OK, so President Bush is due here Thursday late afternoon/early evening for a Republican fundraiser at a private Upvalley residence.

White House officials announced Wednesday that President George W. Bush will spend about two hours in Napa County early Thursday night for a private fundraiser that so far has raised about $850,000 for the Republican National Committee.

SAN FRANCISCO — President Bush was set to visit Redding later today to get a first-hand look at the wildfires that have ravaged hundreds of square miles and strained the state’s firefighting resources.

CHICO, Calif. — Arson investigators say a wildfire that destroyed more than 80 homes in and around the town of Paradise last month was intentionally set.

A Napa couple suffered major injuries Thursday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash at the entrance to River Rock Casino in Geyserville.             

A magnitude 2.8 earthquake hit just outside Calistoga early this morning.

REDDING, Calif. — President Bush offered federal help and encouragement to some of the 25,000 firefighters working under a blazing sun to contain wildfires that make up the single largest fire event ever recorded in California.

As the presidential motorcade snaked its way down Highway 29 late Thursday, protesters kicked off an anti-war demonstration at the intersection of highways 29 and 221. Taking advantage of a bustling audience in the form of rush-hour traffic, members of a local anti-war group — United Napans Concerned Over the Iraq Lunacy — drove dozens of white crosses into the parched hillside.

SAN FRANCISCO — More California voters say they would oppose a November ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the state’s constitution than would support it, according to a survey released Friday.

Tucked away in the Napa hills, President George W. Bush dined at the ivy-covered Harlan Estate Thursday night against the backdrop of a smoke-tinged Napa Valley.

American Canyon police raced to a report on Thursday morning of shots being fired in the parking lot of the Gaia Napa Valley hotel on Highway 29. When they arrived both the shooter and intended victim had split, according to police.

Jeanette Pometta had a front-row seat for the presidential motorcade. Her front yard faces Oakville Grade.

Few Napans got to see President George W. Bush on Thursday. Gary Hall shook his hand.

SAN FRANCISCO — Fire crews on Friday had extinguished all but 38 of the more than 2,000 blazes ignited over the past month, allowing most mandatory evacuations to be lifted so residents could return home for the weekend.