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.

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.

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.

A holiday season adage, “Christmas is for kids,” often is justification for parents to scrimp or take on debt in order to ensure their children get many of the presents they want - perhaps by putting off purchases or necessities for themselves.

A better application of “Christmas is for kids” is for parents to help their children make a local, less fortunate child’s holiday better, by whatever means they are able. That way, their children learn the joy of quietly giving to others - but please, no boasting or effusive self-congratulations to dilute their “good karmic deeds!”

I believe children who help others in their own community will better understand that many youngsters are not nearly as fortunate as they are.

Even better, they may realize their yearly Christmas wish lists are excessive.

And of course, what is important is that the recipient gets that warm coat, food basket, shoes or toys that could make all the difference in the world to him or her - but which others take for granted.

No matter whose child does it, it is always heartwarming to watch children do their good deeds.

Several weeks ago I watched some Cub Scouts cruising through my neighborhood, riding in a pickup truck bed and even one hanging partly out the cab window - all of them likely trying to be the first to spot a plastic bag filled with groceries. The boys had put out the bags a week before on door handles of residences for people to fill with nonperishable food and paper or personal care products that they will take to a food pantry.

So, one Saturday each year during their Scouting for Food drive, I enjoy seeing the boys race up to the front porches of houses near mine. They then snatch up the bags and lug them back to a waiting vehicle, usually trying to peek inside to see what bounty they are carrying and announcing it to others.

If you missed that opportunity, buy some canned or boxed, nonperishable food and drop it off at a local pantry or one of the many Community Christmas donation boxes at businesses or public buildings throughout the area. Toss in some new toys, gently worn coats or whatever you think someone can use.

Your children watch your example more than you will ever know.

As example, I will never forget one Christmas when I was probably 6 or 7 years old, my father and I were standing in a checkout lane of a small department store. The person in front of us was short a bit of money for the toy he was buying for his child. Without hesitation, my dad slipped the cashier the remainder of the money and brushed off the man’s profuse thanks. I’m sure my dad, who died 24 years ago, forgot all about his good deed by the end of the day. However, it’s been more decades than I want to admit since then, and I still remember my surprise and admiration for that simple act. In my young mind, paying part of someone else’s tab was unimaginable.

Another time I enjoy seeing the fresh, happy faces of children helping others this time of year is when staff from The Telegraph newsroom ring bells at Salvation Army’s red kettle drive outside an Alton grocery store. Many times I’ve seen mothers or fathers hand their little ones some change or dollar bills to poke in the metal bucket. The children run up and deposit the money with big smiles on their faces and we thank them with a smile. Hopefully their parents use the opportunity to tell those children that the money goes to help people in need, not for the ringers.

To further help others, parents and children also can empty change jars or piggy banks and give a cash donation to the Alton Police Benevolent and Protective Association for their annual food basket delivery and Shop With a Cop shopping outing. Both efforts touch numerous families within the city.

Still need a nudge? Take your child to any of eight Salvation Army “Angel Trees” and have him or her pick out a tag with a child’s first name, age, gender and Christmas gift wish. Go shopping, perhaps wrap the dolls, truck or other toys and bring them back to the tree sponsor by December 14. Gifts also can be dropped off at the Salvation Army, 525 Alby St. This will be one way to shine in your child’s eyes and make someont else’s little one happy this Christmas!

The Angel Trees are located at Alton City Hall lobby, 101 E. Third St.; Big Lots, 1751 Homer Adams Parkway, Alton; Value City, 2600 Homer Adams Parkway, Alton; Alton Multi-Specialists, 1 Professional Drive in Alton, across from the Holiday Inn; Alton Square shopping center, off Homer Adams Parkway east of Alby Street; Glik’s, 618 Berkshire Blvd., East Alton; and two trees at Wal-Mart SuperCenter, 610 Wesley Drive.

Again, teach your children well this holiday season. The benefits they reap of this life lesson will never end!

Author’s note: I wrote this column in December 2005 for a tabloid section of The Telegraph. In light of two shocking kitten abuse cases in the news in recent weeks, I decided to give it a “second” life in another forum, with a few minor changes. It likely won’t have the full “nine lives,” though.

* * * * * * * *

For many of us, the stories of how we got our animal companions do not follow Patti Page’s happy song of decades ago, “How Much is that Doggy in the Window?”
Sadly, many of us end up with four-legged or beaked “friends” because of the thoughtlessness, neglect or even cruelty of their previous owners.
My younger daughter Zoe-Anne arranged our most recent acquisition in May 2004, and it turned out to be one of my favorite birthday presents of all time. On that special day, Zoe had picked up the “gift” and my older daughter Lia called me to come outside to the car.
She gently handed me a coffeemaker box, with an expectant look on her face.
Trying to not look too disappointed, I said, “Oh, a coffeepot.” Just what I didn’t need.
Neighbor Sue cheerfully chimed in, “Oh, that’s a nice present!”
I put on my “happy Mom” face, and opened the box top. There certainly was no coffeepot inside. A tiny, tiny black face with wide, yellow eyes curiously looked up at me. “It’s a kitten! A black kitten!” I had wanted a kitten at its crucial “bonding” age for a long time, preferably a black one. Black cats are fascinating to me.
I found out later that someone had dumped him and at least one sibling at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. A woman who found the kittens gave “Tony” to a fellow employee at the school daycare center, and she took him home. However, her father told her to find the cat another home - they still believed it was a female - and her brother told Zoe about Tony.
That’s how he became my present.
The young woman apparently missed the little guy and soon adopted his sibling. Someone spotted a third black kitten in the same area, but I don’t know if it was another brother or sister or if it ever found a home.
Our prior homeless acquisition was (Mark) Grace, a beautiful black and white “older kitten” that a man had handed Zoe at LeClaire Park, saying he was a stray. He said the cat was upsetting his outside dogs by sneaking their food. When she called me, I lectured her on talking to strangers, then wiggled out of being the meanie: “Call your dad,” I told her.
I knew he wouldn’t let her get a cat, he didn’t like cats.
Little did I know.
Grace is eight years old and we love him dearly.
Prior to that, we took in Dumbo, a lop-eared rabbit whose owner let him and a few others loose before moving out of our neighborhood. He earned his name from his long ears and because he liked sitting out in the middle of the street, stupidly oblivious to traffic.
We can’t remember when my son captured him, but he lived at least 12 years and probably more.
Lia still vividly remembers how we got Caruso, a green and yellow parakeet that would sing his head off every morning just as the sun began to rise. I saw the pretty bird outside our cat-loving neighbor’s duplex, eating wild birdseed she tossed on her sidewalk. I knew it would only be a matter of time before her yellow tabby would appear, so I ran into her yard and plopped a plastic clothesbasket on top of the parakeet.
He was mine.
Many of us with animals have these stories. In some cases, I’m sure the owners cared about their pets, but the animals somehow slipped away outside and became lost.
That’s understandable.
In other instances, I know they couldn’t have cared anything about the critters.
Those people apparently are too ignorant or lazy to spay, neuter or contain their pets properly. They also must think there are plenty of big-hearted people who will take in any animal they let roam or dump far enough away so it won’t find its way home.
Any animal shelter will contradict that flawed assumption. No-kill shelters regularly fill their kennels and cages, and the number of euthanized cats and dogs at the other facilities speaks for itself.
I can’t understand such folks. I almost hate to relay my stories about how we got our animals over the years for fear of assuaging whatever bit of guilt they may have for their actions. We also took in two animals from people who did not want them any more, but those people acted responsibly.
We are the ones, though, who benefited by taking in two kittens, a parakeet and a turned-out floppy eared rabbit that were turned loose. My children learned about animals and to respect them by my example, or as a result of their own initiatives.
Our lives are richer because the animals shared our home and we are the beneficiaries of their affection and amusing antics.

I am sure many people within Illinois and outside Lincolnland are chortling or at least grinning today when they see newcasts of our former Gov. George Ryan on television, headed for federal prison in Wisconsin.

Despite a less-than-ideal brush with the former governor, I am not among those gloating over his conviction, or now, his incarceration.

It is a sad day for the state of Illinois and its residents, whether they voted for him or not. While the citizenry should be glad that authorities investigate criminal activity - even by the highest officeholders in the state - then charge people who appear to have broken the law, it is sad that someone in whom the public has put its trust is found guilty of using that office for illegal personal gain.

It is not a day for celebration.

Assuming the 73-year-old Republican doesn’t die or get a Presidential pardon, he will serve much of a 6 1/2-year sentence on a corruption conviction.

The curmudgeonly former governor, keeping his gruff demeanor, didn’t talk to reporters today and walked through doors of the prison near Oxford intending to continue working to clear his name. The prison is about 60 miles north of Madison.

Ryan was convicted in April 2006 of steering contracts, tax fraud, misuse of tax dollars and state workers, and quashing a bribery investigation. Elected governor in 1998, after serving as secretary of state, he was in office only a few weeks before the federal investigation became public. He served only one term.

Ryan had hoped to remain free on bond while he appealed his convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court. But he lost his final bid to delay his prison term Tuesday, when U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens turned down his request to remain free on bail.

I have no doubt that the one-term governor will do just what he vowed, to try to clear his name, based on what I’ve read, seen on television and my two encounters with him in Alton.

One of his visits to Alton that I covered for The Telegraph was when he and a cadre of other elected officials announced a grant for the National Great Rivers Museum at an on-site press conference at Melvin Price Locks and Dam 26. He seemed a bit brusque, but he did what he had to do among the throng of Southern Illinois politicians and media, then left. No friendly chitchat or pleasantries with a warm smile that one could expect from his predecessor, Gov. Jim Edgar. I do remember his longtime wife, Lura Lynn, who seemed to always accompany him, was pleasant and conversational.

My other experience with Ryan actually was adversarial, and unnecessarily so.

An Alton social service organization had invited Ryan to come and read a book to its preschoolers. I don’t remember if there was a new grant involved or what the reason was for the invitation. Perhaps it was national read-a-book week. He might have been in the Alton area for other reasons, also.

Anyway, I showed up, pen and pad in hand. I believe a Telegraph photographer was there, too. The governor perched on a chair with a group of tots sitting on the carpeted floor in front of him, politely waiting for him to open a book he was holding and begin reading. He looked across the small room at me and demanded to know who I was and why I was there, although I’m sure the seasoned politician knew I was a reporter by presence of my pen and tablet.

Ryan then said he wouldn’t read to the children until I left the room.

I shot back that the host organization had invited the newspaper to the event, so that was why I was there. I also said I wouldn’t do a story on his visit OR on the agency if I had to leave.

This was not hard news that HAD to be covered. We already had a photo we could run as a standalone. For him, the positive media exposure was as close to “kissing babies” as he could get that day in Alton, and he almost blew it off.

He relented, though, so I guess I won.

He “let” me watch him read a simple book to the preschoolers, albeit a bit gruffly. The vision of W.C. Fields, though, flashed in my head: “Go away kid, ya bother me.” I did the story without bias, but that image burned in my head forever.

The Associated Press provided some information for this commentary.