Anthony Butera wants to inject a healthy dose of Christian values, more specifically, Catholic Christian values, into the business world.

Pacific President Pamela A. Eibeck wants to strengthen the bonds between the university and Stockton.

A world without Bette Belle Smith is difficult to fathom.

Even in the best of times, it’s a hard sell – spending billions and billions and billions to develop and refine the technologies needed to explore outer space.

OK. I’ll admit it. I’m one of those Americans extremely dissatisfied with my health care coverage.

America draws its strength from people like Jose Hernandez.

That Hernandez, one of four children in a migrant family from Mexico, would become an accomplished engineer and astronaut is nothing short of a spectacular achievement.

With this issue, you will find new features in both the print and online editions of The Central Valley Business Journal.

In case you skipped ahead to this column, for which, of course, I am eternally grateful (I’ve always known that our readers have impeccable taste); head on back to Pages 4 and 5 – BUT NOT YET – to check out The Journal Roundtable and Sound Off!

This isn’t going to be easy.

Overhauling the nation’s health-care system will be a monumental undertaking, a task certain to produce political mayhem. But without a solution, the nation’s economy will be unable to pull itself out of the muck in which it is mired.

Landmark Modesto business Vella Farms is back and longtime customers couldn’t be happier.

“We would come here often,” said Jan Rekoutis. “We’d come here for our veggies and the coffee and the pastry. We love their specialty items. It’s rare to find this type of store. We were devastated when they closed.”

BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution operating 741 branches. The bank has 401 branches in Texas, 92 in Alabama, 77 in Arizona, 45 in Florida, 36 in Colorado and 22 in New Mexico.

With the third-quarter acquisition of Guaranty Bank, it now has 59 branches in California. Guaranty Bank had 160 branches nationwide.  All Guaranty banking centers in Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Tracy, Modesto and Turlock will all be a part of the transition.