July 29th, 2009 – 9:28pm
Omaha World-Herald
By Emily Babay
Outside the livestock pavilion at the Sarpy County Fairgrounds, Payton Holling’s hand slipped from the red rope holding his sheep. The 7-year-old’s wheelchair veered to the side.
Priscilla, a 1½-year-old ewe wearing a hot pink feather boa, started to saunter away.
Morgan Cox, a two-year veteran of a local sheep club, reined both back in.
“Priscilla, we lost him!” the 16-year-old said good-naturedly as she handed the Suffolk-Hampshire cross sheep’s rope back to Payton, who has Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.
Payton is a member of the True Buddy sheep club, a new program that pairs special-needs children with local 4-H’ers who show sheep.
The club has met every other week since mid-June. This week, at the Sarpy County Fair, its members will show the sheep they have learned to walk and care for.
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July 23rd, 2009 – 9:35pm
Omaha World-Herald
By Emily Babay
It’s a daily routine for many teens and young adults: open the laptop, log on to Facebook, send messages to friends.
And learn about their grandfather’s knee replacement and view a former teacher’s vacation pictures?
More adults are using social-networking Web sites such as Facebook to communicate with friends and family, marking Facebook’s shift from a place where college students interact with their peers to one that attracts a more mainstream audience.
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July 6th, 2009 – 9:44pm
Omaha World-Herald
By Emily Babay
At a pace of five or six titles a week, Lyla Thompson is steadily reading the books in her collection.
All 6,000 of them.
The Omaha woman is a lifelong reader and book collector. Since she retired in 1999, Thompson, 69, has pursued her passion with new enthusiasm; her reading hours resemble a full-time job.
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