Corner Booth: French Twist

University Preparatory School is having a French-themed dinner/auction on Saturday that looks like lots of fun.

Auction items include wine-country tours, houseboat excursions, Disneyland trips and more (see the full list at www.UPREPauction.com). Music will be provided by the Charles Valona Trio. Bill and Lisa Collins of Keyhole Mystery Theater also will entertain at the fundraising event, which is at Riverview Country Club.

Tickets are $40 each, and can be reserved by calling 242-0424. Tres bon!

• Also on Saturday, Redding will observe Earth Day with its Whole Earth Festival in the sculpture garden next to City Hall. We attended this event last year, and found it really interesting and informative. Booths will be open from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Hit the Redding farmers market, then stroll on over to learn all about sustainable living.
• The Cottonwood Farmers Market and Artisan Faire starts this Friday at ETC Mercantile on Main Street in beautiful downtown Cottonwood. The event runs every Friday from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. 
• The Pulitzer Prizes were handed out Monday, and The New York Times was the big winner in the journalism categories, taking five awards. The winner for fiction was “Olive Kitteridge” by Elizabeth Strout. Nonfiction book winner was “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II” by Douglas A. Blackmon (who also should’ve won for “longest title”). History winner was “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family” by Annette Gordon-Reed, who earlier won a National Book Award as well. To see the full list of winners, click here.
• Celtics Update: OK, I take back every bad thing I ever said about Ray Allen. The veteran guard, who had a shaky Game 1 against the Chicago Bulls, drilled a three-pointer with two seconds left to lift my beloved Boston Celtics to an 118-115 victory on Monday. The series, now tied 1-1, is turning out to be the most competitive in the first round. I may need medication for my heart.

Tips appreciated: Send news tidbits to steveb.anewscafe@gmail.com.