purchase two 30-passenger trolley-style buses for nearly $400,000 might seem impractical.   

But, with the exception of their appearance, the new buses are no different from the other large diesel-powered buses in Tuolumne County Transit’s fleet, according to Darin Grossi, deputy director of the county Public Works Department, who manages the county’s public transportation program.
  

Wilderness seekers are expected to pack into Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest over the Fourth of July weekend.

So far this year, Stanislaus National Forest visitor numbers have been up compared to last year, said Jerry Snyder, forest spokesman. Snyder said he suspects people are staying closer to home in the sagging economy and enjoying the surrounding forest.
  

Realtor Leanne Smith opens the lock box on a foreclosed home in Sonora. Amy Alonzo Rozak/The Union Democrat, copyright 2009

It’s not a gimmick.

A federal judge’s ruling this week, scrapping a 2008 revision to U.S. Forest Service logging policies, could affect how the Forest Service approves timber harvesting on its 193 million acres of land, including the Stanislaus National Forest.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, based in Oakland, ruled that the Bush-era change to the National Forest Management Act violated the federal Endangered Species Act. She ordered the Forest Service to reinstate previous rules, which forces the service to include outside wildlife agency studies before approving timber-harvest plans on federal forest land.
 

A home was destroyed by fire Thursday evening on Algerine Wards Ferry Road, Cal Fire officials said.

A Valley Springs woman has seen far too many soldiers come home from war in a coffin not to do something for those who do not.

Gail Belmont, 57, is a U.S. Army veteran herself. Her role during the Vietnam War: to play “Taps” in a military band for the funerals of men and women killed in action in Southeast Asia.
 

John Vierra independent study high school in Vallecito has gained its first-ever accreditation.

The accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges “sets the stage for kids applying to college” from John Vierra, said Bret Harte Union High School District Superintendent Michael Chimente.
   

Changes to Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps for Calaveras County could require more property owners to buy flood insurance.

The new flood maps show that various parcels throughout the county, in areas including Vallecito, Valley Springs and Mountain Ranch, are now partially or fully located within a designated flood hazard area, based on countywide geographic information system mapping.
 

Off-roaders seriously damaged a protected high-elevation meadow in the Stanislaus National Forest where research on Yosemite toad habitat was being undertaken.

Forest scientists discovered the damage at Groundhog Meadow, near Herring Creek, on June 24. When they arrived, they saw a blue pickup truck loaded with motorcycles make a “hasty retreat,” according to a U.S. Forest Service statement.