Sprucing up a local park is not what it used to be
t least one school in Lodi Unified School District has “adopted” a Lodi city park, pledging to periodically send classes over to pick up trash. The program is not new. A class from Washington Elementary School recently reported for cleanup duty at Emerson Park, intending to pick up paper, debris and assorted garbage. But what they found included used needles and porn mags mixed amongst the debris strewn around on the grass. An exasperated teacher decided that was no place for kids.
About 20 years ago Lodi native and 1970 Lodi High School student body president Kenneth Howard Taves perpetrated (at the time) the largest Internet credit card scam in history. Perhaps you read about it. In 1998, Taves legally purchased 3.7 million credit card numbers for $5,000 from a California bank. He went on to use the list to “fraudulently bill (or “cram”) roughly 900,000 of those cards with $19.95 access fees to he and his wife’s 14 adult websites,” according to the creditcards.com website. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison and ordered to repay his 900,000 victims. He was released from prison in 2008.
Dr. Ron Navone has decided to convert his medical office into a “concierge” practice, effective January 1, 2019, according to a letter sent to patients. Those who choose to remain patients will pay $3,000 per year for the privilege. This is not a new concept as thousands of doctors across America have decided to charge a membership fee rather than retire. There is at least one other concierge physician in Lodi currently. This may be the future of medicine, thanks to the onerous burden of insurance paperwork and declining reimbursements for primary care physicians.
What’s the going rate for a trip to the local ER these days? Obviously, it depends on the emergency. Let’s say a broken arm playing pickleball, for example. Well, it will probably be about $5,269. Holy splints! That’s going to hurt more than the arm!
Have you gotten your new REALID drivers license yet? If not, you may want to consider doing so. If you don’t apply before Oct. 1, 2020, you will receive a “Federal Non-Compliant” card from the state,
STEVE MANN
which won’t get you far at U.S. airports and other places requiring identification. Starting in 2020, you will need a “compliant” ID card or passport or some other form of approved identification in order to pass through airport security and other places. All this helps explain the monstrous lines at the Lodi DVM office. If you show up without an appointment, especially this winter, you will literally be out in the cold.
While the Lodi region didn’t take first place in the USA Today Top 10 Wine Regions vote, it did come in a strong second. The paper’s website says, “A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to pick the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote.” Here they are: 1. Finger Lakes, New York, 2. Lodi, 3. Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, 4. Santa Barbara County, 5. Walla Walla Valley, Washington, 6. Texas Hill Country , Texas, 7. Grand Valley, Colorado, 8 El Dorado, 9. Willamette Valley, Oregon, 10. Yadkin Valley, North Carolina.
Whatever happened to the two Lodi guys who invented California Cooler and sold the company for $55 million back in 1984? Mike Crete and Stuart Bewley basically went different directions following the sale of the company. Mike stayed local, currently living at his palatial estate along the Mokelumne River. His entrepreneurial spirit remained alive and well after the sale of Cal Cooler. He went on to dabble in various projects and has been very generous in supporting local charities. Stuart Bewley, on the other hand, left Lodi and currently owns Alder Springs Vineyard, located in far northern Mendocino County on the 6,000-acre Alder Springs Ranch, just 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. His winery produces several wines under the Alder Springs Vineyard label. Crete and Bewley were Lodi High School buddies who commercialized the blending of white wine and fruit juice, thus inventing the wine cooler. They reportedly went from mixing the concoction for parties in an old bathtub to selling 850 cases of the stuff in their first year of commercial production, with their first offices housed in the old Roma Winery warehouse on Victor Road. Within four years they were selling 12.5 million cases a year and became the second largest winery in the world, behind Gallo. Perhaps the biggest success story in Lodi history.
Council member Bob Johnson’s medical challenges have kept him from physically attending meetings for most of this year. But he is able to participate via conference calls. At 80 years old, Bob is confined to a hospital bed because he can’t walk. He says he’s keeping up with current issues and events through frequent conversations with city staff, thus being able to cast informed votes, he claims. But is that really enough? Legally, yes. As long as Bob can whisper “here” as the roll is called at regular meetings, he’s counted as present, and that’s pretty much all that counts, say city officials. He has more than two years remaining on his term. People agree that Bob has done a stellar job serving the city, and he wants desperately to return to active service. Though no one will go on the record saying as much, there are growing numbers who are privately suggesting Bob should retire (resign) in the best interests of the city, given his persistent condition. He has been one of the longestserving council members in Lodi history with four terms. James Pinkerton holds the record with five four-year terms.