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.

I managed to get out of town for a short road trip last weekend, a nice run up into the Gold Country of Sonora, Columbia and Angels Camp. But from start to finish, I was reminded of the men and women fighting the fire in Santa Cruz County.

My home is encircled by fairy rings. But before you envision my dog, Bucky, and me hiding out at night to see if the wee little ones will appear, let me explain that these are rings of redwoods.