Last weekend’s two-day final show at the Oxbow School in Napa provided a tantalizing sample of what gifted teenagers are capable of creating at the end of their Oxbow semester.

It was a last minute invitation, but well worth juggling lunch dates to watch a Vintage High School production of “The Laramie Project,” last week. Amanda Bennett directed the performance as part of her senior thesis, which, she explained, was a study of attitudes toward homosexuality.

On Saturday at the Napa Valley Opera House the Moscow Cats Theatre was in town and the show featured 35 housecats, five clowns, a ballerina and one dog to complete the cast.

On Saturday evening l6 Trinity Prep student thespians performed a feat of magic. In their Theatre Under the Stars these talented young men and women brought “Cheaper By the Dozen” back to life.

From Register Staff

“Napa is not known as an arts mecca. If the arts had the respected allure that wine and food does here, being a Napa artist would have more meaning. It’s a great place to live and work, but the art world doesn’t perceive Napa as supporting a thriving artists community.”

Sunday afternoon at Yountville’s Lincoln Theater, we Napans were treated to a performance of “Cats,” directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford and featuring 29 talented dancers and singers bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic to life for the 25th anniversary Broadway tour.

If commercial fisheries maintain business-as-usual catches on the high seas, the world’s major seafood stocks will collapse by the middle of the 21st century.

A widely used diabetes pill raises the risk of heart attacks and possibly death, according to a scientific analysis that reveals what some experts are calling another Vioxx-like example of the government failing to protect the public from an unsafe drug.

Not long after I was hired at Napa Valley College to teach political science, I received a friendly invitation to speak at the Napa Rotary Club. After a warm welcome and pleasant lunch, I gave a presentation in which I argued that the way in which the social sciences are taught would change once the baby boom generation began to exit academia. I reasoned that, whereas many of that generation view college as a center for activating students to go out and solve society’s many “problems,” later generations see the college as an institution through which students are given the analytical tools to discover for themselves what society’s “problems” may be. It is the difference between activation and education.

WASHINGTON — The research is persuasive: When drugs don’t completely control epilepsy, surgery often can — and the sooner it’s tried, the better.

“This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we — not our enemies — occupy the moral high ground.” — Gen. David Petraeus, May 10, 2007

Army Pvt. Daniel Gilbert graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga.

Distinguished Teachers honored

I've been looking forward to having our semi-monthly chat, and counting my blessings that I live in senior-friendly, beautiful Napa Valley.

Education

In Memphis, barbecue means pork ribs and pork shoulder sandwiches.

From the time the first glimpses of green appeared in the vineyards during March’s bud break, the vineyards have exploded in growth, bringing them to the second of the seasonal markers — bloom.

Chateau Montelena Winery owner Bo Barrett says Napa Valley residents should become involved in a four-year-old push by local winemakers to create a Calistoga appellation.

The state Senate Select Committee on California Wine, chaired by Sen. Patricia Wiggins, conducts a hearing on the state of retailer direct-to-consumer shipping Thursday, 1:30 - 4 p.m. in room 3191 of the Capitol in Sacramento.

Just in time for the upcoming outdoor grilling season, a pair of new cookbooks has been added to the shelves of local book sellers.

The Master Gardeners have treats in store for this year’s Garden Tour June 3, as they open six of their members’ gardens to the public. 

The Master Gardeners need the following in order to diagnose your plant problem:

Master Gardeners are a hard working lot. Just to become a Master Gardener, they’ve taken three months of training, studying botany, plant life, soil conditions and composting. When they graduate, they continue their education as well as teach and answer questions about gardening. Through the growing season, they set up mobile help stations at big box stores, nurseries and at farmers markets to help the rest of us, gardeners whose thumbs are any color but green.

NEW YORK  — When you’re longing to sit down, fiberglass, plywood and polycarbonate don’t sound quite the most welcoming surfaces to sink into.

Good watering is all-important to a good garden, and long, slow watering has many benefits.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The annual National Hardware Show is one of the world’s bigger conventions, drawing exhibitors and attendees from seemingly every corner of the planet. The latest, held here earlier this month, showcased a lot of great products.

ALLEN -- Gloria Allen vs. Ronald Allen, April 30, 2007

Danielle Marie Christani and Peter Stanley Netherton of Chico were married July 15 in the Cathedral of St. Eugene in Santa Rosa. This joyous ceremony was a Nuptial Mass with Fr. William Donohue presiding. Members of the immediate families participated during each part of the Mass. The groom's aunt, Susan Kurtz, delivered a remembrance in honor of loved ones who had passed. The theme of the wedding was "Let Marriage be held in honor by all" (Heb. 13).

ANGLIN-PORTET -- Jason Paul Anglin, 36, Stonnington Place, Toorak Vic, to Paula Portet, 29, Monticello Road, Napa.

Crista Burris and Joshua Grech of Napa announce their engagement to be married June 9 at the Lodge at Sonoma.

Denise Ernst and Greg St. John of Napa announce their engagement to be married on Aug. 18 at a private estate in Napa.

St. Helena Hospital

Lindsay Letitia Gill and Joshua C. Gonzalez of Everette, Wash., announce their engagement to be married in May 2008.

P. Lynne McCallister and Matthew R. Wall of Napa announce their engagement to be married June 16 at Living Vine Church of the Nazarene on Linda Vista at 2:30 p.m.