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• Lodi Fire captain arrested

• High scores equal hair loss for Lodi High principal

• Lodi challenges Stockton over expanding land

• Regional Roundup

• Bank of Lodi exec: Discord led to sale

• Logbook

• Route 5 will take GrapeLine riders to this week's Grape Festival, and the bus fare is 50 cents for the general public, and 25 cents for seniors and disabled. The information was incorrect in the Grape Festival special section inserted in Tuesday's News-Sentinel.

• Lodi Islamic center, Lockeford subdivision on county agenda

• Galt High School hardship grant draws skepticism

• Testimony continues in trial of Lodi men accused of murders

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

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

• The country's mess is our fault (169)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (73)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (50)
• Public health care is a Christian option (48)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (22)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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Will Measure R chill big retail in Lodi?

There is no Borders bookstore in Lodi. But there might have been.

The books and music retailer had its eyes on Lodi when plans for the Vintner's Square shopping center were announced in 2002. The complex at the northwest corner of Lower Sacramento Road and Kettleman Lane included plans for a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, restaurants and other magnets for shoppers.

The project was held up after local attorney Ann Cerney challenged its environmental impact report. Developer Geweke Real Estate Management, Inc. was forced to hold off on locking up potential tenants.

Borders bolted for north Stockton when the Park West Place shopping center was proposed soon after. It was the uncertainty surrounding the Lodi project that led Borders to settle for a different location, said Dale Gillespie, G-REM's vice president and director of operations.

"Retailers are always going to go for the path of least resistance," Gillespie said. "Sure, they have their favorite locations. But if they can't go there, they'll start looking at a different location that's more close by."

Opponents say this Borders scenario is Lodi's future if the measure passes. Measure R on the November ballot would limit retail development at 125,000 square feet unless a project gains voter approval.

While it is aimed at stopping a proposed Supercenter, critics say Measure R could have wider, damaging effects on Lodi's retail economy. Big stores thinking about locating here will pass over Lodi rather than submit to delays and uncertainty. And car dealers believe Measure R will spike plans to expand or locate new dealerships here.

Retailers may choose Elk Grove, Stockton

Retailers would be more willing to move on to Stockton, Galt or Elk Grove than go through a messy election, said Pat Patrick, president and CEO of the Lodi Chamber of Commerce.

"It would never come to a vote," Patrick said. "No business is going to go through that tremendous investment for what is basically a roll of the dice."

Not everyone believes the measure would be Kryptonite for retailers interested in Lodi.

Cerney sits on the Small Preservation Committee, the group that sponsored Measure R. She believes the cities -- not the developers -- hold the cards when it comes to attracting national retailers.

"The developers of the world will do whatever a community says," Cerney said. "If a development is right, it will happen. They'll do it on the terms you set."

Konradt Bartlam, Lodi's community development director, thinks the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Businesses that truly want to come to Lodi will do whatever they can to get here, he said, but surrounding cities offer those retailers increasingly enticing options.

"The question really becomes, How desperately does the business want to be in Lodi?" Bartlam said. "What are their alternatives in the market?"

Among those alternatives:

• Spanos Park West, the massive north Stockton development featuring the Park West Place shopping center, a Wal-Mart Supercenter and plans for a Sam's Club.

• Lent Ranch Marketplace, a proposed shopping mall and retail complex off Highway 99 south of Elk Grove. The project is at least a few years from development, but appears to be on track after years of legal wrangling.

• New development in north Stockton and southern Galt. Stockton's draft General Plan forecasts growth well north of Eight Mile Road, and Spanos Park West is evidence that the city is friendly to national retailers, Gillespie said.

"Certainly, as we all know, they're planning to get even more aggressive in those areas," Gillespie said. "There is much more available land in Stockton. It's no secret they welcome virtually any and all development."

That doesn't mean Lodi should bend over backwards to appease developers, Cerney said. The initiative gives citizens a stronger voice to control the types of large businesses coming into town.

"The main essence of Measure R is that it gives us all time," Cerney said. "It gives the people who live here now, in both rural and urban areas, a say in the approval process."

Too much retail?

With so much competition for sales tax dollars, Lodi and its surrounding communities also run the risk of building too much retail, said Steve Wahlstrom, a consultant with Pacific Municipal Consultants, the firm that prepared the economic report on the Supercenter's impact in Lodi. Building too many shopping centers can drive some out of business, leading to empty buildings that are difficult to refill, he said.

"It's the history of America," he said. "Look at the cities. One place becomes outmoded for whatever reason and is left to be blighted. You can see it in lots of places."

Supporters of the measure say it protects businesses already in town. Betsy Fiske, chairwoman of the Preservation Committee, believes that limiting large scale development can only help existing businesses -- particularly downtown merchants.

"Part of what we're saying is we need to be thoughtful and respectful of how this city grows," Fiske said. "If you're going to make the city center however many miles from the current center of town, businesses are either forced to move from downtown to that area or they just go out of business period."

Downtown merchants are more optimistic about competing with a Supercenter. Scott Harring, owner of Pine Street businesses Scott's Bare Furniture and Abigail's Cottage, said downtown's emphasis on specialty stores gives the area a niche Wal-Mart can't compete with.

"We are all specialty businesses," Harring said. "Are they going to compete with that? They can't even touch that."

Mary Wallace opened Frames & Fine Things on Pine Street in 1990, before Target, Wal-Mart and other discount retailers went up along Kettleman Lane. Downtown adapted to the big-box stores, she said, and a Supercenter isn't going to change that.

The Supercenter itself would take some business from local grocery stores if it is built, according to the PMC report. Downtown merchants, restaurants and pharmacies would also lose business, but those customers would be drawn to other stores in the shopping center, the report says.

Retailer waiting for election

It's not just the Supercenter the initiative would affect, however. Local car dealers fear their large outdoor lots would fall under Measure R's 125,000-square-foot scope.

Others, including Lodi City Attorney Stephen Schwabauer, have said the dealerships may be exempt from the initiative. But Gillespie, who represents the multiple Geweke dealerships in Lodi, said those cloudy interpretations of what is or isn't covered by the measure is the exact reason why it shouldn't be on the ballot.

Such uncertainty also raises doubts about whether companies would bother to consider Lodi when looking at sites for new dealerships, Gillespie said.

"We would have to seriously evaluate whether or not we want to locate any more auto dealerships (in Lodi) based on whether we'd have to go through that (election) process," Gillespie said.

Borders faced a similar choice two years ago and chose to move to Stockton, Gillespie said. It could happen again.

One national retailer has been negotiating with G-REM about occupying a space in Vintner's Square, Gillespie said. Given the unstable climate surrounding the Supercenter project and Measure R, this retailer -- which he wouldn't name -- won't commit to anything until November.

"They are very much interested in Lodi, but they're not going to do anything until they see the results of the measure," Gillespie said. "If Measure R passes, they told me they're going down the road to Stockton, Galt or elsewhere."