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• Despite settlements, city says Lodi ratepayers must pay part of contamination cleanup

• City Council approves raises for dispatchers, officers

• Upkeep of historic cemetery is important for Masons

• Galt parents want to start own charter high school

• Teen brothers not too intimidated to run their own store in Galt

• City budget discussion continues Tuesday

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

November 4th, 2009

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

November 3rd, 2009

• Clarification

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

November 2nd, 2009

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• Group investigates reports of haunting

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

October 31st, 2009

• Izzy Laviola and Seth Siddle-Mitchell crowned Tokay homecoming queen and king

• Tokay High evacuation

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

• Area schools have no plans of closing due to H1N1 virus

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Gated communities in Lodi

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

October 30th, 2009

• Officials hope new Highway 12 stoplight will make road safer

• Red Ribbon Week

• Logbook

• Roundup of Lodi-area Halloween events

• Lockeford soldier Kyle Coumas' funeral set for Monday

• Lodi sales tax revenue less than expected

• Regional Roundup

• Local reaction to economic growth

• Get an early start trick-or-treating in Downtown Lodi

• When there's something strange ...

• Stockton breaks ground on Delta Water Supply Project

• Possible extention of first-time homebuyer tax credit?

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Teen brothers not too intimidated to run their own store in Galt

It's not every day you walk into a business and find that the two teenagers behind the counter are the guys running the store. However, in Galt, Intimidator Paintball is the place where you can find just that.

Brothers, Matthew Lopez, 17, and 15-year-old Joshua Lopez happily man the counter of their own paintball store on a day-to-day basis. And with the store being up and running for a year-and-a-half already, the two brothers are building up nice looking resumes, all before leaving their teen years behind.

The two started paintball-battling it out with friends and family when they lived in the Galt area countryside at ages 14 and 12. Matthew and Joshua were so taken by the hobby that they designed and set up their own paintball field using palettes and large wooden spools used for industrial strength cable.

The field was big enough for six on six tournaments and also featured bunkers, trees and a pond. Just perfect for splattering mom when she would dare to join them in the frenzied paintball wars.

"They took it easy on me," said Rosalie Lopez, the boy's mom. "They'd just shoot me once and not keep firing away at me," she said with a laugh.

Matthew and Joshua said forming a paintball business was a fairly natural step for the brothers to take. Both said they have a passion for paintball and have simply continued to stay involved with their hobby.

Of course, it helps that their father is also a paintball fan.

Since the family was already buying paintball supplies in bulk, Matthew and his dad began talking over the idea of forming a paintball supply store.

"We began selling supplies out of a little trailer," Matthew said. "Then dad and me began the process of turning one of his offices into a store."

It was decided that one office would be transformed into a paintball supply store. The boys' father also helped take care of the initial start-up costs, with the boys paying him back from store profits.

Matthew said that he and Joshua then worked an entire summer to turn the office area into a store. Then, they began concentrating on the nuts and bolts of operating the enterprise. Everything from setting up a credit card account to ordering inventory -- it was all new to the boys, and all up to them.

Matthew Lopez displays his favorite paintball gun at Intimidator Paintball, the store he and his brother Joshua operate in Galt. (J. Paul Bruton/News-Sentinel)

While both of the teens continue to learn various aspects of operating the business, they are also able to use their individual strengths to compliment each other.

Matthew operates more on the equipment side of the store, able to take apart and fix a wide variety of paintball equipment as well as ordering inventory. And Joshua said he's learned a great deal about running a business, including credit-card transactions, and computer programs such as QuickBooks, and also handling sales.

Joshua and Matthew are currently attending Wilton Christian High School, where they play basketball, study music and still manage to get good grades, all while making sure the store is properly staffed.

"I never have to ask them who's working. They just take care of it," Rosalie said. They're doing a great job of running the store. Since they love paintball, they really enjoy being here."

While the paintball store hasn't turned the teens into rich young men, they said the store is still doing pretty good.

"Since we're not located downtown or in a big store, we don't get tons of people in here," Matthew said, "But people know about us. They come to us for specific items -- when they already know what they want."

Intimidator Paintball store hours are Wednesday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 7 a.m. to noon. For more information, call 744-9347.

Contact reporter J. Paul Bruton at paulb@lodinews.com.