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• How to survive $2.9 million deficit?

• Goodbye, McDyver

• City Council to consider purchasing office

• Delta water fight

• Recycling bill waiting on governor, who's waiting on budget

• Regional Roundup

• North San Joaquin to ask Lodi for water

• Correction

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 7th, 2009

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

• Tour packs buses as birdwatchers admire Sandhill cranes

• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks

• Daytime thieves targeting Lodi homes

• Lodi High School rally featured on 'Good Day Sacramento'

• Out of control

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

• New Lodi Memorial rule to combat spread of H1N1: Visitors must be older than 16

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 (71)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (59)
• Universal health care solves big problems (59)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (32)
• Words from our forefathers (27)
• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (20)
• Majority cannot deprive the minority (20)

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Goodbye, McDyver

Beloved Micke Grove sea lion moving to Vallejo as part of plan to remodel zoo

If you want to see McDyver, Micke Grove Zoo's lovable sea lion, you have only three weeks to see him in Lodi.

The 21-year-old sea lion will be transported on Sept. 25 to Discovery Kingdom Six Flags in Vallejo, said Matt McKim, Micke Grove's zoo curator.

Finding McDyver a new home was part of a master plan to remodel the south Lodi zoo. The first step in the zoo's expansion began Tuesday, when a crew from Diede Construction demolished what used to be a circular aviary. A new area for otters and snow leopards is planned in its place, zoo manager Ken Nieland said.

The 20-year master plan calls for penguins, bald eagles, flamingoes, brown bears, mountain lions, river otters and other animals — as money is available.

Zoo officials decided earlier this year to find a new home for McDyver, once his father, Buster, died on Feb. 11, at the age of 26. McDyver has been living alone since Buster's death, which is a hardship because sea lions are social creatures, zoo officials said.

Getting McDyver another sea lion to keep him company wasn't in the cards, either, because San Joaquin County officials determined that the required sewer system upgrade would be cost-prohibitive.

The zoo operates on one large septic tank system that serves humans and animals. But federal authorities stipulate that sea lions need a special sewer system to dispose of their waste, which would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for upgrades. At 21, McDyver is considered a senior citizen.

Statues of Buster and McDyver will be constructed in their memory.

In the sea lions' place, zoo officials plan a seasonal exhibit including exotic birds and a walk-through aviary where birds will actually land on visitors.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

(Editor's Note: This story was updated at 5:10 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 3 to correct that Buster was McDyver's father and that he died this year.)

Diede Construction crews began tearing down an old exhibit at the Micke Grove Zoo on Tuesday as part of the zoo's expansion efforts. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Construction worker Marion Romero works on demolishing an animal exhibit at the Micke Grove Zoo. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)