* Roger Young of Delta says his wife passed away from cancer last year. When he attempted to pay the remainder of her medical bill to Dr. Alan Smith at the Delta Family Medicine Clinic, he was told there was no outstanding balance. He found out then that Smith had written off the several-hundred-dollar balance as a "courtesy." Also, Young received a call from the corporate office of McDonald's Corp. in Illinois. His wife, a McDonald's employee, had won a contest for a trip to the 2006 Winter Olympics. In lieu of that trip, however, she opted for the cash equivalent to take a family vacation. McDonald's called Young to let him know that even though she had died, the vacation money she won would be given to her surviving family members.
* Ever since The Tribune changed its policy to accommodate earlier delivery by tossing the papers in driveways rather than on porches, the neighborhood at 1700 East and 1200 South has had its own special deliverer. A neighbor walks the blocks, grabs the papers and throws them on the porches.
* Yvonne Jones dropped off her daughter Sara Reed after an evening out for dinner, and then stopped at the Common Cents in Bountiful for gas. She filled her tank, went in to pay with a check and was told the store didn't take personal checks. Yvonne went to her car to call Sara to bring cash. When Yvonne went inside to let the cashier know that help was on the way, the cashier told her that a gentleman standing behind her in line had paid for her gas - almost $50 worth. Unfortunately, the man left before she had a chance to thank him.
* Late last year, an elderly woman had a dispute with her landlord and was in the process of being evicted from her apartment where she had lived for the past 25 years. She lived on the 4th floor in a building with no elevator and she has a history of heart failure, macular degeneration and inability to climb stairs on a daily basis. The landlord had constantly refused her requests to move to a first-floor unit. She contacted Salt Lake County Aging Services, which found better housing and helped her move before the deadline set by the landlord. Representatives from the Lifecare Program and Salt Lake City Police Community Affairs donated furniture, because she had no usable items. Four Bennion Center students helped her move.
* Christine Mason of West Jordan was at the Smith's grocery store on 900 South and 4200 West recently when she noticed a firetruck pull into the parking lot from Station 54 in West Jordan. Her elementary-school-aged girls mentioned they had been in a firetruck because of a field trip at school and Mason joked how unfair that was, since she had never been in a firetruck. A firefighter overheard the conversation, walked around the truck to their car and said: "We can fix that." So Mason, her girls and their friends all got a guided tour inside the truck.
* Parents who have gone through the stress of having premature newborns spend weeks in the infant ICU at the University of Utah Medical Center can appreciate Karla Rogerson, known around the ICU as Nurse Karla, who takes photos of the newborns with her own digital camera throughout her shift. She then uses a computer to digitalize beautiful and fun backgrounds. She prints up numerous pictures in different poses and sizes and gives them to the parents to share with friends and family.
