People all over the country will have Cloyd’s name on their minds, and on their wrists this summer.  A group from the Faith United Methodist Church just got back from a mission trip with the Appalachia Service Project.

Patrick Drackley, 19-years-old, clicks through pictures from that trip.  And picture after picture, he sees the volunteers sporting “Austin Cloyd” bracelets. “They didn’t know her, but seeing them wearing the bracelets with her name on them and knowing there were volunteers from all over the country that were gonna get these bracelets was an amazing feeling,” says Drackley.

(more…)

As I was preparing a stack of old newspapers for recycling, I came across the article on Arleen Avila May 15, and her complaint of mistreatment at the hands of Visalia police officers. I can certainly sympathize with her. I know well the difficulty of living with a debilitating chronic condition. However, as I reread the article, several things struck me.

As Ms. Avila has had Parkinson’s for more than 11 years, she knows that her condition causes slurred speech and occasional drowsiness, which can be mistaken for signs of alcohol or drug intoxication. In the absence of any indication to the contrary, a reasonable person would draw that conclusion, especially if the person becomes combative when approached. This is apparently what happened at the In-N-Out drive-through.

(more…)

Maureen Onda’s four years of athletic accolades at Century High have been special to her, but she’s more excited about being able to wear a certain jersey number next year in college.

When Onda takes the field in 2008 with George Mason’s women’s lacrosse team, she’ll be No. 18 in honor of Gretchen Brandt, who wore that number at Century three springs ago.

(more…)

The recently launched website Cleansports.com aims to improve the reputation of sports by eliminating matters such as violence, racism and doping.

Cleansports.com is an initiative of Belgian Willy Delabastita, a former radio and television host.

(more…)

EMOTIONS will be high at Townsville’s court house this morning as the first Australian police officer to be charged over a black death in custody faces trial.

Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley is charged with one count each of manslaughter and assault over the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island, off the coast of Townsville, in November 2004. He is expected to plead not guilty to both charges in the Queensland Supreme Court in Townsville today.

(more…)