Her only child, a 17-year-old son, hadn't come home, and Patti Smith sat at the kitchen table at 6:30 in the morning, paralyzed by worry, fear and lack of direction.

The U.S. Postal Service has a plan to help its ailing budget "get well soon": greeting cards.

Through his position at Boys Town, Larry W. Clang, was entrusted with caring for the young people who lived with him and his wife.

Call it the classroom combo. The H1N1 flu is hitting kids, as are the typical fall illnesses: colds, sinus infections and diarrhea.

John and Allyson Etzell's home can get pretty hectic when they share the space with their three children, Sammi, 3, Taya, 4, and Matt, 6, and up to six other boys and girls, ages 5 to 11.

Marie Rubis Bauer believes it's Gregorian chant. Her choir at St. Cecilia Cathedral specializes in this sacred music from the Middle Ages.

Tonight, it's "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow . . ." for the youth at the Omaha Home for Boys as the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival's fall tour arrives on campus for a performance of the Bard's "Macbeth." The play is not the version of "Macbeth" that audiences saw during the summer, although it features some of the same actors.

Leo Fascianella was a poor Sicilian teen who spoke no English when he moved to America in 1972.

Being one of 18 people nominated for the DAISY Award in nursing was an honor, said Omahan Dean Degner.

Thousands of backpacks will be handed out to metro students in need during the next few days as part of 7 Can Help and the Salvation Army's backpack drive.

Borders book stores will help Boys Town youth discover the joy of reading and contribute to programs that help them be successful during a back-to-school book drive.

A heavy downpour of rain put a stop to Friday night's Omaha Royals game, but it was not enough to cancel the big fireworks show.

Communities across Nebraska will be holding a variety of events over the next two days to celebrate the July 4 holiday.

With the down economy, many are wondering if this year's fireworks sales would be a boom or fizzle out.

Nebraska's count of confirmed swine flu cases has reached 57 in a week in which word spread that a woman with Omaha ties died of complications from the virus.