Newsroom

Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) will be in Kenwood for a question and answer session on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Kenwood Fire Station. The community is invited to come meet Thompson and ask him questions about issues that concern them.

Thompson has served in Congress since 1988, and prior to that served as a State Senator.

The city's newest veterans memorial will be dedicated Saturday to honor of county residents who died while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Everyone is invited to attend the dedication ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m. in Veterans Memorial Park at Main and Third streets in downtown Napa.

Like many young Americans, I grew up playing football. I've watched as the game has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. Every fall it is played by people from Pop Warner to the NFL.

Along with football's skyrocketing popularity, we have seen significant research connecting the game to brain injuries. Each year, nearly 2 million people across our country suffer a traumatic brain injury, including NFL players and athletes of all ages in all sports.

In the current congressional term, Mike Thompson has voted his party's line 92.2 percent of the time.

That may sound extreme, but by modern standards that makes Thompson a moderate. Drawn from more than 1,700 votes, Thompson's voting pattern ranks 123rd among 190 Democratic representatives. The average Democrat votes with the party 93.1 percent of the time as does the average Republican.

Lampson Field Airport received a $67,940 grant to replace its rotating beacon as well as install a perimeter and develop design alternatives for gate placement and fence-line routing, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) announced Monday.

"This grant is a win for Lakeport and Lake County," Thompson stated. "It will improve safety by helping guide planes in and out of Lampson Field and create a more secure facility by deterring unauthorized persons and vehicles from entering onto the airfield."

For some, it has become one of those life-defining moments, the ones where you remember the exact time and date, where you were and what you were doing. For Jose Torres, 25, of Rohnert Park, it was 8:30 a.m. June 15.

Torres, a Sonoma State University student who has been living illegally in the United States for about a decade, was at work when his mother called him from Mexico. She said she saw a news report about a new program that offers undocumented students the chance to work legally in the United States.