Downstroke

Get out, you king of the Jews: There will be no Bible class taught at Paradise High this year, much to the disappointment of former school district trustee candidate Glenn Stankis. (Check out our Sept. 30, 2004, cover story on Stankis online) A strident Christian who believes there should be no separation between church and state, Stankis has for two years unsuccessfully lobbied the district for a Bible class to be taught at the Ridge high school. After being turned down twice, he decided to run for a spot on the district Board of Trustees but was trounced in last November’s election.

The present board turned down Stankis’ proposal for the third time Tuesday, saying that proposals for elective classes need to come from teachers, not the public. There is apparently already a small, student-led Bible study group that meets informally at lunchtime at the school, but Stankis wants Ridge teens to get credit for learning about the Bible.

Stankis, reached for comment Wednesday, said he was “frustrated” but would continue to advocate for the class.

Former MLB pitcher, native Chicoan dies: Chico residents and baseball fans all over the world are mourning the loss of 14-year Major League Baseball veteran Nelson Briles this week. Briles, who was to be enshrined into the Chico Professional Baseball Hall of Fame next month, died of an apparent heart attack as he was participating in a Pittsburgh Pirates alumni golf event in Florida Sunday.

Briles achieved baseball immortality when he threw a two-hit shutout for the Pirates against the Baltimore Orioles in game five of the 1971 World Series. Briles began his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals and played for five different teams. He ended his career with a 3.44 ERA and a 129-112 record.

Briles started out in Chico, where he played Little League and American Legion baseball and starred on the Chico State University squad before transferring to Santa Clara University.

A former broadcaster and director of corporate Sales for the Pirates, Briles was one of nine players scheduled to receive the inaugural “Legends of the Diamond” award in Chico next month.

Enloe union vote OK’d: An administrative law judge certified the results of last year’s contested union vote at Enloe Medical Center, in which several groups of Enloe workers voted to join the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The vote, carried out by lab technicians, nurses’ assistants and pharmacy techs, was a squeaker, and Enloe, which has a history of opposing union participation among its employees, contested its validity.

But Judge Gerald Wacknov ruled this week that “no reasonable doubt exists as to the fairness and validity of the election.” Enloe has fewer than 30 days to appeal the ruling.