Blood drive for injured Tokay student Friday

Tokay High School will host a blood drive open to students, school staff and community members from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the school.

The blood drive will benefit senior Tiffany Adams who was critically injured in a two-car collision on Oct. 15 and junior Kevin Hietbrink, who had emergency surgery to remove his spleen following an injury at football practice Oct. 17.

Students 17 years old and older and staff can sign up in the Student Services office to participate in the blood drive. Students need to bring parent permission forms with them to the event.

Community members are required to register with the administration office before going to the blood drive.

Blood donors can also designate Tokay High School's account if they donate at other Delta Blood Bank locations.

Donors are required to weigh at least 110 pounds and be in general good health. First-time donors need to bring a state or military identification or passport. For more information about blood donations, call 943-3830.

The school is located at 1111 W. Century Blvd. in Lodi.

Galt man pleads no contest

Hubert H. Kelley Jr., 32, arrested July 28 on suspicion of leading Lodi police on a high-speed chase through Lodi, Acampo and Galt, pleaded no contest to charges of drunken driving and driving recklessly while evading a police officer, according to records from San Joaquin County Superior Court records.

Kelley was sentenced Tuesday to 122 days in jail, fined $2,020, and placed on eight years of formal probation, court records show. He will be allowed to enroll in a first offender program, home detention or sheriff's work project, records show.

Kelley was arrested after leading police on a pursuit on East Lockeford Street near North Cherokee Lane, police said. He then drove at high speed on narrow roads through Acampo on both sides of Highway 99 before crossing the freeway on Collier Road and went north toward his Galt home, police said.

He was arrested near his home on Allport Drive in the southwestern area of Galt, police said.

Galt trustees approve agreement for bond survey

Galt elementary school district trustees recently approved an agreement with a bond underwriting company to survey voters on a prospective school bond measure, officials said.

Trustees voted in favor of the proposal at Tuesday's meeting.

George K. Baum & Company would survey 400 voters in November and report results back to district officials on Nov. 21.

District officials would consider the final building needs, finance plan for construction, ballot language and prepare a resolution for bond election with the results.

The agreement includes a 1.1 percent bond underwriting fee if a bond election is held, the bond passes and bonds are sold.

In other business, trustees approved purchasing a 29-acre property for a new middle school at a cost of $580,000. The property is located at Marengo Road and Park Terrace Drive.

Trustees also approved a 10-percent salary and benefit increase for teachers and classified workers, officials said.

Big crowd turns out for Lockeford town-hall meeting

Some 60 to 70 residents turned out Wednesday night to discuss the rehabilitation of the old Lockeford School, now used as a community center on North Jack Tone Road and a new community center.

There were mixed emotions about whether a new community center should be built in addition to fixing up the current one or if the present building, built in 1875, should be expanded, said Preston Ledbetter, board president of the Lockeford Community Services District.

Suggestions included converting the present community center into a museum and to convert into a public library. Ledbetter said he suggested that perhaps the center, located west of the present Lockeford Elementary School, could be used as the school's computer lab.

The Community Services District has been awarded a $250,000 state grant to refurbish the old center and $270,000 from San Joaquin County to build a new one, which would include a library, senior center and sheriff's substation.

Ledbetter said he expects the Community Services District board to decide at its Nov. 9 meeting how to use the state grant money.

Across the region

Herald shooting victims' relative allegedly owned pot farm

The marijuana garden where a man and his 8-year-old son were shot earlier this month may have belonged to a member of the victims' family, says a witness quoted in court documents filed in Georgetown.

William Hunt and his son, Matthew, both of Herald, were hunting on their family's property in El Dorado County when they were shot.

William Hunt, 41, was shot in the abdomen and left the hospital Monday.

Matthew, who was shot in the head, emerged from his coma and is speaking with relatives. He remains at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, a relative said Tuesday.

Luis Lopez Arriaga, 77, has pleaded not guilty to shooting the Hunts.

Police believe Arriaga was the garden keeper hired by William Hunt's brother-in-law, who disappeared shortly after the shootings.

Arriaga's son, Mario Lopez, also told police that Hunt's brother-in-law owned the pot farm.

Although a warrant has not been issued for the brother-in-law's arrest, detectives say they want to question him about the marijuana garden.

Man to face murder charges in Sacramento

A 38-year-old man arrested in Southern California will be extradited to Sacramento County this week to face murder charges, police said.

The man is suspected of shooting his neighbor, 15-year-old Timothy Antovich, in July. Investigators say Antovich was shot because he refused to respond to taunts from gang members passing by his house.

Police believe the neighbor shot Antovich after berating him for not defending his neighborhood against the gang members.

The teen-ager was not in a gang.

An autopsy showed Antovich was lying face down on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head.

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