The recent Santa Cruz County grand jury report, “Alcohol, a Drug of Choice for Scotts Valley Teens,” provides the proverbial good news-bad news picture. Well, perhaps OK news and bad news is a better summary.

In my two prior swine flu columns, I advised everyone to be prepared for the flu season by getting vaccinated when the vaccine is available. I also talked about being prepared to stay at home for the duration of one’s flu symptoms.

In my most recent column, I covered some of the reasons people hate lawyers. This month, I promised to find reasons why lawyers aren’t utterly useless. If you ask a lawyer, most will say that they are vital to achieving justice and preserving freedom for the weak and oppressed.

Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a three-part series addressing the H1N1 virus.

Exchange Club of Scotts Valley

Most wineries offer wine club memberships that allow their patrons to receive monthly or quarterly shipments of wine. Usually, a wine club membership will also come with some perks, such as free tastings, discounts on wine and an annual wine club party.

Stryker Austin Silva was born at 8 a.m. July 15, 2009, to Nancy Maureen Caputo and Gavin Daniel Silva of Scotts Valley. He weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces, at Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital.

It has been at least three years since the last good albacore season. We have had small teases the past few years, but the red-hot fishing we saw in the late 1990s and first years of this millennium just disappeared.