A former Napa High School teacher convicted of sexually abusing a teenager was sentenced on Thursday to two years in state prison.

Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein has heard stories from the state parole system, stories where parole officers tell convicts that home caregiving is a promising field for gainful employment.

Syar Industries CEO James Syar said Thursday he was puzzled by an FBI search of the company’s Sonoma County field office earlier that day.

Many in Napa County and around the American West regard Cesar Chavez as a hero who championed the rights of farmworkers.

Nearly 100 VINE bus stops will be improved over the next four years, giving riders a place to sit down. Lucky riders at some stops will even get shelter from the sun and rain.

Think of a class where you can analyze why Indiana Jones really couldn’t make one of his cinematically-enhanced jumps in real life. Now imagine solving that problem is part of your math and science homework.

Tom Bonfigli stepped down Friday after 12 years as Justin-Siena High School’s head boys basketball coach to accept the head coaching job at Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa, the runner-up in this year’s CIF State Division IV finals.

A Napa homeless man was killed Thursday night as he and a woman companion were struck by a vehicle as they crossed Redwood Road, just west of Solano Avenue, in north Napa.

A gun-toting robber made off with cash after he walked into a service station, pointed the handgun at the clerk and demanded money, police said.

A Napa homeless man was killed on Thursday night as he and a woman companion were struck by a vehicle as they crossed Redwood Road, just west of Solano Avenue, in north Napa.

Firefighters were able contained a blaze to the master bedroom of a two-story residence in the 300 block of Tobin Avenue in Angwin.

BAGHDAD — Five suicide bombers struck Shiite marketplaces in northeast Baghdad and a town north of the capital at nightfall Thursday, killing at least 122 people and wounding more than 150 in one of Iraq’s deadliest days in years.

SAN DIEGO — Two incomplete tunnels were discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in what authorities described as a failed attempt to sneak people into the U.S. illegally.

MODESTO — A Grayson mother pleaded guilty to felony charges Thursday for having sex with her teenage son’s friends after a strip poker game at her home.

WASHINGTON — Growing up in segregated times, Charles “A-Train” Dryden never thought he would fly war planes for the U.S. military, much less win an award for doing so.

NEW ORLEANS — Google’s popular map portal has replaced post-Hurricane Katrina satellite imagery with pictures taken before the storm, leaving locals feeling like they’re in a time loop and even fueling suspicions of a conspiracy.

They are one of California’s most influential political couples: four-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum, a wealthy businessman, philanthropist and behind-the-scenes political adviser.

SACRAMENTO — Two state lawmakers on Thursday said the commissioner of the California Highway Patrol should resign after a series of problems they said illustrates a lack of leadership.

PHOENIX — Fourteen travel agency owners or employees were indicted on human smuggling and other charges for allegedly selling airline tickets they thought would be used by illegal immigrants, officials said Thursday.

ANTIOCH — A woman who allegedly instructed her two young daughters to steal a neighbor’s dog was arrested on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and grand theft.

EL PORTAL — State transportation officials are considering tunneling through the wall of the Merced River canyon as a possible solution to get around a rockslide outside the entrance of Yosemite National Park.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Under court order, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Thursday to take another look at protecting two rare salamanders that live in old-growth forests in Oregon and California.

12 p.m. MINNEAPOLIS -- Six Muslim men removed from a plane last fall after being accused of suspicious behavior are suing not only the airline but the passengers who complained - a move some fear could discourage travelers from speaking up when they see something unusual.

12 p.m. TEHRAN, Iran -- One of the 15 British service members held captive in Iran appeared Friday on state television and said he apologized ''deeply'' for entering Iranian waters, and the country released a third letter supposedly from the one woman in the crew saying she has been ''sacrificed'' by Britain.

ATLANTA — Easter is right around the corner and so is the threat of salmonella carried by baby chicks often given to children as springtime gifts, health officials warned Thursday.

HOLLY, Colo. — A massive spring storm spawned dozens of tornadoes from the Rockies to the Plains, killing at least four people in three states, including a woman who was flung into a tree by a twister as wide as two football fields.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — In front of a blue metal gate, women in black abayas clutch food ration cards and exhibit a confidence rarely felt in the Iraqi capital.

WASHINGTON — Congress and the Bush administration should work together to allow the U.S. to permanently imprison some of the more dangerous Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere so the facility can be closed, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

WASHINGTON — A defiant, Democratic-controlled Senate approved legislation Thursday calling for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within a year, propelling Congress closer to an epic, wartime veto confrontation with President Bush.