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• Protesting the war in Lodi

• Speed limit stays same

• Lodi council votes itself raise

• County to pay $70,000

• Delta teachers file labor complaint

• Regional Roundup

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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County to pay $70,000

Nurse claiming wrongful termination gets settlement

San Joaquin County has reached a settlement with a former county public health nurse who claims she was wrongfully terminated for whistle blowing.

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to pay Melinda Lagorio-Sanchez $70,000.

"It was an economic decision," Chief Deputy County Counsel Kristen Hegge said on Wednesday, explaining why the board chose to settle. "We thought we had a good case."

Lagorio-Sanchez claimed that she was terminated in February 2006 after accusing Kathleen Tully, program manager of the county Public Health Services Department, of failing to file reports of patients with Hepatitis A and other diseases in a timely manner, according to the lawsuit filed June 23, 2006.

Tully was tardy in assigning these cases to public health nurses, which caused patients to miss treatment resulting in the threat of further disease, according to the lawsuit. Tully also allegedly falsified documents in what appeared to be an effort to conceal her untimely assignment of reports to public health nurses.

Lagorio-Sanchez and other nurses began to register complaints about Tully in November 2005, according to the lawsuit.

Lagorio-Sanchez, who was eight months pregnant, took time off work on Feb. 15, 2006 to seek medical attention due to stress, according to the suit. Six days later, Tully allegedly caused a termination letter to be mailed to her. The termination took effect Feb. 24, 2006.

"We do not agree that all of those things were correct," said Hegge, the attorney representing the county.

Sacramento attorney Daniel G. O'Donnell, who represented Lagorio-Sanchez, was not available for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.