Regional Roundup

While thousands of residents have already protested the planned rate change, the number is far less than the more than 9,000 protests needed to defeat the proposal.

The city is looking to raise its water rates to pay for cleaning solvents from Lodi's water supply.

Anyone is welcome to address the City Council during the hearing. The council meeting begins at 7 p.m. and will be held at Carnegie Forum, 305 W. Pine St.

Woman arrested for DUI after four-vehicle crash

A 41-year-old woman who was allegedly driving and drinking Vodka with Pepsi was arrested Tuesday in Lodi after causing a four-vehicle accident, including two cars driven by a husband and wife.

Constance Revay, of Stockton, was headed west on Kettleman Lane just after 10 a.m. when she got into the turning lane onto southbound Hutchins Street, Lodi police Motor Officer Chris Kaufman said.

Revay allegedly told officers she looked down, then back up too late to avoid rear-ending three vehicles that were waiting at the red light.

Revay's white 1998 Chevy Cavalier struck a red 2002 Chevy Cavalier, driven by 19-year-old Jessica Ruiz, of Stockton, Kaufman said.

Ruiz's vehicle then struck a 2000 Toyota Tacoma, driven by Lodi resident Livia Detre, 67. Her truck, in turn, struck a 1994 Saturn driven by her 69-year-old husband, George Detre, Kaufman said.

Both Cavaliers were towed, and Revay was booked and released from the city jail after being treated at Lodi Memorial Hospital. The other drivers had complaints of neck and back pain, Kaufman said.

25-year-old arrested for luring Lodi girl to hotel

An 11-year-old Lodi girl who thought she was chatting online with a 14-year-old boy learned early Tuesday that the boy was actually a 25-year-old, Lodi police said.

Though the two were found in a local hotel six hours after walking away from the girl's home, detectives do not believe the girl was physically harmed. They did, however, arrest Chio Saeteurn, of Sacramento, on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and harassing or molesting a child under the age of 18.

The girl, whose name was not released by police, had apparently been talking to Saeteurn in a youth chat room for a couple months, Detective Ken Slater said.

On Monday, Saeteurn apparently got a ride to the girl's home in Lodi, where she lives with her grandmother. The grandmother had no idea Saeteurn was coming, or that her granddaughter had given out her address, Slater said.

Saeteurn, who is female but dresses as a male and is listed as a male on his driver's license, looked and sounded like a 14-year-old boy to the grandmother, Slater said.

Saeteurn and the girl left the house around 8 p.m. Monday, and when they did not return soon, the grandmother grew worried. Police officers eventually learned Saeteurn's name and age, and found the two in a hotel room around 2:30 a.m., Slater said.

"This should be a reminder to kids who communicate online, and on the telephone, that there are a lot of predators out there," he said.

DUI hit-and-run suspect pleads not guilty

A Lodi man who allegedly drove drunk and crashed a stolen vehicle into a brand-new car Sunday night pleaded not guilty Monday and remains jailed on $125,000 bail.

Simon Vargas, 18, is charged with driving under the influence resulting in injury, hit-and-run and vehicle theft, all felonies, according to San Joaquin County court records. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license, as well as failing to drive on the right half of the road.

Vargas allegedly stole his uncle's vehicle, then hit a parked car in the 400 block of Maple Street at 10:30 p.m. Sunday. He then ran to a nearby house and was arrested after a police dog searched the residence, according Lodi police.

Vargas, who was appointed a public defender at his arraignment, is scheduled to return to court Thursday.

Deer rescued from Lodi Lake doing well

Veterinarian Richard Turner has decided to keep the deer found in the Mokelumne River an additional day for observation, said Jeanie Biskup, special services manager who oversees the Lodi Animal Shelter.

"Bambi," so named by Turner's staff, was nursed back to health after Tokay High and Lodi High students found her in shallow water Saturday during the annual Coastal Cleanup event held at Lodi Lake. An animal control officer lifted the baby deer to safety.

She could be transfered to a rehabilitation center for animals as soon as today.

Meeting addressing new parks scheduled

Another meeting has been scheduled ifor the state's new parks master plan.

The California State Parks' Central Valley Vision will be a plan that identifies which recreational, natural, cultural and historic aspects of California's Central Valley should be included in the state's parks.

What: California State Parks public outreach workshop
When: 4 to 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27
Where: Memorial Civic Auditorium, 525 N. Center St., Stockton
Info: (916) 651-9901, or http://www.parks.ca.gov/centralvalley

At the first meeting last week in Isleton, Parks Department Planning Chief Nina Gordon described Central Valley Vision as a 20-year plan that would allow the state to spell out its priorities for new parks. Gordon said the plan is scheduled for release in March 2006.

The state will focus on the Central Valley because of the profound growth expected in the next few decades, with the valley's population expected to double by 2040.

Those projections show that San Joaquin County's population, nearly 568,000 residents today, could be 1.5 million in 2040.

Hospital's generator repairs nearly $73K

The board of supervisors voted Tuesday to spend $72,968 to repair an emergency generator at San Joaquin General Hospital that broke last spring.

The hospital operates two emergency generators, as required by law -- in case of a power failure.

Last April, during a test of the secondary emergency generator, smoke was seen coming from the exhaust, a letter written to the board from hospital staff said. The generator was immediately shut down. Holt of California, the generator vendor, was called in and found that metal fragments from a blown valve had been sucked through the turbine blades.

Because repairs would take too long, Holt brought in a portable generator while the work was being done. During this time, lightening struck the hospital and caused the main generator to go down. Because Holt was already on site, hospital staff had the company perform the necessary repairs right away.

Oak Grove Regional Park to be sprayed

To continue combatting West Nile virus, ground spraying is scheduled to be applied to the area around Oak Grove Regional Park south of Lodi tonight, between 7-10:30.

The designated area is from the park, north to Eight Mile Road, south to Pixley Slough, west to Interstate 5 and East to the subdivision.

Deputy sentenced for attempted arson

A former San Joaquin County Sheriff's deputy was sentenced to four months of home detention after pleading guilty to attempted arson.

Scott Cady, 40, was arrested June 27 in Stockton after police said he put an incendiary device under his ex-girlfriend's car.

Cady was ordered Monday in San Joaquin County Superior Court to serve home detention rather than spend up to a year in jail.

"He would have been a security problem for any jail he would have been at," defense attorney Albert Ellis said, referring to his client's career in law enforcement. "The judge was cognizant of that."

Cady, who has resigned from the sheriff's office, was on administrative leave at the time of his arrest because he had been involved in an on-duty shooting.

Two other charges filed against Cady -- a felony count of making criminal threats and a misdemeanor count of making harassing phone calls -- were dropped under a plea deal struck last month, said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Michael Mulvihill.

Officers cleared in fatal UC Davis shooting

DAVIS -- The University of California, Davis police officers involved in a fatal campus shooting last year have been cleared of any wrongdoing, campus officials said.

Martin Louie Castro Soriano, 26, who was not a student, was shot to death Dec. 14 by a UC Davis police officer after he allegedly fired on three officers who had attempted to subdue him with a Taser stun gun.

The Yolo County district attorney's office found the shooting was "legally justifiable" after a several-months-long investigation.

Police arrived after getting reports that Soriano, of Antioch, had been acting erratically at about 5 p.m. that day as he milled around in front of freshman dorms on campus.

Witnesses said he was armed with a semiautomatic pistol and refused to respond to police officers, even after he was hit with a Taser stun gun. He was later found to be high on methamphetamines and marijuana, authorities said.

Three officers were on the scene when Soriano was shot, but only one officer fired at Soriano, officials said. Campus officials did not release the names of the officers involved.

"Though we are very happy to hear this finding, we are still saddened that a life had to be taken," said UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza. "The officers acted to protect not only the community, but themselves."

Soriano's mother, Carmen Soriano, said after the shooting that she believed her son might have traveled to the UC Davis campus to visit an old girlfriend.

She said he had been distraught over the breakup with the girlfriend.

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