Ruby Montana steers her VW convertible past the former homes of Liberace, Dinah Shore and Sammy Davis Jr., and I start to panic.

The Big Valley Travel Club can take four more participants for its small group trip to New Zealand from Feb. 7 to March 12.

The Scholastic Book Fair, sponsored by Friends of the Modesto Library, will take place in the downstairs auditorium of the Modesto Library, 1500 I St., on the following days and times:

Papers cover much of Linda Eckhart's desk, albeit in meticulously arranged piles. She bears down, inputting figures, pecking away at her keyboard, occasionally swiveling to consult with a colleague via speakerphone.

The music is booming. The disco ball is twirling. And the liquor is flowing. None of this distracts Kim Newell of Oakland. The single 29-year-old is trying to knock off the spring-loaded head of her opponent's plastic boxer in a friendly game of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.

While I was sitting at my desk working recently, I received an e-mail from Uganda with the subject line "WE MISS YOU."

Two big names in Christian music and an up and coming group will share a stage in Manteca on Nov. 5 as Building 429, Todd Agnew and Kimber Rising are in concert for The Promise Remains Tour.

Generation New Hope, a Modesto organization that puts on concerts by relatively unknown or local Christian rock bands, decided to go all out this month.

Q: Blue jeans are not fashion.

Will giving your daughter a masculine name -- as Heidi Klum and Seal did with their newborn daughter Lou -- increase her odds for career success?

Texting, a favorite and seemingly instinctive activity for teens, has loomed over education and parenthood for several years. Many adults felt like it would mash proper English into the ground and was a distraction from serious learning.

Since we were cave dwellers, the hearth has been the heart of the home. Over time, fireplaces naturally became the focal point in the family room, dressed up with elaborate moldings and ornamental mantels.

An unlikely international superstar is emerging in full bloom, offering a newly affordable home luxury in an era of tight money. Bucking its family's delicate reputation, moth orchids have gone from exotic flora to supermarket staple. Cloned in Taiwanese labs and nurtured in California nurseries, they're popping up in droves at Raley's stores and Costco warehouses.

The vampire world just got a new addition to its clan.

NEW YORK -- Fans of "Family Guy" are chortling about Microsoft's belated discovery that a "Family Guy" special might not jibe with the software giant's corporate image.