IT’S NOT SUPERMAN IT’S A DRONE

IN THE NEWS

AMAZON PACKAGES ARE LANDING IN LOCKEFORD

The town of Lockeford is known for its rural landscape, small population, farm life, and local businesses. A drive through this little country land takes you back in time where life is simple, roads are quiet, and people know one another because they run into each other when visiting the meat market, feed supply, hardware store, or welcoming winery. It’s a destination for living the slower pace and enjoying the familiar face, so when Amazon recently announced it as its first location for drone package delivery, imagine the mixed responses that are arising from Lockeford residents. And perhaps a little confusion on how this small San Joaquin County town became the location for the pilot program of such a modern technology.

Amazon is beginning slow, allowing Lockeford residents to use drone-delivery for packages up to five pounds. Lockeford’s spacious residential lots are the perfect location for drones to practice deliveries. Think back to when you learned to drive—it was easier out in the country than the busy freeways of Los Angeles. With practice, Amazon will expand its drone-deliveries to bigger cities, requiring greater precision as to not mix up your new hairdryer with your neighbor’s new dust bin.

Some residents are concerned about their privacy with drones regularly flying above properties. Other concerns are directed at animal safety (drones can spook livestock) and the general threat of local businesses losing support. Others are excited about the future arriving to Lockeford, in the form of small aircraft delivering their one-click essentials right to their doorstep. The town of Lockeford may have been put on the map by Amazon, but as one of San Joaquin County’s best kept secrets, we’re not quite sure a click-of-thebutton app will ever truly change that slow country way of life.

BY SARAH STEFFENS