"Winter Break" starts Dec. 13 for Napa schools, and most of the kids can't wait!

Cadillacs, Mercuries and V-8 Fords. Maybe a GTO. Those are the cars songwriters think about when they pen odes to automobiles.

Two things we learned about our politics and our economy in 2008:

Have any of you taken on the challenge of getting out on the newest half-mile racing straight-away in Solano County?

Nothing lasts forever, and perhaps the decline of the bingo games at the Napa Valley Expo is just a sign of the changing times in Napa.

Dear editor, The closing of Copia meant a great deal to many people. Those people were volunteers, more than 100, who staffed the programs that serviced the guests and the full-time employees.

Dear editor, With regard to Kevin Courtney’s column on Copia’s demise (“What was I thinking?,” Dec. 28), it may be true that Copia made a number of crucial mistakes, but we should recognize and applaud the role it played in showcasing Napa’s legacy of wine, food and the arts.

Dear editor, I would like to thank the person who turned in a bag I lost with two sets of keys in it, and other miscellaneous things, on Dec. 17 during the morning I was doing volunteer work at the Queen of the Valley.

These are my favorite books for this year, in no particular order. I have my own particular standards, which include the fact that I hardly read fiction any more so these are all non fiction. Also, they may not have original publishing dates of 2008 but are all recent and I read them myself this year.

Do you clean out closets before the holidays or wait until after?

Here is your chance to sound off on any topic that is not covered today by a Register.com article/opinion item.