Santa Cruz

Chuck Carpy,68, considered one of the founders of the modern Napa Valley wine industry, died Monday of a heart attack in St. Helena, Calif.His grandfather went to California from Bordeaux, France, at the end of the Civil War and eventually founded Christian Brothers cellars in St. Helena.Mr. Carpy founded Freemark Abbey Winery in 1967 and co-founded Rutherford Hill Winery in 1976 and Napa Valley Bank in 1982. He also directed the Napa Valley Wine Library and was president of the Napa Valley Vintners Association and the Wine Institute.

What's new in natural foods?you imagine that the people behind the latest trends in organic, all-natural, wheat-, sugar-, fat- and preservative-free, homeopathic, herbal, vegan and vegetarian products wear braids, beards and Birkenstocks, you might be surprised by the answer.It's Southwestern, Italian and Thai-influenced cuisine, it's "light" corn chips and exotic-vegetable chips, it's extra-virgin olive oil, fat-free salad dressings and gourmet chocolates and Wolfgang Puck pizzas -- in short, it's everything new in the mainstream world of food products.

APTOS, Calif. -- In a bizarre twist to the rape and slaying of a 14-year-old girl, sheriff's investigators have arrested two of her schoolmates for allegedly plotting to kill a youth they blamed for the killing.The body of Mariana Zavala, an Aptos High School freshman, was found Sunday on the campus of Freedom School. She had been bludgeoned to death, apparently from being slammed against the ground or a building, Santa Cruz County sheriff's investigators said.Deputies arrested Matias Espinoza Soto, 21, a resident of the nearby Green Valley Apartments, and charged him with murder.

FRIDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS X Games Foz do Iguacu ESPN3, 7 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, Practice 1 NBCSN7 a.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup STP 400, Practice SPEED1 CW Truck O'Reilly 250, Final Practice SPEED3 Sprint Cup STP 400, Qualifying SPEED4:30 MLB Tampa Bay@Orioles (T) MASN9 a.m. Dodgers@Orioles MASN7 Washington@Mets MASN27 Kansas City@Boston MLB7 Washington@Mets (T)

The Midwest remained the least expensive region in the nation to buy a house during the July-September period, a National Association of Home Builders report released yesterday shows.Listed below are the 10 most affordable and 10 least affordable U.S. housing markets in the third quarter, along with the rankings for Baltimore and Washington. The number corresponding to each area is the percentage of the homes sold that were within reach of the median-income household at the prevailing mortgage interest rate.

Housing affordability fell slightly nationwide in the third quarter to 61.5 percent, down from 63.4 percent in the second quarter of 2001, according to the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Opportunity Index. The index measures the percentage of homes sold that a family earning the median income can afford to buy. Families earning the median U.S. income of $52,500 could afford to buy 61.5 percent of homes sold nationwide in the third quarter. Rockford, Ill., was the nation's most affordable housing market, as families earning the median income of $57,000 could afford 89.4 percent of homes sold, according to the index.

ALI ALATAS, 76 Indonesian diplomat was once considered for top U.N. post Former Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, who had the delicate task of representing Indonesia during an often-brutal dictatorship and was once considered for the top job at the United Nations, died yesterday in Singapore, a week after suffering a stroke. Mr. Alatas was the country's highest-ranking diplomat from 1988 until 1999 - the year after longtime President Suharto was swept from power after a wave of pro-democracy street protests.

Muncie, Ind., was the nation's most affordable housing market in the first quarter of 2000, as higher interest rates caused overall U.S. housing affordability to decline significantly from 1999. The National Association of Home Builders' Housing Opportunity Index said families earning the median income of $50,200 could afford to buy 62.8 percent of the homes sold nationwide in the first three months of 2000, down 6.8 percent from 1999. The Baltimore metropolitan area was ranked 60th. Families earning the median income of $63,100 could afford to purchase 74.1 percent of the homes sold.

Kokomo, Ind., has most affordable housing market Kokomo, Ind., was the nation's most affordable housing market in the final quarter of 1999, as higher interest rates caused overall U.S. housing affordability to decline significantly from 1998. According to the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Opportunity Index, families earning the median income of $47,800 could afford to buy 63.8 percent of the homes sold nationwide at the end of 1999, down 2.4 percent from 1998."The decline is almost certainly a reflection of higher mortgage interest rates, which have made it difficult for many families to become homeowners," said NAHB President Robert Mitchell.

Eleanor Holm Whalen, 91, a two-time swimming gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics who was kicked off the 1936 U.S. team after she was caught drinking champagne and shooting dice on the ocean liner en route to Europe, died of kidney failure Saturday in Miami. After the 1936 games, she starred in Billy Rose's "Aquacades," a traveling show. In 1938, she played Jane in Tarzan's Revenge, with Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion, in the starring role. In 1940, she married Mr. Rose, who later was a Broadway producer.