A series of public meetings from end to end of the Napa Valley — including fast-growing American Canyon and the mountaintop community of Angwin — has given more than 150 people a voice in planning the county’s cultural future.

Touring together for the first time, Solid Blues brings together all-star cast of Mavis Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, the North Mississippi Allstars and New Orlean’s-style piano and organ wizard Joe Krownfor a Southern-tinged, soul-stirring performance celebrating the blues tradition for one night at the Napa Valley Opera House.

The Rimsky-Korsakov String Quartet from St. Petersburg, Russia, comes to the Lincoln Theater in Yountville Saturday for one performance.

A self-taught guitarist, heartland-raised Roni Benise had a life-altering experience a decade ago when he heard flamenco music wafting from a radio in his Los Angeles neighborhood.

“Moon Proof Madness,” the di Rosa Preserve’s benefit art auction takes place Oct. 20, 5 p.m. to midnight. The beautiful landscape and galleries of the di Rosa Preserve set the stage for this lively event, which raises funds to support cultural and educational programs at the Preserve.

This weekend, anyone with a hankering to step onstage can try out for an entire season of plays at Napa’s award-winning Dreamweavers Theatre.

This week “Our Town,” Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece about life and love in small town America in the early 20th century opens at Napa Valley College.

For the last five years Kasandra Weinerth has been immersed in the Napa River.

Legendary singer, songwriter and three-time Grammy award winner Kris Kristofferson performs in concert Sunday at Lincoln Theater in Yountville

African-American revivalist string-band trio, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, performs Oct. 26 at Napa Valley Opera House.

It only makes sense that the images in the “Feast of Fine Art” currently at Copia celebrate the outdoors in gorgeous diversity. The plein air works from six Northern California artists will be auctioned at the end of this month as part of the annual Feast of Eden fundraiser for the Land Trust of Napa County.

Eric Nelson, long-time executive director of the Napa Valley Museum, will be leaving that post Nov. 1. He’ll be leaving the valley as well, to become director of Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum at the beginning of next year. There he’ll be overseeing that museum’s anticipated rise to national prominence as it moves and expands.

Napa composer Louise Canepa helped gather the forces for 90 minutes of varied musical programming this past Sunday at Yountville’s Lincoln Theater.

Ten years ago Robert Dubac figured out what women want. He popped open a Corona and invited us into his lopsided brain to witness his hilarious thought process known as “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” This one-man show became a worldwide phenomenon as it proved that humor between the sexes is understood in any language.

Jimmy Lyons, the late co-founder of the Monterey Jazz Festival, used to say he was throwing a big party each year on a September weekend. A 50th anniversary is certainly cause to celebrate, and Lyons would have been proud to see that his successor Tim Jackson has carried on the tradition.

33 students at Justin-Siena High School earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program (AP) exams.

Napa Sunrise Rotary announces its “students of the month” for September 2007.

Education

Ubuntu is a Zulu word that means “humanity toward others.” It’s a word Sandy Lawrence learned while working in South Africa and has now brought to Napa in form of the restaurant and yoga studio she has opened on Main Street in Napa.

with Applesauce and Citrus/Fennel Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil

New hires at The Carneros Inn intend to deliver even more rewarding culinary experiences to diners and visitors frequenting the distinct grapegrowing region planted between Napa and Sonoma known as Carneros.

For more than 12 seasons Chef “Wild Bob” Hurley has been matching the grape harvest with the autumn hunt, to celebrate his own special Wild Game Week. The annual event this year is Nov. 12–17 at Hurley’s Restaurant & Bar in Yountville.

with Baby Bok Choy, Acacia Honey-Lime Broth and Licorice-Herb Salad

DId you try the pork chops recipe? Maybe you have one you want to share with other readers?

Growing up in New Mexico, Michael Lauher knew about the Pueblo “hornos,”  the traditional beehive ovens, still widely used there.

Halloween is just around the corner, and if you’re not careful, your home could give fright to the neighborhood ghouls and goblins.

On a recent Saturday morning, I headed over to the house of Pulitzer Prize-winning Post book columnist Michael Dirda with an Xbox 360 under my arm. I plugged the device into his TV, showed him how to turn on the console and vanished. My assignment for Dirda was to try a new game called "BioShock."

BOWIE-PETRILLO — Patrick Lynn Bowie, 47, Canyon Creek Drive, American Canyon to Michelle Ann Petrillo, 53, Canyon Creek Drive, American Canyon.

We are happy to announce that Gladys McKenney will be turning 100 years old on Oct. 13, 2007.

ST. HELENA HOSPITAL

ZIMMERMAN — Jeffrey John vs. Jackquiline, Oct. 5, 2007.

Nickname: Sis

Name: Sir Reginald of Cambridge

The roads that lead a person to becoming a writer are varied, but for John Stanley, it was a taste of “hard, physical work” that sparked the notion of a writing career — that and an irresistible fascination with words, stories, and the boundless world of the imagination.

Leave it to the French to come up with one word that can describe a project that leaves mere English speakers scrambling for adequate adjectives.

The Paradiso wine auction continued its climb into the ranks of the top wine auctions in the nation when it raised $2 million last Saturday in just four hours.

In just four years Sonoma County’s Paradiso auction has raised $6.5 million and is ranked as one of the top wine auctions in the world — it’s already third — and is moving upward every year. What’s it doing that’s so right?

About seven years ago PlumpJack Winery made an announcement that raised eyebrows throughout the wine world — half of its 1997 reserve cabernet sauvignon reserve was bottled with a traditional cork closure, the other half with … screw caps.