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• Woodbridge Wilderness Area fire still under investigation

• Losing their shelf life

• San Joaquin supervisors to consider $75,000 settlement for Lockeford bar owner

• Writer describes her 71 days at Ground Zero

• Crash involving Caltrans workers closes I-5 for hours

• Regional Roundup

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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Writer describes her 71 days at Ground Zero

J. Patch Guglielmino had never been to New York City prior to 2001. Her first trip to the city put her square at Ground Zero, some 10 days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

She spent 71 days helping people cope with the incomprehensible tragedy that took place on 9/11. That included finding body parts and hearing horrendous tales about what people saw, such as numerous people jumping out of windows at the World Trade Center.

Guglielmino listened to terrified children ask her, "Will my daddy jump out the window?"

With the seventh anniversary of 9/11 just four days away, Guglielmino spoke to about 25 people at the Lodi Public Library Sunday afternoon about her new book on her experiences at Ground Zero. The book is called "A Flag at Half Mast; a Personal Account of the Attack on America." She was invited by her sister, Patricia Pischalnikoff, a member of the Lodi Friends of the Library.

"I'm so proud of my sister," Pischalnikoff said.

Guglielmino, who lives in Healdsburg, has worked at 24 disasters throughout the United States.

Pischalnikoff said she phoned her sister frequently while serving at Ground Zero.

"I needed moral support," Guglielmino said. "It was tough down there. There was so much hysteria, and we had to work like robots."

Workers at Ground Zero had to maintain a professional attitude and avoid letting their emotions get to them. She heard the song "Amazing Grace" so often while she was in New York that she struggles to contain her emotions when she hears the song.

"I can't listen to 'Amazing Grace,'" Guglielmino said. "I have to leave the room ... Too much stress."

Another problem Guglielmino covers in her book is that employees and volunteers who spent any significant time at Ground Zero are getting sick due to being exposed to chemicals that were released into the air, Guglielmino said.

Workers cleaning up the area were exposed to chemicals from the computers that were destroyed, benzene from the airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center and asbestos from the elevators, she said.

Guglielmino has encountered her own health issues that she suspects came from exposure to chemicals at Ground Zero. She says she suffers from chronic asthmatic bronchitis, acid reflux and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Guglielmino became impressed quickly upon her first visit to New York.

"People in New York — they're wonderful," she said. "People think they're cold and unfriendly, but they're not."

People who came to hear Guglielmino's story and buy her book were impressed with what she had to say, and they learned things they didn't know about the 9/11 tragedy.

"I thought it was great," said Lodi resident Anita McKeever, a volunteer for Friends of the Library. "I thought it was interesting that nobody knew what to do (at Ground Zero) because none of this happened before."

Seven years later, Guglielmino is still busy volunteering for those in need. She works with hysterical families in the emergency room at a Santa Rosa hospital, she comforts victims at crime scenes for the Santa Rosa Police Department and she volunteers for the Healdsburg Fire Department.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.