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• Area crews continue battling fires; advise clearing weeds when safe

• Blazes fueled by wind, heat forcing evacuations in Northern California

• Lodi Middle students visiting Fresno State for tech camp

• Lockeford Community Park — possibilities endless, but money needed to keep it up

• Agency supplying meals to local seniors to shut doors

• Boy suffers head injuries after being hit by car

• Regional Roundup

• Galt prepares for flat revenue in '09 and '10

• Did petition against groundwater charge qualify for ballot?

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

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• 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

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

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

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

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

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

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (72)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (41)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (31)

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Agency supplying meals to local seniors to shut doors

The nonprofit agency that provided meals for seniors at local nutrition centers and to homebound seniors will close its doors for good on Friday.

The seven-member board of directors for Seniors First, also known as the Senior Service Agency of San Joaquin County, voted Tuesday night to close.

Seniors First had already sent county officials a letter last week indicating it was canceling its contract with the county to provide meals for seniors.

The county will provide frozen meals on an interim basis to seniors beginning Monday. Tracy Williams, president and CEO of the LOEL Center, said she hopes the frozen-meal arrangement will last only a couple of weeks until a new vendor is selected. Williams and other officials from senior nutrition centers and the county will meet today to develop a long-term game plan.

Stockton Realtor Jack Mossman, who had served on the Seniors First board for a year, became interim CEO in February to monitor the agency's expenses from the inside. As it turned out, Seniors First faces a debt of almost $500,000, Mossman said.

"The organization was on life support," Mossman said. "We were taking revenue from next month to take care of this month."

Mossman cited several reasons that Seniors First continued to go into debt. They include:

• Gas prices increased by 40 percent, payroll 30 percent and food prices 28 percent in the past fiscal year while revenue remained the same.

• The state expected Seniors First to request a $2 donation from seniors receiving meals, but the agency averaged 47 cents per meal. However, state regulations forbid the agency from actively soliciting contributions from seniors.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.