In the past few years, crime rates have been gone way up. I wonder why? I think the fact that it is now very rare that a person gets the punishment they deserve plays a very major role. Same with some people that seem to get away with tons of very serious stuff before being put in jail for a longer time than you go on vacation.

Just when it seemed we’d seen everything we were going to see in President George W. Bush’s eight-year White House run, when the major issues facing the nation seemed to be in focus and the national party conventions set the tone for what many say is the most important presidential campaign in their lifetimes, news breaks out that sets the nation on its ear.

Now that all the excitement of the conventions is over, it is time to get serious about the candidates who are best-suited to run this country.

I enjoy reading various Napa historical documents, and tonight I found a particularly interesting one, a study of tourism commissioned by the City of St. Helena in 1983. It seems the good people of St. Helena, at the time 33 percent of whom were over 60 years of age, were concerned that there was too much tourism and it was causing problems.

Bloggermania II was Sturday at Veteran's Park in Yountville.

Amid the financial crisis and the worsening violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran’s nuclear program and Western efforts to stop it have slipped down Washington’s list of priorities. That’s just what Tehran’s ruling mullahs were hoping for.

No one in Washington has a better view of the global credit markets than Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. So when they say the situation is dire, it’s not as if a couple of flightless birds were saying the sky was falling.

Dear editor,

Dear editor, I witnessed a second child (presumably a Napa High student) on the street pavement under a stopped car on Lincoln Avenue near Napa High School. This happened in almost the same place last school year. I only hope this student will be all right.

Dear editor, Wow! My husband and I experienced kayaking on the Napa River with Kayak NV. We spent an amazing afternoon paddling up and down the river enjoying a whole new perspective of our beautiful valley. We saw plenty of egrets, cormorants, grebes, kites, mergansers and a huge salmon that jumped completely out of the water.

Dear editor, Tonight, the second annual Eat to Defeat Family Violence fundraiser takes place in Napa and Solano counties. More than 20 restaurants have generously offered to contribute a portion of their proceeds to help fund local organizations working to assist victims of family violence. Last year, the event raised more than $3,500. We are hoping to increase that amount substantially this year.

The economy is on fire and Congress, the Media, and the voters are all fiddling while it burns. We need this bail out, and we need it fast, and it is bailing out not just the big money interests, it is bailing out you and me, it is bailing out everyone. Not enough people seem to get that urgency, and we need to, fast.

Barack Obama chose Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate ... what do you think of the choice?

(Editor's note: The comments on this crashed about 9:30 a.m Friday, right after McCain's announcement. We were able to rebuild most but not all of the comments)