Today, all over the Western Hemisphere– except for here in the U.S.-- people are celebrating Columbus Day.  (Americans celebrated in Monday, more in deference to having a 3-day weekend for those whose jobs allow them a day off on this holiday than to remembering this day as a historical event.

Some of us actually work for a living, others use the internet to scam and make a few bucks off of naive and trusting folks. This morning my phone rang.

Vinton and Benton County need your help! The Iowa Board of Regents has a task force gathering information on the viability of creating regional service centers.

  Editor,       Recently President Clinton has been featured in an Ad supporting President Obama.  The former President is saying “This election to me …… is who is likely to return us to full employment”  .

Last week, the Associated Press and several other news networks released yet another ‘gospel’.  Harvard University professor Karen King, an expert in the history of Christianity, has identified what many are now calling, “The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series on serving on jury duty. I was in the jury pool in September, and when a mistrial caused the case on which I was a prospective juror to be put on trial again in October, I received the unique opportunity to see much of the same case from both the perspective of a potential juror and from my usual perspective as a member of the media.

THANK-YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE, I want to take this very public approach to thank all the wonderful, caring individuals who worked together to save me, Monica Lynn Stark.

  These are troubling times. Families are struggling to keep their houses and to put food on the table. They see their paychecks, if they haven’t already lost them, remaining stagnant or decreasing, all the while costs of living are increasing.

  It’s cray and its any But now I clearly see What happens when your keyboard No longer can say “z”   The other day I wanted To write about the haes Of allergies in August And why I never walk corn maes   But when I read my words Up there on that white screen I was presently puleheaded At the letters left unseen   What could be the problem? What’s the source of this confusion? Had my “z” indeed vanished Or was it some delusion?   I looked again and tried But it was almost mystical How I could no longer type “Dazzling, mezzanine or quizzical”   Or: “The city was abuzz About the grizzly in the blizzard And the dazzling jazz orchestra From which the music was embezzled”   I haven’t got the fuzziest: How without “z” can I type “fizz’ Is there anybody out there With an answer to this quiz?   But wait, you say quite puzzled How can it really be That your laptop now is muzzled If in your paragraphs we see   The letter that you say Is now impossible to convey And that you only now use Letters from “Y” to “A?”   Thanks to modern innovation And a creative perseverance I can keep on writing “z” Although it can be a nuisance   You can without a “z” Write of eating pizza at the zoo It may sound beyond amazing But all you have to do   Is find a “z” now written Somewhere on the Internet Then you copy and you paste it And you soon see that what you get Is the ability to write With confidence and zeal Any word that has a “z” – Then how “z”esty you will feel.

  The sunset last Thursday was so much more fiery than usual, and the red burned on the western horizon ­much longer than I had ever observed, that it seemed more like a message from the heavens than an earthly phenomenon.