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• Two skydivers die in Acampo parachute accident after lines get tangled

• Lodi-area astronaut Jose Hernandez full of stories about space

• Lodi Community Hall of Fame

• Regional Roundup

• Study to look at Highway 12 between I-80, I-5

• Public Meetings

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

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• 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

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

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

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• 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)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)

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Two skydivers die in Acampo parachute accident after lines get tangled

A man and woman, both nationally recognized skydivers, died Sunday afternoon when their chutes became tangled and they plunged into an Acampo vineyard.

Barbara Cuddy, 48, of Carson City, and Robby Bigley, 40, of the Bay Area, died around 1 p.m. east of the Lodi Parachute Center at the Lodi Airport.

Bill Dause, owner of the center, said the two were part of an eight-member team practicing a formation for an upcoming U.S. Parachuting Assocation's championship.

As the team descended, three skydivers got their lines crossed.

One of the jumpers was able to get free, but Dause didn't have specifics on how.

"It's fate or luck or whatever you want to call it," he said.

Dause said the two others spiraled 5,000 feet before impact. One diver died at the scene; the other was transported to Lodi Memorial Hospital and was declared dead shortly after.

Dause said the two were practicing with their team, Redline, and that they were "highly skilled and highly trained" skydivers. He said they had been coming to the center regularly for the past three or four months in preparation for the competition. He said he had known them both for several years.

He said the members of Redline have been together for multiple years before adopting their name.

In 2008, Redline took first place in four-way sequential canopy formation at the USPA's national championships. Redline placed second in the same competition in 2007 and 2005.

In 2008, Bigley was awarded third place in the four-way advanced vertical formation category at the national championships. He also took second place in the two-way sequential canopy formation category.

In November 2007, Cuddy was part of the world's largest canopy formation, 100 people, that took place in Lake Wales, Fla. Cuddy was one of 10 women who participated.

According to a December 2007 story in the Nevada Appeal newspaper, Cuddy made more than 3,200 jumps and earned four silver medals, two bronze and one gold at the U.S. Skydiving Championships.

Earlier this year a 33-year-old woman was hospitalized after her parachute became tangled in power lines and she hit a utility pole near the Lodi airport.

Contact reporter Jordan Guinn at jordang@lodinews.com.