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• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Regional Roundup

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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In Grant, Tokay takes on a program rich in tradition

Like a shiny penny on a decaying sidewalk, a bright red sign alternates flashing 'Pacer' and 'Pride' in front of Grant High School's diamond-in-the-rough campus.

In the impoverished community of Sacramento's Del Paso Heights, Pacer pride emanates. The community loves its Pacer football team and with good reason. With a Sac-Joaquin Section record 19 straight playoff appearances, six section titles, a 2008 CIF Open Division bowl game victory and a current No. 24 ranking in the USA Today nationwide football poll, Grant's list of powerhouse accolades seems as legitimate as it is long.

The Pacers have won 24 games in a row and gone undefeated in three of the last four seasons. No. 3-seeded Grant (10-0) begins defense of the Division II section title on Friday night when it hosts No. 14 Tokay High (6-4) in the first round of the playoffs.

Grant's rise to power has come through hard work and the play-hard, practice-harder attitude of head coach Mike Alberghini. In his 19 years at the helm, he's preached the same motto to every squad.

"We have always taken an us-against-the-world approach to everything," he said. "We tell the kids, on the field it's about playing the game. Our demeanor is to be physical and that is what we demand out of our kids and want out of them and expect out of them."

He's brought success and pride to an area that didn't have much of either. It's a community that has been trying to clean up its image the past few years, a community that was once forced to ban Friday night games because of shootings close to the school. The median income for a Del Paso Heights household is $31,290, which is only two-thirds the average for the rest of Sacramento County, according to U.S. Census data.

The Pacers' roster, which is filled with a varied group of African Americans, whites, Latinos and Asian/Pacific Islanders, is stacked with talent like senior running back Devontae Butler. He's totaled 2,144 yards and 34 touchdowns this year while averaging 214.4 yards per game and 10.7 per carry. He said that playing for Grant has changed his life.

"It is real good. I ain't never played for a football program like this. Each day we come in with the mindset to work hard to get to where we want to be," Butler said. "Off the football field too, it makes me want to work harder. In the classroom and everything and once you get to college. Basically it is just all about working hard every day."

Tokay High head coach Louis Franklin has never had to go head to head with Grant as a Tokay player or coach. He always remembered the Pacers being a powerhouse, especially when future NFL stars Donté Stallworth and Onterrio Smith were wearing Pacer jerseys in late 1990s.

A sign promotes Pacer pride, something the football team has brought to an impoverished community. (Joelle Milholm/News-Sentinel)

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Tokay's closest experience to playing a team like Grant is its yearly Tri-City Athletic League showdowns with Stockton powerhouse St. Mary's. The Rams, who are the D-II top-seeded team with a 10-0 record, beat Tokay 47-13 this year. While a private school like St. Mary's can be a vastly different environment from a public school like Grant, Franklin sees similarities too.

"In communities like that (Del Paso Heights), it is one outlet that they have and that in itself makes football pretty neat to me. It brings together different cultures, demographics and social groups," Franklin said. "It is kinda like the haves and have nots, but then again people from the area have a lot of pride in their football program. I think that's something they share with St. Mary's because people have a lot of pride in St. Mary's."

Alberghini has faced many private schools in his tenure at Grant and could potentially be paired up with St. Mary's for the D-II section championship. He doesn't care if he plays a public school or a private school. Neither do his players. They only care about winning.

"It bodes pretty well for our community that for a public school to have been to the playoffs for 19 years. We have a great makeup of kids and we work hard," he said. "Good habits are hard to break like bad habits are hard to break. Fortunately we have things going in a good direction and we are real proud of the product we have."

Contact reporter Joelle Milholm at joellem@lodinews.com.