What to look for in 2009

NapaValleyRegister.com publishes monthly statistics on arrests and convictions for driving under the influence — and so-called “wet reckless” convictions — in Napa County.

OAKLAND — A former transit police officer has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed and allegedly restrained black man in a racially charged case that has outraged residents and community leaders and set off violent protests.

A home on Silverado Trail went up in flames Wednesday morning, closing the Trail for about two-and-a-half hours.

More information on BART officer Johannes Mehserle from Napa and the New Years Day shooting death of Oscar Grant at an Oakland BART station will be part of three press conferences throughout the day today.

The ex-BART officer charged with murder of a BART passenger New Years Day in Oakland appears in court Wednesday morning. Johannes Mehserle grew up in Napa.

Napa Valley Unified School District leaders will host a public hearing Thursday to discuss the possibility of ramping up high school graduation requirements.

Residents of a southeast Napa neighborhood were evacuated from their homes Wednesday evening after the parents of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle found two unidentified packages on their front porch.

BART officer Johannes Mehserle, a 2000 graduate of New Technology High School in Napa and a 2006 graduate of the Napa Valley College Police Academy, was arrested Tuesday night in Nevada on a murder charge in connection with a New Years Day shooting at an Oakland BART station.

Napa Valley Unified School District will host a public hearing Thursday to discuss the possibility of ramping up high school graduation requirements.

My wife can see the future.

A Napa man was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Wednesday for multiple counts of sexually abusing a 10-year-old.

Henry Michalski is going to war.

A home on Silverado Trail went up in flames Wednesday morning, closing the Trail for about two-and-a-half hours.

The Bay Area AirQuality  District has issued a Winter Spare the Air Alert, banning wood burning both indoors and outdoors from now through noon Friday.

State Assemblymember Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, this year's chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, called this morning's State of the State speech from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, "a welcome change in his approach to working with the Legislature."

NEW YORK — A US Airways pilot guided his jetliner into the frigid Hudson River after a flock of birds knocked out both its engines just after takeoff Thursday, and all 155 people on board were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank.

OAKLAND —Tensions ran high in an Alameda County courthouse, where the transit police officer from Napa who shot and killed an unarmed black man pleaded not guilty to murder Thursday.

Anyone interested in being a part of the Napa County Horse Council is invited to its inaugural meeting tonight, 7 p.m., at the Napa Horsemen’s Association, at 1200 Foster Road.

The Napa area California Highway Patrol  will be holding its monthly Start Smart class from 7 to 9 p.m., next Monday.