Employment Attorney in Modesto, CA

From government offices to local bank branches, several Modesto-area businesses will close their doors or shorten their hours in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.

The Modesto Bee reached out to local businesses and services to find out how Independence Day will affect their hours.

Below is a list of Modesto-area businesses and whether they’ll be open or closed on Friday, July 4.

Keep in mind: Hours can vary by location, so be sure to check with your local store before heading out.

The Modesto area is home to a variety of grocery stores, supermarkets and other retailers. Here are the major chains that will be open or closed Friday for the holiday:

Vintage Faire Mall will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, July 4.

However, individual restaurants and retailers can have different hours, so it’s best to contact them directly.

Here’s how Independence Day will affect hours at local pharmacies and drugstores on Friday, July 4:

Government offices, including the California Department of Motor Vehicles, U.S. Postal Service and public libraries will be closed on Friday, July 4, as well as most banks.

Other services, including trash pickup, will be delayed.

Package delivery companies including FedEx and UPS will be closed for the holiday.

What do you want to know about life in Modesto? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email [email protected].

Available now: Sign up here for the best food, drink and entertainment coverage in Stanislaus County.

There are a lot of celebrations and entertainment popping up in the greater Modesto region in the coming days. Modesto Performing Arts joins a host of Graffiti Summer events with a live production of the musical “Grease.” Juneteenth celebrations and observances will be held in Modesto, Riverbank and Lathrop, along with a trip to the Allensworth Historical State Park (Scroll down to see the list of Juneteenth events). Here’s a look at just some of what’s planned June 14-20.

Modesto Performing Arts presents “Grease” at the Gallo Center for the Arts, just in time for Graffiti Summer. The production opens MPA’s 57th season. The musical is about love-struck teenagers unexpectedly reuniting at Rydell High after the summer of 1958. “Grease” has had two successful Broadway revivals and was made into a hit movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. MPA’s production is directed by Paul Tischer and music direction is by Marie Maxfield. Mic Thompson will return to his hometown of Modesto for choreography duties.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. June 14, 20-21; 2 p.m. June 15, 22

WHERE: Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I St., Modesto

TICKETS: $38-$58

The Modesto Band of Stanislaus County, affectionately known as MoBand, performs its third concert of the season, moving to a special Wednesday date in observance of Thursday’s Juneteenth holiday. The “Through Time” show will feature classic tunes by Glenn Miller, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and rock legends of the 1970s.

WHEN: 8 p.m. June 18

WHERE: Mancini Bowl at Graceada Park, 401 Needham St., Modesto

TICKETS: Free

The Modesto Film Society will screen the classic hit “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis at the State Theatre. The 1986 action film is about a group of men in an elite training school for fighter pilots when tragedy strikes.

WHEN: 2 p.m. June 15

WHERE: State Theatre, 1307 J St., Modesto

TICKET: $10

The June tradition in Modesto continues with the Back to Graffiti Car Show at the Fruit Yard Amphitheatre. Modesto F-100 Elite presents the event, which also includes a raffle, vendors, music, awards and more.

WHEN: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. June 14

WHERE: The Fruit Yard, 7948 Yosemite Blvd., Modesto

ADMISSION: Free

CALL: 209-577-3093

While Modesto Performing Arts offers “Grease” in a live production, you also can see the film itself at the State Theatre’s “Grease” Singalong screening. It’s also part of Modesto’s Graffiti Summer celebrations.

WHEN: 2 p.m. June 14

WHERE: The State Theatre, 1307 J St., Modesto

TICKETS: $6

The Carnegie Arts Center offers its annual block party in downtown Turlock. This community event for all ages moves from outside the arts center to a Turlock park this year. Creative activities, live music and more will be offered.

WHEN: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. June 14

WHERE: Central Park, downtown Turlock

ADMISSION: Free

The annual Ceres Skies The Limit Hot Air Balloon festival returns. Weather permitting, the schedule has balloons lifting off beginning at 6 a.m. Tethered rides will be offered to the public for $10. There will be food trucks, vendors, live music and activities for children.

WHEN: 5 a.m.-noon June 14

WHERE: River Bluff Regional Park, 3761 Hatch Road, Ceres

ADMISSION: Free

CALL: 209-538-5628

The annual Tuolumne Lumber Jubilee celebrates the logging industry with two days of vendors, a carnival, parade, music, logging contests and more. The events end with a tug-of-war at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

WHEN: June 20-22; See website for times

WHERE: West Side Memorial Park, Tuolumne

ADMISSION: Free

The Stanislaus Arts Council presents its Celebration of the Arts Gala. The council will honor several people for their contributions to the region’s arts community. There will be art, performances and visuals. This year’s theme is “Kaleidoscope of Community.”

WHEN: 5-9 p.m. June 14

WHERE: Modesto Silos, 320 Madonia Ave, Modesto

TICKETS: Start at $150

ONLINE: www.stanislausarts.org/event-checkout/p/events-cota2025

Modesto Juneteenth

The King-Kennedy Memorial Center Board of Directors will celebrate Juneteenth during a “We Shall Rise” festival. The event at Graceada Park includes live entertainment with Valley Rhythm Section, food vendors, games and more.

WHEN: 1-6 p.m. June 14

WHERE: Graceada Park, 401 Needham St., Modesto

ADMISSION: Free

CALL: 209-568-3643

Slavery Remembrance Day

Silver Square Lodge #66/Creators Club of Modesto offers a “Never Be Forgotten, Never Be Repeated Train Ride Back In Time” to Allensworth Historical State Park. The train departs from the Modesto Amtrak station at 7:30 a.m. and returns at 4:30 p.m. Attendees will enjoy food, vendors and live music, along with a guided town tour that highlights significant aspects of Black history. Calling ahead for reservations is recommended.

WHEN: June 14, see above for times

WHERE: See above

TICKETS: $27 round trip

CALL: 209-595-6966

Freedom Trail Walk-A-thon

Silver Square Lodge will hold a second Juneteenth observance, “Never Be Forgotten, Never Be Repeated” with a walk, luncheon, dinner and program. The walk from 9-11 a.m. will be along the Helen White Trail in Modesto, meeting at Martin Luther King Drive and California Avenue. After the walk will be several events at Modesto Centre Plaza’s Arbor Theater, 1000 L St. A lunch will be offered noon-1 p.m. From 1-5 p.m., a youth symposium and rally will take place, featuring a tribute to Col. Allen Allensworth and Prince Hall through films, lectures, music and dancing. After the youth event, participants will receive certificates for free backpacks. A dinner and program will be held 5-6 p.m., followed by a concert featuring Darnell Robinson from 7-11 p.m.

WHEN: June 19, see above for times

WHERE: See above

TICKETS: For post-walk activities, donation is $75

CALL: 209-595-6966

Riverbank Juneteenth

“A Day of Family Fun: Juneteenth Celebrating Freedom” marks another community holiday event. The day will feature activities for children, food, bands, DJs, vendors, gospel singers, cultural performances, educational exhibits, a Black business expo and community resource information.

WHEN: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June 19

WHERE: Riverbank Community Center, 3600 Santa Fe St.

ADMISSION: Free

CALL: 209-568-3643

Lathrop Juneteenth

The Lathrop Juneteenth Heritage Committee presents its third annual event with vendors, food trucks, live music, spoken word and games for kids. Reserve free admission online, below.

WHEN: 4:30-8:30 p.m. June 19

WHERE: Lathrop Generations Center, 450 Spartan Way

ADMISSION: Free

Samir Chantre is a three-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a 10-time American national champion in the same sport and, most recently, a Modesto restaurant owner.

That hardly encompasses all that the Rio de Janeiro native and third-degree black belt has accomplished, but the rest is better saved for another day. Today, Chantre bears the title “Rio Juice - Brazilian Juice Bar owner.”

He opened the health foods cafe June 5 on Prescott Road, in partnership with his wife, Nathalia, who works as a sports nutritionist. All of the recipes are her own.

The kicker: Rio Juice sits directly next door to Ares Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a gym Chantre co-founded in 2016 and teaches at. Rio Juice even is fixed with a large window and a countertop bar where parents and other interested patrons can watch the athletes practice.

“We are advocates of the healthy lifestyle,” Chantre said. “So we have the Brazilian jiu-jitsu (gym), and then we have a Brazilian juice bar.”

There are around 60 Ares academies worldwide affiliated with Chantre and its three other founders — Alan Moraes, Milton Bastos and Osvaldo “Queixinho.” Chantre operates the Modesto and Lathrop locations.

That’s not all, though, because Chantre isn’t one to sit around and twiddle his thumbs. Two days after the soft opening of his Modesto cafe, he opened a PROTEINHOUSE franchise in Sacramento’s Arden Mall with partners Mark Ponticelli and January Siphan, who also own the PROTEINHOUSE in Modesto.

The origin of Rio Juice’s name probably is obvious, but if not, Chantre explained: “Rio is our city in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. And Rio Juice, because the juice bar. And (Rio Juice) is actually “RJ”, which is also (short for) Rio de Janeiro.”

The “r” and the “j” in the cafe’s logo are separated by a palm tree, which Chantre said are common on the beaches in the city. The ‘j” is also an upside-down bendy straw, so add “creative” to Chantre’s list of qualities.

Rio Juice offers a variety of drink options including protein shakes ($8.50 to $11), a milkshake made with sugar-free ice cream ($10 to $14) and coffee drinks including espresso, drip, affogato and protein lattes ($2 to $7).

Food items include yogurt parfaits for $6, smoothie bowls (essentially a protein shake with toppings) ranging from $9.50 to $12, avocado toast for $8, Brazilian chicken empanadas with a side salad for $8 and pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) ranging from $5 to $12.

Of course, Rio Juice also serves acai bowls, which are made with frozen, pureed acai berries native to Brazil. They are $9 for 12 ounces or $12 for 16 ounces.

Nutritional information is provided at the bottom of each menu item, including calories and the grams of protein, carbs and fat.

Rio Juice, at 1711 Prescott Road, is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., though that could change. For more information, visit instagram.com/riojuice.ca.

Only one Stanislaus County hospital received a ‘D’ grade in a new report evaluating patient safety at medical care centers across the nation.

The Leapfrog Group issues Hospital Safety Grade reports twice a year for nearly 3,000 general hospitals in the United States.

Grades are based on several critical factors, including rates of preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them.

The nonprofit organization’s latest report, released May 1 and searchable as an online database, grades health care facilities across the nation on a scale of A to F — with A being the highest grade and F the lowest.

Out of the four Stanislaus County hospitals ranked by Leapfrog, only one received an “D” grade for spring 2025.

Here’s which one:

Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, 1441 Florida Ave. in Modesto, received the lowest grade of any Stanislaus County hospital evaluated in The Leapfrog Group’s latest report.

According to new data from The Leapfrog Group, the hospital received poor scores for infections, surgical complication, patient safety issues and error-preventative practices, as well as poor performance by doctors, nurses and other staff members.

“Errors are much more common if hospital leaders don’t make patient safety a priority,” The Leapfrog Group said. “Leaders must make sure that all hospital staff knows what they need to work on and that they are held accountable for improvements.”

Some of the safety issues Leapfrog noted included staph bacteria in bed linens, accidental cuts and tears and complications following a surgery.

According to The Leapfrog Group, Doctors Medical Center “declined to report” their efforts to improve safety in certain categories, such as having effective leadership to prevent errors.

However, the Modesto hospital said it is “constantly working to improve patient safety and quality care but these false ratings undermine the doctor-hospital-patient relationship that is essential to positive health outcomes.”

“We stand with our sister hospitals, which have filed a complaint in Florida against The Leapfrog Group’s inaccurate, corrupt and dangerous rankings,” Doctors Medical Center said in a statement responding to The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2025 report. “Leapfrog’s scoring system deceives patients and rewards hospitals that either pay them or supply free data for their flawed survey, while punishing those that do not participate with inaccurate scores based on fabricated data.”

These were The Leapfrog Group’s safety grades for other hospitals in Stanislaus County for spring 2025:

A grade

Kaiser Foundation Hospital, 4601 Dale Road, Modesto

B grade

Memorial Medical Center, 1700 Coffee Road, Modesto

C grade

The Leapfrog Group assigns hospitals a grade from A to F based on their “overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.”

These grades are calculated using up to 30 national performance measures sourced from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, The Leapfrog Hospital Survey and other data.

Under the guidance of a panel of patient safety experts, The Leapfrog Group selected about two dozen evidence-based measures, grouped into five key categories, to create its scoring methodology.

Those categories are:

What do you want to know about life in Modesto? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email [email protected].

Rite Aid has announced a new wave of store closures nationwide after filing for bankruptcy for a second time on May 5.

According to recent court filings, several locations in California — including two in the Modesto area — are set to close.

Statewide closures will impact locations across the region, including a store in Fresno, a location near Merced and five locations in the Sacramento area.

The Philadelphia-based pharmacy chain initially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023.

In a news release from May 5, Rite Aid CEO Matt Schroeder said, the company has been facing “financial challenges, intensified by the rapidly evolving retail and health care landscapes.”

“As we move forward, our key priorities are ensuring uninterrupted pharmacy services for our customers and preserving jobs for as many associates as possible,” Schroeder said in the news release.

Here’s which Rite Aid locations will remain open — and which will close — amid bankruptcy filings:

Rite Aid is a national pharmacy chain that began in 1962 as Thrift D Discount Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, according to the company’s website.

Along with in-store pharmacies, Rite Aid locations sell over-the-counter medications, vitamins, beauty products and household essentials.

Rite Aid currently has 347 locations in California, including two stores in Modesto.

Out of the pharmacy chain’s eight locations in the Modesto area, two Rite Aid stores are set to close, according to court documents.

These Rite Aid locations are expected to shut their doors:

1300 West F St., Oakdale

1710 California St., Escalon

In a letter to its customers from May 5, Rite Aid said, “stores will remain open and operating for the next few months where you can continue to access pharmacy services and products in stores and online, including prescriptions and immunizations.”

The timeline of the store closures is still unclear and subject to change, according to court documents.

According to court documents, the following Rite Aid stores will remain open for now:

In an FAQ released by Rite Aid regarding its bankruptcy, the company said it will continue to serve customers.

“We are committed to delivering the leading health care products and services that you expect from us,” the company said. “You can still find what you are looking for at our stores and fill your prescriptions at our pharmacies.”

As of Tuesday, June 3, Rite Aid said that customers can still fill and pick up their prescriptions at the pharmacies scheduled to close.

What do you want to know about life in Modesto? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email [email protected].