Every year, Lodi-based Kids Care Dental & Orthodontics holds their “candy buy-back,” purchasing Halloween candy from children at $1 per pound and donating it to an organization of their choosing.

Dean Machado, owner of Woodlake Cleaners on West Turner Road in Lodi, stood behind the counter of his business on Wednesday morning, looking at boxes of toothbrushes, cases of bottled water and other items donated by his fellow Lodians that sat in his lobby, waiting to be taken to evacuation centers in Butte County.

On an overcast Tuesday morning, volunteers from the Lodi Police Department’s Partners Program and crime prevention team gave a presentation on “stranger danger” to a group of students in George Washington Elementary School’s multipurpose room.

With big-box stores and online retailers luring consumers with blockbuster deals to open the Christmas season, many communities came together to celebrate Small Business Saturday last weekend.

On a cloudy Monday afternoon, firefighters from the Lodi Fire Department and several neighboring fire districts wrapped up a controlled burn exercise at a vacant house on South Stockton Street near Harney Lane.

After months of anticipation the grand opening of the Dutch Bros. in Lodi is set for Nov. 30 with a soft opening at midnight on the morning of Black Friday.

The Camp Fire had been burning for a day and a half when California Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Siria arrived in Magalia on Nov. 10 and had already destroyed much of the small town just north of Paradise in Butte County.

After finishing their Thanksgiving meals, many Lodians will head out to various stores in the city for special Black Friday discounts. Some stores won’t open until Friday morning, but others will give shoppers a chance to get an early start by opening their doors today.

Thornton residents lined up in front of the Thornton Community Center for a free Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday evening, with each receiving a raffle ticket as they checked in at a table across from a counter covered with apples and slices of various cakes and pies.