One may ask what polar bears have to do with life in the Napa Valley.

When California’s personal income tax revenues took a sudden jump last year, those who chart the state’s fiscal affairs wondered why — and it turned out to be mostly due to a payment by just one very high-income taxpayer.

Dear editor, A few minutes ago, as I write this, Saddam Hussein was executed.

Dear editor, I recently received a phone call from my bank, the Bank of Napa.

Dear editor, There was an insightful comic strip by the late Al Capp that detailed many colorful characters in a backwoods community.