It happens all the time. A business that started out small draws the interest of larger competitors by gaining more and more market share — resulting in an acquisition.

The merger between Vintage Bank’s parent company and Umpqua Holding Corporation is not the only recent change in Napa’s financial sector.

The rumor mill says a Ritz-Carlton, one of the most prestigious names in the hotel business, is coming to Napa’s Oxbow District, but confirmation is hard to come by.

A bill to give Napa County dibs on purchasing Skyline Park from the state cleared its first legislative hurdle this week when it was approved by the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization.

Gary Woodruff, a parent of two Vintage High School students, is concerned about a decrease in arts education at the school.

Calistoga High School’s student leadership class is helping sponsoring a big blood drive Monday at the high school. Aside from the knowledge they may be helping save lives, donors will also receive a free T-shirt, while supplies last.

A big-rig overturned on Highway 128 east of Silverado Trail Thursday afternoon, causing moderate injuries to the driver, whose name was not available at press time. The truck caught fire after it skidded down a 30-foot embankment and landed in the creek. The driver was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

The widespread outcry surrounding radio talk show host Don Imus worked its way clear to Napa, where the station carrying him now has a gap in its lineup.

Fire investigators are sifting through debris to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a garage and damaged a home in Napa early Friday morning.

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.

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.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Thursday that tribesmen have killed about 300 foreign militants during a weekslong offensive near the Afghan border and acknowledged for first time that they received military support.

BAGHDAD — A flash, a boom and an orange ball of fire.

MOSCOW — Authorities said Thursday they have halted the work of all foreign adoption agencies in Russia for several months, virtually shutting down the placement of children from one of the most important countries for U.S. families seeking to adopt.

WASHINGTON — The Army might be shortchanging injured soldiers by rating the severity of their disabilities with a system that is both unwieldy and inconsistent, the head of a special commission said Thursday.

NORTENO, Panama — Dressed in sweaty surgical scrubs and grappling with a screaming 6-year-old girl as he pulled her abscessed tooth, dentist Jason Vogt didn’t look the part of a diplomat.

JENNER — A 2,000-pound elephant seal nicknamed Nibbles is wearing out his welcome at the mouth of the Russian River, where he has killed harbor seals, menaced a kayaker and chomped on a surfer and a pit bull.

MODESTO — A middle school cafeteria worker is suspected of pocketing $100 a day in lunch money over a two-year period, police said.

LOS ANGELES — The state Mental Health Department agreed to pay a Los Angeles hotel $877 million in 2005 to hold a two-day training conference, according to state records. $877 million? For a two-day conference?

RICHMOND — Carlos Diaz broke the law when he crossed the border and took a job as an office janitor. But he’s not about to break another by failing to pay his income tax.

POMONA — A 22-year-old woman and her mother are suing Best Buy and its “Geek Squad” computer repair team for dispatching a technician who they say videotaped the daughter taking a shower.

11:30 p.m. MEXICO CITY -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 rocked Mexico early Friday, striking 60 miles north of Acapulco on the country's Pacific coast, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

11:30 p.m. MEXICO CITY -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 rocked Mexico early Friday, striking 60 miles north of Acapulco on the country's Pacific coast, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

6 p.m. SAN FRANCISCO -- Seeking to expand its already well-honed ability to sell targeted Internet advertisements, online search leader Google Inc. said it has agreed to pay $3.1 billion in cash to acquire ad-management technology company DoubleClick Inc.

WASHINGTON -- Finance officials from the world's wealthiest countries expressed confidence Friday that the global economy will experience strong growth despite risks.