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There will be no November election for the Calistoga Unified Joint School District board.

Refurbished at a cost of nearly $1.7 million, the historic Goodman Library on First Street sits empty while the city and the Napa County Historical Society wrangle over expanded public access.

A Napa resident who has patrolled the California-Mexico border as part of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps gave a talk to a mostly supportive crowd of Republican Party members this week, describing his experience on the frontier and explaining how he became so active on an issue that is spurring debate around the country.

Napa will consider naming Laurel Park in west Napa for Cesar Chavez, the founder of the United Farm Workers union.

St. Helena council rejects office building plan

Sheriff's deputies were kept hopping on Thursday from one drug bust to another.

Plans for American Canyon's first high school are coming into focus as volunteers for Measure G, Napa Valley Unified School District's $183 million school bond, are hitting the campaign trail.

Register Staff

Lying down on a floor, unable to speak or walk. That's the state John Ronco and other captured service members were in when their rescuers finally arrived.

Isaiah Ahlstrom and Koda Inman-Ahlstrom are pretty much your average 7-year-old boys.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. -- It took a grocer's offer of a cookie to finally tear 4-year-old Trey Malcom away from the small TV screen in his shopping cart.

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Pakistan's legislature unanimously condemned Pope Benedict XVI. Lebanon's top Shiite cleric demanded an apology. And in Turkey, the ruling party likened the pontiff to Hitler and Mussolini and accused him of reviving the mentality of the Crusades.

WASHINGTON -- Expanded indoor use of the pesticide DDT won't harm people or the environment and is critical in the fight against malaria, the World Health Organization said Friday.

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mayor Frank Melton, who has been accused of being too heavy-handed in fighting crime, was indicted Friday on charges he directed young people to use sledgehammers to smash up a home where he suspected drugs were being used.

WASHINGTON -- A California natural foods company was linked Friday to a nationwide E. coli outbreak that has killed one person and sickened nearly 100 others. Supermarkets across the country pulled spinach from shelves, and consumers tossed out the leafy green.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bob Ney's agreement to plead guilty to federal corruption charges was not only the biggest win yet for the Justice Department in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, it was also a loud reminder that the case is not going away.

An experimental treatment for bone-thinning osteoporosis appears to prevent spine and hip fractures even though it is given only once a year, eliminating the need for a strict daily pill regimen, preliminary data show.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Former President Clinton tearfully escorted a flag-draped casket Saturday carrying former Gov. Ann Richards into the state Capitol, where she will spend the next two days lying in state before her funeral and burial.

NEW YORK -- A new and lucrative literary prize has just been started, with some unusual credentials for the winner: The book must be unpublished and the author must not have an agent.

The Gathering, a meeting of Christians from various local churches, drew more than 800 people on Sunday to the ballroom at the Meritage Resort in Napa. Pastors from non-denominational, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches attended.

NEW YORK -- She got the itch at David Letterman's desk.

LOS ANGELES -- Musician Michael Franti knew something was missing from the war coverage he saw on the nightly news.

LONDON -- Dustin Hoffman, Tim Burton and Forest Whitaker are among the celluloid celebs lined up to attend the 50th London Film Festival.

LOS ANGELES -- In the wrestling ring, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was always the center of attention. Now he captures the big-screen spotlight with his first dramatic leading role.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Two 17-year-olds suspected of plotting a shooting spree at their high school were fascinated with the mass killings at Columbine High School and had homemade bombs and weapons at their homes, investigators said Friday.

TODAY

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The Bush administration proposed Friday that Cubans hold a referendum to decide if they want to be ruled by dictators or live in democracy.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush suggested Friday it may be time to send international peacekeepers into Sudan's war-torn Darfur region over the objections of the government in Khartoum.

NEW YORK -- The "independent woman" has been a driving force behind the spring 2007 collections presented at New York Fashion Week.

NASSAU, Bahamas -- A pathologist hired on behalf of reality TV star Anna Nicole Smith was arriving in the Bahamas on Saturday to perform a second autopsy on her son, the island chain's head coroner said.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," the Vatican said Saturday.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Bloodshed surged in the capital Saturday, with at least 17 people dead in attacks and 27 probable victims of sectarian killings found dumped in the streets as Iraq's prime minister appealed for reconciliation.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Thousands of American and Afghan troops unleashed a new offensive against Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday in an effort to expand the government's reach into the volatile Pakistani border region.

Associated Press

Associated Press

FRESNO -- California should be permitted to enact the world's toughest vehicle-emission standards as part of its effort to combat global warming, a state attorney told a federal judge Friday.

TOKYO -- The number of Japanese living beyond 100 has almost quadrupled in the past 10 years, with the once-exclusive centenarian club expected to surpass 28,000 this year, the government said Friday.

SAN'A, Yemen -- Authorities foiled an attempt by suicide bombers to blow up two oil installations with explosives-laden cars Friday, days after al-Qaida threatened to strike facilities in the Persian Gulf. The four attackers and a guard were killed.

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico -- Tropical Storm Lane became a Category 1 hurricane Friday as it roared toward the tip of the Baja California Peninsula, lashing Mexico's Pacific coast, flooding port cities and causing a landslide that killed a 7-year-old boy.

SAN'A, Yemen -- Authorities arrested four al-Qaida members Saturday who were believed to be planning to carry out attacks in the capital, San'a, Yemen's interior minister said.