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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

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

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

• 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

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

• 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

November 4th, 2009

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Regional Roundup

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

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

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

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

November 3rd, 2009

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Correction

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

• Regional Roundup

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

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• Clarification

November 2nd, 2009

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• 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

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

• Group investigates reports of haunting

October 31st, 2009

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

• Tokay High evacuation

• Gated communities in Lodi

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

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

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

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (63)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (60)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (56)
• Universal health care solves big problems (42)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Words from our forefathers (26)
• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home (18)
• Falcons trample over Galt's playoff hopes (17)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (17)

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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.