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• Body of missing Tracy girl found

• Lodi teacher arrested after police allege they found heroin his in car

• Downtown Lodi Starbucks closing

• Senior housing could open near Target in two years

• Signs of road and rail-work will be abundant in Galt over the next few days

• Regional Roundup

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 (169)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (73)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (50)
• Public health care is a Christian option (41)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (20)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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Pastor of church involved in missing girl case lived in mobile home park

The pastor of a church police cordoned off as a crime scene lives in the mobile home park where a Tracy girl lived before she was found dead in a suitcase north of town.

Clifford Lane Lawless of the Clover Road Baptist Church lives in Space 57 at Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, property records show, where 8-year-old Sandra Cantu lived with her mom, grandparents and siblings before her March 27 disappearance.

Police and FBI searched his church — which sits about 100 yards away from the mobile home park — and an Orchard Estates home soon after they announced they had found the missing girl's body Monday night. Cops refused to say whether the mobile home they searched belongs to Lawless.

As of this afternoon, no arrests have been made and no suspects named. An autopsy is underway to determine how Sandra died.

Lawless lives in the mobile home park with his wife, Connie Lawless, according to city property records. He has owned the home since the mid-1990s.

Investigators put up crime scene tape around Clover Road Baptist last night and plan to search the place again sometime this afternoon, said Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony Sheneman.

No one in the neighborhood surrounding Orchard Estates said they attend the Baptist church. About a dozen neighbors said they don't know anyone who does, and that it has a tiny congregation.

Folks from a Jehovah's Witness church across the street from Lawless' church said they've never talked to anyone from the congregation. Pastors, members and elders of a handful of other churches in northern Tracy said the same thing.

Lawless has no criminal history and no civil lawsuits against him in San Joaquin County, court records show. The only property he owns in San Joaquin County is his mobile home.

A bio on his church's Web site says Lawless converted to Christianity 49 years ago in Washington state and was ordained as a pastor 11 years later.

He received a degree in theology from the Baptist Theological Seminary of Hayward and the Alisal Baptist Institute of Salinas, according to the Web site. He has led churches in Southern California and in Mountain View and Eureka.

He was appointed pastor of the Baptist church in Tracy in 1981. He married his wife in 1960 in Modesto, the Web site continues. They have three grown children together — Brian, Brett and Joni, "who are all involved in God's work" — and nine grandchildren.

Lawless' name is the fourth to have come up in the missing person-turned murder investigation. Police served search warrants on 60-year old martial arts teacher Frank Wohler, who lived behind Sandra's home and said he kissed her on the lips two years ago just to be nice.

Christian Sinclair, 49 — who's depicted in court records as abusive and alcoholic — was arrested last week for obstructing the investigation. Police searched his home, too.

Sinclair's friend, David Slayter, 44, was then taken to the police station for questioning last week as the FBI and Stockton and Tracy police searched his home and took out several items.