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• Morada school makes special pillows for heart patients

• Lodi hospital advocate Bob Mullen dies at 94

• Thornton woman accused of providing booze at teen party

• 'Not one dime,' became $1 million

• Alyson Huber opens Lodi Assembly office

• Thanks, but keep the check

• Regional Roundup

• Correction

• Passion for belly dancing may lead dancer into future career

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

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February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

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• 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

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• 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.

• President Obama's first year (67)
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• 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 (58)
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• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (40)
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Morada school makes special pillows for heart patients

The Young children first choose an already-sewn heart-shape made from soft, lady bug material before using fiberfill to stuff it.

Next, after picking out a black pen, each child writes a personal message to a special recipient on a heart-shaped piece of felt and places the note inside.

After the opening in the pillow is sealed, the finished gifts are neatly tucked into a bag to be transported to St. Joseph's Medical Center later in the week.

They were among dozens of students and parents from University Public School who spent last Saturday morning putting the finishing touches on 300-plus special pillows.

This Saturday morning, recovering heart surgery patients can take heart that someone in Morada cares.

The project, completed just in time for Valentine's Day, was the brainchild of second-grade teacher Jennifer Baumann who completed a similar project in her youth. The heart-shaped pillows are designed to fit on postoperative, open-heart surgery patients' chests to help comfort them during coughing or shifting in bed.

Parent Melani Bird said a sense of community has always been an important part of the charter school, so it was natural for its students to do something to reach out.

Emmanuel Serrano, right, 6, of Stockton, listens to the heartbeat of Sylvia Serrano with a stethoscope. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

"Respect, responsibility and caring for others, is part of the school's pledge. It is an extension of these values that a truly heartfelt community outreach project came to be," she said in an e-mail.

Principal Karla Fachner was so inspired by the plan, she decided that the entire school should make pillows. St. Joseph's Medical Center, a leading heart-surgery hospital in Stockton, was so excited by the prospect of being able to provide pillows to all of its heart patients that the nursing staff even got on board, requesting one half of the heart to be a solid color, to enable them to write a personal message to each of their own patients, Baird explained.

When they're delivered on Thursday, the heart pillows will be accompanied by a poster from the school reading, "From our hearts to yours." It was adorned with heart shaped thumb prints and signatures of students and families.

Organizers of the project hope those involved will remember their deeds.

"I suspect years from now, one of these students will fondly recall this project from their youth, and bring to mind the valuable lesson learned: Serve your community with all of your heart," Baird said.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.