Kyla Cathey

If you haven't seen one of the brightly painted rocks in Lodi yet, don't worry. The Lodi Rocks! group is hard at work to ensure there are plenty of the "kindness rocks" to go around.

Rebecca Hardiman is known in Portland for her smooth vocals. Jim Martinez has played jazzy tunes on the piano in Sacramento and all over Northern California. Years ago, the two may never have stumbled across each other, but in the age of the Internet, they did - and it's spawned a collaboration that is coming to Lodi's Wine and Roses on Wednesday.

The first time Mel Potter went to Vietnam, he was a soldier in the U.S. Army. It was 1968, and like many young men, he was sent overseas to fight in the jungles and highlands of the Southeast Asian nation.
Eventually, he made it back home to Lodi. But 30 years later, Potter went back with a friend, just to visit the country he’d spent so much time fighting in. And now, he spends much of his time in the country, helping provide medical and dental care to those in need.

Most couples who get married this month may be too focused on the happiness and festivities to worry about the future. As their relationship grows, however, keeping it strong and healthy will be important. Luckily, Lodi has a number of couples who have been married for decades, and three of them — Ray and Doris Shates, Lorraine and Richard Stanford, and Terry and Jeanette Quashnick — were willing to share how they’ve stayed in love for so long.

Twice a year, tinkerers of all ages converge at the World of Wonders Science Museum for MakerFest. The maker-space mini-festival brings activities that will delight amateur engineers, whether new to the maker movement or old hands at tinkering.

The vampire legend may have made its way into New England as an early version of the unproven “miracle cure” for tuberculosis. In 1784, a newspaper published a letter about a foreign “quack doctor” who had been spreading an unusual cure for consumption.

On September 8, 1965, about 1500 Filipino workers walked off the wine and table grape fields of Delano, California. The Delano grape strike, as it would become known, has been heralded as one of the nation’s most important labor struggles, thrusting the fight for Latino civil rights into the national spotlight—but the Filipinos who started the strike, especially leader Larry Itliong, have long been overlooked.

“You can count on the fact that you’re going to hear ‘Elvira.’ That’s our signature song,” said Richard Sterban, the quartet’s bass. He provides the song’s famous “oom-pa-pa-mow-mow.”

“Every night is an adventure, because you never know what’s going to happen with the audience,” said guitarist Gary Pihl, who also provides backing vocals.

During a drizzle on Wednesday afternoon, the snow leopard at Micke Grove Zoo was in her element. She lounged on a high perch, grooming her enormous paws with half-lidded eyes, the picture of contentment.

At Heritage Oak Winery, acres of 10-year-old grapevines are still underwater. It’s been days since Lodi’s last rainfall, but for Heritage Oak’s owner, Tom Hoffman, it may be a while before the flooding brought by two wet months begins to recede.

In China and parts of Southeast Asia, traditional medicine has created a demand for lion bones. Now, officials worry that lion bone market could be driving poaching at an African wildlife park. At Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique, park staff report that wildlife traffickers are offering rewards for intact lion carcasses.

For author Jennifer Torres, her latest book, “Stef Soto, Taco Queen,” came from a lifetime of experiences. “A lot of inspiration came from my own upbringing. I come from a Mexican-American family,” she said.

Something is rotten in the state of Pennsylvania. The town of Jersey Shore, to be exact – and no, it’s not wannabe reality TV stars. That’s a different Jersey Shore. This one is plagued by a field of rotting radishes. The odor first infused the town about three weeks ago. Residents couldn’t find the source of the foul stench, so they turned to TV news station WNEP for help.

It’s late afternoon, and you’re ready for a quick snack to hold you over until the workday ends. Would you rather have an individual bag of over-salted, broken chips from the vending machine, or a fresh, crisp apple? A slightly stale donut, or a pair of juicy, tart tangerines?