Odds & Ends

On occasion, while eating my gigantic morning bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, Grape Nuts, or Honey Bunches of Oats (usually Honey Bunches of Oats), I decide to peruse the Standard-O-Town-Examiner. This morning was one of those occasions, and I happened upon a pretty funny story about a dude named James Howarth from Detroit. Don't ask me why the Standard-O-Town-Examiner chose to throw in a story about a Detroit man in their paper. Whatevah, I'm glad they threw it in, 'cause it made me smile. Here it is:

IRS letters just don't make cents
Detroit--James
Howarth is a little confused
by two letters he has
received from the Internal
Revenue Service.
The Detroit defense
lawyer received one letter in
November that said he owed
the IRS money--5 cents.
He was warned that
he should pay "to avoid
additional penalty and/or
interest," the Detroit Free
Press reported Saturday.
Howarth says he then
received a second letter
telling him the government
owes him money--4 cents.
He was told he would
have to request the refund
because it's less than $1.
"When I owe them a
nickel, I must pay them. It's
not optional, but when they
owe me, I have to ask for it."
Howarth says he's not
sure if there is a connection
between the two notices or
if the refund represents a
recalculation of the first bill.
He says he called an IRS
800 telephone number but
gave up after spending a
long time on hold.
IRS spokesman Luis
D. Garcia says the agency
doesn't comment on
individual accounts.
--The Associated Press



Then I read a story that didn't make me smile, but I feel like sharing. The story was about a local musician, Brenn Hill, and his family. In late November Brenn's little boy, Briggs, was diagnosed with a large, rapidly growing tumor on his brain stem. Interestingly enough, Brenn Hill is known for playing benefit concerts for families going through "life's traumatic events" as the paper put it. So now Brenn is the one in need of one of those benefit concerts. Several benefits have been organized for Briggs, including a hip-hop dance group performance this month and a walkathon in the spring. I'm not sure why this story touched me so much when I read it this morning. Maybe it was the photos the paper included of the Hill family. They look like such a nice family, and it sounds like Brenn Hill is someone who does a lot to help others in need. I don't know about you, but I'm definitely gonna go to that hip-hop dance peformance this month. Here's how to help:

• Centennial Bank, under Brenn, Briggs and Sylina Hill
• Goldenwest Credit Union under Brenn, Briggs and Sylina Hill
• Website, www.teambriggs.org

To follow the family's journey, log onto www.carepages.com, briggshill, where the family posts regular blogs about Briggs' progress.