| Military-themed phone charity makes bold goal - Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - ...
NORWELL, Mass. — At the holidays, for a service member at war, there's nothing like a phone call home. Brittany and Robbie Bergquist have provided more than $1.4 million worth of them — 24 million precious minutes. The Bergquists are teenage siblings who didn't even own a cell phone in 2004, when they heard that an Army reservist faced a $7,600 bill for making calls home from Iraq. They founded Cell Phones for Soldiers based on three ideas: Most people have an old, inactive cell phone lying around; they'd probably donate it to the right cause; and they'd probably agree that, as Brittany puts it, "Everyone has a right to call home." In three years, an effort that began with a piggybank raid and a car wash has turned into a booming home front charity — one that has turned its founders' lives upside down and won them devoted friends throughout the military and beyond.
Realignment process begins
A NCHSAA realignment committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday. No action will be taken at this meeting, but the preliminary draft proposal for the realignment of high school conferences for the 2009-10 school year will be given to the committee. The draft should be posted on the NCHSAA Web site by Thursday afternoon. * Prep basketball South Rowan is at Salisbury for a varsity basketball doubleheader tonight. The girls game will start at 6 p.m. Both girls teams are still unbeaten. Salisbury is 3-0, while South is 1-0. Both boys teams are searching for their first win. Davie County is home against Surry Central. * Mooresville's boys team was down the last two years, but the Blue Devils could return to being a big factor in the NPC this season.
Moms want alternatives to "bad" dolls
Moms are hunting through toy aisles for more wholesome-looking dolls, concerned that the scantily clad Bratz dolls with their Party Palaces and Magic Make-up Studios are sending their daughters the wrong message about how they should dress and act. .
'Brown Bag' back at park
Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman will headline the 22nd season of Fanfare, Southeastern Louisiana Univer-sity's annual celebration of the arts, humanities and social sciences.Allman, who is both a founding member of the still-active and thriving Allman Brothers Band and a critically acclaimed solo talent, will perform at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. His concert will be one of the many films, recitals, plays, musicals, dance concerts, lectures and community events offered during the arts festival, which in turn is the opening act for the yearlong entertainment season of the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts.It has been a long-standing tradition to open Fanfare with music and socializing at Cate Square, the small park in the heart of Hammond and a few blocks south of campus.Last year, however, Fanfare's usual "brown bag" lunchtime concert was on hiatus as the city redesigned the historic park, and Fanfare launched the new entertainment season by dedicating the performance hall of the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts to the late Sen.
Third-party PS3 developers targeted as Sony halves fees
TOKYO - Sony has halved the fees it charges for a software development kit for the PlayStation 3 video game machine to encourage outside designers to make more games for the struggling console. Sony's gaming unit, Sony Computer Entertainment, said prices for the development package for the PlayStation 3 will be reduced to US$10,250 in North America, US$8,600 in Japan and US$11,250 in Europe. The move follows the price cuts on the PS3 around the world that the company announced last month in an attempt to woo buyers. Tokyo-based Sony will also strengthen backup support for making new games for the PS3 in an effort to make the machine more popular, it said in a statement. Although its predecessor the PlayStation 2 dominated the gaming market, the PS3 has struggled against the hit Wii console, the rival offering from Nintendo Co., which makes Pokemon and Super Mario games.
GIRLS BASKETBALL PREVIEW: O-K Gold
Things are looking good for this year's Bulldogs. Coming off of a 16-7 season, Byron Center returns four starters, including a couple of four-year and three-year starters. "We have a lot of experience on the varsity this year, and we're returning a lot of talent," said Bulldogs coach Glenn Davis. Headlining the returning players is fourth-year starter Logan Marsh. Marsh, a point guard, sets the tone for the offense with her quickness and ability see the floor in the transition game. Four other seniors also figure to play a big role in things this year for the Bulldogs. Lindsey Karsten and Ashley Wightman, a pair of starting senior forwards, can play down low and run the floor on the break. Lindsi Russo, another senior who comes off the bench, is a lock-down defender.
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