MEDICAL CENTER MIRACLE!

Mysterious Light Accompanies Patient's Sudden Recovery

By Brice Robinson

After her heart monitor flat lined and revival efforts seemed to have failed, Smallville resident Martha Kent was pronounced dead at 2:17 a.m. yesterday morning due to a respiratory infection. But at approximately 2:20 a.m., Mrs. Kent mysteriously started to breathe on her own, and the inactive line on her monitor started to beep with life.

Attending physician Dr. Helen Bryce had attempted to resuscitate Mrs. Kent when the patient's heart stopped moments earlier, but the doctor failed to get a response. "I pronounced the patient dead," Dr. Bryce said, "and the nurses and I began to clear the equipment. Then the room got very bright, and Mrs. Kent's revival followed."

Nurse Diana Lee assisted Dr. Bryce and said she witnessed the same bright light. "It was like staring at the sun, but everywhere," stated Miss Lee. "And then the patient opened her eyes, like she just woke up." The nurse added that she had been in a bad car accident the week before, leaving Lee's neck in a great deal of pain. "About the same time the patient regained consciousness, I noticed my neck stopped hurting," she said.
Witnesses could not identify the source of the light. Other hospital employees described the same phenomenon in the hallway outside Mrs. Kent's room. Interim Sheriff Mark "Wink" Waid said the Sheriff's department would investigate the reports of a bright light, but he feels there is a logical explanation. "It was obviously a power surge or maybe a spot from one of the helicopters the Disease Control Agency's been flying around town," Sheriff Waid said. "Nothing to worry about, folks."
Dr. Bryce declined to speculate on the light's source.

"The news here is not about a mysterious light, but that Mrs. Kent has recovered from a dangerous, life-threatening infection. Do I have a medical explanation for what happened?" Dr. Bryce commented, "I wish I did."
Dr. Bryce said Mrs. Kent's blood tests came back clear of infection, and she expects her patient to make a full recovery. Looking perfectly fine as she packed her bags, Mrs. Kent remarked that she feels normal and is excited she could attend the Food Bank charity event at the Talon.
"It was scary, but I knew my family was here for me," Mrs. Kent said. "Sometimes it's important to be grateful without asking too many questions."

CHARITY CONCERT A SMASHING SUCCESS

By Kathy Romita

Last night, almost the entire town of Smallville filled the Talon. People came to help a good cause and left with magical memories of a great concert. With the rockin' success of the charity bash, the Smallville Food Bank can wave goodbye to its financial worries--for now. Steadman, a musical band from Great Britain, drew a huge crowd for the event. And when it came time for the drawing, the members of the band donated some of their guitar picks, drumsticks and T-shirts.

Besides making monetary contributions, some attendees also brought shopping bags filled with nonperishable groceries to stock the Food Bank warehouse. Lana Lang, manager of the Talon and event co-chair, donated half of the coffee drink receipts to the cause.

As the deep earthy aroma of fresh roasted coffee wafted through the air, the crowds swayed to the hypnotic beat of Steadman, who kicked off the event. With Simon Steadman on vocals and acoustic guitar, Russell Field on drums and James Board on guitar, the guys filled the Talon with their emotional song styling.

Volunteers scurried around the party urging people to purchase raffle tickets. The drawing took place towards the end of the evening with the announcement of the grand prize winning ticket being last. Lex Luthor, who purchased 500 tickets, won the computer and then quickly donated his prize to the Food Bank. The event raised over $5,000 for the charity and stocked some empty shelves as well.

NEW SHERIFF SEARCH UNDERWAY

Waid to Head Committee

By Jim "Slim" Bradlee

With Sheriff Ethan Miller one month away from his murder trial, Lowell County has begun the search for a new sheriff. Mayor Tate has selected long-time Lowell County veteran lawman Mark "Wink" Waid to head the search committee to fill the position originally left void by his retirement. Waid is serving as sheriff until a replacement is found.

Waid chose to retire with two years remaining in his fifth term. He appointed Ethan Miller his replacement last spring. This committee's choice will serve until the 2004 elections.

Waid had no problem coming out of retirement, "The people of Lowell County elected me as the sheriff, and it's my duty to find the right person to fill the position...besides, the bluegills ain't biting much down at the lake, and all my grandkids are back in school."

Some townsfolk were baffled at the mayor's decision to appoint Waid to head the search. "I love Wink, but didn't he recommend Ethan in the first place?" commented auto specialist B.B. Davenport. Waid deflects such criticism, "Ethan was highly qualified for the position. He had a flawless record of service to the people of Lowell County...before he was sheriff. What happened to Ethan could have happened to anyone."

Mayor Tate defended his selection and wants to avoid any similar problems by hiring a sheriff from outside of Lowell County. "We have a good old boy network that runs real deep here in Smallville. "That's part of what got Ethan into his mess," commented Tate.

A source inside the mayor's office has said the mayor and Waid already have a short list of candidates that includes two women. Lowell County has never had a female sheriff. A decision will be made by mid-April

DRAWING LINES BETWEEN FREDRICK WALDEN AND EZRA SMALL

By Christopher James Beppo

My exploration of a possible link between the Smallville Caves and this burg's shrouded history was spurred by viewing a special preview version of the Smallville Chamber of Commerce's broad-reaching new Web site, to select journalists and town officials but available publicly on February 25, 2003. Among the beautiful graphics, slick Flash interface and engaging, informative copy one will find a short piece on the legendary Ezra Small, our founder.

Renewed interest in old Ezra and his relationship with the Kawatche tribe has been sparked by the laborious efforts to decipher his rather unique diary. And with the arrival in town of noted linguist Dr. Fredrick Walden, author of Deciphering the Mysteries of Hieroglyphics, the question begs to be asked: Is there more to the writing on those cave walls than ancient Kawatche scribblings?

My invitation to the "Rave at the Caves" must have gotten lost in the mail, so I missed out on that rare opportunity to personally examine the inscriptions. But in the few photographs released to the press, a striking similarity can be found to some of the supposedly nonsensical scrawl in Small's diary. Did Small have something to do with the creation of those pictographs? Could he have actually understood them? Or, even more farfetched, could the cryptic writing in Walden's caves--and in Small's journals--have resulted from the same source, due to a type of psychic phenomenon known as automatic writing?

Believers in automatic writing, or trance writing, claim that by relaxing the mind, one can channel the thoughts of a deceased individual into prose, poetry or even visual arts or music, often without possessing the skills to create such a work otherwise. Think Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," slapping gobs of mashed potatoes into a semblance of the mountain that has been psychically calling out to him. Although channeling extraterrestrials in real life has been fairly easily debunked, as in the case of 19th-century medium Hélène Smith, who claimed to have transcribed a Martian language--which ended up bearing a stunning resemblance to Smith's native French--some cases of automatic writing have defied explanation.

With no musical training at all, Britishwoman Rosemary Brown astounded music scholars by writing whole symphonies in the style of romantic composers apparently eager to complete their opus from the other side. Charles Dickens was said to have poised his pen above the parchment and let it go where it would, and Wolfgang Mozart often bragged that his brilliant melodies were already written; he just had to put them down on paper.

In Kansas, automatic writing has been used since the 1800s by the Spiritualist community to convene with arisen spirits in a quest for consolation, healing, truth, happiness or prophecy. Could Small have found his way into this society late in his life, or was he an amazing and unwitting precursor to them, not even knowing what his own enigmatic writing meant? As Small's diary continues to unfold, we may someday discover the link between the iconoclastic 19th-century trapper who left more questions than answers and the protective 21st-century linguist who has the privilege of studying perhaps the greatest archaeological find in the state's history. As with all mysteries, we're drawn forward by one word: Hope.