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• By ground and air, highway patrol targets bad drivers on Highway 12

• Highway 12 unavoidable for commuters, residents

• For some local students, balancing busy lives filled with school, activities a challenge

• Area congressmen split on Iraq vote

• Girl injured after apparently riding bicycle into pick-up truck

• Regional Roundup

• Local firefighters keep an eye on Lodi's wooden train trestle

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

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

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

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Area congressmen split on Iraq vote

Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, Lodi's congressman, voted in favor of the House bill which pushes for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq in late 2008, while Galt's representative, Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, opposed the measure.

Related stories:
Comparing House and Senate Iraq bills
Democrats: Bill reflects voters' demands

McNerney released a statement Friday, but Lungren made his opinion clear in a letter sent to his district earlier in the week. The following are excerpts from both statements:

Congressman Jerry McNerney

"The Iraq war has now carried on for more than four years. While there have been moments of hope in Iraq, they have been overshadowed by a deteriorating situation and an increase in violence and chaos.

Jerry McNerney

Our troops have performed admirably. But now, our men and women in uniform find themselves amidst a religious civil war. If they stay, they will continue to oversee the killing. Many American troops will be wounded or killed in the process. However, if our troops pull out too quickly, chaos and violence will surely follow, perhaps engulfing neighboring states.

I believe our plan is the most responsible course we can take. It moves our efforts in a new direction that protects our troops and honors our veterans. It uses the leverage we have available to make Iraqis responsible for Iraq, and it refocuses efforts on Afghanistan and the war on the terror.

Our plan was developed only after discussions with military and foreign policy experts, and considering the Iraq Study Group Report's recommendations, the Pentagon's standards on combat readiness, and the growing needs of returning veterans and their families.

Our plan establishes responsible benchmarks and a reasonable redeployment timeline over 12 to 18 months — which I have consistently called for.

The plan ensures that our veterans and their families are treated with the respect they've earned when they return home, by increasing funding for veterans' health care — including specifically addressing post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, the hallmark injuries of this conflict.

It is time for a new direction in Iraq. This reasoned plan accomplishes just that."

Congressman Dan Lungren

"I have to say, this is both cynical and unconstitutional.

First, it sends a wrong message to our troops in the field. It tells them that despite the fact that General Petraeus, our new military commander on the ground in Iraq, was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate, those in Congress do not support his mission — a mission that he helped develop, a mission that he put his stamp on, a mission he has told our troops he believes can be victorious.

Dan Lungren

Second, it sends a message to the Iraqi people that they cannot trust our ability to continue in the tough fight so that we can transfer to them the responsibility for their own security.

Third, it sends a very direct message to the enemy, that in fact while we say we are implementing a new, targeted effort — the new tactics, new strategy that General Petraeus is in charge of — we do not believe it is actually going to work. It tells our enemies that if you just wait long enough, we are going to leave.

All of those things undercut the possibility that we can succeed in Iraq. The emergency supplemental is a cynical attempt by the Democratic leadership to spend taxpayers' money in order to influence votes that have nothing to do with the war. Such "pork" includes votes in the area of agriculture, votes in the area of funding for children's health, votes on the minimum wage, votes in miscellaneous funding. This was done solely to attract votes from people who otherwise might not vote for this because they do not believe we ought to have these restrictions.

This debate really comes down to whether we believe that Congress is better able to direct the war in Iraq than the generals of the armed forces on the ground.

And if we, the Congress, do believe that, then we had better change the Constitution."