As identity theft becomes increasingly common, Heartland Regional Medical Center is following other health care facilities in taking measures to guard against it.

The waiting room walls at the Social Welfare Board in St. Joseph are no longer waiting for color. Not in one corner, anyway, where the once-drab white has given way to a field and a river and a sunset – all the handi­work of Alex and Ari Domingo, who dedicated several long days to the mural earlier this month.

It’s that time of year again. A whole new batch of college freshmen have packed up their lives and moved into dorm rooms, ready to begin a time sure to be full of new challenges.
Challenges like roommates and classes and new-found freedom — and, for some, challenges that arise against their faith.

Bleeding may not be pleasant, but for most people, it’s not a big deal. Not in the case of minor injuries, anyway — not unless the body lacks the ability to make it stop.
But bleeding is a big deal for Chris Latham of Savannah, Mo., who has Glanzmann thrombasthenia, a rare disorder in which her platelets don’t function correctly.
“Basically, my body doesn’t fix itself,” she says. “My blood doesn’t clot.”

What's in a name? Maybe more than some people realize.
People like the parents in New Zealand, that is, who named their daughter Talula Does The Hula from Hawaii. The Associated Press reported last month that a judge made the 9-year-old a ward of the court so that her name could be changed ó but not before sheíd gone through years of her life without revealing her real name even to her closest friends.

The gate is four colors. It’s blue for divinity, purple for kingship, white for purity, red for blood. The gate is Jesus, 1,500 years before anyone knows him by name. Through the gate is the outer court sur­rounding the tabernacle, and you must be with a priest to enter. If you’re an ancient Is­raelite, you bring a treasured lamb — really more a pet than just a piece of livestock — to sacrifice as payment for your sins.

Taylor Patterson is getting a crown. Not the kind he’d wear on his head but the kind he needs to protect his tooth, which has been weakened by cavity bugs. That’s how his dentist explains it to him, anyway, as she asks him to open up really, really wide, like an alligator. “The good thing about this is that it will protect the tooth underneath and keep it from cracking,” she says, working with the crown to make it fit. “And you don’t want it to crack, because it’s one of your big-boy teeth. You’ll keep it forever if you take care of it.”

Healthcare notes for Aug. 12

Religion in brief for Aug. 9, 2008

The space behind the altar is small, just enough for a few pews and 20 voices that echo off the high ceiling. They sing to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar — familiar lyrics beginning a Mass that, at least in its format, likely isn’t anything too out of the ordinary.
What is different is that fact that, for the most part, everyone in attendance is a 20- or 30-something, too old to be a traditional college student but generally not among the married-with-children crowd, either.