by Amanda West | Jun 22, 2024 | Stories
GINGER PARIS places her violin in the playing position while students as young as 5 do the same. After the introduction ends, the sounds of the first song they learned, “Mississippi Hot Dog,” fill the room. The students are eager to please their beloved Mrs. Paris,...
by Amanda West | May 18, 2024 | Stories
ON A DRIZZLY Friday afternoon many years ago, my then 5-year-old son fell on our trampoline and suffered a terrible break that affected his growth plate right above his ankle. The tiny rural hospital’s staff near our home did their best to make him comfortable. Still,...
by Amanda West | May 18, 2024 | Stories
RECORD HIGH temperatures, a terrible drought, the effects of El Nino, and possibly a downed power line culminated together to spark a wildfire in Maui last August that has been labeled the world’s deadliest and most destructive in the previous 100 years. When...
by Amanda West | Apr 20, 2024 | Feature
WE ALL know the routine. You have an appointment at 10 a.m. to see your doctor for a six-month checkup, so you arrive 15 minutes early to update paperwork, and then you wait. An hour later, a nurse calls your name and then leads you into a room where they check your...
by Amanda West | Mar 16, 2024 | Stories
“I NEVER KNEW you did so much,” is a statement Jeane Smiley-Mason hears often as president and chief operating officer of Gleaning for the World. Founded in 1998 in Concord, Gleaning for the World has provided emergency help internationally to 78 countries and 38...
