On the evening of May 8, I attended the Spring 2008 pinning ceremony of nursing graduates from Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey - a group of 38 people who decided to pursue new careers taking care of others.

The college promotes its nursing program as being top-notch, with its competitive admission standards, quality faculty and a new building with high-tech equipment and computerized “patient” manikins with realistic body functions. The curriculum appears tough, too, at least to someone who earned a degree in journalism.

The ceremony started with two lines of nurses, all dressed in white, filing into The Commons and carrying small white candles. The two lines joined in the middle of the expansive room, uniting under a lighted arch decorated with greenery. From there, they took their seats.

There was the expected introductions, speeches, invocation, Florence Nightengale pledge and benediction.

In-between the “expected,” was the unexpected - at least for me.

We heard the students’ stories of the toll that their intensive studying, time-consuming hospital clinicals and rigorous testing took on their lives and that of their families.

They weren’t complaining, though.

No, these people were thanking their parents, spouses and children for their support and understanding, and in some cases, letting them move back home so they could save money. They were grateful for those who babysat, cooked or did laundry for them when the nursing students had to hit the books. They related how they missed their child’s school program or had to say “no” when the youngster wanted to go to the park, dutifully putting studying first. “We’re going to Disney World,” one mom/nurse promised her little girl.

Each graduate had written out his or her short narratives, with a faculty member reading each as the new nurse came on stage with loved ones. The spouse or parent then stuck on the shiny, hard-earned “RN” pins on the white shirts. The nurse handed one or more rose and fern arrangements to his or her mother, wife or daughter and the nurses walked off, eager to begin their futures.

I had not realized until that ceremony how many of these nursing students struck out on this difficult new career path, apparently not happy with their present job or lack of a job. Many are well past the average age of an undergraduate college student, so they probably hadn’t had to study for years, another challenge. One man had a series of bottom-level jobs and another man said he was “sweeping floors” before he entered the nursing program.

That night I gained an even bigger appreciation for these students, and not just for mastering what is inside those thick, heavy books with every minute detail of the human body and ailment known to exist. What touched me was this excited, relieved group of women - and men - went through all of this work to serve others, most with the extra layer of family responsibilities.

My congratulations for working so hard, my wishes for a great future and my respect goes to all the members of this class:

Sarah Akeman, Stephanie Anderson, Rachel Baker, Christine Bellovich, Ashley Boyles, Michael Brady, Lance Bristow, Holly Brockman, Tammy Bugger, Jean Coffey, Robin Colbert, Skylar Coleman, Casey Cox, Cory David, Elizabeth Eyers, Jayme Ford, Megan French, Donna Gibson, Jamie Guthrie, Mandi Hanfelder, Lori Hazelip, Lisa Henson, Lori Hilyard, Mary Hutchinson, Melanie Ironwing, Michael Lawrence, Thomas Mattingly, Kimara Morrissey, James Noud, Kristin Prince, Christina Pyles, Kaci Ridder, Jessica Schwartzkopf, Stephen Sherwood, Tracie Sussenbach, Zoe-Anne Weller, Kimberly Willis and Amanda Woods.

As with a lot of people, I am weary of the bickering and nit-picking going back and forth between senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who are vying for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Every word is scrutinized, its utterer attacked and in the meantime, the national media continuously beat us over the head with such trivial, non-issues nonstop. They pound and pound until they find another silly misspoken word, and wonder aloud if it will affect the November outcome. They believe the frequency of their reports makes the stories relevant and important.

Please.

With an expensive war raging on with no end in sight and no definition of victory; food and gas prices hitting the sky with many stuck with frozen wages or no jobs; the economy tanking; people needing affordable healthcare; and concerns over the environment, what issue commanded precious television coverage this weekend?

Religion.

Sunday night, I watched the first half of The Compassion Forum on CNN television, which was held at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pa., a grilling of the Democratic candidates about their religious views. Republican nominee-apparent Sen. John McCain declined to participate.

Obviously there are people with voting litmus tests based on their religious views. I can understand how religion could tie in with abortion, “Rapture” as it relates to another Middle Eastern war or how strongly a president would weigh someone’s religious views in making appointments.

But, predicting who would make an effective president based on a Methodist versus United Church of Christ candidate is not relevant to me.

I think it is illogical to believe that someone who says he or she reads the Bible more often than his or her opponent will be a better president. Even if it did matter, people lie about or inflate their religiousness as they do about sex. Or, as with myself on the opposite end, I don’t discuss my beliefs except with a select few people and thankfully, many other people are the same way.

Despite the program’s title, appearing to be religious doesn’t mean someone will have compassion as a president. Look at the trail of evangelists and ministers over the years who have been caught stealing money or who were involved in sex scandals after standing in front of their congregations every Sunday. Don’t the alleged abuser-polygamists in the West think they are religious?

Clinton won the coin toss Sunday, so she commanded the first half of the forum that I listened to while I cooked. Dinner was ready after that, so I only caught part of Obama’s latter portion of the program. From what others have told me, it was much of the same type of questioning except for his being quizzed on his perception of the Muslim religion from living in Indonesia as a boy - which I did hear.

What I concluded from watching slightly more than half of the program is that apparently people not only have to be of “faith” (preferably Protestants, but always Christian) to win the presidency, they also have to divulge how often they read the Bible; believe when life begins; and speculate as to why God lets people suffer.

Aren’t these questions that mankind have struggled with for centuries? Should someone have to answer these questions to be elected president? The suffering question brought to mind the silly concept people used to pose: “Can God create a rock that even He can’t move?” and the popular book about bad things happening to good people.

Christian, Jewish and one Muslim asked questions, but no representatives from Eastern religions, atheists, Native American beliefs, Unitarians or ethical societies quizzed the candidates. Perhaps those voters aren’t “important” to the organizers - or maybe some were invited but they don’t believe in people basing votes on candidates’ religious views or on who is, or who appears to be the most devout - none of which is verifiable anyway.

Now let’s get back to the real, tangible issues that affect my family and me.

Let’s have a big, long television program on what all THREE candidates would do about the economy; then the next week do one on the war in Iraq; the next week on environmental concerns; then healthcare; and then maybe any other important issue.

Grill them on those issues. Hold them to the fire - religiously.

Also, this time, no one is excused from attendance.

On April 2 it will be a year since someone shot 28-year-old DaRon Hearn to death on Oakwood Road in Alton. No one is in custody yet for the crime.

In June, it will be seven years since a yet-unknown killer stabbed young Kristy Black multiple times, wrapped her body in a multi-colored comforter and dumped it in Piasa Harbor, just off the Great River Road. Although someone found Kristy’s remains in Jersey County, authorities believe the Alton teenager’s killing probably happened in the city. Since then, Alton police have been assisting the Jersey County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation.

Those two cases, which have dragged on for one- to 6.5 years, prompted an anonymous 80-year-old Alton man to put up two, $2,000 rewards at Cornerstone Bank and Trust in Alton in late January. He specified that the money would go to whomever provides information leading to the arrests and convictions of the killers of DaRon Hearn or Kristy Black.

Besides that $4,000, there is the possibility of other reward money being available, including from CrimeStoppers - if the tips prove valuable and are called in to: (866) 371-TIPS (8477).

Police have said they believe they know who committed the Hearn killing, and possibly the Black murder, but they need witnesses to come forward to solidify the cases and tie together the information they have. Police know there were people outside Oakwood Estates public housing complex when a man gunned down Hearn, but none will admit to seeing anything.

Black was with a number of people at several locations in Alton the night she died, also.

As a mother, I cannot imagine enduring the double pain of a child suddenly being taken in a senseless, violent act - then going for months or years knowing the killer is not identified and out walking free, enjoying life.

When I learned about the rewards, I called Kristy Black’s aunt, Marilyn Bradford, and Kristy’s mother Susan Williams, for their comments. Both are nice women. I still can remember hearing the optimism and hope in their voices that the money might bring forth some good, solid information on Kristy’s killer. The sisters were so thankful that a stranger would remember the 17-year-old some 6 1/2 years after her killing, and then want to help find her murderer with thousands of dollars of his own money.

Alton Police Chief Chris Sullivan said he is dismayed that no one has called in any worthwhile tips in the months since the two, $2,000 rewards were announced. “There has not been much activity at all, it’s disappointing,” he said this week. “We had hoped the rewards would bring both cases to the forefront. It’s been awhile and we have not had even one call on DaRon. We’ve gotten quite a bit of information on Kristy Black, but it didn’t pan out and none of it has been spurred by the reward.”

At a press conference in January, Sullivan, Jersey County Sheriff Mark Kallal and detective John Hazelwood said tipsters could remain anonymous. The authorities also said at the time that the reward committee will review the situation six months from then to determine if the accounts should remain active.

Now is the time for anyone who knows who killed DaRon or Kristy - or who saw or heard something that might be useful to investigators on the nights those young people were murdered - to come forward. Try for the reward money, or eschew the cash if it makes you feel better. But do call, so the families of these victims can rest easier, their pain can subside somewhat and the guilty people can face justice.

The Jersey County Sheriff’s Office telephone number is (618) 498-6881; detectives at the Alton Police Department can be reached at (618) 463-3505 ext. 3. Its anonymous tip line is (618) 465-5948.

For the past few years, I’ve heard criticism that the city should not build the amphitheater at Riverfront Park because it is not needed; it won’t be used enough to justify the $5 million cost; the money would be better spent elsewhere; and once finished, it will be hard to get to with limited parking in the immediate area.

Supporters of the project say an amphitheater has been in the Riverfront Master Plan for nearly two decades and it will be crown jewel of the park’s renovation. The money comes from gambling revenues, among other sources, and put in a “resticted” use fund. They believe with the right entertainment booking company, the venue will draw crowds to the city, which in turn will spend money Downtown.

I really don’t have an opinion one way or the other as to whether Alton needed an amphitheater, understanding both arguments.

The fact remains, though, that this huge structure is taking shape near the city’s best-known attraction - the Mississippi River. From the north, the evolving amphitheater resembles a partial “Cahokia Mounds.” Drive down to the park for a closer look, and you’ll see walls mirroring Alton’s old limestone, and mazes of metal that will form the partial roof support. It’s easier to picture how it will look from close up.

The fact remains, there’s no turning back now. The proof of its worth, though, will play out in how the amphitheater is used, and how frequently.

Of course some people ridiculed the idea that a top-notch performer would come to Alton, which is probably true, since the amphitheater only will seat 4,000 people. So realistically, the venue would attract lesser-eschalon entertainers, which isn’t a bad thing. It would be a good site for the Alton Municipal Band to alternate with which to alternate with their other long-time venues.The stage also would work for comedians or local entertainment competitions.

To increase use of the amphitheater, St. Louis-based or regionally based bands, including those who play at local taverns, should be welcome to perform there. Some of us like to go to their concerts, but when they begin playing at 10 p.m. or later, or in a crowded bar where you have to stand up the whole time, it’s not appealing to those of us of a certain age. A savvy band might choose to play at the amphitheater in the late afternoon or early evening, then bring the second half of the performance to a restaurant or tavern in Alton for a late, encore show.

So far, I’ve only heard there are hopes to offer a patriotic concert in conjunction with the annual July 3 fireworks show on the riverfront.

Those who plan the functions of the future amphitheater need only to look down the road to Edwardsville for inspiration and ideas on “doing it right.” That city has a small bandshell, the Cleaon Etzkorn stage in City Park. It accommodates the Edwardsville Municipal Band, the annual Arts in the Park series on Friday nights and some festivals.

The Arts in the Park concerts, most by St. Louis-area musical groups of varying genres, draw good-sized crowds of people of all ages. Children enjoy running about or laying on blankets and looking up at the stars while the music plays. Regulars bring their lawn chairs and coolers. The atmosphere is “small town,” and you see people you haven’t seen in years. Children and older people who feel the urge will get up and dance in front of the stage - a separate show in itself. Local organizations sell beverages, popcorn and cookies as fund-raisers. The best part is the concerts are free.

I’ve gone to several of the concerts and I hope they continue the series this summer. It would be great to also be able to experience this type of family-friendly concerts in Alton, too.

For ideas, groups I’ve heard play in Edwardsville’s series are Soulard Blues Band, Cumberland Gap, Farshid Etniko, George Portz and His Friends of Bluegrass and Raven Moon. I would request them to add Fiddleback and Nienhaus, Liston and Crawford to the lineup, for starters. I appreciate their Parks and Recreation Department for providing this entertainment for the public, even those of us who don’t live there and pay taxes to support the concerts.

Those planning the future for Alton’s amphitheater also should consider that sometimes the stage is only secondary to what is going on around it, as in Edwardsville’s Route 66 celebrations or its international fairs in City Park. While people snack and shop the vendors’ tents, performers sing or dance on the stage.

With some people in Alton taking the initiative, thinking creatively and keeping usage rates reasonable, that riverfront amphitheater could be a busy place. Let’s hope!

It’s inspiring to see how many young adults seem to be invigorated by this year’s presidential election, packing candidates’ speech arenas and vowing to vote.

Even I, who cover local politics as part of my job and find them interesting, will admit to yawning through some presidential elections of the 1980’s and 1990’s. I did vote each time, though, in spite of people I supported early on always getting culled before those November races and sometimes before the primary.

I also will admit to voting for third party candidates a couple of times because I believed no one else deserved my vote.

A few Sundays ago I saw several young women standing along Kingshighway and Lindell Boulevard in St. Louis waving, yelling and holding “Hillary Clinton” signs in chilly weather. They looked to be college age and I admired their enthusiasm and committment to a candidate when they could have been keeping warm indoors. I don’t know if they were paid to do so, but I doubt it.

Hundreds of young people also packed the floor of the Edward Jones Dome recently, waiting an hour and a half or longer on their feet to see and hear presidential candidate Barack Obama. Some squeezed through the already tightly pressed crowd to get closer, which was not an admirable ploy. One twenty-something woman clutched Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream ” in an apparent, and probably futile desire to get him to sign her copy in the midst of 20,000 people.

What is amusing to someone my age is whenever a candidate finally appears on stage, the age division is apparent: Young people automatically pop up their cellular telephones’ cameras above their heads to capture whatever far-away image they can of the person. Minutes before, they were calling their friends, sometimes just across the room, in a scenario people would have laughed off as a silly idea a couple decades ago.

From my unofficial vantage point, though, I don’t think I’ve seen such young enthusiasm for an election in decades (Eugene McCarthy or George McGovern?) and I hope it continues, no matter who the newbie voters support. Perhaps some of the excitement is antiwar-generated, as with McCarthy and McGovern when the Vietnam conflict was raging. Voting equals democracy, even though many of us aren’t real confident of the “fair and accurate” machines that count our votes. My 21-year-old daughter said all of her friends say they plan to vote Nov. 4, even if they skipped the Super Tuesday primary (she didn’t miss it).

I think Illinois moving up its primary and becoming part of a larger voting entity that day also created more excitement in voters of all ages. In primaries past, it was always disappointing to vote in March after so many other states essentially had knocked out the candidate for whom I wanted to vote - or otherwise locked in another front runner. It was especially aggravating when those states were only a fraction of the size of Illinois!

Still, sometimes I futilely would vote for my out-of-running candidate-of-choice anyway, or for the second-place candidate, but I knew my vote wasn’t important at that point. I just wanted to show my support and hoped maybe it would help get him some funding.

In contrast to the bygone election years, campaigners now can attract young (and older) voters via the Internet, bombarding them with candidates’ quotes; their immediate takes on various issues or world developments; speech schedules; and the all-important pleas for donations. I’m sure the e-mail lists are precious commodities to all of the candidates, and that their campaigners constantly seek new names.

Also online are professional and amateurish efforts to spread support of candidates, such as on YouTube, which mostly younger people view. The pro-Obama, “Yes We Can” video by “will.i.am” of hip-hop group, Black Eyed Peas, is getting play and “news” coverage by the national, mainstream media. By doing an Internet search, people also can locate online videos of fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republicans John McCain and Mike Huckabee, some of which are “anti-videos.”

No doubt presidential campaigns in the future will continue utilizing the latest technology for more creative means to transmit their message to more people, and of course, to raise money. The first people to pick up on these methods - as well as being their targets - likely will be those in their teens and 20’s.

The challenge will be to get these people to differentiate between entertainment and real issues, to hold their attention and loyalty, and finally get them to carry through with their votes. It will be up to the young voters to cut through the hype and further study the candidates and his or stances.

Forget talking about religion, politics or sex. If you want to spur some lively debate among just about any group of people, bring up your traffic beefs.

Topping most people’s lists these days, of course, will be their personal experiences with drivers seemingly oblivious to what is going on around them as they engage in that oh-so-important cell phone call. If you can see the phone, that means he or she is driving with one hand - at most.

Bringing up that topic encourages embellishments - not only was this driver on the phone, he or she was eating/smoking/putting on make-up/reading a newspaper or magazine/ or sleeping. Combine that with a big tank SUV, and it’s scary - especially if you drive a Honda.

That said, let’s be more specific about less trite complaints, starting with Alton.

I’ll pick up where another Telegraph blogger left off concerning the red lights on East Broadway that apparently are invisible to some drivers, even at night.

The most dangerous crossing in the city seems to be across from the newspaper, in the westbound lane of East Broadway at Alby Street. There is a flashing red light that dangles from a wire above the intersection, but from the screeching sounds we hear while we work, for some reason people don’t see it until the last few feet. I’ve also seen many, many drivers just cruise right through the intersection without stopping, even when I’ve entered the crosswalk. The intersection does have a stop sign, but it’s quite a distance from the corner, located east of the doorway of Alton Marketplace offices.

East Broadway-Alby is only one of a few such dangerous corners in the city, which prompts me to offer my humble suggestion for this and other problem intersections:

Install some of those attention-getting, piercing white flashing lights along with the red ones. They are the type of flashers that emergency responders have on their vehicles. Those lights sure get the attention of drivers in West Asheville, N.C., which has the white lights combined with red ones along a busy road in a commercial area with traffic control lights every few blocks.

Another traffic problem that St. Louis County is addressing, to its credit, is impatient motorists rushing through an intersection - probably many times as the green light changes to yellow - then clogging the intersection so cross traffic cannot enter the street on their own green light. That is one of my big beefs, especially when the side streets entering those roads have brief, seemingly only seconds-long interludes of green lights and I’ve already waited my turn.

I can’t say I’ve had much of a problem with this type of clod in Alton, but there are two places especially where this happens and it triples my blood pressure level. Both locations are along Illinois Route 159 in Edwardsville-Glen Carbon. One spot is where Jerry Lavelle Drive in Edwardsville (by Steak ‘n Shake) empties traffic from two strip shopping centers that have Schnuck’s and Target stores. The other irritating intersection is the street by Applebee’s in Glen Carbon, where westbound traffic comes from Wal-Mart and surrounding shops at Cottonwood Mall.

Those two intersections consistently attract the rude, selfish and impatient drivers on Route 159 who don’t care if they block the exit for westbound drivers - those patient people who only have a precious brief chance to escape the congested shopping center lots. The “inconsiderates” race right up to the rear of what should be the last vehicle in line, then stick out in the intersection to block drivers who patiently waited their turn. I will admit to honking and pointing a couple of times in the hopes that the line will scoot forward and let me out. One time I wound my Honda around the vehicles in my way to get on to the highway, evoking a look of surprise from one of the cloddish female offenders.

Which brings me to this:
A couple weeks ago St. Louis County police announced they would start ticketing such inconsiderates, with Highway 40 construction work forcing vehicles onto smaller streets and escalating the problem. Officials specifically mentioned Eager Road at Hanley Road as a problem area. A few days after that, I was driving in that very area and saw the lines of cars in the east lanes of Eager headed toward Hanley. The message must have reached those drivers. They were politely stopping before reaching the intersections if there was no room for them, EVEN THOUGH THEIR LIGHT WAS GREEN! Fortunately, I was in the right-hand lane and bypassed all of them to get to a ($2.69 per gallon) gas station on Hanley.

I’m sure this is only Part 1 of more to come on traffic tick-offs. Anyone who has made it this far in my ramblings is welcome to write and tell me his or her most irritating traffic complaints or incidents. So, in the meantime, don’t just drive safely, drive considerately or someone may e-mail your actions to me for Part 2.

And, of course, watch out for that red Honda Accord!

I hear the St. Charles, Mo. City Council may propose a bill to ban cussin’ or indecent language, songs, entertainment, literature, table dancing and drinking contests to cut down on unruliness in its bars.

I can understand cracking down on the loud, crazy bar activities - a move that couldn’t hurt at some Alton taverns, from what I hear. I do agree that owners do have the right to dictate behavior in their businesses, and they should do so to protect their investments, livelihoods and liquor licenses.

But, the idea of having police spend time on potty-mouth patrol is intriguing. It probably would be impossible to enforce such an ordinance unless the business owner filed a complaint against the cusser.

I don’t know if this proposal will go anywhere in St. Charles, as it comes up for preliminary discussion on Monday. Predictable arguments will center around 1st Amendment right to free speech; how the ordinance would be enforced; and defining exactly what is offensive language.

One man’s “Hades” is another man’s “hell.”

I’m sure when this issue comes up Monday, discussion will parallel debates of a few years ago when John Haltom wanted to open the Johnny Vegas store on East Broadway in Alton. Haltom, of Lincoln, Neb., said his business would be mainly a “gift” and clothing store, not an adult shop. He pointed to arrays of lotions, candles, high heels, dolphin statues, bathing suits and negligees, saying people could buy all of those items at Alton Square.

But then there was the other stuff…whether that merchandise is obscene or not was purely up to each person’s perception.

That said, if cussing and obscene language is banned in St. Charles, I would be curious as to what words make the list. Obviously, comedian George Carlin’s infamous “seven dirty words” probably would be a good strarting point.

But everyone has words that set him or her off, which could result in arguments - if not fights - at a bar.

Go to some bars in the South and yell that your great-great-grandfather killed seven Rebels during the War of Northern Aggresion and see what happens. Better put references to the Civil War on the list in St. Charles, as Missouri had many Southern sympathizers who have descendents.

In some towns, if you cheer for an away baseball or hockey team, you could get punched. Better ban “Red Wings,” “White Sox” or “Cubs” just to be safe in St. Charles.

And to be even safer, put “Kansas Jayhawks” on that list. That name is obscene to many Missourians and can cause an instant fit of anger in some of them, especially around game time.

To take this issue further, could someone still allude to a cuss word and escape arrest? Examples: “Oh fudge!” “Going to Hades in a hand basket” or “poo poo.” For more examples, stay up late and watch black and white movies from the 1940’s and ’50’s. Even those allusions could be offense to some.

So, it will be interesting to see what develops across the way in St. Charles.

I just hope if the ban is implemented, I won’t ever stub my toe or fall down on the sidewalk outside a bar and rip open my knee, without first getting it down pat: “Oh shucks! Oh darn! Oh my goodness!”

One more time. “Oh shucks! Oh darn! Oh my goodness!”

I’ve been on the bumpy Missouri Tiger football ride now for decades, and I just want to say I’m proud of how my alma mater’s team won 12 games this season, setting a school record - and also for their classy conduct.

They also didn’t “break my heart” with a sub-par effort, as has happened at games many times over the years. I’m not gloating, in light of the Illini’s embarassing loss later in the day, but I never thought they belonged in the Rose Bowl this time. I pretty much concentrate on the Big 12.

So, instead of bad-mouthing their Cotton Bowl host after being snubbed by the Bowl Championship Series, Mizzou focused on winning their game at hand - handily - while teams they beat during regular season got more prestigious BCS invitations. I can remember when there was only a half dozen college bowl games - many named after fruit with none of today’s corporate tags - and the Cotton Bowl was one of them. No one bashed it then.

No, Tiger players kept to the “line” of quickly having gotten over the disappointment of being ignored and relishing the challenge before them in Texas. Classy. It also can’t hurt recruitment of Texas talent in coming years. One team I know of publicly complained about their bowl destination, then had to record telephone messages used to call season ticket holders to ask (beg) them to attend the game.

And, unlike one football player I saw New Year’s Day, no Tiger felt he had to somersault over the line to claim his touchdown or otherwise show off.

I do have some general observations, though, from watching both games on television: One, I would like these highly paid sportscasters to either get some new researchers or pay attention to the information someone has gathered for them.

One man said the Gateway Arch straddles the Mississippi River at St. Louis. One sportscaster bragged how Illinois had come from behind and beat Missouri; fortunately his co-broadcaster corrected him on that important mis-statement. I also heard about the Missouri-LSU football game. Huh? I think Arkansas played LSU. I also heard a man refer to the outstanding Missouri quarterback as Chase McDaniel (combining “Daniel” with “Mc” from co-Heisman Trophy finalist (Darren) McFadden?). I also heard his name given as Daniels more than once. Sloppy.

I wish I had found a way to go to the Cotton Bowl game, the first that Mizzou played on Jan. 1 since 1970 - memorable because I knew then that I wanted to go to MU School of Journalism.

Win or lose, there is nothing like a bowl game. The only one I’ve attended was the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., two years ago. That started out poorly, but Brad Smith and the Tigers pulled out from waaaay behind and upset the South Carolina Gamecocks in an exciting, movie-like second half. The camaraderie between fans, the good-natured ribbing and day-after game discussion with supporters of the opposing team amid all the fanfare is one great party, no matter size of the bowl.

I can’t wait until next season.

and newswise, it seemed as though there were more odd news stories locally than history-making, earth-shaking ones - at least that was the informal consensus among several Telegraph reporters last week.

Of course, we can’t forget the senseless homicides in Alton this year. No one is forgetting those victims and their families, and especially what must be a painful, sad holiday season for them with a missing loved one. We also have compassion for people who lost their homes and belongings to fires; those who were seriously injured in traffic crashes; or had other tragic events happen to them this year.

We also have sympathy for everyone in the area who had loved ones die this year, including some Telegraph staff members’ parents.

As the newspaper will show in coming days when it publishes its annual Top Ten stories, there certainly were events of note in our readership area. Some of those stories, when they originally broke, took a lot of work to pull information together and then write concisely to best convey the facts to readers.

But at every year’s end, several of us love reminiscencing about the silly stories of the past year, particularly about “stupid criminals.” We couldn’t make up this stuff.

We will never forget one year on Stop Smoking Day when someone in an area town lit up a cigarette - and ignited oxygen from his attached tank. There also was the man who ran out of a small police station, still handcuffed to a wooden chair. What a sight that must have been. His escape was short-lived.

Regularly, we hear of people who let police come into their homes during “knock and talk” details, apparently forgetting to take their drugs and paraphernalia off the coffee table or dresser that are in full view. Ooops.

Then there are the people - OK, men - who haunt certain parts of Alton looking for prostitutes, but come up with all kinds of outlandish excuses and denials when they area arrested. Guys, it’s just a bad idea all around.

Who can forget the case this year of someone leaving a deer head on the hood of a young woman’s car? Gross and bizarre. Some readers complained that I gave a general location of the incident, but I think people want to know if it happened near their home or not. Obviously, the culprit knows where he left the head. Then when another newspaper followed my story, the reporter gave the street location.

Only a few weeks later, someone outdid the deer head depositer. This hunter left the entire carcass in a man’s yard, not too far from where the first head was found.

We also had a case of a 375-pound man (if he isn’t lying about his weight), who was charged with exposing himself to students riding by on a bus - not funny, but sick and odd. Adding to the “bizarre,” shortly thereafter, the same man sat down at an Alton restaurant and consumed a steakburger, three cheeseburgers with fixings, two large orders and one small order of fries and a - yes - DIET soda at about 4 a.m. That food might have boosted his cholesterol level and weight, but what got him in trouble was that he refused to pay the $18.99 bill.

Maybe it’s because it’s the holiday season or there is a full moon coming that make some people crazy. Just this week, a woman who held up an Alton milk store came back to supposedly tell the clerks she would repay the money that she took at gunpoint a week before. She said she would put the cash in the mailbox and then ran off. As of today, she still was at large. No word on any money left in the mailbox.

Just today, a 46-year-old woman called police to say that her boyfriend hit her in the face and shook her shortly after 3 a.m. While that certainly is not humorous, you have to shake your head at the reason: The woman had driven the man, 49, to White Castle, where he bought 30 belly-bombers. When they got home, he got mad when she told him her children didn’t eat White Castles. And what youngsters would want them at 3 a.m. anyway?

In another odd case in Alton, in October a woman was charged with five offenses after she allegedly ran down a man she is dating on a sidewalk, breaking several bones in his foot. The man was not cooperative with police, either.

It was an odd year in some respects, terrible in some ways and beautiful in others.

A dose of humor and a bit of fatalism sometimes is what we need to get through a year of covering news, and 2007 gave us plenty of reasons for needing both.

We’ll all have to see together what 2008 brings - news staff and dear readers. Best wishes to all of you for the 12-month journey ahead.

It was a shock yesterday to hear that a young, obviously disturbed gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Westroads Mall in Omaha, immediately killing eight people, then himself. He wounded five others, who may or may not survive.

This was particularly upsetting to me because I frequented that mall throughout high school. It is a nice, large shopping center in a suburban area where no one would ever think that this unthinkable violence could happen. Omaha has a high incidence of gun violence, but it pretty much always happens in the poorer, North side and to a lesser extent in South Omaha - both of which are miles, and actually worlds away, from the Westroads.

As recently as October, we were in that same general area to attend my nephew’s wedding reception. In May, we also stayed at a motel within a mile of the Westroads, which also is near the mortuary where we held my mother’s funeral.

Authorities did not release the random victims’ names until Thursday morning. Thankfully, I did not recognize any of them. I won’t use the gunman’s name because in the note he left behind said he would be famous for his shooting spree. I don’t want to perpetuate that posthumous “fame.”

This tragedy reminds me of the mass casualty drills at Alton Square that I covered for The Telegraph this past Oct. 28 and in June 2001. The drills involved Alton police, firefighters, local hospitals and ambulance services, the county emergency management agency, Red Cross and Salvation Army. In October, the drill activated the city’s incident Emergency Operations Center for the first time, comprised of various officials and department heads.

Emergency responders involved in such drills have to suspend reality somewhat during the process. It’s less tense because no one’s life actually is at stake and there is no real “bad guy,” but the responders fine-tune the protocol to respond quickly to such a situation. The 2001 drill at Alton Square actually involved a scenario chillingly similar to the Omaha tragedy, involving two shooters wounding 14 people, nine of whom “died.”

The young man in Omaha also shot 14 people, including himself, resulting in nine dead as of this writing.

Both times I wondered, “Could this really happen here? Do they need to do this?” Now I know if it could happen at the Westroads, it could happen anywhere, sad to say.

Westroads was the shopping center of choice for many Omahans in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and probably beyond that. I don’t know, I didn’t live there after that. With the city’s explosive growth westward, many more shopping centers have popped up on former rolling farmland. The three-level mall has more than 135 stores and gets 14.5 million visitors each year, its Website says. The Von Maur store, where the shooting occurred, came after I left Omaha.

When I was in high school, the Westroads was the biggest mall in the region. My best friend Laura and I would ramble through the long hallways, with anchor department stores at each end, and dozens of various-sized shops in-between. Some businesses were so small, they nearly qualified as booths. One such favorite sold imported costume jewelry and various “exotic” figurines, candle holders and incense from India. I think it was called Bombay. You had to shop from the display counter while standing a few inches inside the hallway.

We would always stop at another small space, Orange Julius, and gulp down the frosty, frothy beverage before heading to another store. A big draw to teen-agers was the multi-screen theater that offered the latest flicks, the first such theater that I’d ever heard of with several screens. I saw many movies there with Laura and while on dates.

When Laura and I went to see “Che,” we each sneaked in a glass bottle of soda, taking sips and then setting them on the floor. During some quiet point in the movie, one of us accidentally kicked over one of the bottles and it clattered all the way down under rows of seats to the front of the theater to our embarassment. Back then, such an offense didn’t get you kicked out of a theater.

I left Omaha to go to college and never moved back. However, learning of that tragedy was upsetting. I still have a sister and cousin and their families living there, along with numerous in-laws, friends of my dead parents and former classmates.

My heart goes out to the victims and their families. The victims were people who had to work that day or simply chose the wrong hour - or instant - and location to shop. The shoppers maybe were thinking of what perfect gift they were going to pick up for someone - who now instead is mourning them today - or how many days they had left to get their Christmas shopping done.

Sadly, the countdown actually was time they had left on Earth, and it was in minutes ticking away as they walked into the Westroads.