Ordinance aims to cut weeds, fire risk, insurance costs
John Hallman has lived in Berryessa Estates for about 15 years.
Man throws hammer at St. Helena resident
John Willie Williams got a free ride to the county jail Tuesday night after he struck a St. Helena man in the head with a hammer, police said.
TRYING TO KEEP THE COUNTY FROM GOING UP IN SMOKE
It’s not often the government offers county residents something for free.
Napan testifies on passenger’s rights on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON — The way Kate Hanni tells it, a holiday trip that left her family stuck inside a grounded airliner for nine hours without food, running water or working toilets amounted to “cruel and inhumane” treatment that no passenger should have to endure.
Girl hit with rock not seriously hurt
The injuries suffered by a 12-year-old girl on April 2 after she was hit in the face with a rock were not as serious as first reported, Napa Police Sgt. Don Honey said Tuesday.
County could be millions in the red for road repairs
The Napa County department responsible for repairing local roads soon could be on fiscal life support.
Woman’s hands tied, Napan arrested
Napa police arrested Mark Miller after he admitted to tying a woman’s hands with rope and tape.
Vallerga’s to lay off 30 employees
Vallerga’s Markets hand-delivered letters to 30 employees Tuesday, terminating them from jobs effective April 28.
Vintage staff, parents debate class changes
Wednesday night, about a dozen parents and the Vintage High adminstration met to engage in what one adminstrator called a “fight for ideas.” The issue at hand was Vintage’s new world cultures and geography course requirement for freshman that eliminates an elective option from them.
Dry winter causes concern about Bay Area water
SAN JOSE — The public utility that provides water to about a third of the Bay Area’s population urged customers Wednesday to reduce consumption now to avoid drought limits later in the year.
Orangutans play video games at Zoo Atlanta, research hopes to help survival of wild population
ATLANTA — Four-year-old Bernas isn’t the computer wizard his mom is, but he’s learning. Just the other day he used his lips and feet to play a game on the touch-screen monitor as his mom, Madu, swung from vines and climbed trees.
For thieves, carpool stickers add to hybrid car appeal
SAN JOSE — Thieves have been peeling off with the limited-edition car pool lane stickers the state awarded to drivers of hybrid fuel vehicles.
Bombings in Morocco and Algeria
ALGIERS, Algeria — Algeria hunted Islamic militants and gave them amnesty; neighboring Morocco jailed thousands of suspects.
Bonuses soar as military struggles to re-enlist soldiers, Marines for Iraq
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon poured more than $1 billion into bonuses last year to keep soldiers and Marines in the military in the face of an unpopular war and battlefield deployments that are getting longer and more frequent.
Prosecutors drop charges in Duke case, say athletes were victims of 'tragic rush to accuse'
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Duke lacrosse rape case finally collapsed Wednesday, with North Carolina’s top prosecutor saying the three athletes were railroaded by a district attorney who ignored increasingly flimsy evidence in a “tragic rush to accuse.”
Two consumer groups join air passenger fight
Two major consumer-rights organizations Wednesday joined an effort that would stop airlines from holding passengers aboard planes grounded for hours, as has occurred in several headline-making incidents in recent months at U.S. airports.
Register seeking info on children’s summer camps
The Register is collecting information about summer camps for children.
More molestation charges to be filed against child psychiatrist
REDWOOD CITY — A noted child psychiatrist was ordered Wednesday not to contact dozens of former patients he allegedly molested and barred from practicing medicine as prosecutors said they planned to file more charges against him.
Midwest storm
CHICAGO — Hundreds of airline flights were grounded Wednesday, a major league baseball game was called and six people were killed in accidents on icy roads as yet another spring snowstorm hit the upper Midwest.
MSNBC drops Imus simulcast
NEW YORK — MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the “Imus in the Morning” radio program, responding to growing outrage about the radio host’s racial slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team.
Strained Army extends Iraq tours to 15 months
WASHINGTON — Stretched thin by four years of war, the Army is adding three months to the standard yearlong tour for all active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, an extraordinary step aimed at maintaining the troop buildup in Baghdad.
Around the globe: McCain assails Democrats on Iraq war stance
Lexington, Va. — Republican presidential contender John McCain on Wednesday called the Iraq conflict “necessary and just” and accused anti-war Democrats of recklessness.
Novelist Kurt Vonnegut, author of ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ dies at 84
NEW YORK — Kurt Vonnegut, the satirical novelist who captured the absurdity of war and questioned the advances of science in darkly humorous works such as “Slaughterhouse-Five” and “Cat’s Cradle,” died Wednesday. He was 84.
Tattoo memorials
FALLBROOK — The anniversary of Marine Cpl. Brian R. St. Germain’s death in Iraq was approaching, and Gunnery Sgt. Jason Alderman was making sure his buddy would never be forgotten. He was getting a tattoo in his honor.
As gonorrhea joins list of 'superbugs,' CDC says old drug therapy no longer effective
9:30 p.m. ATLANTA -- The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea is now among the ''superbugs'' resistant to common antibiotics, leading U.S. health officials to recommend wider use of a different class of drugs to avert a public health crisis.
Senate Democrats challenge White House on lost e-mails
9:30 p.m. WASHINGTON -- The White House's claim that e-mails sent on a Republican Party account might have been lost was challenged Thursday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, who quipped that even his teenage neighbor could find them.
