Wayne Lackey only landed in Napa County three years ago, but the helicopter entrepreneur has kicked up a fair amount of dust in a short period of time. The owner of Wine Country Helicopters, based at the Napa County Airport, found himself at the center of a storm last year after unveiling a plan to guide tourists to Calistoga's Constant-Diamond Mountain Winery. The plan spurred complaints from neighbors concerned about noise and invasion of privacy, and Lackey shot back some fiery words about the county's authority to regulate helicopter flights and landings.

The state tossed Mitchell Findley out in the real world on his latest birthday.

A page one photo caption in Tuesday's paper incorrectly stated building code requirements for showers. Waterproofing must rise 70 inches above the shower floor, but shower heads can be placed at any height.

Hospice of Napa Valley will host its 19th annual "Light up a Life" community memorial service Dec. 4 at its new facilities, 414 South Jefferson St., at 3 p.m.

With the recent flap over weddings at Napa Valley wineries, last weekend's nuptials between pop singer Christina Aguilera, 24, and music executive Jordan Bratman caused a stir in the county's planning department.

Napa students recently displayed their generosity by raising thousands of dollars for hurricane victims.

Family and friends of accused murderer Eric Copple filled the first row in the courtroom galley at a brief hearing Tuesday, where the next scheduled events in the case were pushed back to the new year.

WINTERS -- A federal proposal to reshape the trailer-lined shores of Lake Berryessa is facing fierce opposition from mobile home owners who have made the lake their home away from home for the past 50-plus years.

TACOMA, Wash. -- A man accused of a shooting spree at a crowded shopping mall told authorities to "just follow the screams" when he called them shortly before opening fire with a pair of assault rifles, according to court documents released Monday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- An Arab-American college student was convicted Tuesday of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush.

WASHINGTON -- An animal rights group that owns stock in Hormel Foods Corp. is trying to pressure the nation's largest turkey processor to adopt a more humane method of slaughtering the birds.

QUINCY, Mass. -- Thousands of low-income Massachusetts residents will receive discounted home heating oil this winter under an agreement signed Tuesday with Venezuela, whose government is a political adversary of the Bush administration.

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) -- In this frigid land where goats and horses far outnumber people, President Bush stretched to find common ground between the United States and Mongolia.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A suicide car bomber attacked a police patrol Tuesday in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least 17 people, and three U.S. soldiers died in two separate attacks, pushing the American death toll in Iraq to 2,100, officials said.

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican says homosexuals who are sexually active or support "gay culture" are unwelcome in the priesthood unless they have overcome their homosexual tendencies for at least three years, according to a church document posted on the Internet by an Italian Catholic news agency.