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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 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

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• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

November 4th, 2009

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

November 3rd, 2009

• Clarification

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

November 2nd, 2009

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• Group investigates reports of haunting

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

October 31st, 2009

• Izzy Laviola and Seth Siddle-Mitchell crowned Tokay homecoming queen and king

• Tokay High evacuation

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

• Area schools have no plans of closing due to H1N1 virus

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Gated communities in Lodi

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

October 30th, 2009

• Officials hope new Highway 12 stoplight will make road safer

• Red Ribbon Week

• Logbook

• Roundup of Lodi-area Halloween events

• Lockeford soldier Kyle Coumas' funeral set for Monday

• Lodi sales tax revenue less than expected

• Regional Roundup

• Local reaction to economic growth

• Get an early start trick-or-treating in Downtown Lodi

• When there's something strange ...

• Stockton breaks ground on Delta Water Supply Project

• Possible extention of first-time homebuyer tax credit?

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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.