Three comedians tell all
biblical stories in 90 minutes
ELECTION NIGHT CLIFF-HANGER!
Spriggs leads Merced mayor's race by two dozen votes; final results could favor Gabriault-Acosta
Michele Gabriault-Acosta, right, gets a
hug from Mayor Ellie Wooten.
Saving Souls ... one jail cell at a time
By JONATHAN WHITAKER
johnwhitaker@
midvalleypub.com
Lance Marshall is not a
criminal, and he doesn't carry a
gun.
But he spends most of his
time walking up and down the
yards and blocks of the Sandy
Mush jail, the downtown jail and
juvenile hall.
It's just him and his bible —
and the power of the Lord.
"I get a million questions
every day," the 49-year-old
chaplain says. "How do I get
married? Can you pray for my
mother? Can you get me some
glasses?"
Marshall leads the way for
the Merced County Jail Ministry,
a community supported pro-
gram under the Sheriff's Depart-
ment that brings guidance, bible
study and spiritual reading ma-
terial to more than 800 inmates
every week.
"Not everybody wants to talk
to me," he says. "Sometimes I
get only one person. Sometimes
I'll gather 25 people. Sometimes
a guard will ask me to check on
a guy whose mother just died."
Marshall — who started in
February of 2008 — also repre-
sents a new era for the ministry
that is marking its 20th anniver-
sary this month.
Because of skyrocketing
numbers of repeat offenders
and overcrowded jail conditions,
a group of local ministers, lay
leaders and the sheriff decided
in 1989 to bring a full time jail
chaplain to Merced County.
Chaplain Bill King was en-
listed and the ministry began.
By 1992, a second chaplain
— Joel Kemps — was added,
and King's wife, Carole, eventu-
ally took on the role as a coun-
selor for incarcerated women.
See “Saving” on page 4
Accident in Iraq claims
life of Merced soldier
Merced is mourning
the loss of Pfc. Lukas
Hopper — a 2007
Goldlen Valley High
School graduate —
who died in a crash in
Baghdad last week.
The 20-year-old
Army paratrooper was
less than two weeks
Lukas Hopper the Church of Jesus
away from the end of
his deployment when a Humvee Saints on Yosemite Avenue. He
he was traveling in rolled over is expected to be buried in
during a regular, noncombative Catheys Valley.
exercise, according to military
and news reports.
The City of Merced is flying Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade
flags at half-staff until Hopper is
Sierra stage has a holiday surprise
See Stories On Page 7
By JONATHAN WHITAKER
johnwhitaker@midvalleypub.com
It was one of the closest local election races in decades.
Ahead by only 24 votes in the mayoral race, Merced City Councilman Bill
Spriggs remained upbeat late Tuesday night, giving supporters high-fives
while celebrating at Fernando's Bistro.
"It's a landslide," Spriggs said with a laugh. "We are in the lead, so I'm
feeling good. I think it will hold."
Meanwhile, his tough competitor and childhood schoolmate, Council-
woman Michele Gabriault-Acosta, was a bit more cautious as she spoke to
supporters at the Branding Iron restaurant.
"This is a close one and we are going to have to wait for a final count,"
she said with Mayor Ellie Wooten at her side. "Anything could happen at Bill and Phyllis Spriggs celebrate with
this point." See “Election” on page 5 supporters after viewing polling results.
Council votes
to notify
South Merced
residents
about plan for
homeless camp
By Beverly Barela
beverlybarela@
midvalleypub.com
Emotions ran high during the
Monday night Merced City Coun-
cil meeting as city leaders lis-
tened to over an hour of public
comment and disagreed among
themselves while trying to reach
a decision about whether to relo-
cate the city’s homeless popula-
tion — and if so — where?
Although there was some dis-
cussion about using either Mc-
Namara Park, the Armory or
BMC-West property for an addi-
tional emergency shelter, the
main focus of the meeting was
whether to move the homeless
from their tent city at Black Ras-
cal Creek near Santa Fe to an or-
ganized campground with
bathroom facilities to be devel-
oped using $54,000 in unre-
stricted fund which has not been
budgeted this year.
A major issue discussed was
how to accommodate the home-
less “290's” (registered sex of-
fenders) who, according to
Jessica’s Law, cannot reside
within approximately 2,000 feet
of schools and parks.
A map presented during the
meeting showed the areas that
would not fit the requirements of
Jessica’s Law.
Mike Conway, Merced’s public
information officer, said, “Most of
the city does not meet the criteria
because of the proximity to
schools and parks.”
He said, “There are between
10 and 20 registered sex offend-
PHOTO BY JOHN WHITAKER ers living in the camp in north-
Lance Marshall, a chaplain for the Merced County Jail Ministry, visits hundreds of inmates west Merced, according to State
every week, spreading the word of God and offering them hope for a new life.
See “Votes” on page 4
buried. His body is ex-
pected to be flown to
Merced from Dover Air
Force Base, Del., by the
weekend. Relatives told
local media representa-
tives that furneral serv-
ices are tentatively
planned for Saturday at
Christ of Latter-day
Evren Ayik, 7, holds on tight to his mother Kara as he receives a H1N1 vaccine on Tuesday from
Hopper was assigned to the nurse Joy Beck. Evren has a chronic medical condition and was screened for the shot at the Pub-
1st Battalion, 505th Parachute lic Health Department on Tuesday. At right, a nasal spray version of the vaccine is given to Layla
Davidson, 4, of Merced. Hundreds more waited hours to get their flu shots. See Page B-11
See “Soldier” on page 4