69. Ask Stockton, Let Your Voice Be Heard - August 22, 2013

Today we talk with Matt Miller from Ask Stockton, a question campaign to reinvent Stockton.

From August 1 through 25, Stocktonian's are being asked to donate a question on how we as a community can reinvent Stockton.

Volunteers have been hard at work collecting donated questions from all over the city.  

With only a few days remaining you still have a chance to donate your questions for consideration. You can call or text 209-275-1190 or donate your questions via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or email your questions to questions@askstockton.net. You can also visit AskStockton.net and fill out the "Ask Stockton Question Donation Form."

So, what's YOUR question on how to reinvent Stockton?

Listen below to learn more about the Ask Stockton Question Campaign.

Stockton Pride 2013

This Saturday is Stockton Pride 2013. Once again, It will be held at Oak Grove Regional Park from 11 AM to 7 PM. 

The Stockton Pride Festival is the only event of it's kind here in Stockton. Last year, the turnout was greater than expected and event organizers are planning for more for this year's event. 

Nicholas Hatten, Executive Director of San Joaquin Pride Center described this year's event as "The year of more.  More entertainment, more activities, more food, more vendors and booths."

When asked about the importance of having an event like Stockton Pride in our community, Hatten said, there is "still a fear of the unknown" as it relates to the LGBT community and that events such as this give everyone a chance to see their culture and see them as individuals as well as members of the community.  

"In Stockton, we have a long way to go for equality. We're not San Francisco, we're not Sacramento", said Hatten. Not getting as much support as larger cities is one reason that this event is important. Hatten continues, "Our kids are most at risk". Stockton Pride creates an environment of tolerance and understanding that can lead to meaningful conversations about diversity and help educate the public about the importance of respect, tolerance and equality.

Stockton Pride is a family event and will feature a teen area and children's zone ran by the San Joaquin Pride Center youth group.

Join in the food, fun, entertainment. You can also help support the Stockton Pride Festival and have a chance to win some fabulous prizes by purchasing a raffle ticket for $5 .

Admission is free, and entrance to the park is only $6 per car.  

For more information on the San Joaquin Pride Center and tomorrow's Stockton Pride 2013, visit  sjpridecenter.org and stocktonpride.weebly.com. Also, be sure to Like Stockton Pride on Facebook at facebook.com/StocktonPride.

We hope to see you Saturday at Oak Grove Regional Park! 

68. David Garcia, Stockton City Limits - August 12, 2013

Golf Anyone?

Matt and Susan talk about golfing in Stockton. Maybe a Podcast Stockton Golf Tournament someday???  

Stockton offers two well known municipal 18-hole golf courses, and a Par 3 Executive Golf Course for your golfing pleasure. Swenson Park Golf Course and Van Buskirk Golf Course. Both are easily accessible from Interstate-5. 

With other courses like The Reserve at Spanos, Elkhorn and others, there's lots of opportunities for great golf in town.

To find out more about golfing in Stockton visit  stocktongolfcourses.com

Let's Talk Dogs!

Susan and Matt both try Casey's Hot Dogs and meet with the owner,  Peter.

Recently opening on July 4th, Casey's Hot Dogs is the newest restaurant on the miracle mile.

The name Casey, of course, comes from "Casey at the Bat" following the theme of "The Might Casey at the Bat". 

Enjoy gourmet hot dogs and catch a baseball game on the flat screen TVs.

Casey's Hot Dogs is located on the Miracle Mile at 2311 Pacific Avenue, between La Palma Mexican restaurant and the new location of Mid Town Creperie.

Stockton City Limits

In this episode, Matt and Susan are joined in studio by David Garcia the author of the blog, Stockton City Limits.

David Garcia

Stockton City Limits is a blog about growth and development in Stockton. David earned his Master’s Degree in Public Policy with an emphasis on Urban Policy from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies. He works as a researcher/analyst for a Congressional research agency in Washington, DC.  

We hope you'll visit the blog and read his thought-provoking and data driven research that touches on many facets of urban planning, growth, and development.

To learn more about Stockton City Limits visit the blog at stocktoncitylimits.com and continue the conversation on Facebook at facebook.com/stocktoncitylimits and Twitter @STK_City_Limits.

Podcast Stockton versus California Rays

This morning, the Podcast Stockton team challenged the California Rays Beep Baseball team. The home team has a new name (they were formerly known as the Stockton Stingrays) but the result was exactly the same as every other time these two teams have squared off. 

In case you don't know about beep baseball, here's a brief primer: Beep baseball is an adaptive version of baseball played by athletes that are visually impaired where all players wear blindfolds.  

We started off with a two-run lead in the first inning with runs from Shawn (our most consistent hitter and scorer) and me (yes, Matt actually scored a run, his first one ever). The Rays blanked out in the bottom of the first inning and we all thought this was our year!

But then, fresh off her trip to the 2013 NBBA World Series in Columbus, Georgia, team captain Jennifer Boylan connected on her second pitch and had no problem scoring.  

Jennifer scored another run and Luke came out of retirement to add two runs as well. Rays rookie, Miguel, who has shown incredible skills during practice this year, scored his first run.  

The final score was 2-5. But for those that have heard us talk about beep baseball before you know that is not the end of the story.  

In the sixth and final inning, the Rays allowed us to hit sighted (did I mention that we play with blindfolds) . This tradition of allowing the sighted team to hit without blindfolds has yet to change the result of the game, but this year we felt different. Although our first three batters were able to connect with the ball, none were able to get to the base before being fielded out by our opponents. Shawn even knocked the BEEP out of the ball, and I'm not censoring, he literally knocked the BEEP out of the ball! They even gave us go through our entire rotation and still, none of us were able to score. Eric, who also played in the 2013 NBBA World Series, made a few putouts look easy. Jennifer and Terrence also helped ensure we'd score no more runs, and Miguel, gets his first putout!

Stay up to date on the California Rays by liking them on Facebook at facebook.com/blindbaseball.

Thank you to the California Rays for taking the field with us: Jennifer, Eric, Luke, David, Miguel, and Terrence. And thank you to the wonderful volunteers: Robert, Rosemary, Josie, Araceli, and Terrence Jr. 

And thank you to the rest of our team: Manny, Greg, Missy, Rod, Shawn, Shawn Jr., and to everyone that came out and watched us.

Check out the pictures at Facebook.com/PodcastStockton.

Stockton-Con Podcast

Hopefully, you had a chance to attend last Sunday's Stockton-Con at the Stockton Arena. Mike Millerick and the rest of the Stockton-Con and Stockton Arena teams put on an amazing show. 

Until next year's event, stay up to date on all things Stockton-Con with the Stockton-Con Podcast. Mike Millerick and J.D. Fox continue the conversation even after last weekend's successful event with recent guests such as comic book artists, Tony Fleecs, Tone Rodriguez, and Dan Parsons, and cosplay artist Ivy Doomkitty.

Check out their show at stocktoncon.com/blog.

And here are some great pics and videos to help you re-live Stockton-Con 2.0:

James Vallesteros on Facebook 

The_Con_Fluence Covers video 

The Examiner

Nerdophiles.com 

While there has not been a date set for next year's event, it seems certain there will be one.

See you all at next year's Stockton-Con.

Matthew O'Connor as Alien

67. Stockton-Con 2.0 is This Weekend - August 1, 2013

Today we talk with Mike Millerick, Director of Stockton-Con.

After a very successful inaugural event last year, it's time for the second annual Stockton-Con.

Come dressed up in your favorite costume and surround yourself in the worlds of comics, card games, video games, anime, science fiction, toys, television, and movies. 

With lots of guests from all sides of pop culture and lots of amazing local artists, there's something for everyone.

Tickets are on sale throughout the central valley until Saturday and available at the door. Don't forget to bring your gently-used clothing to donate to St. Mary's Dining Room and save $4 off the ticket price.

Visit stocktoncon.com for all the details. 

Sunday, August 4
 10 AM to 6 PM
 Stockton Arena

We hope to see you there! 

66. Cafe Coop - July 29, 2013

What is Podcast Stockton?

Podcast Stockton is a blog and podcast all about the great life in Stockton, California. Our focus is on the positive side of Stockton by bringing to our listeners local business reviews, positive commentary on local issues and interviews with local business owners, city officials and residents. 

We introduce Greg the Producer and Manny the Webmaster, the "behind the scenes" members of the Podcast Stockton team.

Café Coop Brings Innovation and Collaboration Downtown

Esperanza Vielma

We talk with Esperanza Vielma, founder and Executive Director of Café Coop.

With memberships starting at $25, Café Coop offers a collaborative workspace that is high on energy, enthusiasm, and creativity.  
 

They are located at 235 N. San Joaquin Street and can be reached at info@cafecoop.org. Visit cafecoop.org or facebook.com/cafecoop for more information and to find out about upcoming events.

Let's Talk Stockton Event

On July 17, Square and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey led a discussion at Valley Brewing Company about starting and growing business in Stockton. Short presentation followed by Q&A.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter @jack

We also had a chance to hear from... 

Marianne McCarroll, (Marianne's Pantry, www.mariannespantry.com) 

Mimi Nguyen, (Miracle Mile Improvement District)

Emily Ritter, (Square.com) 

Click here to watch Square's post event video.

Learn more about Square at squareup.com. 

Music for this week's show is "The Pieman" by Mykal Parsons Project. You can like them on Facebook and listen to their music at facebook.com/MykalParsonsProject. You can also find Mykal Parsons Project on GoLocal Radio at golocalradio.net. 

Stockton, We Can Overcome This

originally published on mattbeckwith.com

Last night, our city council took the first step toward bankruptcy. By the end of the week, Stockton will be the largest US city to file for bankruptcy protection.

All of a sudden, being labeled "America's Most Miserable City" a couple of times by some magazine doesn't sound so bad.

We ran out of money.

There are many reasons why. Our city leaders made poor decisions during the economic boom. Unscrupulous mortgage lending practices flooded the central valley with home buyers leading to increased property values which swelled the city with the sweet nectar of property tax revenue. We banked on this gravy train continuing forever.

Then of course, it did not.

 Now, Stockton's favorite pastime is the blame-game. So many of us want to point the finger at someone.

The police and fire unions, previous mayors and council members, former city manager Mr. Milne, and even city employees themselves have all been the target of someone's blame.

We need to stop blaming. We've already diagnosed what happened so we can be pretty sure it won't happen again, blaming people isn't going to solve anything.

We certainly cannot blame city employees. They did exactly what we would all do. Well, I'll speak for myself here. I would have done the same thing. Even the double dipping. Given an opportunity to advance economically, in a way that seems completely healthy at the time, we'd all do it! Plus, most city employees are hard working people that care deeply about our city.

As are the members of our city council and our Mayor. If you don't like what they're doing, vote for someone else. Otherwise, find a productive way to help. Our council members have a difficult task; I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would want that job. I am grateful that some people choose to do it and I appreciate their strength in the face of such adversity.

Facing a budget shortfall of $26 million, and ballooning debt in the hundreds of millions, it seems the city made the best choice.

Now, it's time to get on with making Stockton great. Do we have an uphill battle? Oh hell yes. The likes of which most of us could have never imagined. But we can do it.

We can overcome this.

We know there are many great things about Stockton. Let's keep our cool and not let the stigma of bankruptcy distract us from making our city a place we can be proud of. We need to continue to shop locally and do our part to make our neighborhoods safer and stronger.

Most of all, we need to get involved. Talk to our neighbors. Talk to our council members. Attend council meetings, or watch online. Ask questions. If we spent the last 20 years watching our local leaders as much as we have during the last few months, we likely wouldn't have been in such a mess.

Let's make it great, Stockton! The future of our city depends on it.

With all of the emotion of the last couple of days, this made me laugh:

http://twitter.com/RealDlHughley/status/218192121889435649

65. We're Back! - July 15, 2013

Welcome back to Podcast Stockton!  After nearly two years, we are back!

On this episode: 

We welcome our new co-host, Susan Spracher, a lifelong resident of Stockton. Susan is also a freelance writer, magazine columnist & creator of the blog, "The Four O'Clock Martini".  

Looking for Live Music in Stockton?

Visit www.visitstockton.org and check out their calendar of events for a complete schedule of concerts in the park.  

Other venues where you can find great live music and food... 

Whirlow's Tossed and Grilled located on the Miracle Mile. 

Take 5 Jazz Club 

The Plea for Peace Center Stockton 

The Bus Stop

The Victory Grill

Rod Villagomez

We catch up with Rod Villagomez and talk about GoLocal Radio.

GoLocal Radio showcases a wide variety of local music from throughout the Central Valley, providing a place for local musicians to have their music heard. 

GoLocal radio can be found at Facebook.com/golocalradio as well as their website at golocalradio.net.

Music for today's show is "Shoebox" by BrokeNote UnderTone. You can like them on Facebook and listen to their music at facebook.com/BrokeNoteUnderTone

64. The Final Episode - September 25, 2011

As John De Lancie's character Q said to Patrick Stewart's character Jean-Luc Picard in the similarly named series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation, all good things must come to an end. Today, we bring you the final episode of Podcast Stockton.

I registered the domain name and built the first version of the website on January 3, 2009. A month later, Stockton was named the most miserable city in America. The first episode of Podcast Stockton, episode zero, was released on March 22, 2009. My goal was simple: to share the stories about the good life in Stockton. With the help of so many wonderful people, we accomplished that.

I am so proud of what Podcast Stockton became. What started as a one-man operation grew to include many others. Podcast Stockton would not have been possible without the help from Rod Villagomez for coming on the show as co-host back in late 2009; Wes Rhea from the Stockton Convention & Visitors Bureau for all of his wonderful support on the show, Jon Remington from Closet Goodies for giving us our first regular "commercial"; Greg Bahr and Andy Pinasco for being great confidants and helping to introduce us to so many special people in Stockton; Omar Vargas for creating the awesome Podcast Stockton logo and artwork; Tom Mondragon for his years of friendship and for being the inspiration for the show; Wes Johnson for building our iPhone app; Lowell Tuckerman for doing the sports segment; Mr. Story for all of his trusted advice; Manuel for all the help with content ideas, technical support and guidance, and Gabriel for his support, content, show ideas, and giving us our very first review.

Meeting Rod and having him join the show was exactly what I needed. His experience and ideas were a welcome shot in the arm and with his guidance, we did so much more than I could have ever done by myself.

When Rod wasn't available, it was an honor to co-host the show with Manny, Chris the Greek, Lowell and Gabriel. Thank you so much guys! Also, big thanks to Lowell, Wes, Manny, Jon and Gabriel for helping us put on Podcast Stockton Live last year. What a blast that was!

Thank you to all of you that gave us access to your businesses, organizations, events. We have met some very incredible people in this city and have had the opportunity to interview a great list of Stocktonians, including:

Zenet Negron,Cari Giannecchini, Jennifer Boylan, Pat Filippone, Emily Ballus, Susan Mora-Loyko, Benjamin Saffold, Alice van Ommeren, Jeff Gamboni, Adam Messinger, Matthew Farnsworth, Frank Stone, Chris Freeman, Rick Corduck, Lee Neves, Jared Foster, Leona Marino, Levi Wells,Clarence Henderson, Dr. Derron Lee, Dawn Correll-Cruz, Tera Moore, Jason Roth, John Clauser, Diana Lowery, David Mckeever, Emily Baime, Kate Post, Timm Quinn, Chris Juenke, Justin Farry, Dr. Robert Shapiro, Susan Spracher, Joni Bauer, Dwight Richards, Michael Seymour, Tod Ruhstaller, Kenny McCann, Chris the Greek, Gillian Murphy, Susan Eggman, the cast and crew of Broadcasting Sunshine, Patrick Giblin, George Ruiz, Slick Diaz, Jon Remington, Ronnie and Yolanda Cunningham, Greg Bahr, Gabriel and Devin, Mike Fitzgerald, Dawn Beckwith, Shawna Cavender, Andy Pinasco, Mike Bravo, Bill Ries-Knight, Tony Mannor, Tom Moccia and Tom Mondragon.

Thanks to Mike Klocke at The Record as well, for all of his support and kind words through the last couple of years. And to David Siders, formerly of The Record, for helping spread the word when the first episode was released. I never told him this, but when I first met him I stuck my hand out and introduced myself. When he heard my name he said "oh, Podcast Stockton". I was star-struck. David Siders knew who I was! Also thank you Adrianna Brogger for getting us on TV! Thanks to Tim from Illinois, formerly from Stockton, for always reminding us that former Stocktonians still care about the city. Thanks to Benjamin Saffold for being one of the most giving people in our city and for bringing me on to the Earth Day Festival committee, one of the greatest experiences and honors of my life.

Thank you to our listeners. Of course, without you, there would have been no show! I am eternally grateful to you all!

Stockton, with all of our problems, is still a vibrant community. There are many reasons to love it here and we are so proud to have shared the stories of Stockton with you for the past 71 episodes.

If you want to know about goings on in Stockton, visit these sites regularly:

VisitStockton.org
Mom About The Town
Port City Sun
Breaking News Stockton
The Record

Again, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to share our stories, and the stories of Stockton with you. It was truly one of the most rewarding projects of my life.

Lastly, thank you to my family. They afforded me the time and support for me to continue my hobby. Without them, Podcast Stockton would have never been.

I am going to keep this website up indefinitely, and may even get the bug to blog from time to time. Please come by now and then to say hello!

Keep makin' it great Stockton!

We hope you enjoy our final show.