Regional Roundup

Hearing will decide if two pit bulls are vicious

A hearing officer is expected to rule next week whether two more of 19 original pit bulls seized from a home are vicious and should be euthanized.

Lodi animal control officers and dog owner Danielle Costa testified at a hearing Friday regarding the two grown dogs, and the outside hearing officer said he would rule next week, said Deputy City Attorney Janice Magdich.

The city has declared the dogs vicious, and animal control officers euthanized five dogs last month after City Manager Blair King upheld the hearing officer's decision.

The dogs — 10 adults and nine puppies — were seized in June after the police SWAT team served a search warrant at a home in the 400 block of East Walnut Street. The dogs were in the house and held in kennels in the yard, and SWAT officers called in animal control to remove the dogs before they began the search. No drugs or weapons were found.

In their police reports, animal control officers wrote that the dogs snapped at them and growled, and they spent hours catching the dogs. Though they initially said all the adults dogs were vicious, animal control officers have since said one is not vicious. The puppies, several of which died of parvovirus, are not considered vicious.

Costa, whose boyfriend, Mark Hurlbut, is the primary owner of most of the dogs, brought a witness to Friday's hearing. The witness testified she would let her 9-year-old daughter in the kennels with the dogs, Magdich said.

Teen pleads guilty to burgling home, car

A teenager charged last month with breaking into a Lodi home, stealing keys, then nearly running over the resident when he returned to steal a car has since pleaded guilty.

Hardeep Madhara, 18, of Lodi, had been scheduled to return to court Wednesday, but he instead resolved the case Aug. 3, according to San Joaquin County court records.

Madhara was arrested July 25 after allegedly burglarizing a home in the 500 block of Pioneer Drive and fleeing when a resident awoke and saw him. Madhara returned several hours later and was driving away in the resident's vehicle when the man followed him, Lodi police said at the time. He threw the vehicle into reverse, hitting a fence after the owner leaped out of the way.

Officers caught up to the teen on Turner Road, and he allegedly confessed, saying he had committed the crimes because he was drunk and could find nothing to keep him entertained in Lodi.

Madhara pleaded guilty to first-degree residential burglary, vehicle theft and driving under the influence of alcohol, records show. He was sentenced to 435 days in the county jail, fined $351 plus an additional $2,260 for the DUI conviction, placed on five years of probation and ordered to attend an alcohol treatment program.

Young running for Dean's LUSD board position

Calvin Young, a Lodi-based business consultant, is running for a seat on the Lodi Unified School District Board of Trustees.

Calvin Young

He seeks the Area 4 seat held by Richard Dean, a candidate for the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

For about 16 years Young has worked for the State of California, currently giving technical assistance and management consulting for rubber product manufacturing companies' recycling programs.

Young is co-chairman of the LUSD board's budget advisory committee. He's also served on the parental advisory committee and community advisory committee.

Young is on the board of directors of Valley Mountain Regional Center, which oversees services for 9,000 folks with developmental disabilities. He got involved for his daughter, Crystal, who has Down Syndrome. Young is also a mentor and youth tutor.

Young has a bachelor's degree in business administration and more than 20 years experience in fiscal and finance management.

Young was raised in Modesto. He and his wife, Angela, moved to Lodi early last year after living in Acampo for about 15 years. Their daughter Crystal completed high school at Tokay in 2005. Their son Brett is a chef at Mix, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

County man contracts West Nile fever

A San Joaquin County man, identified only as being between the ages of 18 and 65 and living in the central region of the county, has contracted the West Nile virus.

The San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District issued a statement Thursday that had few details of the case, aside from the age range and general location.

This would be the second human West Nile case of the year. A Tracy woman developed the most severe form of the sickness in mid-July.

First published: Saturday, August 12, 2006