The Union Democrat
Meet ROSA
Dr. Chris Krpan, an orthopedic surgeon at Adventist Health Sonora, estimates he has done thousands of knee replacement surgeries in 21 years in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties. In the past three years, he’s been using robotic surgical assistant...
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Following the money
California state Sen. Mike Mcguire, a Santa Rosa Democrat, is a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan. During his first speech as Senate president pro tempore in early 2024, Mcguire gave a shoutout to his beloved team, who were days away from facing the...
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From Yosemite to Nepal
Awoman who was born in Sonora, grew up in Groveland and Yosemite Valley, and has extensive rock climbing and mountaineering experience in California and Alaska is traveling to the Himalayas this week to help teach an ice climbing clinic for Nepali...
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Curtain call
While “coming soon” posters on the wall outside of the Regal Cinemas Stadium 10 in Sonora advertised some of this summer’s most-anticipated Hollywood blockbusters, employees and longtime moviegoers inside the building’s quiet lobby were bracing for the...
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Critters in Color
Columbia Elementary students are using their creativity to help cats and dogs in need of homes through an art show that will be on display until the end of the month at the Sonora Chamber of Commerce’s offices in downtown Sonora, with an artist...
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Fire budget crunch
Tuolumne County fire funding for 2026-27 is scheduled to come before the county Board of Supervisors at a public meeting Tuesday, followed by a discussion and board direction to county staff. Information is tentatively scheduled to be presented by the...
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Yosemite rescues
In Yosemite National Park, an elite searchand-rescue team helps lost hikers, evacuates injured climbers and saves people stranded on the sheer granite cliffs of El Capitan or the steep, slick slope of Half Dome. The team responded to more than 190...
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‘A solid base’
The state’s first manual snow survey of the 2025-26 winter, conducted Tuesday about 60 miles northeast of Sonora in El Dorado County, showed the Central Sierra and statewide snowpack received significant boosts from Christmas week storms. Snowpack...
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Christmas cleanup
Tuolumne County Public Works Solid Waste Division staff are offering county residents the opportunity to recycle their live, non-flocked Christmas trees for free. Nonflocked means no fake white snow powder on the tree. County residents can drop off...
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Winter windfall
In a winter season that’s brought bleak news to tourism-dependent Tuolumne County, Christmas week storm forecasts paid off with enough snow to guarantee a needed boost to the county’s top private-sector industry. Dodge Ridge Mountain Resort received...
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Climbers share faith, fellowship
Gabriel Mann, 41, and Marc Crum, 63, have been climbing individually for decades, and they’ve shared a rope — the essential lifeline that physically links them and represents their trust, partnership, and commitment to venturing to vertical places and...
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Christmas comeback
What started out as an apparent act of vandalism to Jamestown’s beloved community Christmas tree in Rocca Park turned into an inspiring display of resilience and holiday spirit. The 12foot tree, which has been placed in the park’s gazebo each holiday...
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Holiday helpers
An army of volunteers have been helping prepare 500 pounds of turkey, 500 pounds of mashed potatoes, 500 pounds of stuffing, and 20 gallons of gravy to feed about 2,300 hungry people, who will come in person or receive delivery meals and pickup meals...
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Meals and music
The annual 37th annual Mut’s Bean Feed and 44th annual Pop Hudson Christmas Sing drew holiday revelers to downtown Sonora Friday afternoon for a free lunch and a round of community Christmas caroling. The Bean Feed is presented by the Tuolumne County...
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No limits
Agroup of Tuolumne County people who are coping with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive, degenerative neurological disorder for which there is no cure — including one in his 80s who is also dealing with Lewy body dementia — are defying stereotypes,...
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History on deck
A seven-month effort to preserve a piece of Gold Rush history in Calaveras County for generations to come will culminate Thursday afternoon when the 171-year-old Douglas Flat Schoolhouse is lowered onto its newly completed foundation. The public and...
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Back-to-back state champs
The Sonora High School varsity football team took home its second consecutive state title — and the second in the program’s history — on Saturday after defeating Rio Hondo Prep at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo 35-10. A victory parade is being...
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Meals and meaning
On what would have been Richard Jimmie “RJ” Bennett II’S 41st birthday, dozens of residents at Camp Justice were treated on Thursday to hot meals, showers, haircuts and words of encouragement at an event organized by his family in his memory. What...
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History awaits
The Sonora Wildcats are gearing up for their chance to become state football champions for the second-straight year when they take on Rio Hondo Prep this Saturday in Mission Viejo. See Sports on Page B1 for a preview of the matchup, as well as a...
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Good as gold
Sonora High School’s Golden Regiment Band performed a concert Monday night in Bud Castle Gymnasium. The concert featured a medley of spirit songs they’ve played at sports games throughout the season, before they travel to Southern California this...
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State-bound, again
Sonora football went from being one of the more under-theradar teams in the whole state, to being one of the most talked about small school football programs in the country over the course of these past two seasons. And when you’re a team with little...
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Service and tradition
Tuolumne County first responders joined local Scouts last month in downtown Sonora’s Courthouse Square to respectfully retire worn American flags as part of a formal ceremony steeped in tradition. Hosted on Nov. 20 by Scouting America Troops 580 and...
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Ready to roar
The Sonora Wildcats’ quest to repeat as state football champions continues this Saturday when they host the Woodcreek Timberwolves in the CIF Northern California Division 2-A Regional title game at Dunlavy Field.
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Friendly competition
Courthouse Square in downtown Sonora was abuzz Wednesday morning as groups set up for the annual Christmas treedecorating contest organized by the Sonora Chamber of Commerce. More than 50 trees decorated by members of local nonprofit organizations,...
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Native American tribe reclaims 900 acres of Yosemite National Park
A Native American tribe that was displaced by the establishment of Yosemite National Park is getting part of its lands back. The land transfer, from Pacific Forest Trust, is considered a major milestone for Indigenous cultural and land restoration in...
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Small-town showcase
Thousands of people of all ages lined Washington Street for the 42nd Annual Historic Downtown Sonora Christmas Parade, which began at 6 p.m. Friday. It was cold enough for hot coffee and cocoa, which several businesses offered in styrofoam cups...
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Let there be lights
Christmas Town Sonora events officially kicked off Wednesday with a lighting ceremony held at The Red Church and Sonora Fire Museum. For coverage on Friday’s Downtown Sonora Christmas Parade, see Tuesday’s Union Democrat. People snap photos of St....
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Harvest of help
Dave Dumas, a Marine Corps and Vietnam veteran who turned 74 years old Tuesday, has been volunteering and helping to feed and care for veterans and the homeless for more than a quarter-century as director of Harvest Ministries in Tuolumne. Aaron...
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Turkey takeover
Turkey is back on the menu at the former Foster Farms plant in Turlock that closed this May and took with it 500 local jobs. The Diestel Family Ranch, a longtime Sonora-based specialty turkey producer, has taken over the Turlock site and plans to...
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Turkey Trot
The 43rd annual Turkey Trot, hosted by Sonora Elementary took place on Friday, Nov. 21, and saw children, teachers, administrators and parents alike embrace the festivities and the kickoff to the holiday season. Boys and girls in third through eighth...
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‘Dedication and vision’
The Mariposa, Amador, Alpine, Calaveras and Tuolumne Health Board, Inc., a nonprofit tribal health care provider for federally recognized and non-federally recognized tribes in five counties, began by providing health services for Native Americans...
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Dragoon Gulch grind
A dozen workers with chain saws, fuel belts, gloves, helmets, face-shields, chaps, and other gear attacked dense vegetation Wednesday, raising clouds of sawdust and the howling racket of revved-up gas-powered motors near Alpine Lane and the Creekside...
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Legacy of courage
Scores of Sons In Retirement military veterans in Sonora commemorated Veterans Day with direct descendants of the Tuskegee Airmen, including the commander of the Red Tails 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first allblack fighter squadron formed during World...
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Standing watch
Editor’s note: Anyone who is struggling with thoughts of self harm should call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — at 988 — for free and confidential help. Two local mothers of active-duty military personnel have founded a new nonprofit,...
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Families await help
Food pantries and food bank administrators were busy trying to meet the needs of hungry Tuolumne County residents Friday afternoon. Michael Manning, 61, of Sonora, went to Nancy’s Hope Community Center on Stockton Road in Sonora for food because, like...
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Patriotic lessons
Elementary school students and their teachers hosted a dozen military veterans Wednesday at Chinese Camp Science Academy to sing patriotic songs, share information they researched about the history of the American flag, and thank them for their...
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Prop 50 divide
About 60% of Tuolumne County voters in preliminary results from Tuesday’s statewide special election opposed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to redraw California congressional districts in favor of Democrats. However, before the first round of results was...
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Redistricting showdown
Thousands of Tuolumne County residents voted in Tuesday’s Proposition 50 election, initiated by Gov. Gavin Newsom to let California voters decide whether to adopt gerrymandered districts drawn to give Democrats an edge in the national race to control...
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Neighbors unite
Multiple individuals, businesses and groups in Tuolumne County are conducting food drives to counter delays and under-funding for November food stamps — Calfresh and SNAP — that have been caught up in the ongoing federal government shutdown. Twain...
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Halloween cheer
Columbia resident Sally Schoettgen brought a stack of “Peanuts Pumpkin Carols” songbooks and joined five full-throated friends Friday morning to celebrate Halloween by serenading people in downtown Sonora businesses with ditties inspired by the Charles...
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Ashes to action
Young adults with the California Conservation Corps spent two days earlier this month installing more than 2 linear miles of erosion control berms on burned properties in the Chinese Camp area to try to protect groundwater sources beneath charred...
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Protecting heritage
The Mackey family, descendants of five Murphy brothers who came to Tuolumne County in the 1860s to homestead the Murphy Ranch southeast of Sonora, has entered into a partnership with the nonprofit California Rangeland Trust by setting aside 427 acres...
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‘People are scared’
More than 6,500 people in Tuolumne County who rely on Calfresh food assistance will not receive their benefits in a few days due to the federal government shutdown, even if Congress reaches an agreement by and before this Saturday, Nov. 1, and the...
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Trick-or-treat Street
Hundreds of little ghouls and goblins roamed the streets of downtown Sonora on Saturday for the Sonora Chamber of Commerce’s annual Trick-or-treat Street event. Shop owners handed out candy and had their storefronts decked out with Halloween-themed...
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A net gain
Dozens of people — many of them pickleball players dressed to play pickleball — came to a ribboncutting and grand opening ceremony at the City of Sonora’s brand-new $175,000 pickleball court Friday afternoon at Woods Creek Rotary Park. Sonora...
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Standard’s rise and fall
Standard, originally named Standard City by the Standard Lumber Co. (SLC), is one of three company towns in Tuolumne County — Moccasin and Tuolumne being the other two. In many respects, Standard’s evolution from a sizable Native American village to...
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Roundup recognition
Tuolumne County’s iconic Mother Lode Roundup is getting a moment to shine in the national spotlight. For the first time, the annual two-day rodeo held over Mother’s Day Weekend has been named among the top-five finalists for the Small Rodeo of the Year...
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‘A joyful time’
Scores of people in their 90s were invited to be recognized as Centenarians-intraining and to honor Evelyne Conner, who turned 100 last month, at a Centenarian Honors Luncheon at the Sonora Senior Center on Monday. Conner, who came to the event with...
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It takes a forklift
It took a forklift to move the heaviest pumpkins grown in Tuolumne County at Saturday’s Farms of Tuolumne County Pumpkin and Zucchini Weigh-in at the Indigeny Reserve Fall Festival. And it took four willing fire-eating competitors, including Stephen...
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‘A fresh approach’
Builders, developers, Realtors, bankers, and elected leaders gathered Friday at a grand opening event for Valley Vista Village, which is billed as a master-planned community that will eventually offer a total of 239 homes, at 10979 Golf Links Road,...
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‘Building the Wilderness’
More than 50 people packed a room at the Tuolumne County Public Library on Greenley Road last week to hear former Union Democrat reporter Chris Caskey discuss his 2023 doctoral dissertation, “Building the Wilderness: Power, Water and Recreation in the...
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Healthy standards
Belleview Elementary and the Summerville Union High School District are the latest public schools in Tuolumne County to become “Blue Zones Approved” for initiatives aimed at encouraging healthier choices for students and staff. Both schools celebrated...
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Out There
Two of my buddies wanted to go early to Yosemite Valley to walk up the Yosemite Falls Trail to Eagle Peak, and two others wanted to go and do something different, so we all got up around 3 a.m. Sunday and left downtown Sonora at 4:45 a.m. We were in...
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Mural makeover
Artist Tracy Knopf, 64, came to the children’s section at the Tuolumne County Public Library on Greenley Road in Sonora last Friday to touch up a wall-length mural she first painted and completed in 2010. Abrielle Terzani, 10, and Scarlette Pirnat,...
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Royal procession
Downtown Sonora streets were closed briefly Friday afternoon for the Sonora High School Homecoming Parade in advance of the Wildcats contest against Hughson. For full game coverage, see Tuesday’s edition of The Union Democrat.
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‘Feel the Love’
ATuolumne Countybased business has partnered with a Texas-based foundation to provide a new heating and air conditioning system to the Collie family in downtown Sonora, to recognize the Collies’ 40 years of efforts working with young people and adults...
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Motogiro di California
People who love 1950s Italian vintage single-cylinder motorcycles returned to downtown Sonora earlier this week. There were tiny MV Agustas, Parillas, Benellis, Ducatis, an Aermacchi, and at least one Bianchi. All the motorbikes appeared to be more...
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Saving history?
Cleaning up historic buildings damaged or destroyed in the Sept. 2 6-5 Fire is posing challenges, Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services Assistant Director Dore Bietz told members of the county Historic Preservation Review Commission on...
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Courage in color
Downtown Sonora is once again decked in ribbons of deep purple this October as the Center For A Non Violent Community (CNVC) led its fourth annual Paint the Town Purple campaign in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. About 20 volunteers and...
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Hands-on harvest
‘Be sure to wear clothes that you don’t mind possibly getting red wine stains on,” Tom Bender warned students in his Intro to Wines class at Columbia College last week. The cabernet sauvignon grapes that the class crushed a week prior had finished...
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A new chapter
The Sonora-based nonprofit Nancy’s Hope on Wednesday began administering the David Lambert Community Drop-in Center, a gathering place in a single-story building on Jackson Street in downtown Sonora for people in need, including those living with...
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Out There
Reservations are no longer required to get into Yosemite National Park through Dec. 31, so we left downtown Sonora around 7:30 a.m. Saturday and made it to the Highway 120 Big Oak Flat entrance before 9 a.m. Our goal was to try the Cathedral Lakes...
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‘I want to stay here’
Since the devastating 6-5 Fire that destroyed much of the historic Gold Rush town of Chinese Camp on Sept. 2, residents of as many as 50 homes have been displaced and many of them are now living in tents, sleeping on couches at other people’s homes, or...
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Eye on the weather
At PG&E’S weather lab in San Ramon, Scott Strenfel studies a huge digital map on the wall displaying temperatures, dew points and humidity levels across California. At a spot in Kern Hills outside of Bakersfield, wind gusts of 39 mph were forecast to...
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Chinese Camp, as it was
Ever since the 6-5 Fire devastated Chinese Camp, the Tuolumne County Historical Society’s Research Center has received numerous requests from newspaper and TV reporters, as well as former residents, asking for everything we knew about the town. Our...
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The Fairfield four
Four brothers, ages 74 to 86, members of Tuolumne County Aquatics at Sonora Sports and Fitness on Mono Way, just set a new world record in the 4x50-meter freestyle relay in their combined age group — 320 years — on Sept. 7 at the Virginia Senior Games...
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Groveland Facelift
About 30 volunteers as young as 2 years old and many adults collected 695 pounds of trash in the Groveland and Big Oak Flat area, at Tuolumne River recreation areas, and places in Mariposa County on Saturday as part of the Yosemite Climbing...
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‘It takes a village’
Resiliency Village hosted its Building Better Futures Luncheon on Thursday at the Tuolumne Community Resilience Center, where more than 100 people filled the room — business leaders, county and tribal government representatives, health care...
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‘We stand together’
More than 100 people of all ages, including scores of elementary school students and military veterans, gathered Thursday morning in Tuolumne to remember the 2,977 victims who died 24 years ago in the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, as...
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Patterson Mine
William Patterson, a Pennsylvania native late of Gallatin, Tennessee, headed for the Southern Mines after his arrival in California in 1850. He and his partners settled at Browns Flat where the diggings were good. Their claims paid well at first, but...
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Canine commendation
Poncho is ready to report for duty. The small tan Chihuahua mix made national headlines last month when he was credited with helping lead authorities in Tuolumne County to an 85-year-old woman who had been missing for nearly two days after walking away...
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‘A dream realized’
Hundreds of Sonora Elementary students got their first look Monday inside the school’s new $5 million gymnasium that will be home to physical education classes, sports practices, home games and more athletic activities. Construction on the...
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Out There
We needed a reservation to get into Yosemite National Park last Sunday, Aug. 31, and failed to get one, so we left downtown Sonora around 9 a.m. to try to walk the popular Carlon Falls Trail, which begins off Evergreen Road in the Stanislaus National...
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‘This town will rebuild’
The storm that charged up the middle of California on Tuesday unleashed wave after wave of lightning strikes on the state’s Gold Country foothills, leaving behind at least 22 wildfires that raced through more than 13,700 acres prompting evacuations and...
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