CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : MODESTO : $1,300 Raised for Stayner Children

Students at Modesto’s continuation high school set a goal to raise $150 for the children of Steven Stayner, the former childhood kidnaping victim killed in a traffic accident. But the students of Elliott Alternative Education Center did not know how persuasive they could be. They raised $1,300 in the Modesto area and presented the money to Stayner’s widow, Jody, at her home in Atwater. The money will go into a trust fund for the Stayners’ children, Ashley, 3, and Steven Jr., 2. Stayner was kidnaped in Merced in 1972 at age 7 and escaped more than seven years later. He was killed when his motorcycle smashed into a car that pulled in front of him on Sept. 16.