Steve Mann

Last Friday night 73-year-old Ron Mayer went to the Lodi-Tokay football game at the Grape Bowl. Little did he know it would be a night to remember. His grandson was

The party’s over. The days of over-sized operating surpluses for the city are quickly becoming a distant memory.

The rules have changed, and the city wants to hear from you. The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided that communities can enforce no-camping ordinances without being required to have a

One acts as a lookout, alerting another who’s parked in a ratty red car that the coast is clear. No cops in sight. People pedal their bicycles or drive their

Someone goofed up, pushed the wrong button, an alarm sounded, the cavalry came. Police conducted an operation last week as if there was an active shooter on the Lodi High campus. Thankfully, there wasn't one. It was just a big mistake. Within a few minutes officers and administrators determined there was no emergency. But it was much longer before terrified students and teachers knew that, according to student sources. One student told this column that everyone was told to huddle in the corner of their classroom and be quiet. They did that for over an hour, she said, before the all-clear was sounded. There were rumors of people with guns on campus. None of it true. Panicked parents began arriving to retrieve their children. The push-button mistake couldn't have come at a worse time. In recent days parents and kids were on edge over fake reports of planned school shootings posted on social media. A few young perpetrators have been identified and arrested. Police say there may be more arrests coming. Retired Lodi Police Chief Jerry Adams now does security consulting for Lodi Unified, and said, “Students and staff knew exactly what to do.” Adams trains school staff on how to conduct lockdown drills, and he said it appears everyone did as they were trained to do. He said the security system the district has may need to be re-evaluated in order to prevent a recurrence of the false alarm. Otherwise, Adams seemed pleased with how things unfolded.

In 2004 voters narrowly approved Measure L, a $250 million bond measure for San Joaquin Delta College. Earlier this year the college board of trustees voted to place Measure K, a new $598 million bond proposal, before voters this November.

Inner City Action, the city's emergency shelter operator, is throwing in the towel. The nonprofit has notified the city they will not renew their contract when it expires at the end of October, according to City Manager Scott Carney. Inner City's decision will potentially leave the city in a lurch if a new operator cannot be found in the next 30 days.

As was mentioned last week, the city's new transitional housing complex on Main Street has everything but an operator.

With campaign season in full swing city council hopefuls have several required financial filings to make between now and Election Day. The first one was due Sept. 26. City Councilman

The nagging question has been, why did the city’s homeless shelter operator Inner City Action (ICA) decide to pick up and leave? Inner City administrator Tiffany Solis told the city