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• Missing Galt girl found safe in Vegas; mother safe, father arrested

• Spokesman for state correctional officers arrested south of Lodi on suspicion of DUI

• $4 million overhaul begins to strengthen Thornton levees

• Lodi planner Rad Bartlam shares his views on growth, greenbelt, sustainability

• Trial opens for man accused of killing girlfriend in Flag City

• Regional Roundup

• Thieves ransack Thornton youth center; steal games and equipment

• Two officers join Lodi Police force

• Altamont Commuter Express to raise fares

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

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

• Regional Roundup

• 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

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

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

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

• 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

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

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (137)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (74)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (66)
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$4 million overhaul begins to strengthen Thornton levees

Thanks to a state grant of nearly $4 million, workers are busy adding to five miles of levees on the south side of the Mokelumne River.

Independent Construction Co., a Concord firm, will add some compacted dirt to beef up the sand levee along the river from Interstate 5 west to Wimpy's Marina at the Sacramento County line, said Aleck Dambacher, a reclamation district board member.

Levees east of I-5 have already been restored.

Crews were busy Tuesday pulling sand away from the levee and replacing it with one-and-a-half feet of fine-crushed rock from the base of the levee to the top. Dambacher said the addition of crushed rock should function to prevent rainwater from seeping through the existing sand levee and prevent saturation of the levee. The levee is 15 to 16 feet high.

"We'll do whatever we can before it rains and do the rest next year," Dambacher said. "By next year at this time, we should be all the way to Wimpy's."

The reclamation district, which serves the Thornton area, was awarded a grant of just under $4 million from the California Department of Water Resources. That came as a surprise to reclamation district officials, because engineers estimated the project would cost about $7.5 million. But the low bid came in at about half that amount. Dambacher suspects the low bid stems from the tough economic times the country is facing.

"These people are sitting around with idle (construction) equipment," Dambacher said.

A backhoe claw is used to help place a filter fabric on the side of a levee being repaired Tuesday afternoon in Thornton. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)