Miracle moments for injured woman and newspapers collected for newborn boy

"A Moment for a Miracle," benefit for Ida Temple will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday at Comma Coffee, 312 S. Carson St.

The benefit features belly dancing, gift vendors, class and workshop information, raffle and silent auction. It is being held to raise funds to cover her staggering medical care cost.

Recently, Temple and her husband, Ronald Stripplemann, were on their way to the grocery store in Maricopa, Ariz., when they were struck by a drunk driver. The impact killed her husband and Temple has spent two months in the hospital recovering from her injuries.

Temple is now living with her daughter, Tia, and uses a wheelchair. Tia is hosting the fund-raiser which will feature some of the best local dancers showcasing various forms of dance.

For information, call 882Ð5078.

The annual arts and craft show the last weekend in July at the Nevada State Prison was declared a success by one mom who attended.

Florence Jones-Crew, a retired Clark County School District teacher and resident of Las Vegas, wrote in to say two of her sons have been incarcerated for nearly 25 years in the Nevada State Prison system.

"I felt a sense of pride, which I have not experienced for a long time, seeing my son Norman Crew participating for his first time in the show, an activity recognized and supported by the community," she said. "I believe we as a state, both inmates and families, as well as the general public, are experiencing the effects of Director Jackie Crawford's dedicated work."

Ten percent of the money raised went to support Empire Elementary School, whose principal was there. Some of the money will be used to put a handball court in at the prison and a fence around the softball field.

According to Warden Michael Budge, "This arts and crafts show experience is so coveted by the inmates that many do not want to transfer from NSP."

Each artist also receives a portion of their sales. More than 20 inmates participated.

Several Carson City students are involved in the "Evening with Gershwin" dance performances at Sand Harbor at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2 and 3. The Sierra Nevada Ballet and the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival are collaborating on this event.

The Carson City dancers are: E. Cort Larson; Alyssa Corda, Jessica Shull, Peter Rangel and Katie Lauer. Larson is a first-year company member with the Sierra Nevada Ballet.

All of these teens also dance at Western Nevada Performing Arts Center. Call Rosine Bena at Sierra Nevada Ballet at 783-3223 for details.

A couple from Maine requested copies of May 6 papers from all over the United States to give to their boy, Carson, born on May 5. Dad Mike Ellis sent out 750 e-mail requests so that his son would know what went on when he was born.

Ellis went on to say that he received 273 newspapers from 228 different companies. Some of those companies sent papers from both May 5 and 6. The Nevada Appeal also sent a paper.

"Now you would think that the most popular item on the front page of these newspaper would be something to do with the United States, whether it was about the war or something tragic," he said. "But, it wasn't. The thing that was written about the most was Tony Blair winning his third term.

"Some papers had him as their headlined news and some just had a short sentence blurb. What was the second most written item? You'll chuckle at this. It was Paula Abdul and the American Idol scandal."

Ellis kept track of the donated papers on a spreadsheet, including where they were coming from, how much they cost and how much shipping and handling was.

"Just so you know," he said. "We did get at least one newspaper from every state."

The average price for each paper was 50 cents. The average cost for shipping was $1.88. Overall the total donated costs was $650.71.

"Who says America's not the greatest country in the world," he wrote.

n To submit items to the Nevada Appeal e-mail to news@nevadaappeal.com or fax 887-2420.