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• Lodi Unified School District board passes $246 million budget

• Horse racing comes to Stockton on Thursday; San Joaquin Fair next week

• Local schools will get millions from feds

• Child of Tracy couple in abuse case described as malnourished

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• 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

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• 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)
• 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 (40)
• 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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Child of Tracy couple in abuse case described as malnourished

The youngest son of a married couple, suspected with two others of torturing a 16-year-old boy, was severely malnourished when doctors treated him after his parents' Dec. 2 arrest.

Three-year-old Michael Schumacher Jr. weighed just 17 pounds when admitted in December to Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, according to Angela Rosas, a doctor who treated the toddler and the tortured teenager. A child his age is supposed to weigh 26 pounds, the doctor said.

"He was very malnourished, very underweight," said Rosas, a specialist who traveled from the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento to treat the boy.

Rosas testified before a San Joaquin County criminal grand jury in March. The grand jury that same month handed down a 17-count indictment to Michael Schumacher, his wife Kelly Lau, their house guest Carén Ramirez and their neighbor Anthony Waiters after hearing testimony from 35 witnesses. The grand jury accused the four of torturing, kidnapping and imprisoning a teenager inside the Tennis Lane home for about 15 months before his Dec. 1 escape.

The teenager, emaciated and shackled to a chain, escaped to a nearby gym.

Rosas said that based on Michael's frailty, how short he was and how developmentally delayed for his age, the child must have been underfed for months.

Normally, a kid going on three years old should be able to walk and talk, Rosas said. Michael could only sit and say "mama," according to grand jury transcripts unsealed Friday.

Rosas said the baby had what doctors call "failure to thrive."

"It means that the baby is not growing," she told jurors.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Angela Hayes asked what causes babies to stop growing.

"There's lots of medical causes," she replied. "The most common cause is the baby just not being fed."

Rosas said doctors checked the boy for medical problems that might explain his sickliness, but found nothing.

"So it was, in your opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that this child had been malnourished, not being fed?" Hayes asked.

"Correct," Rosas answered, adding that the alleged neglect must have lasted for months.

A photo of the baby Lau had posted on her MySpace profile before her arrest showed red rashes on Michael's arms and legs. Investigators have since deleted the profile.

In addition to the several abuse charges faced by the four suspects in the Tracy torture case, Lau and Schumacher are also accused of child endangerment for allegedly exposing their own four children to abusive conditions.

Michael's three older siblings — the oldest of whom is nine years old — are in state custody while their parents remain in solitary confinement at the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp.