Patty Guerra

What started as a premise in a UC Merced lab culminated with a commemoration of Project Nexus, California's first solar canal project.

On Wednesday, state leaders gathered at the Project Nexus sites in Hickman and Keyes to celebrate the completion of the construction pilot, which demonstrates how covering operational irrigation canals with solar panels can help save water, generate clean energy, and conserve natural lands.

Temperatures in the 90s are nothing new to the northern San Joaquin Valley. But having them in March, as expected this week, is unusual and potentially dangerous.

An exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure will bring record-breaking heat to the entire region, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley are likely to reach 90 degrees by Tuesday and 95 by Friday. That's 20 to 25 degrees above normal.

Breyenne Pierce wasn't sure UC Merced was for her.

The Turlock High graduate had followed her passion for water polo to Sierra College in Rocklin. As she was concluding her community college experience, she started looking for a four-year university to complete her degree.

"Honestly, I didn't want to go back home," she said. "I enjoyed being at Sierra. Even though it was two hours away, it was far enough to really spread my wings."

If it seems anxiety around elections is at an all-time high, then political groups have done their jobs.

"It's very conscious, it's very calculated," said UC Merced political science Professor Anil Menon, displaying a pile of negative campaign mailers during a panel discussion on campus Wednesday.

Dozens of high school students stepped off buses at UC Merced on a toasty Monday last summer, coming from Stockton, Modesto and Merced to spend a few days exploring college opportunities.

They were part of a special program, the 1300 Campaign, which aims to increase the number of young men of color attending University of California and California State universities by 2025 and 2026.

Construction has begun on a pilot project to install solar panels above two sections of Central Valley canals. This innovative initiative, which studies significant power and water issues, has already garnered recognition.

Project Nexus, a partnership between the Turlock Irrigation District (TID), the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), Bay Area development firm Solar AquaGrid, and UC Merced, received the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Award from the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB).

A major route to UC Merced could soon begin to be much safer under a project to install, test and assess several bike lane and other safety interventions.