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• New Lodi Memorial rule to combat spread of H1N1: Visitors must be older than 16

• Tour packs buses as birdwatchers admire Sandhill cranes

• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks

• Daytime thieves targeting Lodi homes

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

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 (47)
• 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 (21)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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Rotary's speaker to talk about organ transplant

Talk about First Person documentary! The program this week is on the subject of organ transplant.

 

Below is some info on Laura Amador our speaker on Thursday. She and her brother, Paul Amador, will be speaking on organ donation. As you can see from her info below, she received a kidney just this past June donated by her brother. Together they will address our club.

 

She said, "My senior year at San Francisco State University (2004) I was diagnosed with Wegener's Granulomatosis, a rare form of vasculitis. Doctors do not know what brings on the Wegener's. Typically, this disease affects middle-aged Caucasian males. It's extremely rare for a young Hispanic female to become ill from this disease."

 "The Wegener's caused my kidneys to fail; I started dialysis in March of 2005. I had been on dialysis for four years; the waiting list for my blood type is seven to eight years. Nine months ago my brother and I decided to start the paper work for the paired exchange program at UCSF and I received a kidney transplant on June 25."

To show you just how incredibly dire this disease really is, I have decided to just copy the quote from the medical reference I found on the computer. I won't translate because some of the terms don't simply say in a couple of words what they mean. Suffice it to say that the condition seems to affect the entire system by literally killing the kidneys and the lungs in an atmosphere of incredible pain and suffering. Here is the exact quote from the medical book: "The condition in question is an uncommon disorder characterized by necrotizing vasculitis, granulomatous lesions of the entire respiratory tract, and glomerulonephritis. The lesions closely resemble those in polyarteritis nodosa. The symptoms are weakness, malaise, progressive weight loss, purulent rhinitis, sinusitis, polyarthralgia, ulcerations of the nasal septum, signs of severe progressive renal disease, and fever. The disease commonly occurs in mid-adult life. Either sex may be affected. If it is not treated early, death occurs in a matter of months, most often from kidney damage."

What a blessing it has been for these siblings to be genetically predisposed to the transplant in the first place.

Last week, this place was transported back in time two ways. In the first place, we had a genuine World War II hero give us a first person account of what it was like to be involved in aerial dogfights with people who were also good at the art of manuevering a plane almost beyond its capabilities and the eventual superiority of man and machine over his enemy counterpart. In the second place, this room looked like it has looked over and over in years gone by when the Lodi Rotary Club had more than 150 members and a room full of people week after week.

 

There should be no reason that can't happen again as a routine. We can either amalgamate  with the other two clubs and make a real show of strength over the forces of evil or we can just grow our club to three times its size and make the world a better place all by ourselves. All that's gonna take is for each of us to get two new members and SHAZAM! we will be there. If you have any doubts, talk to Virgil Suess here at the meetings and he will tell you exactly how he did it.  Actually, I will save him the trouble and tell you myself. Virgil is a man who leads by example.  He is several things some folks aren't: He is genuinely honest to the bone. He is sincere about his affiliations, his church, his company, his friends and his Rotary Club. He is generous with his time and his substance, and in spite of how this sounds, he walks on the ground like everyone else. He is a silent hero and he is a good man to emulate.

Personally, I would like to emulate the Mercedes Benz owner part.

 

Next week, Jerry Adams, Homeland Security Director's Public Safety Liaison, formerly Police Chief, Lodi Police Department. Adams has a ton of experience in law enforcement and looks too young to have been doing that stuff for the better part of 40 years. Be grateful for the work he has done in the Lodi P.D., we are still the safest city in this part of the world and it is all due to brave gentlemen such as Jerry Adams.