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• Lodi fear factor

• Bones found

• 'My family is dead and in the ground, but their spirit is not'

• San Joaquin lead expert gives talk to local school

• Armed man robs Lodi gas station

• Regional board grants Lodi wastewater permit

• Legislation to double fines on Highway 12 moves forward

• Council of Governments to hear rail request

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 (165)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (70)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (48)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Public health care is a Christian option (29)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (17)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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San Joaquin lead expert gives talk to local school

As a child Tung Tran, now 62, lived with his family in a village in Vietnam at the foot of a mountain where his father worked in a lead mine.

Water from the mountain where his father worked trickled down into the village's drinking water, poisoning residents.

When Tran's 3-year-old younger brother died unexpectedly, French doctors said that he had deadly levels of lead in his body.

Tran's father eventually moved his family to a nearby city.

"That's why I stayed alive," Tran said.

Now, Tran travels the county preaching the dangers of lead poisoning in children for San Joaquin County's Public Health Services office.

An unusual number of children have unhealthy amounts of lead in their system, according to Tran.

Tran came to Joe Serna Jr. Charter School's health fair Friday morning to talk to students about lead poisoning.

China, which has come under fire in recent months for manufacturing and exporting toys that contain lead paint, has signed an agreement promising to stop using lead-tainted paint on toys exported to the United States.

In past months millions of toys manufactured in China have been recalled from U.S. store shelves.

"Hi children," Tran said Friday morning to teacher Sara Gustafson's sixth and seventh grade combination class. "Do any of you eat these candies?"

Tran holds up a plastic biohazard bag containing candies he said could be found in area ice-cream trucks.

"Yeah," the children yelled in unison. Some held out their hands for the treat.

"If you eat too much of these candies you can either lose your memory or develop learning disabilities," Tran said.

"Are you serious?," one of the shocked children yelled.

Michele Denham Edwards, left, gives a thumbs-up while showing kindergarten students how to properly brush their teeth at the health fair at Joe Serna Jr. Charter School. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Tran said one of the reasons lead concentrations are so high, particularly in Lodi, is because people are uneducated about the types of products that contain lead.

Make up containers made in India, including a the brand "Surma," which Train said is popular with Lodi's Pakistani population, are 95 percent lead.

Also popular in Lodi are the Mexican-made candies and seasonings sometimes sold by ice-cream trucks and Hispanic markets.

However, lead can also be found in many other common household objects, such as crystals, old coloring crayons, ceramics, paint, glazes used in pottery, vinyl mini-blinds, toy soldiers and fishing weights.

Because products that have lead in them often taste sweet, Tran said, children are attracted to them.

Lead was also used to solder copper pipes in houses built before 1994, Tran said. As a result, he recommends people run their faucets at least 30 seconds in the morning before using them to wash any lead that might have settled in the pipes overnight.

People become susceptible to poisoning when they ingest or inhale lead. Upon entering the body lead usually hides out in fatty tissues, but it can eventually make its way to bones, where, Tran said, it stays permanently.

Lead can be flushed out by eating fruits and vegetables that contain calcium and iron and by eating lean meats such as skinless chicken.

High concentrations of lead in the body can cause central nervous system and kidney damage, learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. Extremely high concentrations can cause comas, convulsions and death.

Children who are exposed to lead often don't show any symptoms, Tran said. That's why he recommends that parents who think their child might have been exposed to lead ask their doctor for a blood test.

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.