Mariachi Man

CALDWELL -- A Caldwell student is one of the state's top high school viola players.

But Henry Olvera didn't choose the stringed instrument, and he's never taken lessons. Caldwell orchestra teacher Gini Rosandick needed a viola for the high school orchestra, so Olvera agreed to play.

"I handed it to him the first day of school," Rosandick said. "It was sink or swim. He swam."
Olvera first started on the violin in fifth grade, and Rosandick said he was one of her beginner students that year. But Olvera wasn't just any student. He had a gift.

"He has a fantastic ear," Rosandick said. "He hears things in a way that is different from most people."

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Slavery Quilt

KUNA -- A Kuna teen's project may benefit a local museum.

Bryanna Reimers told the story of American slavery with a quilt. Now she wants to donate the piece to the Idaho Black History Museum.

The quilt -- completed two years ago -- traces the history of slavery in America.

Reimers said she found pictures depicting different aspects of slavery, from slave ships to punishment and the underground railroad. She printed the pictures "backwards" onto iron-on transfers, which she used for squares on the quilt.

Maxine Robertson, Reimers' grandmother, said making a quilt was a particularly appropriate way to tell the story of slavery.

"They used quilts on the underground railroad," Robertson said. "A quilt hanging on the fence or on the clothesline told (escaped) slaves if it was safe and which way to go. It was the pattern in the quilt."

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Good for a Girl

NAMPA -- When it comes to playing baseball, Cassie Thompson isn't just good "for a girl."

The only female player in Nampa's Babe Ruth baseball league prep division excels in the traditionally boys-only sport. This season she was hitting .321, 13 games into the season and had an on-base percentage of .457.

Coach Curt Sukeena said the South Middle School student is just plain good.

"Cassie is an outstanding player," Sukeena said. "She is our starting second baseman, and is -- in my opinion -- the best second baseman in the league. She rarely makes an error and has started at least four double plays."

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Medical Scholar

NAMPA -- Leticia Aguila still has another year of classes at Nampa High School before graduation. But she's almost done with her first year of college.

The Nampa junior has earned 27 credit hours by choosing high school courses that offer concurrent college credits.

"I'm trying to get my first year of college out of the way," Aguila said, adding that she would like to earn a Spanish minor in college, which could tack on extra time to her degree.

Aguila characterizes herself a procrastinator, but when it comes to planning for the future, this local student started early. The 16-year-old said she decided a few years ago that she was interested in pursuing a medical career, adding that the field offers job security.

"People are always going to be hurt or sick," she said, "and I want to help."

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Sacred Rhythms

The world never stops. Its citizens scurry from home to work and back with barely time to breathe in a frenetic freeway rush of activity. Climbing the corporate ladder requires extra hours, so even sleep is sacrificed to the gods of success. Those removed from the work-a-day world whirl through meetings and projects of clubs and causes. Or they focus their time on leisure activity, the great oxymoron of modern society.

Activity is addictive. And like any addiction, there are consequences. The symptoms of life’s staccato speed are universal: headaches, depression, loneliness, irritation, shallow relationships, mountains of debt in the frenzied pursuit of bigger and better. What will it take to regain perspective, return to sensible living? Where does rapid-fire, war-torn living end?

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Surprised by the Moon

A plane in the sky sighs as it passes from sight, just beyond the treetops. A cricket chorus sings the setting of the sun. We stand in the driveway, kicking rocks and waiting for the moon. But twilight takes its time on a warm spring night. Colors fade until, surprised, we spot the stark white crescent silently hanging above us in the dark.

Photo Finish

NAMPA — A Skyview High School student will represent Idaho this summer in a national competition for commercial photography.

Kyle Levinger, a junior, won the chance to head to nationals with a first-place finish at state.

But his teacher, Sue Lindsay, said the state win was unexpected because of Levinger's age, adding that the prize usually goes to seniors.

"I was a little surprised," Lindsay said, "but not really. Kyle has a special gift."

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Single-party System

NAMPA -- The end of the Republican primary leaves Canyon County voters with few choices in November.

In a state that consistently votes Republican, only a fraction of local races will be opposed in the Nov. 2 election.

But Jasper LiCalzi, chair of the Politics and Economics Department at Albertson College, explained that Idaho's de facto, one-party system doesn't eliminate voters' ability to choose.

A county Democratic Party official added that the shortage of opposition candidates is no indication of weakness in quality. Chuck Evans, county chairman for the Democratic Central Committee, said each of the party's three candidates in local races are strong enough to win.

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Condor Queen

NAMPA — A girl in Idaho came up with a plan to save the California Condor.

Sara Riggins, a 7th grade student at Nampa Christian School, said lead shot in dead animals as well as poisoned meat set out for other predators killed many of the now-endangered birds.

She said state governors should prohibit the use of lead shot in bullet manufacturing.

Riggins chose to study the condor after hearing about an essay contest on television. She did Internet research and visited the World Center for Birds of Prey. The Boise center has 19 pairs of California Condors.

Riggins wrote up her ideas and sent them to a contest headed by Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. And she won a trip to San Diego.

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Bruised Sky

A swift wind pushes past the roses, leaves pink-tinged petals scattered across the lawn. Baby pears, still white-green, cling to the ends of waving branches while water drops drip from the corner of the carport roof. A cat, cornered by the rain, waits in the woodpile, eyes the shadowy undersides of purple clouds, hovering overhead, out of reach and glaring grim.