Each week during the school year the Houston Peach spotlights a Teacher of the Year at one of the 43 public schools in Houston and Peach counties.

Class: First grade

Experience: 9 years

Background: This week's featured educator is a product of Peach County's public schools, having graduated from Peach County High. She attended Fort Valley State College, now Fort Valley State University, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in early childhood education. In June 2005   more »

The walls of Olivia White's office are barely visible, covered by testaments to a lifetime of achievement and service.

White, the dean of students and vice president for student life at Hood College, has to check the dozens of plaques and service awards to remember all the organizations she has led or belonged to.

A short list includes: The Rotary Club of Carroll Creek, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority of Frederick County, the Heartly House, an agency providing help to victims of domestic violence, and her church, Beltway Church of Christ in Suitland.   more »

A Lehigh Acres resident is really hooked on hats.

Minnie Hooks' affinity for hats came as a teenager, when she was inspired by her late grandmother.

Now, many years later, she has amassed a collection of about 200 hats.

"My grandmother wore a lot of hats, and it was usually on Sundays to go to church," Hooks said. "We always did a lot of church things."

Hooks collects hats of all kinds and wears them on a daily basis.

She's had her oldest hat — a black cowboy-style hat covered with shiny rhinestones — for 37 years. She hasn't worn the hat in   more »

From their sorority house in northwest Detroit, the women of the Detroit Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. have done many good deeds. They have sponsored programs to help the homeless, to assist grandparents raising grandchildren, used their voices to entrance children through storytelling, and funded hundreds of college scholarships.

Next weekend, they sponsor their biggest fund-raiser of the year -- the Ebony Fashion Fair which brings astounding, provocative dress from world-renowned designers to a Detroit stage.

Anitta Orr, president of the Detroit Alumnae Chapter, wants the sorority to do even more good work in Detroit neighborhoods, so that people will say, "The Deltas helped us do this."

Anitta became a Delta 44 years ago as a student at Western Michigan University. She's a former Detroit public school teacher of the speech and language-impaired.

The sorority's Detroit chapter has more than 800 members, representing college graduates from across the country. Most are initiated at colleges, but many join as graduate alumnae.   more »

One Bossier City lady is rebuilding her life one stitch at a time.

After ovarian cancer and a divorce hit her at the same time in 2005, Linda Norris was left with nearly nothing. However, after much prayer and hard work, her life has a new light to guide her and it comes in the form of a doll named Savannah.

The Savannah Doll is the name of Norris' new line of dolls, named after her granddaughter, she started making after she regained her health and focus.

"My story started out from despair," Norris said. "I lost everything. It was me and my Chihuahuas against the world and it was going to be hard to start over again. One night in a dream, I saw this doll and I felt   more »

Former McKinney Parks and Recreation Board of Directors chairperson Marta Gore has announced she is running for the city council at-large seat that will be up for election in May 2008.

Mayor Pro Tem Thad Helsley currently holds the seat and cannot run for re-election because of term limits.

Gore’s goal, if elected, will be to better link the various communities of the city, focus on traffic congestion, bring business to McKinney, and ensure the city has   more »

Mr. Jones was recently invited to attend a Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Conference in St. Louis to speak on the plight of his son. Back in Jena, a host of news organizations joined forces to demand that the judge unseal the juvenile court proceedings of Mychal Bell by filing a court petition. The petition, filed by their lawyers in the 28th Judicial District Court in LaSalle Parish, challenges the judge’s decision to keep Mychal’s case secret since his case has been so public up to this point.

The news organizations are requesting permission to attend any of Mychal’s upcoming hearings in the case, to review transcripts of previous hearings and other court records and to lift a gag order against participants in the case. The petition in part states that “State District Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr.’s restrictions substantially limit the [media’s] ability to report to the public the facts about this significant case and unconstitutionally stifle the flow of information to the public.”   more »

Food. Food. Everywhere is food. Catered food, with meats you cannot name and ingredients that are a mystery. Comfort food on a grill requiring charcoal, secret sauces and ribs from a generous pig.

It's Saturday, a day of contrast, a day when people define fun in their own special way.

Lunch is served at the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens, on a Harris County hillside dotted with colors an artist couldn't match. Hundreds of shrimp give their lives so people can eat. Tables are covered with linen. Champagne is poured into goblets.   more »

City Council candidates say concerns of city residents extend beyond sewers and what to do about the aging Roberts Stadium.

Speaking at a candidates forum Wednesday evening at the C.K. Newsome Center, candidates said as they meet residents throughout the city, they hear concerns about neighborhood swimming pools, revitalization and other infra-structure improvements.

"In my particular area on the Southeast Side, it's not bad sidewalks, it's no sidewalks," said 2nd Ward candidate Carla Hayden.

"The children walk down the middle of the streets to get to their bus stops," she said. "They have to stand there at the edge of their street waiting for the bus, and it scares me every morning when I drive through and see those kids out there. I'm afraid someone's going to get hit. I consider that a major issue."   more »

On a recent Friday last month, a line wrapped around the front of the new Robeks Fruit Smoothies and Healthy Eats store at The Shops, 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.  People were waiting for a free smoothie, compliments of the Robeks' grand opening.  Inside the store bright lights, florescent colors and an upbeat service team gave customers an enthusiastic and warm welcome.

The Robeks chain, which is the region's largest smoothie chain, was celebrating the opening of its 15th store in the D.C. Metro area. But Shonta Williams, the first African-American woman franchise owner, was celebrating her passage into the world of entrepreneurship.  For the past two years, Williams worked tirelessly to launch her first business. She gave up a job that provided the security of consistent income and faced the uncertainties of entrepreneurship with nothing but faith.

"I haven't had a paycheck since February, but the experience has been fulfilling so I have everything I need," Williams said.  " It wasn't a difficult thing to do, it just took some commitment."

Williams shares Robeks commitment to provide the highest quality of natural and premium foods as an alternative to high-fat and high-calorie foods and   more »