Local voters will see some more choices on their primary ballots in June, thanks to a new open primary system.
This year’s primary election will be the first to take place in California under the Top Two Open Primary Act. Voters opted to change the primary system in June 2010 when they passed Proposition 14, which overhauled the state’s primary elections.

Under the new rules, all voters will have a say in which candidates for state and some federal offices end up on November’s general election ballot.

Sonora police said they arrested a man Tuesday afternoon on a felony drug possession warrant out of Santa Ana and later discovered he was in the country illegally.

Pedro Velazquez, 32, was booked into Tuolumne County Jail, along with Niccole Davis, 30, of Sonora, who was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Tuolumne Utilities District has moved one step closer to hammering out a comprehensive plan for managing its 57 miles of open ditches, used for water delivery.

The TUD board, senior staff members and a handful of area residents attended a public workshop Wednesday morning to hash out the details of the ongoing Ditch Sustainability Project plan.

Dennis Brown, of Sonora, has been playing the piano and singing all his life. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat, copyright 2012

Dennis Brown is an example of that. He has been performing in church since he was a youngster, and continues today on many stages, performing, teaching and leading others as they perform. Music is his lifelong forte, but he is also a talented actor and loves to do both.

Engineers today will begin assessing the damage caused by a Sunday rockslide on the road connecting Tuolumne County communities to Yosemite Valley, according to park officials.

Big Oak Flat Road, a continuation of Highway 120, has been closed between Foresta Road and the El Portal Road junction since late Sunday night when a boulder the size of a two-story house smashed a 40-foot gap in the road. The closure makes Yosemite Valley — the most-touristed part of Yosemite National Park — accessible only through the Highway 140 and Highway 41 entrances in Mariposa County.

The trial of a Valley Springs man charged with second-degree murder previously scheduled for today is now slated for Feb. 2.

James Alison Livezey, 41, is being held in the Calaveras County Jail on $1 million bond, accused in the July 4 beating death of Marvin Brown, 52, at the Sequoia Rose Mobile Home Park in Valley Springs.
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Harsh words were exchanged Tuesday between a former alternate to Calaveras County’s top transportation panel and Supervisor Tom Tryon prior to a vote to take the latest step forward in the controversial Highway 4 “Wagon Trail” realignment.

Supervisors voted 4-0, with Supervisor Steve Wilensky abstaining, to authorize the Public Works Department to administer the environmental documentation of the project on behalf of the Calaveras Council of Governments, at an estimated cost of $1,495,258.

The Sonora Area Foundation and its supporting organization, the Irving J. Symons Foundation, awarded more than $1.23 million in grants and scholarships to local students and nonprofits in 2011.

The foundation’s competitive grants program gave $577,000 to local nonprofits, according to a news release. It also awarded $661,000 in donor-advised funds, including scholarships and other directed giving from community contributors.

Yosemite National Park officials have released for public review their plan for addressing overuse of the popular Half Dome trail.

Public comments on the Half Dome Trail Stewardship Plan Draft Environmental Assessment will be accepted through March 15, a park statement said.