Check this out next time you're feeling sorry for yourself.

An 8-year-old Kentucky boy can do it all-- play baseball, football, soccer. And he does it with one leg.

 Adam Bender takes his position behind the plate, resting on his right knee. When a runner rounds third looking to score, Adam jumps up and holds his ground.

 At bat, his athletic skill and balance allow him to take a full swing, and he usually makes contact. He hops to first base as quickly as he can. If he's safe, he uses crutches to run the bases. When he gets thrown out, he hops dejectedly back to the dugout.

Pretty inspirational...next time I don't feel like walking the dog or getting off the couch to do something, I'll think of Adam....and probably lay back down again! What an awesome story.

Thanks for waking up with Greg and Melissa each weekeday morning on KS95 and I'll see you on the radio!

I can't express our gratitude enough to the dozens of KS95 listeners who gave up their Saturday to come help with the Hugo storm relief. It was a fun, challenging, sobering and ultimately satisfying day of volunteering. Here's part of an e-mail I had written my mom and read this morning on our show. Below that is some video Melissa and I took while there.

We went and cleared/picked up debris from the Hugo storm damage.  It's like nothing I've seen before.  What used to be a pretty residential street is just a trash heap. I am amazed only the one child died.  If there's one thing I learned today is that you have no chance unless you're in the basement.  I think 90% of what I picked up; siding, shingles, insulation, dry(wet)wall, lumber, glass was the size of my hand or smaller.

You definitely do not want to be in your garage if it is facing the storm. Houses stood, but garages were gone if they faced the storm. A car becomes a deadly weapon. We were located where the tornado first touched down. The cars there looked as if they had been car-bombed in Baghdad; glass blown out, bent, dented enough where makes and models were unrecognizable.

You try to imagine what those few moments must have been like for that neighborhood. It's as if Godzilla walked diagonally across this community swiping his arms and kicking at things indiscriminately and disappearing. Getting down at eye level and seeing it is heartbreaking.  

Again, thanks for helping and thanks for listening to the Greg and Melissa Morning Show.

We'll see you on the radio.

 After several stories about people stealing gasoline by driving off without paying, some wondered-- Why isn't there a law to require all consumers to prepay at the pump?

 One gas station owner in Minnesota says two outside pumps are pre-pay all day long, "because they're easy access to exit the lot". But when she tried to make all her pumps prepay, it cost her business.

 She "noticed dramatically a loss in volume".

That's why many stations have hesitated going to all prepay. Even though they're losing money because of drive-offs, they worried about losing even more money if customers were inconvenienced.

 BUT-- that thinking has shifted with the rising cost of fuel.

The owner says, "You don't make money from fuel to start with, then to have a drive-off is just astronomical. It can take a whole month to recoup it".

She started an association that would like to see a law to mandate prepay. That way there's a level playing field, and no station would have an advantage.

 Some cash-paying customers don't like to go inside the store before pumping, guess how much it will cost, then pump, then return to the store to get change.

(In California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada, pre-pay is the norm. In New Jersey and Oregon, the law doesn't allow consumers to pump their own gas, so drive-offs are not a problem. In many cities, local governments are mandating pre-pay because their police departments do not want to deal with the burden of investigating drive-offs.)

The gas station owner said she doesn't see the downside to a uniform standard. She says, "Customers will see lower cost in the price of fuel if our overhead's down."

Me, I like standing outside my car at my favorite Holiday Station Store and watching the gas tank-tvs they have on 'em. Think I'll get a lawn chair and invite the wife and neighbors out to watch too and have me a hill-billy happy hour right there at the pump! The only drive-off I do is when I leave the handle still stuck in my gas tank!

Thanks for listening to us, Greg and Melissa on KS95...gotta run, I have some outdoor charity at 11:51am today but it looks like rain, so I'll be preparing for a big Friday morning show and I'll see YOU on the radio!

The massive destruction to the community of Hugo weighs heavy on my mind this morning.

We've had unimaginable typhoon and earthquake disasters half way around the world already this year. And we aren't far removed from Hurricane Katrina and for that matter 9-11.

But something stirs in me when something like this happens this close to home. I think it might have been the damage shown in the aerial pictures of Hugo in the aftermath of the storm. This neighborhood in the small picture below looks a lot like the one I live in. Or at least it used to. I sympathize with anyone who goes through a loss but I wish I could say I feel as much empathy for the victims of other disasters as I do this one. I should. I guess it's just easier for me to comprehend and visualize the loss and heartache when the story is that much closer to home. I guess that's what they mean when they say some disasters are unimaginable. 

It's too diffulcult to see in this photo, but it still amazes me that in the swath of a tornado a home ( and life) can be obliterated and a few feet away a tree, wagon, bicycle, or a life can remained untouched. Untouched in the physical form, at least.

My thoughts, prayers, and concern go out to all the victims of Sunday's storm. If you feel there is something you would like to do to help, below are a few avenues in which to do so.

DONATIONS

Hugo Relief Fund - Money donations are being accepted by U.S. Banks.  You can drop off donations at the Hugo Branch at 14431 Forest Boulevard North or any U.S. Bank.  For information you can call 651-429-7758.

Hugo Relief Fund - Money donations are being accepted at the Lake Area Bank located at 1400 East Highway 96, White Bear Lake, MN  55110, or call 651-653-9619.

All other donations are being accepted at the Hugo Fire Department located at 5323 140th Street North (one block west of Highway 61 on 140th Street.) 

Donations can be made to the American Red Cross.  Please call their hotline at 612-460-3700 or drop off donations at 1201 West River Parkway, Minneapolis.

 VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are needed to clean up the site.  Volunteers should plan to meet at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 31, 2008.  The meeting site has not yet been determined.  Please check back later for more details.