A few weeks ago, I got sick. How do I know this? Because I went to my doctor and she said, "You are sick." Always good to have back up. But with the great health care providers at Virginia Gay, I'm on the road to recovery.

Mrs. Julie Clingman is a dedicated and caring volunteer at Tilford Elementary. She has helped countless students and has spent a lot of her own time and resources to help students learn.

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." "Seek opportunities to show you care. Thesmallest gesturesoften make the biggest difference.

To the Editor: Representative Pettengill recently published a summary of the changes involved in the chapter twenty collective bargaining agreement.

The Braille School property... Those seem to be the buzz words around town, and probably will be for some time to come. "It will be nothing but a huge expense, should the City take it," "just knock all those old buildings down and build housing," "why isn't the Main Building on the National Registry of Historic Places," "what's going to happen to Americorps' use of the campus?" These are all very interesting thoughts and questions.

To the Editor: Virginia Gay Hospital and Clinics employs nearly 300 people and has an annual payroll of more than $13 million. Virginia Gay serves every patient with the same commitment to quality and compassion, whether it is charity care or services provided to those with the very best private insurance.

My husband and I recently traded the cold Iowa winter for a week in Maui. It was our first time to travel to this beautiful island and I fully intended to make the most of it.

To the Editor: Have our elected representatives disappeared? We are growing concerned over apparent lack of visibility of some of our Iowa state and federal representatives.

We had a run of bad luck last week. The front burner on our cook top quit working and then the refrigerator started making an awful noise. To be honest, I have hearing loss, so I couldn't hear the noise in the refrigerator but it seemed to annoy everyone else, including the dog.

By Dean Close, Editor Along with the fact that I am really, really horrible at telling jokes, there is another reason I did not make it as a professional comedian: My timing stinks.