The Record's Editor Blog

While on my way home from a bike ride Thursday I came upon a few police cruisers on AG Spanos Boulevard and Whistler Way. It looked like Whistler Way was blocked off so I made my way down to see what was going on.

A traffic officer told me that there was a demonstration going on and that I could go and watch.

I would say that I was late to the party, there were already 900 Bear Creek High School students – juniors and seniors – watching what was going on.

About 900 juniors and seniors at Bear Creek High School attended the Every 15 Minutes program presentation on Thursday.

There in front of school at the intersection of Whistler Way and Thornton Road was a two-vehicle accident. Rescue crews were on the scene and the students were sitting across the street and paying close attention. It was an Every 15 Minutes program, which is designed to provide teens with a reminder of what can happen when people drive under then influence of alcohol or drugs or distracted by something such as texting.

One person is killed or injured in a drunk-driving crash every 15 minutes in the United States.

Students also participated in the program. The ones here representing teenagers killed by drunk, impaired or distracted drivers are being led away be death.

More than 23 years ago the Transport Accident Commission aired its first safe-driving commercial. The Victoria, Australia, government-owned agency promotes road safety and pays for treatment and benefits of people injured in traffic accidents. Victoria, which includes Melbourne, is Australia’s second-largest state

In December 2010 I wrote about it’s 20^th anniversary retrospective video. It is still well worth watching. You can do so by clicking here.

The Record photographers have a knack for focusing in on their subjects and bringing out the detail. They do it with plants, clouds, animals and people. Often giving them much more impact than when viewed normally. Their work inspires me to view things differently, particularly small things that I may not have looked at closely before such as these flowers that were in bloom while I was walking my dog through the neighborhood. So as I walked, I took out my phone and snapped a few photos along the way.

These by far, were the most striking.

But from a distance, although pretty, they do not carry the same impact.

A mixture of purple and white flowers side by side.

Notice the details visible in a close view.

Flowers seen while walking through a Stockton neighborhood. This photo, as with all the others, is taken from the sidewalk.

And a close-up of these colorful ones.

University of the Pacific men’s basketball team’s first round NCAA tournament game against Miami begins at 11:10 a.m. Friday. The tournament itself began Tuesday with two play-in games, North Carolina A&T (the school my brother and his wife graduated from) defeated Liberty and St. Mary’s defeated Middle Tennessee. Two other games are scheduled for tonight.

These few weeks of games are known as a time when work production slows precipitously. I’m fortunate in that I have to follow the games as part of my job – I am afterall responsible for sports coverage at The Record, ahem. For that matter,  the games will be on televisions throughout the newsroom.

Others may not be so fortunate and have to catch the games on the sly while at work.

CBS Sports makes games available but keeps a “Boss Button” at the ready, which allows the viewer to quickly remove a game from their computer screen and replace it with a screensaver of email.

Various companies will use March Madness in their marketing promotions. Here are some office etiquette tips from  Enterprise Rentals  for following the action on the court, while at work.

On Jan. 28, 1986 just moments after takeoff the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. All seven crew members aboard were killed. Among them were Ronald McNair, 35, who was to be the second African American to go into space, and school teacher Christa McAuliffe, 37, who was selected from thousands of applicants for the teacher in space program. Both have schools in Stockton named after them as well as other schools across the nation.

“Obviously a major malfunction,” the announcer said as those in attendance at the launch and television viewers watched stunned.

It was later learned that the failure of an O-ring ultimately led to the disaster.

I watched the news conference in which Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced some of the partners for a local ownership group he is assembling to bid on the Sacramento Kings and keep the team in the Capitol City instead of moving to Seattle. The number being tossed around for the value of the franchise is $525 million.

That is a huge number as it would exceed the most recent Forbes evaluation for the NBA franchise by more than 70 percent. And of course the Kings increased value, would inflate the value of the other NBA franchises in the same manner that a comparable house in your neighborhood selling for much more than what you paid for your house.

And if the Kings are worth $525 million, then what would the Los Angeles Lakers be worth? That same Forbes list has the Lakers valued at $900 million. Add a 70 percent premium to that number and you’re talking $1.5 billion.

Really, this is going to boil down to money and who has the most to offer in both cash and arena revenue. For the Sacramento contingent’s bid to be successful it is going to have to come up with a deal similar to the one put together by the Seattle group and also provide plans for a new arena.

Just because the Maloof family has reached an agreement with the Seattle group does not mean this deal is done and the team is leaving. The Maloofs filed relocation papers with the league to move to Anaheim following the 2011 season. They even filed a trademark for the name Anaheim Royals.

Those hoping the team stays need to look no further than the San Francisco Giants. The team came close to moving to Toronto in 1976 and Florida in 1992. Both times a local buyer stepped in to purchase the Giants. The franchise stayed put and has won two World Series titles since.

We see these crosses throughout the region in what to many of us appear to be random places, yet their placement is anything but random.

Placed by loved ones, they mark the location in which someone has fallen, more than likely the victim of an accident or maybe a random slaying.

This collection of crosses is at the northwest corner of Thornton and Woodbridge roads in Lodi. We see these markers and move on, maybe wondering who they honor or how long they have been there. If we were to stop and take a closer look, we can see the love and pain of those who have cried there. And also the stark beauty in their work.

Blogs work best when relevant information is provided quickly. So in that regard, this post is an utter failure. But I’m going to proceed anyway.

The Gail glides its way down the Delta near Buckley Cove.

Above is a photo of the Gail, a bulk carrier headed down the Delta a few weeks ago, presumably toward the Deep Water Channel and the Port of Stockton.

This photo was taken from Buckley Cove; it was a bit shocking to see a ship that large chug its way down the river. Its size provided quite a contrast to the guy on the jet ski that passed along its side in the opposite direction.

A closer look at the Gail.

We are just a month away from the Nov. 6 election and the debate season is going strong.

Locally, Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney and Republican Ricky Gill debate Oct. 15 in the Long Theatre at University of the Pacific to try and show voters who should represent our area in the newly drawn ninth Congressional District.

That debate that night will be followed by Democrat Susan Eggman and Republican K. Jeffrey Jafri debating issues for the 13th Assembly District.

Nationally, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan debate Thursday at Centre College in Danville, Ky.

Some debates break down into sound bites without any real substantive comments being made.

Republican Mitt Romney was clearly the winner of the first debate between him and President Obama. Romney was more aggressive, on-point and clear than Obama. And judging from public reaction, Republicans still favor Romney and Democrats still favor Obama. But Romney came away from the debate at the University of Denver with the momentum. However, is he doing enough to sway any undecided voters his way? We won’t know that answer until Nov. 6.

At the end of a bike ride today, I stopped at my daughters’ elementary school to check out the new traffic pattern for pick up and drop off in anticipation of Wednesday (Aug. 22) the first day of school in Lincoln Unified School District. Lincoln is the last in the area to begin the new school year.

The new signage at Colonial Heights School was not quite right in directing traffic, proven by an arriving teacher who blew right through two DO NOT ENTER signs when she arrived. But all of that is another story.

It just happened that my wife and daughters had also stopped at the school so my 9 year old could see her fourth grade classroom. She didn’t get a chance to do that during the school’s welcome back event on Friday because my wife was busy recruiting for the Parent-Teacher-Student Association and my girls were too busy playing with their friends.

Meeting with a teacher the day before classes begin in a student-less classroom provides a great opportunity for a relaxed and quiet conversation.

Come Wednesday the school grounds will be anything but quiet. There are 32 students in my daughter’s fourth grade class, 23 of them are boys. My youngest daughter’s second grade class has 31 students, at least 11 of them are boys.

And all of them will be on their way to another year of learning.

Earlier today Stockton-Con tweeted numbers for the inaugural event celebrating comic books, science fiction, gaming and pop culture held Sunday in the Spanos Center at University of the Pacific. And by any measure it would be called a success. Attendance: 4,000. Amount raised for St. Mary’s Dining Room: More than $10,000. Clothing donated: More than 1,800 pounds, which will also be donated to St. Mary’s Dining Room.

And to think that event organizer Mike Millerick, the sports information director at University of the Pacific, was hoping 500 would attend. I bet many people are already looking forward to next year.