Some vote-by-mail voters face a deadline in the coming days that may determine whether they’ll be able to cast ballots in the Feb. 5 Democratic presidential primary.

Christie McMaster’s second-grade class in American Canyon welcomed a special friend and pen pal this week, as Napa High School grad and Navy sailor Jeffrey Hill stopped in for a chat.

Jennifer Beland was taken into custody on Wednesday after her employer accused her of embezzling cash from the business where she worked in Yountville, Napa County Sheriff’s Capt. John Robertson said.

The way Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sees it, $14.5 billion in budget cuts would be a boon to the economic health of the state. But for the more than 150,000 elderly Californians who reside in more than 7,700 of the state’s assisted living facilities, the outcome may not be as rosy, according to the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.