Firefighters making us proud
T he Lodi Fire Department has contributed to fighting the Camp Fire in Butte County in a big way. The city dispatched one engine (OES 338) and four personnel to the fire scene, according to Fire Chief Gene Stoddart. A report from the front lines: “OES 338 is in the town of Paradise with a Sacramento County strike team. They were assigned initial attack and were one of the first strike teams to respond. OES 338 was extremely busy defending homes, business, and evacuating residents. OES 338 had to shelter two people in their apparatus who were attempting to defend their home before it became overrun with fire. They held onto the individuals for approximately two hours before handing them off to a passing sheriff ’s deputy. The strike team has saved numerous homes and businesses, but has also had to make very tough decisions on letting other properties burn due to the very dangerous conditions. The strike team worked for 36 hours straight without food or rest due to the limited resources and severity of the incident.” Making us proud.
HOLY ADA!: Humble Hank writes, “I’m sitting here nursing a smoke-induced headache, wondering why schools are still open with all the smoke and bad air out there?” Lodi Unified School Board member Ron Heberle, a former firefighter himself, offers that students are safer at school, plus suddenly closing schools would impact parents, who would have to scramble to find childcare, among other inconveniences. But, alas, LUSD decided over the weekend to close this week, after all. Hank must be breathing a lot easier now.
GOOD NEWS: The Lodi Boys and Girls Club continues to struggle to stay open. But thanks to the generosity of the giving public, the organization has enough cash to keep its doors open for at least a few more months. Helping to meet the $35,000 monthly nut are proceeds from two local trust funds, one from the Fred Weybret family and the other from the Bo Katzakian family. The Weybret gift expires this year, according to club manager Eddie Cotton. The biggest jolt to the club’s finances came when General Mills closed. The Big G gave at least $50K annually to the organization. But optimism abounds as people have rallied around solving the club’s financial needs. Board member Craig Hoffman says, “We’re doing well — for now.”
IT’S AN ART: Lodi’s Nick Jacoy is another success story in the art world. Nick was commissioned by two area sports teams to do the artwork on a couple of players last year, namely, Willie Cauley-Stein of the Sacramento Kings and Andrew McCutchen of the San Francisco Giants. His drawings were made into posters that were given out to fans at games last year. Proud parents are Paul and Jill Jacoy of Lodi. Paul is the quality control manager at Lodi Iron Works.
PUMPING A LOT: What’s going in at the corner of Pine and Church, where there’s now a parking lot? A new parking lot. The old lot is receiving a makeover in preparation for Pump Institute opening up next door, according to city planners. “Pump” is similar to a gym and is owned by the folks at Lodi Physical Therapy. It offers individualized training for those wishing to “pursue ultimate muscle performance” and to “reach maximum strength and minimize the possibility of injuries.” Interesting that the corner has sat essentially vacant for decades after John Taddei’s Chevron gas station was torn down eons ago. That’s back when there were virtually gas stations on every corner.
MONEY MATTERS: During the recent Measure L sales tax debate, some suggested the city would have to declare bankruptcy if the proposition didn’t pass. Turns out that’s a little s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y. When asked what the city would gain by going BK, the city manager indicated, not much. The city’s general fund debt is relatively small, so wiping it out wouldn’t save a lot in the overall scheme of things. It is unknown yet if a city can actually bankrupt its way out of PERS obligations, which are growing faster than summer zucchini. But even if it could, by law, retirement contributions would not be eliminated, just possibly reduced. The biggest savings would come from the elimination of about 70 jobs and the shuttering of several departments, as the city manager said previously.
UPDATE: Young Norah and Sophie Mayer set up a lemonade stand on their front lawn last week to raise money for their mom, Sarah, who suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm about a month ago. They served about 300 thirsty customers, one of whom handed Sarah’s young daughter three $100 bills. The generosity of strangers is amazing. Her family reports that Sarah is awake and beginning her long road to recovery in a Sacramento hospital. The funds will be used to help defray her mounting medical bills, which surely must be over $1 million by now.
POSITIVITY: If you’re tired of all the negative news flowing across the airwaves and on newspaper pages, check out this website that only features positive news about Lodi. It’s called “Lodi Live — Lodi’s Good News Newsletter.” It was started by a young mother named Jamie, who writes, “I finally decided I was tired of waiting for other people to promote positivity in our community, so I’m just doing it myself and now here we are, with Lodi Live! … My goal for ‘Lodi Live’ is to be a platform for good news and to build community pride. I’m doing this by sharing people’s stories.” The e-newsletter is available online at www.goodnewslodilive.com.
BOL: The Kiwanis Club of Greater Lodi is looking for Cheri Woolstrom, who in 1965 won a Shetland pony named Kiwi as part of a raffle. The club is attempting to gather together their history and Cheri and Kiwi are a significant part of it. Maggie Bulkin (334-3525) would be thrilled to know of her whereabouts.
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