Winner: The students in Susie Myers' eighth-grade honor English class earned their grades, and then some, this year. Together, the class wrote a book, "What Our Parents Should Know," which was the subject of a Deseret Morning News feature this week.
Honest, frank talk about depression, suicide, drugs, alcohol, teen sex, dating, religion, divorce and several other touchy subjects line the book's 141 pages.
The teacher came up with the idea after her own nephew committed suicide. Maybe this book will keep that sort of tragedy from being repeated.
Loser: Some people in La Verkin just can't seem to get enough of belittling their town in the eyes of the world. After having weathered an idiotic ordinance making the town a "United Nations free zone," which was later determined to be unconstitutional and then repealed entirely by a new City Council, they are at it again. An initiative to revive the ordinance will be on the November ballot.
One may wonder what the United Nations would ever have to do with a tiny town in Southern Utah — unless it has to one day send a peace-keeping force to keep the zealots away from the more rational residents.
Winner: With all the bad publicity postal workers have received through the years, it was great this week to see a local postal worker do a heroic deed. Holly Tuckett discovered a house on fire during her rounds Monday afternoon, and she ended up bringing two elderly residents outside and to safety.
Her alertness was helped by the fact she had gotten to know the couple during her regular rounds each day. Well done.