Lyme Disease is hard to detect and diagnose, harder still to treat effectively. So perhaps it's not surprising that the disease is becoming more and more common.

Ticks are known as common carriers of Lyme Disease, but Nurse Practitioner Mara Williams, author of the Lyme handbook, Nature's Dirty Needle: What You Need To Know About Chronic Lyme Disease And How To Get The Help To Feel Better, explains that Lyme is just one part of the medical hazard the little bugs pose.

Ticks may be the most widespread vector for Lyme Disease and its related ailments, they're not the only ones. And the ticks themselves are increasingly widespread.

Working in the wine industry is increasingly an option for women. But owning the winery is another matter. We hear from some two local women winery owners in this North Bay Report.

Merry EdwardsMerry Edwards, one of the early trailblazers among women winemakers, recounts being fortunate to have her early career path enabled by a series of other outsiders.

In addition to the gender-based genetic differences that give women in general a more discerning palate, Carol Shelton (pictured above) recalls how a game invented by her mother also helped train her olfactory acuity.

 Women are entering California's wine industry in ever-increasing numbers. But how many of them are actually making the wines?

Lucia Gilbert Women winemakers also tend to collect a disproportionate share of awards in various competitions, observes Lucia Gilbert of Santa Clara University. She suspects the basis for that lies in the intense recruiting competition these women face as they leave school to join the winery workforce.

Gilbert's figures on the number of women winemakers statewide have been further broken down by region. She notes that their highest concentration, statistically, is in the counties to the north of Napa and Sonoma.

Newly adopted legislation seeks to make the state Fish and Game commission more professional and more accountable. The reappointment of the current Commission chairman could be the first test of how—or if—those changes will be applied.

Jim KelloggOne requirement of AB 2609 is that the Commission adopt a code of ethics that includes open and transparent governance, and prohibits commissioners' conflicts of interest. Marilyn Jasper, Chair of the watchdog group Public Interest Coalition, contends that incumbent Fish and Game Commission chairman Jim Kellogg has not, in the past, lived up to either of those requirements.

When Kellogg first came up for reappointment, in 2006, he faced some concerted opposition from environmental organizations around the state. Eric Mills of Action for Animals was part of that.