The son of a Lake County pastor died Feb. 3 in Pakistans Northwest Frontier Province when an improvised explosive device killed three U.S. Army Special Operations soldiers.

Santa Rosas school board Wednesday will consider cutting three days from the upcoming school year, along with eliminating spring sports and more than seven librarians, in a quest to save $5.6 million.

Propane is cheaper and burns cleaner than gasoline, but it powers just a small fraction of U.S. vehicles. A Santa Rosa company wants to change that by converting cars and trucks to run on the alternative fuel.

Toyota plans to recall about 300,000 Prius hybrids worldwide over a brake problem and will notify the U.S. and Japanese governments Tuesday, a news report said.

The New Orleans Saints stymied Peyton Manning, then intercepted him to seal the Super Bowl, rallying to beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 Sunday night.

Around this time every year animal shelter workers across Sonoma County brace themselves for a kitty invasion. This year, theyre fighting back. In what may be the largest event of its kind in county history, all seven of the countys animal shelters are teaming up Feb. 20 to offer a free spay and neuter clinic for cats.

Census officials are reaching out to hard-to-count groups such as Indian tribes and other minorities, and on Monday brought their road show to the offices of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo in Healdsburg.

Over the past three years, one in four construction workers in Sonoma County lost their jobs. The sector has shed almost 3,700 jobs since 2006, according to state labor figures. But for several months last year, construction employment stopped shrinking -- and even started growing, the state reported. Is that growth real?

This column is about the Super Bowl but its really about the 49ers. Call the 49ers the subtext, and I will get back to them later. The Saints victory - so unexpected, at least by this deluded writer - was because of two things: better quarterbacking in this one game and better coaching.