Southlake church provides free fertility treatment

SOUTHLAKE, Texas—A North Texas church used Father’s Day to present the couple who’ve been selected for free fertility treatment.

The Reverend Keith Luttrell of the eleven7 church of Southlake says more than 100 couples applied. Matt and Christina Jonker were chosen at random for the screenings and treatment.

Luttrell says the fertility treatment is being donated by the Center for Assisted Reproduction in Bedford and North DFW Urology in Grapevine. Dr. Nathan Graves and his wife are church members.

The Dallas Morning News reports Jonker is a former youth pastor who’s working part time as a golf caddie and hoping to return to ministry. His wife is finishing her degree at Dallas Baptist University and works part time in an accountant’s office.

Jonker says insurance wouldn’t cover the fertility treatments, which he says could run as much as $40,000.

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Dog Saves Drowning Boy From River

OMAHA, Neb. — A Labrador retriever lived up to its name Friday when he plucked his 12-year-old owner out of the Platte River, near North Bend.

Tony Bailey can usually swim in the river, but recent rains have pushed it up higher than normal and whipped up unusual currents. When Tony jumped into the Platte on Friday, he was quickly sucked in.

“It was, like, over my head and I couldn’t touch,” he said.

He was only a few feet away from the shore, but the river current was strong enough that it was pulling him down and under. He said his cries for help weren’t being heard by anyone, except Jake, the 4-year-old Lab.

“I was saying, ‘Help, help,’ and I saw him jump in, and then my head went under, and when I came up, he was right here by me,” Tony said.

Tony said the dog swam out next to him and he grabbed the dog’s neck. The dog swam back to shore with the boy in tow.

“It’s something that I wouldn’t have expected him to do — to have the brains to do, I guess,” said Tony’s mother, Diane.

Diane Bailey said Jake isn’t usually the smartest dog.

“He doesn’t listen. He doesn’t mind,” she said.

“Sometimes he can act real hyper and weird,” said Tony. “He’ll pick up rocks and think they’re balls and wants you to throw them to him.”

He was just smart enough on Friday.

“You think you know your dog so well, but then he does something like this,” said Diane Bailey. “He’s got a big heart and he does have a brain in there.”

“Thanks guy,” said Tony. “I love him so much.”

Diane Bailey said she thinks the river channel changed during the flooding and washed out much of the bank where her son swims, which is why it was so unexpectedly deep.

Jake got a very big bone for efforts and was forgiven for every hole he dug and all the mud he tracked into the house, the Baileys said.

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Mom finds snake coiled on baby’s leg in crib

BRENTWOOD, N.Y. – A Long Island animal shelter is a temporary home for a 1-foot-long snake that a mother found coiled on her 7-month-old daughter’s leg as the baby slept in a crib.

Cari Abatemarco of upstate Troy says she was visiting family in Brentwood last week when her baby’s cries woke her one night. She tells Newsday that she found a snake wrapped around her daughter’s leg.

Abatemarco says she lifted her daughter and the snake fell off. A relative removed the snake from the crib and placed it in a bucket until animal control officers arrived.

The reptile has been identified as a California king, a non-venomous snake that’s not indigenous to the region.

Abatemarco says her family doesn’t keep snakes as pets. Officials say they don’t know where the snake came from.

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Obama button sold at Texas GOP convention gets national buzz

While a number of speakers — such as Railroad Commission chairman Michael Williams and Mike Huckabee — have praised the advance of Barack Obama and what it means towards a colorblind society, at least one vendor hasn’t gotten the message.

At the Republican state convention, a booth hosted by Republicanmarket was selling a pin Saturday that says: If Obama is President will we still call it the White House.

There were other pins that weren’t necessarily conveying the positive, inclusive, united front that has been portrayed during the convention. One said, “Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Deportation” and another, “I will hold my nose when I vote for McCain”

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