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February 8th, 2010
February 6th, 2010
February 5th, 2010
February 4th, 2010
February 3rd, 2010
February 2nd, 2010
February 1st, 2010
The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.
- President Obama's first year (67)
- Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (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 (58)
- 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 (39)
- Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (32)
- We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
- Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)
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Regional Roundup
Teens cited for suspected gang graffiti
Three teenagers were cited and released early Friday morning on suspicion of spray-painting Norteno gang graffiti at Harvey Park and on 10 parked vehicles and garage doors, according to Galt police.
The youths, ages 13, 14 and 17, were found after someone waved down a patrol officer in the 200 block of Elm Avenue at 3:47 a.m. Friday and reported suspicious activity on Trudy Way, police said.
A short time later, an officer found the three teens at McFarland Street and Trudy Way. They were cited on suspicion of violating curfew and possessing spray paint, which is illegal for minors to possess, police said.
"A couple of kids can do a lot with couple of cans of spray paint — a lot of damage," police Sgt. Chuck Diedrickson said.
The officer later learned that they teens had sprayed Norteno gang graffiti at Harvey Park, Third and C streets. Later in the morning, officers found 10 more cases of similar-style graffiti, all within a few block of Elm Avenue and McFarland Street, police said. The teens will probably be charged for those incidents as well, Diedrickson said.
Parents should check their children's rooms for spray paint and black markers if there is any suspicion that they may be tagging things with graffiti, Diedrickson said.
Minor-injury crash near Tower Park
Highway 12 between Lodi and Suisun City is known as a hazardous place to drive, but on Sunday, it was even more hazardous than usual.
The high winds caused dust to fly on Highway 12, which may have caused a two-car, minor-injury collision shortly before noon on Highway 12, about a mile east of Tower Park Marina, according to Woodbridge firefighters who responded to the scene.
Sign boards advising motorists about wind and visibility problems were installed in both directions after the crash, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Meeting on Highway 99 improvements set
Anyone interested in details on Highway 99 interchange improvements planned at Morada Lane and Eight Mile Road may attend a meeting held by three public agencies from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Morada Middle School multipurpose room, 5001 E. Eastview Drive.
Maps and other project exhibits will be available for review. Specialists in engineering, environmental studies and right-of-way will discuss individual concerns and answer questions. Project components for the two interchange projects may include reconstructing the interchanges and realigning the frontage roads at each of the interchanges, as well as a no-build alternative.
Representatives from the city of Stockton, San Joaquin Council of Governments, and the California Department of Transportation will be present at Wednesday's meeting. Stockton is the lead agency.
Written comments may be made at the meeting, or they may be submitted to Gail Miller, Caltrans, 2015 E. Shields Ave., Suite 100, Fresno, CA 93726, or by e-mail to Gail_Miller@dot.ca.gov.
For more information about the project, contact Caltrans Project manager Iorzua Akuva at 941-1958 or by e-mail at Iorzua_Akuva@dot.ca.gov. The project Web site is at www.dot.ca.gov/dist10.
Pacific offering Spanish-language creative writing class
Next month, University of the Pacific's Center for Professional and Continuing Education is offering "Creative Writing in Spanish," a two-day course open to the public that will explore poetry, short stories and novel writing using Spanish.
"This course intends to expand the creativity of the participants by creating original poems and short stories," Professor Martin Camps, who will be teaching the class, said in a press release issued by the university.
"The class will be entirely in Spanish and we will have time to write poems and learn to write with both sides of the pencil, writing and erasing. This class is a great opportunity to practice your Spanish skills creatively, and learn the works of canonical writers."
The course will focus on Latin-American literary masters such as poets Pablo Neruda, Nicanor Parra and Carlos Martínez Rivas, as well as shorts stories by "Boom" writers such as Julio Cortázar and Nobel-prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez.
The course will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. April 25 and 26, and costs $118.
The Center for Professional and Continuing Education is located in Burns Tower on the Stockton campus. The Center offers certificate programs, night classes and community courses aimed at working adults and those who wish to continue their education, as well as a wide range of personal enhancement and creative courses focusing on enriching everyday life. For more information about the course, or to register, call the Center for Professional and Continuing Education at 946-2424.
Female fire fighter recruitment fairs for students set
In keeping with its mission to recruit, retain and promote more women to the Fire Service, the California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee's Commission to Recruit Women for the Fire Service encourages interested middle and high school female students to attend a local weekend firefighter recruitment fair in April.
The Sacramento fair is April 25 at the Sacramento Candidate Physical Ability Test Center, 1329 Market Blvd, Suite 100, Sacramento, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A second similar fair will be held May 2, also from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Livermore CPAT Center, 526 Commerce Way, Livermore.
In addition to fire department booths staffed by recruitment officers, other planned activities throughout the day include interactive demonstrations of the CPAT, "A Day in the Life of a Firefighter" video presentations, apparatus displays and much more, according to a press release issued by the state department of education. These fair activities are designed to welcome and encourage more students to enter this fire fighting profession.
For more information, contact Carol Smith, policy advisor, Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, at (916) 319-0577 or by e-mail at csmith@cde.ca.gov.
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Rhodie wrote on Apr 3, 2009 10:48 AM:
Yup, up there it rained enough that the drawings were only there for a few days. Here my kids chalk drawnings have hung around for a month and counting. Good thing they can draw good;) "
Lodian wrote on Apr 2, 2009 1:23 PM:
Ahh, that's so sweet. "
Lodian wrote on Apr 2, 2009 1:22 PM:
I could see how one would get tired of tp'ing if you are hit a lot. Automatic flood lights would do the trick. :-) "
Rhodie wrote on Apr 2, 2009 10:16 AM:
Actually I didn't. My first thought was to catch the guy before he got away. Second was to grab someone for back up and third was okay, what do I do now? Fortunately the cop that responded was very informative on how to properly place a person under citizens arrest, even had a card that I could read from to make sure I worded it right.
And I would agree with the citizens arrest beeing too much for TP'ing but the family was hit almost every month and they were sick of it.
Now-a-days its too risky to Tp someones house, you never know what they may do to you if they catch you.
Sidenote:
My dogs are teh kind that won't let anyone near the house without letting us know first. When we moved into our first house in Oregon some neighbor kids wanted to welcome us by drawing pictures and writing welcome in chalk in our drive way at night. But the dogs were barking so much I flipped the light on and scared them off. "
Lodian wrote on Apr 1, 2009 3:18 PM:
Did you consider calling the police first? "
Lodian wrote on Apr 1, 2009 3:17 PM:
That's crazy! "
Lodian wrote on Apr 1, 2009 3:15 PM:
Rhodie wrote on Mar 31, 2009 12:37 AM:
The only time we ever had our house T-P-ed was when my sister did it. Unfortunately for her the neighbors saw her finishing it up and ratted her out the next morning.
Looking back it was the least of her acting out lifestyle. "
Rhodie wrote on Mar 31, 2009 12:35 AM:
No Lodian, friends of my parents did.
The guy I arrested was breaking into cars outside my dorm window at 2 in the morning. Me and the guy next door wrestled him inside, called the cops and placed him under citizens arrest.
Turns out he had busted into about ten cars including mine (if he hadn't slammed my squeaky door I never would have woke and he would have gotten away with my broken bike and torn tent that were going to the dump the next chance out). He also had a lb of pot and was out on bail for grand theft auto. he plead no contest to the charges and I didn't even have to testify. He got some handful of years behind bars and I got back the broken bike and tent to take to the dump. "
S & W 500 wrote on Mar 30, 2009 10:14 PM:
boonablis wrote on Mar 30, 2009 6:18 PM:
Inquisitor wrote on Mar 30, 2009 5:42 PM:
S & W 500 wrote on Mar 30, 2009 5:33 PM:
Mad Dog wrote on Mar 30, 2009 5:11 PM:
ra wrote on Mar 30, 2009 4:09 PM:
Lodian wrote on Mar 30, 2009 3:30 PM:
Lodian wrote on Mar 30, 2009 3:26 PM:
Rhodie wrote on Mar 30, 2009 1:51 PM:
I've had to place someone under citizens arrest before. Quite the rush (especially at 3 in the morning). But by placing the kid under citizens arrest the cops had no choice but to press the charges.
Friends of my parents caught some kids TPing their house and tackled two of them, placed them under citizens arrest for vandalism and held them until the cops showed up. The kids parents were none to happy to have to come pick up their kids from a neighbors house with the cop lights waking everyone up.
Of course with gangs you have to be more careful but if the police are not prepared (lack jail space or little desire to do paperwork) then, as citizens we are allowed to force the issue. Any of those people hit by the taggers can demand that charges be pressed. That is if the undocumented freestyle artists (don't want to demean anyone) can be found again.
Side note, my brother was the graffiti officers for a large city south of here for a number of years and could ID taggers styles like handwriting which led to arrests. "
weezer wrote on Mar 30, 2009 1:24 PM:
Parched California is a step closer to mandatory water rationing as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency. "
Mad Dog wrote on Mar 30, 2009 12:49 PM:
edumacation wrote on Mar 30, 2009 12:02 PM:
Lodian wrote on Mar 30, 2009 11:51 AM:
weezer wrote on Mar 30, 2009 10:43 AM:
Why punish the homeowners?
Punish the taggers and their parents. That would have been smarter. "
LodiJoe wrote on Mar 30, 2009 10:39 AM:
weezer wrote on Mar 30, 2009 10:38 AM:
The best deterrent would be to make them pay for what they did by ruining their "street cred" or "rep." Like what Journey said, make them remove the graffiti in broad daylight. They sure won't look "tough" doing that. "
Mad Dog wrote on Mar 30, 2009 10:34 AM:
Lodian wrote on Mar 30, 2009 9:47 AM:
" Taggers should be required to physically remove the graffiti..."
I agree. "
Lodian wrote on Mar 30, 2009 9:46 AM:
" "Parents should check the children's room for spray paint and black markers," how about they just check the room for their children at three in the morning? "
EXACTLY! Well said, steve. "
Journey wrote on Mar 30, 2009 8:41 AM:
T & C wrote on Mar 30, 2009 8:20 AM:
steve wrote on Mar 30, 2009 8:20 AM:
T & C wrote on Mar 30, 2009 8:17 AM:
T & C wrote on Mar 30, 2009 8:16 AM:
warrenb1973 wrote on Mar 30, 2009 7:26 AM:
gail1 wrote on Mar 30, 2009 7:01 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.