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• Grand jury indicts Sheriff Baxter Dunn

• Governor calls for cuts without Legislature aid

• City hires Tea Silvestre as new community center director

• Regional Roundup

• Pedestrian deaths on Lodi rails decline significantly

• San Joaquin air may soon be known as nation's worst

• Lodi fares nicely with API scores

• Cities, counties want vote before state can tap funds

• Two arrested in Galt by SWAT, suspected of possessing stolen property

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 7th, 2009

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

• Tour packs buses as birdwatchers admire Sandhill cranes

• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks

• Daytime thieves targeting Lodi homes

• Lodi High School rally featured on 'Good Day Sacramento'

• Out of control

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

• New Lodi Memorial rule to combat spread of H1N1: Visitors must be older than 16

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

November 4th, 2009

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

November 3rd, 2009

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• Clarification

November 2nd, 2009

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Group investigates reports of haunting

October 31st, 2009

• Area schools have no plans of closing due to H1N1 virus

• Tokay High evacuation

• Gated communities in Lodi

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

• Izzy Laviola and Seth Siddle-Mitchell crowned Tokay homecoming queen and king

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (71)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (58)
• Universal health care solves big problems (56)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Words from our forefathers (27)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (26)
• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (20)
• Majority cannot deprive the minority (20)

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Regional Roundup

Video store robbed at gunpoint

For the second time in a month, a Lodi video store was robbed shortly after it opened Thursday morning.

Around 10:08 a.m., a man called police from Hollywood Video, 2418 W. Kettleman Lane, to report that he had just been robbed at gunpoint.

The suspect, armed with a semi-automatic handgun, ordered the employee to open the cash registers and safe, then told him to go to a back room, Lodi police Officer Mike Manetti said.

The suspect then fled from the store with an undisclosed amount of money. The victim was not injured.

The incident was nearly identical to one that happened the morning of Nov. 30 at Blockbuster Video, also located on West Kettleman Lane.

Though police initially thought the two incidents were related, they now believe the suspects were not the same person, due to a difference in accents, Detective Leo Ramirez said.

In the November incident, the suspect was wearing black and wielding a knife, police said.

The suspect in Thursday's robbery was described as a Hispanic male in his early 20s, 140 pounds and about 5-feet-5-inches tall. He was wearing a white stocking cap, black jacket, black pants and white shoes, a surveillance video viewed by police shows.

Anyone with information may call the Lodi Police Department at 333-6727.

DUI checkpoint tonight, two more scheduled

The Lodi Police Department will conduct a DUI checkpoint tonight at an undisclosed location, the first of three scheduled over the next two weeks.

The checkpoints are part of a national program called "You Drink & Drive, You Lose," and are funded through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

In 2001, Lodi had the highest number of DUI arrests among 92 cities with similar populations, Lodi police said. The goal of the checkpoints is to stop and arrest drivers who are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

A second checkpoint will be conducted Tuesday, and the third will be held Jan. 3. Three more checkpoints will be held in June and July.

The police department encourages people who may be drinking to designate a driver. Fines, attorney fees and insurance increases can total about $10,000, according to police estimates.

No injuries in drive-by shooting

Nobody was injured Wednesday night after a drive-by shooting on School Street around 10 p.m.

Shots hit a parked vehicle and School Street Bistro, 116 N. School St., and the suspect vehicle fled before police arrived.

Police think the incident might be gang-related, though the victim is not a gang member, Lodi police Sgt. Lance Hayden said.

Council approves resolution, discusses TCE audit

In the final hours of Wednesday's regular City Council meeting, members completed the agenda, voting on several items including a resolution to support a ballot initiative.

The November 2004 measure is designed to increase local control over local tax dollars. It is being sponsored by the League of California Cities, a statewide lobbying organization.

Also at the meeting, new Mayor Larry Hansen provided council members with an update on the audit examining invoices relating to the city's ongoing contamination litigation. The city sued 15 businesses, including the News-Sentinel, and their insurance companies to force them to clean up TCE pollution in the city's groundwater.

Hansen, who placed the item on the agenda, also reinforced moving forward with the audit, City Clerk Susan Blackston said.

Before adjourning at 12:10 a.m. Thursday, the City Council also:

• Received an update on the Housing Element plan

• Approved hiring guidelines regarding employees or volunteers who perform services at a park, playground, school facility, recreational center or beach. It had inadvertently been repealed from a contract between the city and the Boosters of Boys and Girls Sports

• Amended an ordinance related to the city's contamination litigation and abatement costs.

Galt homicide suspect again enters no plea

The man accused of gunning down his estranged wife and her mother inside their Galt home last month made his third appearance in court Thursday, where he again did not enter a plea.

Darrin Eric Gunder, 37, has been jailed without bail since he was arrested hours after the Nov. 18 shooting on Bay Landing Way.

Inside the home, Galt police found 35-year-old Lisa McGarrah-Gunder and her mother, Patricia Ann Hawthorne, 56, each dead of a single shot apparently fired at close range.

Darrin Gunder was arrested near his home in Stockton that night and charged with murder. Under California law, he could face the death penalty.

On Thursday, he again appeared in Sacramento County Superior Court, where his arraignment was continued for a third time, court records show. He is scheduled to return to court Jan. 29.