John Coats is a loyal reader of the H-T who calls and writes frequently from his home in Bloomfield. In his notes and calls to the newspaper, he frequently bemoans the fact that we don't emphasize good news on our front page and elsewhere in the newspaper.
Unfortunately, the nature of news is often negative. News is something out of the ordinary. For instance, if someone follows the laws of the land, it's not news; if laws are broken, it is out of the ordinary and becomes newsworthy. If you drive to work in the morning without incident, it's not news; if you slide on the ice and run into a building, it could become newsworthy.
You get the idea.
Still, we publish a lot of "good news" in The Herald-Times every day. The rest of today's column will be devoted to an extended list of Orchids, most of which came from stories already published in the newspaper.
Orchids
- To the anonymous donor who gave so generously to the Foundation of Monroe County Community Schools Corp. that every elementary library request made in the fall was honored. In all, the foundation announced $30,000 in grants for 37 educational projects at 16 MCCSC schools.
- To the Acacia fraternity on the IU campus, which had a Holiday Toy Drive Saturday and Sunday, and donated all the toys collected to the Salvation Army.
- Ivy Tech students, who constructed an 8-foot-tall playhouse that will be auctioned Tuesday, with proceeds going to Jill's House. The auction will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the Monroe County Courthouse Square.
- To students at Bloomington High School South and the folks at Tutto Bene restaurant, who joined forces on an event that raised $3,000 for Monroe County's Court Appointed Special Advocates program.
- To everyone involved with the Stuff-A-Bus project, including Lew May and the people at Bloomington Transit; honorary chairs Jane Hoeppner and Jenny Greenspan; and chairperson Pam Thrash of radio station B97. The bus will be at various locations every weekend this month, with the last stop at Assembly Hall on Dec. 20.
- To Bloomington High School North graduate John Swihart, whose work was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Compilation and Soundtrack Album. And to IU graduate Behzad Ranjbaran, who also was nominated for a Grammy. Also, to Stuart Hyatt, who has been nominated for the packaging of a CD. He earned his master's degree from IU.
- To the people who operate Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, including director Libby Yarnelle. The food pantry has announced plans to expand.
- To members of Bear Creek Church in Brown County, who are rebuilding their church, which an arsonist burned to the ground in January 2004.
- To those people who attended or otherwise supported the Bloomington Hospital Gala last week, which raised $85,000 for emergency services.
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