Monthly Archives: June 2008

That’s how we roll

A clowning 13 CW 31 newsman disses Stockton, steps into the ring with cagefighter Roque Reyes and gets a terrible shock: pain hurts.   The dis: “It looks like you’re in a back alley, like in a junkyard,” says the anchor from safely inside the studio.   Newsman Alan Sanchez: “That’s how we roll here in Stockton.”   Into the cage [...]
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A new site for the Asparagus Festival?

Friday’s news quoted NASA officials, who have analyzed Martian soil data, saying Mars’ soil could grow asparagus. The Phoenix spacecraft disgorged a lander with an 8-foot robotic arm. The arm scooped a teensy cube of soil and found it to be more alkaline than was believed. “You might be able to grow asparagus very well,” said a [...]
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New watering hole opens on California Street

“I can’t dance,” confesses Donnie Melendez (at right in the photo, below). “I have no rhythm. So when my wife and I go out, this is the kind of place we look for.” Donnie and his wife Tara recently opened The Elbow Room, a hip, classy bar at, 511 N. California Street. That is the [...]
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Mystery food caught on film!

When I expressed bewilderment in today’s column about the mystery food  in senior meals, this is what I was talking about. To quote the column: “A beef patty, unless it is pork. Orange potato cubes, unless they are yams, unless they are carrots.” Anybody care to guess?
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Light at the end of the tunnel?

A California investment company has bought up 160 acres of north Stockton residential land. Now, that’s what they call “patient money.” “We made this investment with the intent to be patient,” a company exec says. “When demand for new single family housing in the area returns, the property will be positioned to capture that demand.” [...]
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Thoughts on a new schools chief

The selection of Kansas City school chief Anthony Amato to head Stockton Unified reminds me of the time I interviewed two Franklin High seniors at my work station.   At the end of the interview, I asked one of the young men to spell his name. He balked. We sat through an awkward pause. Then the other [...]
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Own a share of Valley farming

The farms that surround us are evolving, not only—you know—new ways to fight them grubworms, but saner alternatives to Big Ag’s corporate methods.   Diane and Bob Whitaker have started a Fresh Edibles, “community supported agriculture” on 10 acres in French Camp. Folks buy “shares” and get fresh food.   “You know where it’s growing, you know how [...]
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Buy your own damn coffee mugs

The 2007-8 grand jury spanked San Joaquin Regional Transit for wasting tax dollars. Like transit chief Donna Kelsay’s purchase of 40 lidded coffee mugs.   Kelsay gave the mugs to employees so no klutzes would spill coffee on her pretty new transit center. The cost was “under $500.”   Other therapeutic shopping included $8,790 worth of movie tickets, [...]
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Ways to save the trees abound

While Stockton lets its trees die, Sacramento does this.  It’s frustrating. It’s not like Stockton tree officials need to trek to Katmandu to find effective programs that allow a city’s urban forest to flourish. Such soltions have been found by cities up and down the Valley. These programs could be adopted here. But city tree officials can’t seem look [...]
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Man goes public about arrest at fair

A Stockton African-American man has written a moment-by-moment account of his arrest at the San Joaquin County Fair and given it to an online watchdog. He contends that police who asked him for I.D. while he was drinking beer infringed on his constitutionally guaranteed “pursuit of happiness.” Reading this petty dispute, which naturally escalated to an arrest, makes me despair [...]
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