The Record's Editor Blog

Back to school nights are a good time to reacquaint with students, parents, teachers and staff who you have not seen during the summer.

Parental involvement is a key to student achievement, so it was good to see a large number of parents at for Colonial Heights’ back to school night for first-sixth grades on Wednesday.

A good turnout for Back to School Night at Colonial Heights School

And as with a number of school events, this one too was attended by a Lincoln Unified trustee. On this night, it was Don Ruhstaller who said it had made it to a number of school openings. (I think he said all, actually with just Sierra Middle School remaining as of Wednesday.)

Lincoln Unified School District Trustee Don Ruhstaller, left, and Colonial Heights Principal Maureen Oechel chat during back to school night.

The city of Stockton collectively should send the city of Detroit a thank you card for filing for bankruptcy.

Once Detroit did that, it claimed the moniker of largest U.S. municipality to file bankruptcy, ripping the not-so-appealing title from Stockton.

There is no interest in being No. 2. Anyone else remember that Avis rental car company ad campaign?

While the nation focuses on Detroit, locally Stockton can go about its business without the national fanfare.

But other cities struggle to avoid the scarlet “B.”

Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania is one of them. There city officials are working out a deal with its creditors to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

One can only guess if what happened in Stockton, Mammoth Lakes, San Bernardino and Detroit has helped Harrisburg on some level.

Stockton was unable to work out deals with creditors before it went into bankruptcy. Harrisburg’s creditors are negotiating with city officials; the result would be a reduction in Harrisburg’s debt. Perhaps creditors realize the alternative of not negotiating now and dealing with a city in bankruptcy would be worse.

You can read more about it in this story at philly.com.

When Cupcake Mania opened nearly two years ago it was part of a burgeoning cupcake business scene in Stockton. Business there seemed to be doing well and the cupcakes were creative and downright delicious.

Cupcake Mania in the Hammer Ranch shopping center on Pacific Avenue near Hammer Lane, Stockton

It was a family owned and operated affair with retired American Medical Response executive Louis Meyer and his daughter Jennifer Winters. Winters was the primary baker and visionary behind the delectable treats sold. Meyer could from time to be found working the front counter

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Hence it was surprising and disappointing for customers when the business shut down suddenly on July 6. An announcement was made on Cupcake Mania’s Facebook page on just the previous day.

Cupcake Mania closed its doors for good on July 5.

“It had to do with a family health issue with my daughter who was running the bakery,” Meyer said recently. He said the work was affecting Winters some “compressed discs,” he said. “We opted to take that stress off of her” and close the business.

But Cupcake Mania’s closure does not mean that Winters’ creations are gone forever.

On Cupcake Mania’s Facebook page she said that she would be taking private special orders in a few months. An announcement, she said, would be made on Facebook when that time comes.

It is not unusual to receive the same news release from an organization, particularly these days when so many are trying to push their agendas.

Still, this brought a chuckle when virtually the same release from the National Republican Congressional Committee appeared in my inbox, separated by by only two minutes. They both take on Reps John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove and Ami Bera, D-Sacramento. A search of Garamendi’s name and replacement with Bera’s would allow the NRCC to generate this and a number of other news releases in a short period of time.

Garamendi Votes To Fast Track A Carbon Tax

This New Tax Would Hurt Middle-Class Families Across The Country

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. John Garamendi gave the Obama Administration the power to unilaterally impose a carbon tax on millions of Americans.

This vote sought to prevent the Obama Administration from going around Congress and instituting a harmful tax that would have severe repercussions for our economy. With growth already stagnating, we don’t need new taxes that would have disastrous consequences for middle-class families and hurt job creation.

“With millions of families struggling, the last thing we need is a carbon tax,” said NRCC Communications Director Andrea Bozek. “John Garamendi’s vote today in support of fast tracking such a tax will hurt job creation and middle-class families across the country.”

John Garamendi Voted Today To Fast Track A Carbon Tax. (H.R. 367, Roll Call Vote 437, 237-176, 8/2/13)

Bera Votes To Fast Track A Carbon Tax

This New Tax Would Hurt Middle-Class Families Across The Country

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Ami Bera gave the Obama Administration the power to unilaterally impose a carbon tax on millions of Americans.

This vote sought to prevent the Obama Administration from going around Congress and instituting a harmful tax that would have severe repercussions for our economy. With growth already stagnating, we don’t need new taxes that would have disastrous consequences for middle-class families and hurt job creation.

“With millions of families struggling, the last thing we need is a carbon tax,” said NRCC Communications Director Andrea Bozek. “Ami Bera’s vote today in support of fast tracking such a tax will hurt job creation and middle-class families across the country.”

Ami Bera Voted Today To Fast Track A Carbon Tax. (H.R. 367, Roll Call Vote 437, 237-176, 8/2/13)

On Tuesday I was walking through downtown Stockton a bit after 4:30 p.m. when I heard two police sirens. I had just turned east from El Dorado Street onto Miner Avenue when I saw two police cruisers heading north on El Dorado. And then shortly after there were more sirens and cruisers heading east on Miner, north on El Dorado and what seemed like from a few different directions.

I called the office to see what was going on and was told there was a shooting at American and Oak streets. My route would not take me close to that area but I managed to get a photo from American Street at the Miner Avenue intersection.

There are always interesting things to see if we pay attention. As I was walking through downtown Stockton Thursday, I came across a black trash bag on the sidewalk. At least that is what was visible as I approached a Bank of Stockton building on Miner Avenue at San Joaquin Street. However, as I got closer I could see that the bag contained, sort of, a pair of Skechers. No one else was in the vicinity who could possibly be the owner. And they did not get there by themselves.  I stopped to take a photo as it made an interesting piece of street art.

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.