The Record's Lodi Blog

Lodi Police released results of its Saturday night DUI checkpoint on the 100 block of Cherokee Lane. Here are the stats:

410-Vehicles through the checkpoint

410- Vehicles Screened

5- Field sobriety tests conducted at the checkpoint location.

0- DUI Suspects arrested at the checkpoint location.
4- Citations issued during the operation
3- Vehicles towed
3- Vehicles Impounded
4- Unlicensed and Suspended Drivers Sent to Court

The checkpoint was funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Report Drunk Drivers – Call 9-1-1!

Below is a letter to the community from the Lodi Police Department for anybody planning or attending a Super Bowl party on Feb. 3.

If you are hosting a Super Bowl XLVI Party:

• Make sure all of your guests designate their sober drivers before kick-off or help arrange ride-sharing with other sober drivers
• Find unique ways to recognize the designated drivers at your party
• Give them a great spot to watch the game
• Whatever non-alcoholic beverage they are drinking, make sure their glass is always full
• Let them have the first pass at the buffet table
• Make sure their cars are easy to access when it is time to start driving people home
• Serve plenty of food
• Offer a variety of non-alcoholic choices like non-alcohol beers, soft drinks, juice, and water
• Serve one drink at a time and serve measured drinks
• Only serve alcohol to guests over 21 years of age
• Determine ahead of time when you’ll stop serving alcohol, such as one hour before the end of the party or at the end of the third quarter of the game (just like NFL stadiums) and begin serving coffee and dessert
• Add the numbers of local cab companies into your phone so they are just one touch away
• Take appropriate steps to prevent anyone from driving while impaired
• Be prepared for guests to spend the night if an alternative way home is not available

If you are attending a Super Bowl party or watching at a sports bar or restaurant:
• Designate your sober driver before the party begins and leave your car keys at home if you plan to drink
• Find unique ways to recognize the designated drivers when you are out at a bar or restaurant
• Offer to be the designated driver the next time you go out
• Cover the cost for parking or even pay for a tank of gas
• Whatever non-alcoholic beverage they are drinking, make sure their glass is always full
• Pick up the tab for their food and drink
• Before you go out, add the numbers for local cab companies in your cell phone so if you find yourself in need of a ride, it is just one touch away
• Avoid drinking too much alcohol too fast. Pace yourself—eat enough food, take breaks and alternate with non-alcoholic drinks.
• Take appropriate steps to prevent anyone from driving while impaired. Remember, Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.
• Always buckle up – it’s your best defense on the road

For more information, visit www.FansDontLetFansDriveDrunk.org,http://www.nhtsa.gov/Impaired,http://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaOTS,http://twitter.com/#!/OTS_CA,http://www.youtube.com/user/CaliforniaOTS

Here are a couple items reported by Lodi Police in recent weeks:

• Lodi Police officers used a taser while arresting a man who resisted arrest following a domestic disturbance on the 300 block of E. Locust Street on Saturday. Craig Julian, 27, was outside the Locust Street residence when officers contacted him. He began kicking and punching at officers and was subsequently tasered, police said.

• Lodi Police responded to an armed robbery at Prestigio Jewelry on the 700 block of Cherokee Lane on Jan. 10. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

From Ron Justice:

It’s official, our 2011 Sangiovese Rosato won the Sweepstakes award at the 2013 San Francisco Chronicle’s Wine Competition. Only 6 wines out of 5,500 wines were awarded the Sweepstakes award.  Our 2010 Primitivo was also awarded a Gold medal.  Below is the link to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Wine Competition award winners.

 Our 2011 Sangiovese Rosato was produced using the Saignee method.  The Rosato was fermented dry and aged  6 months in a combination of American and French oak.

The big news in Sacramento in recent weeks has been that a Seattle-based group wants to buy the Kings and move them to the Emerald City. I wonder how much Lodi cares?

I know there are some Kings fans in Lodi, but it’s hard to gauge how many there are.

Lodi and San Joaquin County is in Sacramento’s media market. Lodi Unified has a partnership with the Kings and its mascot Slamson to come to schools for pep rallies and other events. So, in some respects the team does have a presence in Lodi.

A grassroots effort to keep the Kings has launched this morning according to The Sacramento Bee. A group called #HereWeBuy (the # is Twitter lingo for those who don’t know) is trying to get fans to pledge their loyalty by saying they will purchase season tickets in the event that the team stays in Sacramento (more pointedly, if the current owners, the Maloof family is out of the picture.)

Anyone in Lodi going to pledge? I’m curious to know what impact Lodi might have in something like this.

A few arrest reports from this weekend:

- Lodi detectives arrested Bryan Schaffner, 24, for possession of 12 grams of heroin after leaving a home on the 2100 block of Newbury Circle. The home is known to police as a drug house. Officers also arrested Sundeep Singh outside the home on an outstanding warrant.

- Lodi Police officers arrested Jose Reyna, 20, and Luis Avila, 19, after responding to a burglary at El Camino Tire on the 400 block of East Lodi Avenue on Sunday. Police said the men attempted to steal tires and wheels.

- Officers arrested Sean Wright after a short pursuit outside of Chipotle on Kettleman Lane and Tienda Drive. Wright was caught trying to flee after stealing a cell phone from Target, adjacent to the burrito chain.

The City of Lodi and Lodi Memorial Hospital are negotiating a new lease agreement for Camp Hutchins, the Hutchins Street daycare program/preschool.

Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Director Jeff Hood approached the City Council at the Dec. 19 meeting to seek direction on how to proceed.

For many years, Camp Hutchins has paid a $1 a year lease for space at the square. Hood asked if the city should consider charging a more competitive lease rate, and end what is essentially a subsidy for a day care program.

Hospital CEO Mark Sey reminded the City Council that Lodi called on (begged) the hospital to take over operations of Camp Hutchins well over a decade ago. Sey said the hospital runs the day care at a deficit, thereby subsidizing the program along with Lodi.

Still, Hood said, Camp Hutchins is a tenant in a city building. When maintenance and repairs are required – like a $2,400 table top that had to be replaced in 2011 – that’s on the city to fix.

Eventually, the council directed Hood to meet with the hospital about coming up with a lease that will put Camp Hutchins and the hospital in charge of all maintenance and energy costs. The lease could stay at $1 a year, or a higher price might be worked out sometime in early 2013.

Here’s an interesting read out of the San Francisco Chronicle about Marc Mondavi – yes, from that Mondavi family – and his ability to find groundwater by walking over land with two metal rods.

It appears he’s commissioned to find wells mostly at wineries. He found a 180-gallon a minute gusher on former 49ers exec. Carmen Policy’s Yountville vineyard. And that’s just one of many accounts.

It’s a “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” story.

I haven’t been to a local high school campus or a mall in recent years without seeing teenagers engulfed in a smartphone or computer of some sort. It’s the new way of the world – the Internet Age.

As parents and teachers, overseeing how the technology is used is becoming a decreasingly manageable duty. For example, ABLE College Prep High vice principal Clem Lee told me during a tour of his campus a couple weeks ago that he didn’t even know “incognito web pages” existed until recently.

That’s an issue for Lee, because ABLE issues laptops to every student. The incognito pages on web browsers let a user visit any site they want without attaching any user history to the search. It’s like the search never happened.

“We tell them that if they have no user history, that’s as bad as having a history full of porn sites,” Lee said.

Technology brings other dangers as well. Children need to interact in the world without a smartphone or computer. People skills will still drive their success, even if the computer skills are necessary too.

Here is an example of how one parent plans to steer her 13-year-0ld son into the world of technology. She gave him an iPhone for Christmas, but with 18 strings attached.

The McAuliffe Middle School leadership class rallied together on a holiday food drive that left a big impression on teacher Kathi Yeager.

From Yeager:

“Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Lodi Unified wanted to have a Food Drive this Holiday Season. They contacted Bill Brown, director of the Gospel Rescue Mission in downtown Stockton and asked him how the school could help; his response was “I need dried goods to fill my shelves for the winter, can you help?”  Christa’s new motto became, “Can we be Elves and fill the Shelves at the Gospel Rescue Mission?” As you can see by the large pile of donated items the answer was YES WE CAN HELP! Pictured is Mr. Malandro, principal and Ms. Yeager’s Leadership class, which were involved in organizing the drive.”

The haul included lots of rice and other dry foods.