Looking back at Lodi’s 2018 stories
Between violent crime, hotel fires, an award-winning winemaker, citizens helping victims of a large fire and more, 2018 was a newsy year for Lodi.
Nine homicides took place in Lodi last year — including one double homicide and the murder of a retired podiatrist — and arrests have been made in all but two of them.
Almost 100 residents were displaced between the two Lodi hotels that caught fire this year, although no injuries or deaths were reported. Lodians also rallied to gather donations of food, water, clothing and more for those who lost their homes to the Camp Fire in Butte County.
Adam Mettler, director of winery operations for Michael David Winery, was honored by Wine Enthusiast in November as 2018 Winemaker of the Year, and E & J Gallo Winery canceled plans for a large wine production facility that would have been built on East Acampo Road.
Lodian Mackenzie Freed was crowned Miss California in June, making her the 94th person to hold the title.
After years of using an atlarge voting system, Lodi switched to a district-based voting system for city council elections. Lodi voters also passed Measure L, a half-cent sales tax increase that will go to the city’s general fund.
Tokay High School completed construction on its new athletic stadium, and the Lodi Boys and Girls Club was able to raise enough funds that they did not have to close their doors after 55 years.
Pat Withrow won the race for San Joaquin County Sheriff in the June primary election, replacing outgoing Sheriff Steve Moore. The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to create a new office of the medical examiner independent of the sheriff ’s office after two forensic pathologists resigned from the coroner’s office in December 2017 claiming that Moore interfered with their investigations by attempting to influence their decisions.
Lodi sees nine homicides in one year
Nine homicides took place in Lodi this year, beginning with the fatal January shooting of 19-year-old Francisco Hernandez Jr., near Palms Mobile Home Park on South Cherokee Lane.
Ruben Rodriguez, 31, was fatally shot on West Vine Street in May, the first of three homicides that month. Rodrigo Ignacio, 23, was fatally shot on North Sacramento Street days after the murder of Rodriguez, and another was injured. Raymond Sieg, 41, was fatally shot in the area of South Cherokee Lane and East Lodi Avenue in late May.
Dr. Thomas Grant Shock, 67, a retired podiatrist, was fatally shot on Aug. 1 in the doorway of his home on Rivergate Drive.
Later in August, 19-year-old Trevor Seabourne was fatally shot at Lodi’s In-N-Out Burger on West Kettleman Lane. In Lodi’s only double homicide of the year, 21-year-old Brian Soto and 35-year-old Gerardo De Santiago were fatally shot outside of Alibi Bar and Lounge on South Cherokee Avenue in early September.
And in early November, 26year-old Nickolaus Martinez was fatally shot in a residence on Louie Avenue in what Lodi police believe was a targeted home invasion.
Arrests have been made in all of the homicides except two, the murders of Francisco Hernandez Jr. and Raymond Sieg.
In the killing of Dr. Thomas Shock, four defendants were arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Robert Elmo Lee of Lodi, along with Christopher Anthony Costello, Mallory Stewart Jr., and Raymond Austin Hasson Jacquett IV, all of Sacramento, have entered pleas of “not guilty.”
Mackenzie Freed crowned Miss California
Lodi native Mackenzie Freed was crowned Miss California in June, the 94th person to hold that title.
“It was so surreal,” Freed said. “I competed with 54 other contestants, and every single girl there goes away with the hope that you will walk away with the crown at the end of the week ... but you never expect to win.”
Freed, 23, received $23,300 in scholarships from her pageant win. Her talent was singing. She will also be the last contestant to win the swimsuit competition, which will be discontinued next year.
Freed competed in the Miss America pageant in September, but did not place.
She studied philosophy and communication studies at California Baptist University.
Lodi residents help victims of the Camp Fire
As thick smoke choked Lodi and the surrounding area for more than a week, Lodi residents gathered clothing, toothbrushes, food and water for victims of the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County.
Dean Machano, owner of Woodlake Cleaners, hauled load after load of donations up to Chico and Oroville in his van.
“Folks that I met, so many of them don’t have insurance. They lost everything and have nowhere to go.”
Seventh-graders at Joe Serna Jr. Charter School created handmade cards and wrote letters of support to the fire’s survivors, and Wendy Lynn and Charlie Simpson donated their new camper to a family displaced by the fire.
A strike team of firefighters from Lodi, Woodbridge, Manteca, Turlock and more headed up to Butte County to help fight the monster of a fire, the deadliest the U.S. had seen in 100 years. At least 86 people died in the fire, which destroyed more than 18,800 structures.
The fire, which began on Nov. 8, was fully contained on Nov. 25 after 17 days. For several days as the fire raged, the air quality in parts of Northern California, including the Lodi area, was among the worst in the world.
Adam Mettler honored by Wine Enthusiast magazine
Lodi vintner Adam Mettler got one heck of a birthday surprise this year. As he turned 40 in November, he was celebrating Wine Enthusiast’s announcement that he was named their 2018 Winemaker of the Year.
He couldn’t do it alone, he said.
“I definitely want to make sure the team I have created gets its due, because without the teams that are supporting me, I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing in any regard,” Mettler said.
Mettler, along with nominees and winners in 16 categories, will be honored at the Wine Star Awards on Jan. 28, 2019 in Miami.
Mettler has his roots in several Lodi wine ventures, but he has gained the most recognition as the director of wine operations at Michael David Winery, where he helped create the bestselling 7 Deadly Zins along with Earthquake, Freakshow and Inkblot.
Lodi switches to district voting for City Council
For most of its existence, Lodi used an at-large voting system for city council elections, until the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund threatened to file a lawsuit in October 2017 if the city didn’t change to district voting.
The group claimed that Lodi’s at-large system violated the California Voting Rights Act by diluting the Latino vote.
The cost to transition to district elections cost the city about $100,000. However, according to City Attorney Janice Magdich, a number of cities in California have been sued under the Voting Rights Act and so far, every attempt to challenge the act has failed.
Lodi has been separated into five districts; the district map can be viewed at the City of Lodi’s website at www.lodi.gov.
Incumbent Mark Chandler was the first candidate to win an election under the new system, defeating challenger Spencer Rhoads in their District 2 race last November.
Measure L sales tax increase passes
The passage of Measure L was passed by Lodi voters in November’s election. The measure increases Lodi’s sales tax by a half-cent.
The passage has secured funds for Lodi’s police and fire departments, parks, and the Lodi Public Library, city officials said. Opponents claimed that the new revenue is needed for spiraling pension costs.
Had Measure L not passed, city officials projected expenditures would have begun to exceed revenues by the fiscal year 2019-20, and by the financial year 2023-24 the city could have faced a deficit of $6 million.
Gallo abandons plans for Acampo winery
In 2017, E & J Gallo Winery announced plans to build a largescale wine production facility on East Acampo Road, drawing the praise of some local grape growers and the ire of potential future neighbors. The company held meetings with Acampo residents while moving ahead with the county approval process.
But on Oct. 21, 2018, Gallo indicated it would be focusing its future attention on a former Seneca Foods property in Modesto instead.
“Therefore we no longer have a need to pursue a winery in Lodi at this time, and will be discontinuing our request for a use permit at our Liberty Winery site in Acampo,” a Gallo spokesperson said in an email to Ag Community Alliance, which had opposed the project.
“THANK YOU Gallo for listening to your neighbors and taking to heart the concerns of the community!” the group posted on its website in response.
While the decision was a relief to neighbors, Lodi business leaders said the conflict shows that Lodi needs to decide how it wants to grow — especially in the wine industry — in the future.
Village Adult Development and Community Center opens
As of this fall, Lodi now has a new place for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to spend their time.
The Village Adult Development and Community Center, located on Pine Street in Downtown Lodi, was launched by Kathy Piazza as a place where young adults who have aged out of the public school system can continue to work on life skills, interact with their friends, and play games or create arts and crafts projects.
For example, in a home cooking session, students looked for a smoothie recipe on Pinterest, created a shopping list, then made their own smoothie with the help of the center’s staff.
“It’s easy, simple things they can do themselves,” Piazza said.
She and the staff — as well as the students’ parents — said that there has been a need for such a program in Lodi for a while.
Two attacks on small dogs drive Lodi’s dog park dilemma
Lodi’s Vinewood Park, a fenced basin where dogs can run free, became the site of two attacks that left small dogs dead in 2018, one in March and another in May.
The deadly encounters left some residents concerned about safety at the park. In June, resident Michael Falkenberg sent a letter asking whether the park could be divided into separate spaces for large and small dogs.
“The biggest thing is safety,” he said. “A lot of these dogs we see are 100 or 125 pounds, and you’re putting them in there with Chihuahuas and poodles or dogs that are 25 pounds or less.”
But in April, after the first attack, other Vinewood Park users had asked the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission to leave the park as-is.
Jeff Hood, director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, said that a fence could not be put into Vinewood Park due to the basin design and its use in storm drainage.
The dilemma still does not have a solution.
Adventist Health Lodi Memorial partners with UC Davis Medical Center
Adventist Health Lodi Memorial and UC Davis Medical Center announced a partnership last May to expand pediatric and neonatal care services at the Lodi medical center.
The agreement brought a Level II neonatal intensive care unit center to Lodi to treat premature infants who need extra support, and who receive their care from UC Davis Health specialists. The deal also established a continual connection to UC Davis Medical Center’s pediatric emergency department.
“Adventist Health Lodi Memorial is pleased to partner with UC Davis to provide world-class, comprehensive care for premature infants and children, right here in Lodi,” Adventist Health Lodi Memorial President Daniel Wolcott said of the partnership.
Adventist Health Lodi Memorial delivers nearly 1,100 babies a year and cares for more than 9,000 pediatric patients annually.
“We’re pleased to share the medical teams and technology from our nationally ranked children’s hospital to help better serve people in the Lodi area,” said UC Davis Medical Center CEO Ann Madden Rice. “This is a first-of-its-kind patient care partnership for us.”
In September, community members gathered to celebrate the expansion of Lodi Memorial’s pediatric and neonatal services. During the event a check for $519,304.64 was presented by the Lodi Memorial Hospital Foundation to fund the new Level II NICU at the hospital.
City settles with Shergill family
In April, the City of Lodi agreed to pay the family of Gulf War veteran Parminder Singh Shergill $2.65 million to drop a federal civil rights lawsuit they filed after Shergill was shot and killed by two Lodi police officers in 2014.
The two officers involved as well as then-police chief Mark Helms were dismissed from the case as part of the agreement. In December 2014, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office determined that the officers were justified in their actions and would not be criminally charged in the case.
“Although our officers’ actions were justified,” Lodi City Attorney Janice Magdich said in April, “settling this case is in the best interest of Lodi and its residents.”
The settled case is Sukhwinder Kaur v. City of Lodi, United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:14-cv-00828TLN-AC.
San Joaquin County establishes medical examiner
The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in April voted unanimously to eliminate the office of the coroner — a job formerly held by Sheriff Steve Moore — and establish a new office of the medical examiner independent of the sheriff.
The decision came after Dr. Susan Parson and Dr. Bennet Omalu resigned from their positions as forensic pathologists with the San Joaquin County Coroner’s Office n December 2017, claiming that Moore interfered with their investigations by attempting to influence their decisions.
Once the new office has been established, the medical examiner will be responsible for determining both the cause and manner of deaths. County supervisors have interviewed candidates, and could hire a medical examiner as soon as late January 2019.
Tokay High opens its on-campus stadium
On Dec. 14, many people gathered to witness the official reopening of Tokay High’s revamped on-campus stadium and Steve Hubbarrd Field.
The field’s renovation is thanks to Measure U, a bond that Lodi area voters passed in November 2016. The bond helped restructure the field that included green field turf that has cork instead of rubber. On the north end of the stadium, past the end zone, is a digital scoreboard that is cable of displaying scores for football and soccer games. Four stadium lights — two each on the west and east sides of the stadium — are fixed into the ground at the yet-to-be named stadium.
Pat Withrow elected county sheriff
During June’s primary election, Pat Withrow won the race for San Joaquin County Sheriff, replacing outgoing Sheriff Steve Moore.
Withrow worked in law enforcement for 28 years before retiring from the San Joaquin County Sheriff ’s Office, during which time he served as a K-9 officer, SWAT officer and patrol and administrative sergeant.
Moore, who has worked in law enforcement for 35 years, was first elected in 2006.
Boys and Girls Club saved — for now
Although the Lodi Boys and Girls Club announced in early October that they may have had to close their doors after 55 years due to lack of funds, they were able to raise enough money to keep their doors open through the end of 2018.
Eddie Cotton, the club’s president and CEO, started a GoFundMe page. To help raise funds, the Lodi-based Legendary Barbershop hosted a fundraiser.
Those two fundraising efforts, combined with money donated by members of the Lodi community, allowed the club to stay open until their next regular fundraising season in early 2019.
Dozens displaced by hotel fires
Two Lodi hotels caught fire this year, beginning with the Star Hotel on South Main Street that was severely damaged by a fire in late February that displaced approximately 50 residents.
The Star Hotel did not have sprinklers, as it was built in the early 1900s when building codes did not require them, according to Lodi Fire Battalion Chief Brad Doell, who serves as Lodi’s fire marshal.
When the Golden Era Hotel and Boarding House — also on South Main Street — caught fire in late June, Lodi firefighters dug up floorboards and broke through concrete to try and find the source of the blaze that was believed to have started in the basement.
Approximately 47 residents were displaced for the night when the building’s power was shut off as a precautionary measure.
Twin Arbors closes its doors
Toward the end of September, the Twin Arbors Athletic Club announced that it would be closing all three of its Lodi locations. The family-oriented clubs were scheduled to close on Nov. 30.
Spare Time, Twin Arbor’s parent company, sold two of the locations — the Hutchins Street and Lockeford Street sites — to local owners who will continue to operate as athletic clubs.
School safety in the spotlight
On Feb. 14, 2018, a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., left 17 people dead.
After the tragic shooting, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to suggest allowing licensed school personnel to carry concealed handguns on campus.
Courtney Porter, a Tokay High School science teacher, was quick to condemn Trump’s suggestion on the grounds that arming teachers would set a bad example for other countries. Porter was elected to the Lodi Unified School District Board of Education in November.
Lodi Unified Superintendent Cathy Nichols-Washer also voiced her opposition to Trump’s suggestion, saying that the district should focus on safety measures that meet each school’s needs, and informing staff and students about those measures.
Armed teachers, she added, might also present more safety risks instead of minimizing them.
City, county join forces to tackle homelessness
In 2018, Lodi and the surrounding county continued to work on solutions to helping create resources for homeless residents to find jobs and housing.
A big step was the hiring of a “homeless czar” to oversee all county, city and nonprofit efforts.
Adam Cheshire, and CEO of Stockton Shelter for the Homeless for the past four years, was named the county’s program administrator for homeless initiatives on April 2. Among his duties is overseeing the county’s new Continuum of Care.
The state provided a $500 million one-time-use grant for cities throughout California as they mobilize to tackle homelessness, known as the Homeless Emergency Aid Program.
The Continuum of Care recently announced plans to disburse $7 million in grant funds to help alleviate the homelessness crisis in cities around the county. Lodi is expected to receive more than $1 million.
The city is also planning to construct four to six home tiny homes for homeless residents who have demonstrated progress towards their rehabilitation. The city hopes that by transitioning people into homes more space will be freed up at shelters such as the Salvation Army.