Romantic wines needed

A Calistoga single mom with a long history of military service is breathing a little easier today, now that the U.S. Army is considering her request to be exempted from active duty in Iraq to look after her autistic son and 10-year-old daughter.

The Vintage High School Garden Club has ponied up a $200 reward for information leading to the identity and arrest of the people who vandalized the school garden last weekend.

Widespread reports of the death of $11 million in funding for the Napa flood control project may be exaggerated.

The Napa Valley Unified School District is holding several community conferences today, Monday and Tuesday to discuss the future of the district. The conference is a forum for participants to provide input on the district's priorities, vision and core values.

Cabernet Village, a two-story office building near Napa Junction, could house American Canyon's City Hall one day.

VISTA -- Claudia Sinkule stared at the man who murdered her daughter, the man who struck Nicole "Nicci" Sinkule in the head 13 times with a claw hammer. A prepared statement in hand, the woman read only one sentence, then set it aside.

NEW ORLEANS -- Residents whose homes were flooded during Hurricane Katrina can sue the Army Corps of Engineers over claims the agency ignored warnings about defects in a nearby navigation channel, a federal judge ruled Friday.

WASHINGTON -- Keeping troops in Iraq for another year and a half will cost nearly a quarter-trillion dollars -- about $800 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. -- under the budget President Bush will submit to Congress Monday.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Bypassing the Legislature altogether, Republican Gov. Rick Perry issued an order Friday making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

LADY LAKE, Fla. -- Disaster crews with dogs went from one pile of debris to another in a search for bodies Friday after powerful storms, including at least one tornado, smashed hundreds of homes across central Florida and killed 19 people or more.

SACRAMENTO -- As many as 5,000 California convicts will be transferred out of state to ease an overcrowding crisis in the nation's largest prison system, a top corrections official said Friday.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A U.S. Army helicopter crashed Friday in a hail of gunfire north of Baghdad, police and witnesses said -- the fourth lost in Iraq in the last two weeks. The U.S. command said two crew members were killed, and the top U.S. general conceded that insurgent ground fire has become more effective.