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Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Parades, fireworks and festivals return for Independence Day in San Joaquin County
Independence Day celebrations are just around the corner in San Joaquin County. On Wednesday, the first event kicks off at the Celebrate America celebration in Lodi at Hutchins Street Square – West Park. On Thursday, the annual Barron Hilton Fireworks Display at Mandeville Island will take place, and the rest of the events will follow on Independence Day. Here are six fun ways to celebrate Independence Day in Stockton and San Joaquin County. Fireworks will return at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 3, for the Annual Barron Hilton Fireworks Display at Mandeville Island. "Every year, boaters flock from all over to catch the mesmerizing firework display that illuminates the Delta waters with a dazzling array of lights," Visit Stockton website states. "It's a truly spectacular event that promises a delightful evening for families and folks of all ages." This is a free event for the community at Midville Tip Park (the former county park) on the San Joaquin River in Stockton. "Barron Hilton started this event in 1958 and his foundation continues it after his passing," the California Delta Chambers and Visitors Bureau website states. The display is presented annually by the Hilton Foundation. The show is accessible by boat only and is scheduled to begin at dusk, according to Visit Stockton. Location: Mandeville Tip Park, San Joaquin River Hours: 8 p.m. Thursday, July 3 Information: Stockton's Independence Day celebrations return with a parade, festival and fireworks. The Fourth of July parade, organized by the United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County, kicks off at 10 a.m. at Weber Avenue and Center Street. Women veterans will be honored this year as the parade grand marshal. The festival begins at 5 p.m. at Weber Point Events Center, 221 N. Center St., in downtown Stockton. There will be live music, special performances, activities and more, according to a flyer. Fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m. This is a free, family-friendly event for the community. Location: Weber Point Events Center, 221 N. Center St. Hours: 10 a.m. Friday, July 4 Information: The annual Celebrate America event will return Wednesday at Hutchins Street Square - West Park in Lodi. The free community celebration will kick off at 6 p.m. with live performances by the Lodi Community Band, Stockton Portsmen Barbershop Chorus and the United States Air Force Galaxy Rock Band. Orlando Molina, author of Rhymosaurs, will serve as emcee, according to the city's Facebook page. Attendees are encouraged to pack a picnic and wear red, white and blue. The first 500 guests will receive American flags. This event is presented by the city of Lodi's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department. Location: Hutchins Street Square - West Park, 125 S. Hutchins St. Hours: 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 2 Information: The Independence Day celebration at Lodi Lake will begin bright and early at 7 a.m. Friday, July 4, with the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast at 1101 W. Turner Road in Lodi. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for children ages 5 to 12, and free for children younger than 5. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the lake will be closed, and all pancake breakfast attendees must exit the park. At noon, the boathouse will open for those with valid rental reservations. At 2 p.m., the beach will open for those with valid beach reservations. At 4 p.m., the main gates will open to the general public. Vendors will be available from 4 to 9 p.m. The fireworks show is scheduled to begin after dark, around 9:30 p.m. Friday. Location: Lodi Lake, 1101 W. Turner Road Hours: Event begins at 7 a.m. Friday, July 4 Information: (This story was updated with new information.) Is Walmart open on the 4th of July? See what's closed in California from banks to mail Manteca's Fourth of July parade, '40 Years of Pumpkin Pride & Patriotic Spirit,' returns at 10 a.m. Friday, July 4, in downtown Manteca. "Celebrating Manteca's deep agricultural roots alongside festive floats, spirited marching bands, and a vibrant sense of community fun for the entire family," an event flyer states. The parade will take place on Yosemite Avenue, starting at Sycamore Avenue and ending at Manteca High School. Expect floats, marching bands local groups and more. The parade is a free community event hosted by Manteca Sunrise Kiwanis. Location: Yosemite Avenue Hours: 10 a.m. Friday, July 4 Information: Flying or driving for July 4? Here's the best time to leave, busiest travel times in California Tracy's Fourth of July Celebration will include a pancake breakfast and hot balloon lift-off, a downtown parade and family fun, and a fireworks show. Festivities kick off bright and early at 6 a.m. Friday, July 4, at Lincoln Park, where the Tracy Lions Club will host a pancake breakfast and a hot air balloon lift-off. At 10 a.m., head to downtown Tracy for the Fourth of July Parade. Activities will continue after the parade until 1 p.m. at Front Street Plaza, featuring live music, face painting, food vendors, a splash pad and more, according to city officials. At 6 p.m., gates will open at Legacy Fields Sports Complex for the fireworks show. The community can enjoy food trucks, music and performances by Sparkles and Ravioli. Fireworks are scheduled to begin at 9:45 p.m., and gates will close at 9:15 p.m. Tickets are $30 per vehicle and can be purchased through the Tracy Chamber of Commerce on Eventbrite. The events are hosted by the Tracy City Center Association, Tracy Chamber of Commerce and the city of Tracy. Location: Legacy Fields Sports Complex, 4901 N. Tracy Blvd. Hours: 6 a.m. Friday, July 4 Information: Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@ or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at This article originally appeared on The Record: Fourth of July parades, fireworks and festivals in San Joaquin County
New York Times
26-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
How Francis Wooed Donors
World leaders and pilgrims descended on St. Peter's Square this morning to bid an emotional farewell to Pope Francis. Next, the hard work of selecting a new pope begins. And whomever the 135 cardinal electors select will inherit not only a church divided by politics but a financial basket case. Donor groups tell DealBook that they'll be watching closely — and praying. The Roman Catholic Church presides over an enormous portfolio of real estate, art and other investments; the so-called Vatican bank manages roughly $6 billion in assets, but has been rocked by a string of corruption scandals over the years. Francis worked to restore confidence in the Vatican's finances, a push that succeeded in drawing in donors. But with a succession fight about to begin, big questions loom over whether those efforts will continue — or whether the new pope will reverse them. 'We are in a period of uncertainty,' Sister Jane Wakahiu, the associate vice president for programs at the Hilton Foundation, told DealBook. 'No one can possibly be able to fill perfectly the shoes of Pope Francis.' Founded by Conrad Hilton, the hotel magnate, the Hilton Foundation is one of the biggest financial backers of Catholic sisters' work around the world, and has given roughly $28.5 million to Vatican-led initiatives, including Vatican departments, since 2020. Francis saw donors as vital partners. He looked to them not only to fund the causes dear to him but also to plug the Vatican's creaky finances. In February, while the pope was recovering from a near-death bout of double pneumonia, he created the Commissio de Donationibus pro Sancta Sede, a committee to fund-raise directly for the curia, or the Vatican's governing hierarchy, and to shore up its many budget shortfalls. Francis' initiative was bold: He was essentially betting that donors would be happy to openly fund church bureaucracy as well as the Roman Catholic Church's far-flung missions around the world. Such an ask would have been an extremely tough sell when the Francis papacy began. Back then, the church's financial reputation was in tatters. Accounting intrigue and scandal at the Vatican Bank loomed over the last conclave. In 2013, just before Francis was elected pope, Italian banking authorities had shut off most of the A.T.M.s in the Vatican and blocked credit card transactions at the Vatican Museum, until the microstate could prove it was meeting international anti- money-laundering standards. Decades of mismanagement and corruption scandals had taken their toll. The church seemed to need a great business mind as much as it needed a towering theologian. To donors' relief, Francis modernized the Vatican's financial oversight. A year into his papacy, he created an auditor general and beefed up internal anti-corruption controls. He also introduced some financial transparency (though it's far from business-world standards) and brought in outside auditors, such as KPMG and EY, to help keep a lid on costs and make the Holy See's curia run more professionally. He also worked more closely with the church's major donors, and their influence on the church grew. At the same time, the Vatican hosted a series of impact-investing summits to bring more Wall Street money to causes close to Francis, many of the same ones that donors often focus on. The pope became a featured speaker at major international events, addressing in 2023 the Clinton Global Initiative. But the Vatican's finances weren't completely fixed. Though losses narrowed under Francis, the Vatican was still running a deficit of 83 million euros (about $89 million) last year, according to Reuters. That financial mess puts further attention on Francis' final major plea to donors — the fund-raising commission he created in February. Will it get the blessing of the new pope? Or will a new curia sweep it under the rug? Donors have other questions, too. Many of the foundations and nonprofits found in Francis a champion of the same causes they fund, thus making the church a good fit for their donations. Will the next pontiff follow his legacy and push for social and climate justice as well as the rights of migrants, women and the poor? The world of philanthropy is already facing big challenges. In the United States, overall giving has been on the decline, and nonprofits and foundations are reeling from President Trump's efforts to shut off funding to federal agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development, that address these same issues. With Francis' death, some donors feel they've lost a key ally. 'He was an important global moral voice, and he will be greatly missed,' Alexia Kelley, president of FADICA, one of the world's largest networks of Catholic philanthropies, told DealBook. Francis' legacy is already a hot topic. Early in his papacy, commentators saw a 'Francis effect,' or the idea that Francis could use his charisma and the power of the papacy to bring together world leaders to address thorny issues. (That said, the 'Francis effect' did not seem to energize Catholics to return to church in greater numbers.) Donors talk about a different kind of 'Francis effect.' He had a kind of magnetism that could persuade powerful people to use their money and influence to advance causes he cared deeply about. Sister Jane, who met Francis eight times during his papacy, said his legacy — if not his superpower — was 'to instill hope.' She acknowledged, though, that in these times, especially with Trump's gutting of U.S.A.I.D., mustering hope among the donor community would not be easy. That, too, puts a lot of pressure on Francis' successor. — Bernhard Warner Stock indexes were up this week, but expect more volatility. A slew of earnings announcements on Thursday revealed further damage from President Trump's ever-shifting trade policies. PepsiCo lowered its full-year profit outlook, while Procter & Gamble cut its earnings forecast and warned that consumers should expect higher prices soon. American Airlines, Merck and Intel also revised their outlooks. Jamie Caulfield, PepsiCo's C.F.O., summed it up: 'Relative to where we were three months ago, we probably aren't feeling as good about the consumer now.' Trump's job approval rating fell. About 40 percent of Americans approve of how the president is managing the country, a drop of seven percentage points from February, according to Pew Research. As for tariffs, 59 percent disagree with the policy, while 39 percent approve. The New York Times/Siena College poll, published yesterday, found that 55 percent didn't like how Trump was handling the economy, and 53 percent disapproved of his trade policies. Trump has responded to bond vigilantes, C.E.O.s and the markets. Now he has polling figures. Regulators outlined required concessions for Paramount ahead of its Skydance merger. Paramount has reportedly told the Federal Communications Commission that it will continue to pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as it seeks approval from the agency for its merger with the Hollywood studio Skydance, The Wall Street Journal reported. The timing is noteworthy. A CBS News executive recently resigned because of interference from corporate managers at Paramount, which owns CBS. The company is in mediation talks with Trump over his $20 billion lawsuit against the network. A Facebook co-founder on the fantasy of free markets Chris Hughes has crisscrossed the worlds of business, government and media. One of the co-founders of Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg, he led the digital efforts of President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, briefly owned the New Republic magazine, and co-founded the nonprofit Economic Security Project. Along the way, he has developed a theory about American capitalism. In his new book, 'Marketcrafters,' Hughes argues against the idea that a mythical 'free market' works best without government interference, or needs such interference only when the market malfunctions. Instead, he builds a case that the U.S. economy has for more than a century been deeply shaped by policymakers using tools like public investment, stockpiling and reserve management, antitrust policy, and regulation. DealBook spoke with Hughes about how the theory fits into the current moment as President Trump has made dramatic moves to shape the global market and Meta is facing claims in court that it broke antitrust laws. The interview has been edited and condensed. In the book, you mention Republicans including Marco Rubio and JD Vance as stewards of your notion of marketcraft. Rubio has argued for shoring up the defense industrial base, and Vance wants a more aggressive antitrust regime. Do you see any evidence they're putting those ideas to work? Not now. In the first 100 days, I see, you know, pretty loyalist, sycophantic work or behavior on both of their parts. I don't know if that will change, but I do know that I've listened to Marco Rubio talk for years now, both in person and at public events, and elsewhere. And I genuinely don't think that he thinks markets regulate themselves. He believes that the state can and should guide them and craft them. I think that those intuitions are real. In the positions that particularly the secretary of state and the vice president are in now, I see them just doing whatever some mood of the day asks them to do. You write that you don't consider Trump's tariffs to be marketcraft. He's definitely trying to influence markets. My understanding of your argument is that the tariffs lack the 'craft' part. It has to be pointed toward something. Take taxes. Setting a marginal tax rate doesn't craft a market. Of course, it affects markets profoundly, but it doesn't craft a market. Whereas creating a really meaningful tax break for solar energy, that boosts the solar energy market, that crafts that market. You wrote an op-ed in 2019 calling for the government to break up Facebook. Have you been watching the Meta antitrust trial? A bit, I have. I haven't spoken with Mark or any of the other folks at the company since I wrote that piece, but I've been reading the articles. Part of the reason I began this research journey into marketcraft is because, as Facebook got bigger and bigger, and I wrestled with my own role and responsibility in it, that set me down a path thinking about the importance of antitrust and antimonopoly, where it came from, how it works, and then all of a sudden I saw, you know, public actors managing and shaping all kinds of markets to make them more competitive and fair. As someone who once owned a publication, The New Republic, how do you view what Jeff Bezos is doing with The Washington Post? Pulling the paper's endorsement of Kamala Harris, or pivoting its opinion section to focus on 'free markets and personal liberties'? I think that when you invest in these things, you invest knowing that the best editors want the freedom to deliver on their agendas. When I was in the media world 10 years ago, I was very focused on adapting the methods of delivering and explaining the news and adapting to the digital revolution. So I guess I don't quite understand why he's taking the institution in this kind of direction that's so far afield from its history. It's hard to see that that is going to be a good thing. I mean, everything you hear is that the staff is just bleeding people. Bezos is a much better businessman than I, but that doesn't seem great for the brand or for the bottom line. Do you think the trend of billionaires outside of media buying journalistic publications — like Bezos with The Post, Patrick Soon-Shiong with The L.A. Times, Laurene Powell Jobs with The Atlantic — is a good thing? I think ideally, the institutions of the media would not have a profit motive. I think that the not-for-profit structure would be better than a for-profit one. But it's also very hard to raise the meaningful money you need for the amazing reporting, the newsrooms, but also for the printers, for engineers, for all of these things. And so I guess this is a long-term question of the structure of the media in the United States. But it's always been in this unique place where its core, it exists in this middle area. And for a long time, we had these norms of respecting the ideological freedom to have editors and writers to explore their ideas. And I think that's what has made them so great. If newsrooms are getting locked down, obviously, there are lots of other places for people to go, the Substacks and Discords of the world. I think you're seeing a flowering of smart analysis in those venues, which is bigger and better than what's happened on Twitter and social media elsewhere. Would you ever try buying a publication again? I'm focused on economics and public policy. It's the stuff that I love. Thanks for reading! We'll see you Monday. We'd like your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@
