I fancy myself a halfway intelligent person, but I always seem to make the most head-smackingly stupid mistakes. A “for instance” would be the fact that I didn’t realize the News-Sentinel had an early deadline for the Fourth of July holiday, and found myself prepping for a late screening of “Magic Mike” as I discovered that the Lodi Living section was getting ready to go to press. It seems my stupidity knows no bounds.

I typically preface reviews of Pixar films with a disclaimer stating that, while I admire their consistently engaging and often groundbreaking work, I do not share the majority opinion that they are the end-all and be-all of contemporary animated entertainment.

The latest news on local athletes who are continuing to play at the college or pro levels.

Lodi's first baby of 2011 was born at 8:31 a.m. on New Year's Day at Lodi Memorial Hospital. Marc Nicolas Mata weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces when he was born and measured 19 inches. He is the son of Nicole and Marco Mata of Lodi.

All jabs aside, here is my list of top 20 movie scenes. Unlike the others, though, I have no way of listing them an any kind of order. The top three are my actual three favorite scenes, but after that they are in no particular order.

In 2009, San Joaquin County employed 483 people who made $100,000 or more. That's up by 33 positions from the previous year.

Nomination papers for the Galt and Lodi city council races show the hopefuls relied on family, friends and, in a few cases, local politicians, to become official candidates.

A project that aims to fill two of Galt's most pressing needs - affordable senior housin and an economic shot in the arm for the downtown - is up for a vote at tonight's Galt City Council meeting.

With Galt's future boundaries at stake, citizens and officials weighed in on the city's General Plan update. At a long and, at times, heated joint City Council and Planning Commission meeting, the council decided to extend the term of the new General Plan and make a greenbelt buffer between Galt and Elk Grove a priority.