Appliance Repair in Denair, CA

It’s been two months since Joel Thomazin, 31, of Denair, was last seen starting out on a solo hike in Yosemite National Park. Despite an extensive, multi-agency search of Thomazin’s planned hiking route and the surrounding areas, no clues were uncovered of what could have happened to the avid outdoorsman and searches have since been called off.

Thomazin had planned a solo hike from Hetch Hetchy to Lake Eleanor and then back to Hetch Hetchy starting on Sept. 6 and returning Sept. 9. He was last seen by a park ranger around 5 p.m. on Sept. 6 as he completed the steep traverse above O'Shaughnesy Dam.

Park officials had thought he could have decided to stay out longer and extended his trip to Cherry Lake or to the north or east as far as the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River. The search — which included search and rescue crews on the ground, in the air and by boat — covered his intended path, along with Tioga Road between Cherry Lake and Tuolumne Meadows. Thomazin wasn’t found, nor was any of his equipment, including a bright red inflatable kayak.

Thomazin’s family is planning a memorial service for the beloved husband and father as he is presumed dead due to the length of time he’s been missing in the remote area.

Thomazin leaves behind his wife of seven years, Amanda, and 2-year-old son Titus. He was a Sonora Union High graduate and Stanislaus State alumnus, a Civil Affairs Specialists with the United States Army Reserve and employed by Sanny Bros. Royalty Restoration in Modesto.

Thomazin’s sister-in-law, Danielle Marty, started a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for the family during this trying time, as Amanda is not eligible for death benefits at this time.

“Though it’s unlikely he is alive, without proof of his whereabouts, Joel is considered a missing person. In the state of California, it can take five years to get a death certificate for a missing person which means his wife, Amanda, can’t collect on the things normally available to help bridge the gap such as Joel’s life insurance, social security, etc. The goal of this fundraiser is to alleviate the financial stress placed on Amanda by raising enough to cover monthly expenses (bills, small necessities, groceries) for a year. Any amount is helpful because it all adds up. Financial support means Amanda can focus on healing and raising their two-year-old son, Titus,” wrote Marty on the fundraising page.

A memorial service is planned for Thomazin at 11 a.m. Dec. 4 at Monte Vista Chapel in Turlock.

The GoFundMe page is titled “Help Amanda and Titus Bridge the Gap.”

Thomazin is not the only hiker still missing in Yosemite. Richard Judd, 69, was last seen on July 25 on a day hike from his camp near Lower Merced Pass Lake to Red Peak Pass.

A neighboring business is raising money to support the owners of A&R Appliance Repair in Denair after a structure fire broke out in the building on Wednesday.

Evelyn Armendiz, who has owned the store with her husband, Rene Estrada, since 2005, said she and her whole family were at their son’s high school graduation ceremony when the fire broke out.

“Everybody’s safe and everybody’s good,” she said. “Nobody was there, it was after hours.”

The Denair Fire Department responded to the fire at the store, located at 3748 N. Santa Fe Ave., at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a statement. The building was burning through the roof by the time fire crews arrived at the scene. Additional support was provided by fire departments in Turlock, Hughson and Modesto, among others.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the one building, according to the statement, “although the building was a total loss.” No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit is investigating the fire’s cause and origin.

According to investigators, the estimated loss for the building and its contents is $300,000.

Nothing inside the store looks salvageable, Armendiz said, but she said the store will continue to provide appliance service work and follow-ups to their existing customers.

Bob Holloway, who owns Road Dog Tires close to the appliance store, set up a collection can in his store to raise money and support the business. Additionally, Holloway said he wants to recruit more businesses to raise money for A&R Appliance and eventually hold a more formal fundraising party in the coming weeks.

“They obviously lost their entire business, all their inventory,” he said. “They’re in a world of hurt right now. Denair is a small community. We’ve always stuck together. Whenever there’s a tragedy like this, the whole community comes together, and that’s what we will do.”

This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.

To help fund The Bee’s economic development and children’s health reporters with Report for America, go to https://bit.ly/ModestoBeeRFA

This story was originally published May 27, 2021 4:53 PM.

Residents of four unincorporated areas of Stanislaus County are facing big increases in garbage collection rates.

County officials say the rate increases, adding anywhere from $13 to $30 to monthly residential bills, are tied to implementing a state recycling bill signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016.

The increases will affect Bertolotti Disposal customers in Salida, Keyes, Crows Landing, Grayson and Westley.

Also affected are Gilton Solid Waste customers in Knights Ferry and Valley Home, and areas served by Turlock Scavenger in Denair, Empire, Hickman, La Grange and unincorporated pockets of Turlock.

The county, which regulates garbage haulers and sets the maximum rates they can charge, previously has made minor adjustments to garbage service rates based on changes in consumer price indices. But Senate Bill 1383 brings significant changes and additional requirements for recycling organic wastes.

The bill is designed to fight climate change by reducing wastes going into landfills that break down and create methane emissions. County officials said the state has provided no funding to offset the costs of implementing SB 1383 and that puts the costs on the shoulders of ratepayers.

County environmental resources staff told supervisors this week the new state requirements will apply to a large portion of county unincorporated territory and expand the areas where garbage service is mandatory.

The most immediate changes will take effect in four areas served by garbage collection companies:

? Bertolotti Disposal customers in Salida, Keyes, Crows Landing and Grayson will receive three 96-gallon carts, including a green one for organic waste, blue for plastics and beverage containers and black for regular household waste. The county board approved a monthly rate of $43.90, an increase of $15.99, effective Jan. 1. The new commercial rate is $135.53 a month, a $34.06 increase.

? Gilton Solid Waste customers in Knights Ferry and Valley Home will receive a green cart for organic waste and a black cart for recyclables mixed with regular household garbage. Gilton can use two carts because it has a processing facility for separating out recyclables. The new rate is $35.92 a month, an increase of $12.98, effective Jan. 1. Commercial customers will pay $124.37 a month, a $29.34 increase.

? Turlock Scavenger will use a three-cart system for residential service in Denair, Empire, Hickman and La Grange. According to the county, inefficiencies caused by SB 1383 requirements result in a large increase to $51.91 a month, or $25.47 higher than the current rate, effective March 1. Commercial customers will pay $109.59 a month, a $25.47 increase.

? A three-cart Turlock Scavenger service in unincorporated parts of Turlock will cost $53.64 a month, an increase of $29.25, effective March 1. The big hike also is due to inefficiencies caused by SB 1383 requirements, the county said. The commercial rate will be $115.66, a $29.25 increase.

The county environmental resources agency has been distributing flyers on the garbage service changes and customers will receive information from haulers.

County supervisors recognize the higher garbage service rates will be difficult for some families and people on fixed incomes. They said the higher costs are related to the new state regulations.

Residents can get together with neighbors on arrangements to share containers and lower their monthly costs.

“We are going to do what we can to work with people,” Supervisor Terry Withrow said. “We all want to do our part to recycle. It becomes very real when the rates have to go up.”

Supervisor Mani Grewal said he also wants county environmental resources to keep looking for ways to reduce the rates. “If there is an opportunity to lower these rates, I want to make sure we are on top of it,” he said at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting.

Tami Stoller of Salida said in correspondence to the county that she’s concerned about the hefty increase. Stoller wrote that she and her husband already have taken steps to reduce yard waste and won’t likely need a large recycling container.

“We just converted our yard to artificial turf and rock using the county’s turf conversion program,” Stoller wrote. “We did this to save water and cut down on the green waste going to the landfill.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2021 8:51 AM.

A Denair Middle School teacher was stopped Wednesday while handing out in a science class a sheet titled The Gender Unicorn, which includes a very simple graphic about gender identity, gender expression and attraction.

It was the first day of school, and Denair teacher Luis Davila Alvarado distributed the paper apparently as part of a “getting to know each other” exercise. The teacher uses the courtesy title “Mx.” instead of “Mr.” and wanted the students to understand why, Denair Unified School District Superintendent Terry Metzger told The Modesto Bee in an email Thursday.

“He gave a handout discussing gender in first and second periods. It was not an assignment and students were not required or asked to fill it out,” the superintendent said.

The handout is of a graphic from Trans Student Educational Resources and says more information is available at www.transstudent.org/gender. It shows various forms of gender identity (female/woman/girl, male/man/boy and other), gender expression (feminine, masculine and other), sex assigned at birth (male, female and other/intersex), sexual attraction to (women, men, other genders) and emotional attraction to (woman, men, other genders.)

Alvarado, a second-year teacher of seventh- and eighth-grade science, did not seek permission ahead of time from the school principal, Metzger said. Principal Amanda Silva “happened to be in his second-period class as part of her routine visits on the first day of school. When she saw the content of the handout, she spoke with the teacher and directed him to stop distributing it,” Metzger said. She estimates that about 50 students were given the handouts.

Asked if what the teacher did violated district policy, the superintendent said that as required by law, gender identity is among the topics discussed in the seventh- through 12th-grade sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention instruction curriculum. But such instruction occurs during health classes, not science classes, Metzger said.

“The principal and I have spoken with the teacher about why we believe this was a poor decision,” she said. “Any discipline is a private matter between the district and employee.”

The Bee sent an email to Alvarado’s school account seeking comment, but got no response.

Parents were not notified by the district about the handout, and “only a handful of parents have called to express their concern,” Metzger said Thursday afternoon.

On Facebook, the stepson of one of Alvarado’s students posted Wednesday night, “The teacher said that because he was transgender and the kids had lots of questions, he thought this would be beneficial to them. Which is the most bulls--- excuse I’ve ever heard.”

The parent, Sonia Rush, continued, “I don’t care what you identify as, that’s your decision. But NO ONE has the right to ask my child these questions that have absolutely nothing to do with what you are teaching in a classroom.”

Many other people commented that the teacher has no business discussing sexual attraction with children. One, Kristen Hill, posted, “Let’s say the kids are confused about what to call him/her. How in hell does this ... clear up any confusion about him/her?!?! What a crock of s---!

This story was originally published August 8, 2019 4:04 PM.

For the first time since 2002, the Denair High School boys basketball team will play in a Sac-Joaquin Section title game on Saturday.

The Coyotes took down their Southern League co-champions during Wednesday’s Division V semifinals, defeating Mariposa 60-56 in a hard-fought victory which advanced them to this weekend’s finals at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

“It was everything I thought it would be, plus a little bit more,” Denair head coach RJ Henderson said following Wednesday’s close game. “We’re just two evenly matched teams.”

Denair and Mariposa shared the Southern League crown this season after they both finished 11-1, and the longtime rivals split their league series against each other. The Grizzlies came to Denair’s gym looking to win the rubber match on Wednesday and edged the Coyotes 22-17 after the first period. Both teams scored nine points apiece in the second quarter, and Mariposa entered halftime up 31-26.

After the half, however, Denair returned to the court with a vengeance and scored 12 unanswered points thanks in part to 3-pointers from seniors Connor Leonard and Jack Henderson. Mariposa answered back to come within two points, 43-41, making for a nail-biting fourth period.

“They went on that 12-0 run to start the second half and that gave us a lot of momentum moving forward. [Mariposa] is so good and so well-coached that they made a run at us several times, and we had to answer it,” RJ Henderson said.

The two teams fought back and forth in the fourth, with each tying the game and capturing the lead only to see the other come back and do the same. With just one minute left in the game and the Coyotes down 56-54, Denair junior Isaiahs Plasencia hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to go up 57-56.

“This feels amazing. Being able to contribute to our team win is the best feeling ever,” Isaiahs Plasencia said. “The corner is just my spot, so I threw it up and put it in.”

Free throws from Henderson and senior Mario Plasencia following the 3-pointer secured the win.

“It was a two-minute game, and we came out ahead in the last two minutes,” RJ Henderson said. “I’m so proud of this team.”

With the win, the Coyotes will play Bradshaw Christian at 12 noon Saturday at the Golden 1 Center in the Division-V section title game. It’s Denair’s first trip back to the title game since they won in 2002, and RJ Henderson’s first as head coach. Denair and Bradshaw last played in December, when the Coyotes won 57-56.