In just under two months, two public safety officers have died in Galt.

On Tuesday, Galt Police Officer Kevin Tonn was shot to death when he chased down a guy he was just trying to question.

On Nov. 28, 2012 Sacramento County Animal Control Officer Roy Marcum was shot by a suspect believed to be a man losing his house and his dogs.

The sorrow in Galt is on every face.

Our armed forces face death in far-off countries. Our corps of public safety officers do a daily dance with death right here at home.

We must honor and appreciate every one of them.

Can the Lodi court be saved?

It may be too late, but we certainly encourage Judge Dave Warner and the San Joaquin County bean counters to take another look at closing the Lodi Court.

We understand the need to balance budgets. Thank goodness that's a top priority with our courts and county government.

But when one looks at the expense to the Lodi Police, the witnesses, the victims and the everyday people trying to settle a traffic dispute or landlord-tenant hassle, there's got to be a way.

Consider the overtime for Lodi cops. Consider the potential waste of the state paying for an empty building.

Has the city been asked to chip in? Has every salary and staffing schedule in Stockton been combed for waste?

A delicate matter handled with deftness

We admired the way Lodi Boys and Girls Club Board Chairman Mark Bregman handled the news of president Paul Bonell's association with a marijuana clinic.

Bonell may have made an error not telling the board when he was hired that he consulted for the clinic. But the work was not illegal, didn't involve selling to minors, and Bonell was not arrested.

He is one of many victims of an impasse between state and federal laws about marijuana.

We accept Bregman's word that's he's done important work with the Lodi Boys and Girls Club. And we think there's wisdom in the board taking its time with this decision.

Meanwhile, what does it mean to us and the children of working parents who are served by the Lodi Boys and Girls Club?

Let's hope one news story doesn't harden Lodians' hearts and dry up their support for this essential safety net for kids.

Giants and Niners

It's hard to ignore the sports news out of San Francisco this year.

In October 2012, baseball's San Francisco Giants won their second World Series, and on Sunday, football's San Francisco 49ers play the Atlanta Falcons for a chance to go to another Super Bowl.

Stats are some of the fun we get from sports. It's so easy now to get answers to odd questions. So we tracked down whether the Giants and the 49ers ever won their respective championship competitions in the same season.

The answer is no.

But in 1989, it was close.

The Giants were in the World Series that year, losing four straight games to the A's at the time of the Loma Prieta Earthquake. The 49ers beat the Denver Broncos 55-10 in the Super Bowl that following January.

In the course of looking all this up, we spotted the fact that may jinx the Niners, but we hope not.

The 49ers have been to the Super Bowl five times and never lost.

In 1949, they lost the All-American Football Conference Championship game to the Cleveland Browns 7-21.

Sports stats and the Internet — a fanatic's dream.