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• Visitors get hands-on tours of 17th-century sailing ship

• Regional Roundup

• Heard it through the grapevine

• Public Meetings

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

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

• The country's mess is our fault (165)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (70)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (48)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Public health care is a Christian option (29)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (17)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

ADVERTISEMENT

California teachers union was irresponsible

With a blatant disregard for family values, it was an ignorant, naive and irresponsible act for the California Teachers Association to come out and urge a No vote on Proposition 8.

After raising my family, I changed careers and have now been teaching in Stockton and Lodi the past two years. I see an alarming number of apathetic and underachieving students that are not affected by the quality of teaching or how much money is thrown at the district. The problems of many students I teach stem from having a broken or dysfunctional home-life and nothing to do with teacher quality, as both districts have great teachers. After teaching over 200 students last year in two different Stockton schools, I can only count on one hand the students that were raised by a mother and father, as the majority were raised by everyone from single parents, grandparents, guardians, cousins or siblings.

The foundation of a strong society is a strong family with a mother and father or husband and wife as the head of that foundation. I find it absolutely amazing that the teacher's union is so quick to endorse a ruling that will only serve to further erode the health of society and the traditional family and lead to further dysfunction in society and the schools.

What also amazes me is how the media and many Americans are so quick and willing to accept gay marriage as simply another healthy or alternative lifestyle without knowing the first thing about the gay lifestyle. There is a reason why the majority of gay men don't have a life expectancy past their mid-forties, as men are not biologically or naturally designed to engage in certain sexual activities with other men. Believe me I know this, after losing a gay cousin and a family friend to AIDS, both before they turned forty. Will this be taught in public schools too? I think not.

The best thing the teacher's union and schools can do to help students prosper and succeed is to first of all stop attacking traditional family values. Vote Yes on 8 to protect the health of students, marriage, and the traditional family.

Ernest Houck
Lodi