“It’s a nice honor, but my head doesn’t grow because of it,” said Ed Barwick, a straight-shooting ex-Napa car dealer, ex-council member and for 35 years running the announcer of Napa High School football games.

To keep household taps flowing even in dry years, Napa is launching the most expensive public works project in city history, more than doubling the size of its Jamieson Canyon water treatment plant.

After two uncontested elections to the Napa County Board of Supervisors, Mark Luce’s free ride to elected office is over.

Hundreds of wizards, magical folk and Muggles swarmed to local bookstores Friday night — all in the name of a now-famous boy wizard — Harry Potter.

Since 1957 the Napa Valley Register has seen floods and fires, a move from our old digs to new ones, a change in our name and countless changes in the community, but one constant remains: Geraldine Nalley, a professional in our ad services department, today marks 50 years at the Register.

Napa Police officers arrested a Napa woman on suspicion of domestic violence.

Napa Police officers arrested Steven Richard Kidwell, 43, of Napa, on suspicion of child abuse, resisting arrest and violation of probation Friday evening.

Napa drug enforcement agents arrested a Solano County man in connection with the sale of drugs in Napa County.

A night of drinking landed one Napa man in jail early Saturday morning and another in the hospital with major head injuries. California Highway Patrol officers say that alcohol was a factor in the accident that sent two men to the hospital, and later one of them to jail.

Gabriel Francis Hernandez was acting strangely early Friday night according to his neighbors.

To keep household taps flowing even in dry years, Napa is launching the most expensive public works project in city history, more than doubling the size of its Jamieson Canyon water treatment plant.

A night of drinking landed one Napa man in jail early Saturday morning and another in the hospital with major head injuries. California Highway Patrol officers say that alcohol was a factor in the accident that sent two men to the hospital, and later one of them to jail.

Hundreds of wizards, magical folk and Muggles swarmed to local bookstores Friday night — all in the name of a now-famous boy wizard – Harry Potter.

Since 1957 the Napa Valley Register has seen floods and fires, a move from our old digs to new ones, a change in our name and countless changes in the community, but one constant remains: Geraldine Nalley, a professional in our ad services department, today marks 50 years at the Register.

Gabriel Francis Hernandez was acting strangely early Friday night according to his neighbors.

“It’s a nice honor, but my head doesn’t grow because of it,” said Ed Barwick, a straight-shooting ex-Napa car dealer, ex-council member and for 35 years running the announcer of Napa High School football games.

Napa drug enforcement agents arrested a Solano County man in connection with the sale of drugs in Napa County.

Napa Police officers arrested a Napa woman on suspicion of domestic violence.

Napa Police officers arrested Steven Richard Kidwell, 43, of Napa, on suspicion of child abuse, resisting arrest and violation of probation Friday evening.

Add your "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" review here, but please avoid being a spolier for other readers.

WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani boasts that he reined in crime, welfare and taxes in a city once considered ungovernable.

KAMAS, Utah — A group of about 45 people spent two days in the Uinta Mountains searching for the legendary Bigfoot.

SAN MATEO — The San Mateo County coroner’s office has identified a man who was killed by police after he fled the scene of a suspected armed robbery.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Searchers looking for the bodies of two Mount Hood climbers found a stash of equipment Saturday they said confirms the climbers’ plans to make a rapid ascent to the summit.

SILT, Colo. — A rapidly spreading wildfire likely started by lightning burned within about 10 yards of a home Saturday afternoon, but no structures were lost, officials said.

BOISE, Idaho — Two wildfires that prompted the evacuations of two tiny towns in southwest Idaho and northern Nevada combined on Saturday to form a 600-square-mile blaze called the Murphy Complex.

WASHINGTON — More and more foods bear a mishmash of warnings that they might accidentally contain ingredients that could seriously sicken people with food allergies.

Motorists traveling west on East Avenue need to be aware of new striping as they approach Silverado Trail.

Wrapped on all sides in colorful vinyl, two VINE buses are turning heads this summer.

Eighth Grade 4.0

PALO ALTO — Pete Wilson, an award-winning broadcast journalist who co-anchored the evening news at the San Francisco Bay Area’s KGO-TV, died of a massive heart attack during hip replacement surgery. He was 62.

PASADENA — Mission scientists worry that nearly a month’s worth of storms could permanently damage or disable the Mars rovers exploring the Red Planet.

LOS ANGELES — The City Council has tentatively agreed to ban smoking in all city parks, aiming to lower the risk of wildfires during extremely dry conditions.

OCEANSIDE — A swarm of bees living in a street light attacked more than a dozen people waiting at a bus stop and one woman was sent to the hospital, authorities said.

Groundbreaking election

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister urged parliament on Saturday to cancel or shorten its summer vacation to pass laws Washington considers crucial to Iraq’s stability and the debate on how long U.S. forces should remain.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A desire to bring to life his favorite heroes in Islamic history initially spurred Thamer al-Sikhan toward storytelling, and he wrote for hours every day: first historic series, then drama and comedy shows, and finally, when he was in college, a screenplay.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A purported Taliban spokesman said Saturday that the Islamic militia had killed two German hostages, a claim disputed by both Afghanistan and Germany. He also offered to trade 23 captive South Koreans for imprisoned Taliban fighters.

SAO PAULO, Brazil — A radar failure over the Amazon forced Brazil to turn back or ground a string of international flights Saturday, deepening a national aviation crisis just hours after the president unveiled safety measures prompted by the country’s deadliest air disaster.

CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself — until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms.