Vote early

Roger Wineland is one of the lucky ones at Lake Berryessa Estates in Pope Valley.

The parking lots now house classrooms, extra desks are scarce, and finding an empty corner during milk break is almost impossible. Napa and Vintage high schools are reaching their capacity.

With Napa County roads again rated among the worst in the Bay Area, local voters are faced with two state propositions on Nov. 7 to funnel more money into transportation.

Napa Valley Unified School District leaders say American Canyon needs a high school. Without it, Napa and Vintage high schools in the city of Napa will continue to grow, though they have little or no room for expansion.

Road work in AmCan, Napa

Napa City Council candidates Juliana Inman and Peter Mott continue to rank one and two in campaign fundraising, with incumbent Councilman Harry Martin a distant third.

School board candidate's complaint dismissed

SAN FRANCISCO -- More than a year after a court clash over a Wal-Mart Supercenter in American Canyon, lawyers for the city, the retailer and two citizens' groups opposed to the big box store argued their case before an appellate court in San Francisco.

While opponents of Measure I, the Napa County parks and open space measure, have been busy rallying support and dialing for dollars, the more than $13,000 they've raised between Oct. 1 and Oct. 27 is still dwarfed by the support raised by Measure I proponents, who've raked in more than $32,000 in the same period.

The political group supporting Measure G, the $183 million Napa Valley Unified School Bond, has received generous donations from various local citizens and Bay Area companies in the most recent fundraising period.

On the heels of the five-week murder trial that resulted in the conviction of Napa dentist Michael Posey, the Napa County District Attorney's Office has two more murder trials slated to take place in the coming weeks, including one that starts on Monday.

NEW YORK -- Undeterred by violence, journalist Bradley Roland Will felt compelled to document what he called human rights abuses around the globe, so he headed to the volatile city of Oaxaca in Mexico.

RANCHO CORDOVA -- Because of a decision made this week by state regulators, Russell Lee is out $160,000 he paid to begin building a house on the south shores of Lake Berryessa.

Victor Rivera doesn't know what time his son gets up to go to school. His son is usually up before he is.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The trial of an Atlanta-area father accused of circumcising his 2-year-old daughter with scissors is focusing attention on an ancient African practice that experts say is slowly becoming more common in the U.S. as immigrant communities grow.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Friday the United States does not torture prisoners, commenting after Vice President Dick Cheney embraced the suggestion that a dunk in water might be useful to get terrorist suspects to talk.

SELLERSBURG, Ind. -- President Bush, campaigning aggressively ahead of the high-stakes Nov. 7 elections, said Saturday Democrats should not be trusted to control Congress because they have no idea how to win in Iraq.

With the exception of roses, perhaps the best-loved sight in the garden is shiny plump pumpkin. Fall weekends are planned around trips to a pumpkin patch to pick out just the right pumpkin with the best shape, color and stem. Each child sees the scariest jack-o-lantern in the pumpkin of his choice, so it takes a lot of time and expertise to find the right one.

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge sentenced a former Bush administration official to 18 months in prison in the Jack Abramoff lobbying case Friday -- after delivering a 30-minute eulogy for good government in Washington.

TODAY

TODAY

SACRAMENTO -- Homicide investigators probing the shooting death of a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy on Friday were inspecting a partially submerged van -- with two bodies inside -- that matched the description of the suspect's vehicle.

PANAMA CITY, Panama -- First comes nausea and diarrhea. Then the facial muscles relax, followed by kidney failure, paralysis and often death.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that clerical sex abuses were "egregious crimes" that had damaged the standing of the Catholic Church and its clergy, in his first explicit remarks on the subject since becoming pontiff.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- After a hastily arranged video conference with George Bush, Iraq's prime minister said Saturday that the U.S. president promised to move swiftly to turn over full control of the Iraqi army to the Baghdad government.