The author of two books about the recent transformation of Napa Valley from a sleepy agricultural valley to a sort of wine garden of earthly delights spoke at the Napa Valley Opera House last week.

On April 5, Aldea Children and Family Services held its seventh annual fundraising gala, “Changing Lives and Creating Bright Futures” at the Carneros Inn. The gala honored Garen and Shari Staglin with the Allen Ewig Award for mental health and child welfare services, for their tireless efforts to end the stigma of mental illness by talking openly about how it has touched their family and by pressing for breakthroughs in treatment.

People who make comments to our stories online at napavalleyregister.com use whatever name they want to represent themselves, from ones that show their team support (CrusherFan) to ones that show a humorous twist on real people (Ruff Limblog) and more.

It seems hotels are being planted as fast as grapevines in Napa County, especially at the southern end.

Dear editor,

Dear editor,

Dear editor,

The 2007 Farm Bill is a multi-headed Hydra with sufficiently diverse provisions that apparently made some lawmakers feel good (enough) about voting for it, while also retaining plenty in it for just about everyone to dislike.

The amount of blogging, punditing and spinning going on over Obama‚s recent "gaffe" concerning people in some small Midwest towns has been simply staggering. It's an even bigger story than Jeremiah Wright, although there is a creeping note of tiredness of all the Obama bashing starting to appear.

The city of Napa just handed out $12,500 to groups that excel in recycling.

What are you doing with your rebate check from the government?