Have you been following news of Stockton's bankruptcy? Who hasn't.
I've been trying to get my head around what it means to live in a bankrupt city, to raise a family in one. What does that feel like? What does it even look like?
By most accounts, it looks the same as it did before Stockton this week became the nation's largest city to file for Chapter 9 protection. In fact, leaders promise that most families (except, significantly, those whose members include city retirees) won't see a change.
It seems impossible, in some ways, that we wouldn't notice something different.
And yet, on Thursday, two days after the City Council effectively voted to send Stockton into bankruptcy, Alice and I went downtown to the Chavez Central Library. There, just a block away from City Hall, things looked and felt exactly the way they did two weeks ago, the last time we visited.
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LAST CHANCE: Don't forget to enter the Joys of Breastfeeding and Show Off Your Sheets photo contests!
DeltaFusion-Meet Me at the River
It's difficult to really encapsulate this event, now in its second year at Victory Park. Part pageant, part festival, DeltaFusion uses giant, hand-made puppets and live music to tell the story of the settlement and development of the San Joaquin Delta region. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Come early to catch a parade of puppets and performers.
Classic Car Show and Craft Fair
Classic cars - as well as antique buggies and carriages - will be on display from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the San Joaquin County Historical Museum as part of a fundraiser supporting the museum's youth education programs. The event also will feature horse-drawn carriage rides, a used book sale, museum tours, games and more than 30 craft vendors. There is a $5-per-family admission charge, as well as a $5 parking fee. The museum is located at Micke Grove Park, 11973 N. Micke Grove Road in Lodi.
Taco Truck Cook-Off
Are you kidding me? How fun! The Lodi Arts Commission is hosting its first Taco Truck Cook-Off, with as many as 10 trucks participating. The event, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, also will feature free arts-and-crafts activities for children and a performance by Ballet Folklorico de Frank Zapata. On Central Avenue between Hilborn and Eden streets in Lodi.
Personal Statement Workshop
For those of you with older kids, author and college-admission coach Roxanne Ocampo, of quetzalmama.com, will lead a free workshop for high schoolers on writing strong personal statement for college applications. From 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Emeritus at Heritage Place, 355 W. Grant Line Road in Tracy.
