This month’s tasting focused on Tempranillo, a single varietal grown throughout the world that does particularly well in Spain, specifically in the region of La Rioja. As Spain produces most of the great Tempranillos it is of little wonder that all the wines selected for this month’s tasting panel did come from that part of the world.

Tech N9ne has been blasting a barrage of lethal lyrics through sound systems for more than two decades in the hip-hop game.

When Erin McKittrick and her husband, Brentwood “Hig” Higman, last visited Juneau, an unseen October drizzle pattered on their tiny rafts as they paddled into the inky darkness along Gastineau Channel. At first, the city was just a small island of lights in a sea of night. Then they could make out the fog-obscured shapes of buildings, and then the crimson stream of car lights on Egan Drive, and then the imposing towers of the cruise ship dock where they landed.

As you’re getting ready for the holidays, take some of the drudgery out of your tasks with an audio book. Look for bestsellers like “Her Fearful Symmetry” by Audrey Niffenegger, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford, and “Unaccustomed Earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Take on Diane Gabaldon’s latest blockbuster (all 46 hours), “An Echo in the Bone,” or opt for something shorter, like one of several Louis L’Amour audiobooks.

Jeanne Wilder was trying to work on jewelry at the outdoor Juneau Artists Market recently when a gust of wind rocked her makeshift gallery. Next to her Carol Schriver tried in vain to corral her fabrics and Michelle Donohue looked far down the street to see if the scents of her homemade soaps would turn some heads. Thus was born Homespun Mercantile.

Most musical performances are marked by a clear distinction between performer and audience: the musician plays, the audience listens. Not so with the band Earthen Vessel, a local Christian band. They play with the expectation that the audience will join them in song, and share in the powerful experience of making music.

I refuse to call it “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” I’m sorry. I don’t recall the book’s cover having the words, “The Twilight Saga,” and therefore I refuse to acknowledge them when referring to the movie. I’m nitpicking a little, I know, and that’s likely because I get a little irritable with chapter two of this – ahem – saga created by Stephenie Meyer.

Thunder Mountain’s Thomas Riley, top, tries to get opponent Darin Davis in a fall position during their championship match at Ketchikan High School Saturday night during the Bill Weiss Wrestling Tournament. Riley won 9-3 in the 112-pound weight class. The Falcons’ Cameron Fronimos won the 171-pound weight class with 10-2 decision.

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Special Olympics tourney draws 500