Frank Pistone is especially proud of his most recent honor, the French Legion of Honor, which Napoléon Bonaparte created in 1802 to acknowledge those who delivered exceptional civil or military conduct.

I return home from Arizona, and a few days later, I receive a phone call from Jared, my oldest son. He and his wife Emily are due with their first baby in one week . . . and the labor contractions are 5 minutes apart.

The invitation promised “A fun-filled evening” and on Nov. 6 “Scopes for Hope” more than delivered.

The Independence Parks and Recreation Department will host the 27th annual Best Little Arts & Crafts Show from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 20, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Roger T. Sermon Community Center, Noland and Truman roads, Independence.

At last autumn is upon us. I know Sir is wildly bemoaning this phenomenon as he always goes into a bit of a downward spiral the minute the clocks go back.

When we dressed up like germs for Halloween I thought we were being pretty clever. My boyfriend and I painted our faces green, had green capes with him being H-1 and I was labeled N-1, we topped it off with swine noses and tails. Three days later when I got sick I knew it was Murphy’s Law coming to haunt me.

Lisa Keith remembers that November day. Vividly.  After all, she almost accidentally killed her children.

Barbara Gose recently found a family treasure while rummaging through a metal box filled with keepsake photographs belonging to Mary Barnhard, her 106-year-old mother, who died in 2004.

One hundred years after his death, Mark Twain is “alive and well” by literary standards because he is still being published. Yes, on April 21, 2010, Mark Twain will be gone from this earth for 100 years but not gone from literature lovers.