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• Surge of retail on Lodi's horizon

• Out of the classroom, but with lesson plan

• James Morris has raised six times as much as Phil Urie in race for San Joaquin judge

• Horse racing comes to Stockton next week

• Lodi man helps with trout rescue

• Regional Roundup

• Labor Day closures

• Corrections

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 7th, 2009

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

• 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

• Lodi High School rally featured on 'Good Day Sacramento'

• Out of control

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

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

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

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

• 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

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

• 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

November 4th, 2009

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

• Regional Roundup

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

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

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

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

November 3rd, 2009

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Correction

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

• Regional Roundup

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

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• Clarification

November 2nd, 2009

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

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

• 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

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

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (73)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (60)
• Universal health care solves big problems (54)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (35)
• Words from our forefathers (27)
• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (24)
• Majority cannot deprive the minority (24)

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Grand ol' time

Lodi grandmother, boat racer fulfilling need for speed

Forget knitting, bingo, gardening or golf.

Jayne Bradley

Jayne Bradley's favorite hobby is a little different than your average grandma.

That's because the 57-year-old Lodi resident spends her weekends as a drag boat racer.

Bradley, the owner of Salon Salon, travels the country competing in the International Hot Boat Association circuit and racing in her 600-horsepower, big-block chevy motor, 18-foot-long yellow hydro boat named Wine Me Up. She competes in the Division I Stock Eliminator category and is one of only three women in the 200-plus racer field.

Racing one-on-one just like auto drag racing, Bradley zooms across the water at 100 mph. In her division, Bradley has to cover a quarter of a mile in 11 seconds. So in about as much time as it takes coffee drinkers to spout out an order at Starbucks, Bradley is already across the finish line.

"Going 100 miles an hour — it's quick, only 11 seconds from start to finish. It's like boom. It's exciting," Bradley said. "When you start your motor and you are going and you pounce on that gas, your adrenaline is going so much that it's just so exciting. It's like 'Oh my gosh, it's over. I want to do it again.'"

In fact, Bradley is so fast, sometimes her need for speed goes against her. Stock Eliminator division racers have to cruise down the quarter-mile stretch in 11 seconds. It can't be under 11 seconds and it can't be 12 or more seconds. The winner is the boater who can hit the closest mark to 11 seconds. One time, the 11-second barrier prevented Bradley from a win.

"I lost the Oregon race because I was running in the finals and I did a 10.995 and I was out of my 11-second bracket. So I lost. I was too fast," she said.

Most of the time though, Bradley isn't under 11 seconds and is only a few fractions over. This season, Bradley has acquired 1,818 points and turned in a handful of runner-up finishes in six races since April. She is currently sitting in second place in the overall standings with two races left in the season. Last year, Bradley, who is in her fourth year of racing, finished the year as runner-up.

"I am the queen of No. 2. I have been second at every race I have been to," she said.

There are two male racers battling with her for the top spot, but thanks to some recent help from a "reaction coach" at her last race in Marble Falls, Texas, Bradley is now confident she's capable of finishing atop the standings. There are two races left this season, with the first being in San Diego Sept. 19-21 and the last being the World Finals in Phoenix Nov. 20-23. If Bradley can get off the starting line faster, she knows she can leave other racers in her wake.

"I can get them in San Diego. As long as my reaction time keeps getting better, there is no reason why I can't win," she said. "I am chasing it. Hopefully I can be No. 1."

Bradley first picked up drag boat racing four years ago when she grew tired of being a spectator of the sport. Her son Lester, who lives in Lodi and also races in the IHBA circuit in a division where boats race in eight seconds, has been racing for seven years. While see enjoyed watching her son compete, having grown up in Iseton on the Delta and being around boats her whole life, she decided she had to get back behind the wheel.

"One day I thought, 'I don't want to be the cook anymore. I want to race,'" she said.

With help from Ron and Joey Grose at Lodi's Ron Grose Racing, as well as sponsorships and support from other local companies and individuals including M&R Packing, the Benson Family Winery, Kenny Kramer Vineyards, Nick Nazzisi and Canyon Boats, Bradley's been fitted with a custom-made boat and mechanics to service it. She's got everything she needs except the ability to practice her hobby.

"You have to work with lights and reaction times and without the lights there is nothing to train. These boats, if you take them out on the river, they are so shallow that a wave causes problems," she said. "You really can't go 100 miles an hour on the Delta because there are other boats. It's just not a real safe thing. I personally don't train."

The only way to get better is to compete more. Currently, Bradley attends one race a month. In the future, she hopes she can compete in multiple divisions and do it more frequently to further indulge herself in the boat racing community she loves.

"I could do it every weekend," she said of racing. "It would just be my dream to hit them all. I am hoping in a few years when I retire, that's what I can do."

In the meantime, she's looking to loose the self-given "Queen of No. 2 title" and just be the queen of the Stock Eliminator division. Then next year, she could work on trying to go even faster.

"I hope I can move up a division next year, maybe to 10 seconds and then I can get a bigger motor," she said.