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• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Regional Roundup

• Public Meetings

• Correction

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• 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

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• 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

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

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City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

Oh yeah? well, I centruple-dog dare you: In one of the lighter moments of a serious debate on transit cuts at a Lodi City Council meeting on Oct. 21, the stakes were raised several times on a challenge citizen Robin Rushing issued to the council. He dared them to put their cars in the garage for a few days or a week and only take public transportation to work, so they could see what it's like to depend on Lodi's buses.

Crowd chatter increased the challenge to a "double-dog dare," which then was escalated to a "triple-dog dare."

Mayor Larry Hansen said the challenge marked the first time he has ever been "triple-dog dared" at a meeting.

Prayer and cheap deals: The city of Lodi was back on television news recently when a story graced the News-Sentinel's front page about old furniture the city planned to sell at a large-scale sale Nov. 7.

The day after the article ran, Public Works Director Wally Sandelin called the reporter to let her know she had started a frenzy. He had been contacted by Fox 40 and CBS 13 about the sale. Sandelin was already envisioning the thousands of people lined up to buy the city's leftovers.

"This is the biggest news since prayer," he said.

Not so dreaded dmv date: California's Department of Motor Vehicles is known for long lines of doom, but that wasn't the case for one man who has lived in Lodi for 30 years.

Doug Hulme walked into the Lodi office on East Pine Street at 12:42 p.m. one recent Thursday to renew his vehicle registration. He had no appointment, but he was back outside exactly 11 minutes, new license plate tags in hand.

"It's the lighter, brighter side of DMV," he said.

Ancient, in Christmas tree years: If the decorations in local drug and retail stores are any indication, it's Christmas time again.

We're not sure, though, how a very old Christmas tree came to rest one recent November day in the median of Interstate 5 in north Stockton. The wooden stand was still attached, and it appeared to still have some very brown needles attached. Where did it spend the last 11 months?

For those who have everything: A News-Sentinel reporter received an e-mail with the subject line reading: "A loved one has recommended a tooth-whitening solution for you in 95241." The reporter said he wouldn't want the tooth-whitening solution in any other zip code.

Odd target: A Cardinal Street resident recently called police to report that someone possibly had mental health issues and was wearing a Target bag on his head. Cue the bullseye jokes.

Items in Grapevine are written by various reporters on the staff. If you have an item to contribute, e-mail Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com or call her at 369-7035.