By ANN WORK, Scripps Howard News Service

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The way Brittany Salvesen sees it, you miss all the shots you don't take.

So the Midwestern State University sophomore invited Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow to Wichita Falls to escort her to her sorority formal April 20.

She created a 48-second video to introduce herself and extend her invitation.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The gentle ministry of three little dogs has been life-changing for James Cowley, 7.

If it weren't for the school visits of the furry threesome with Puppy Love Reading Director Michelle Nester, James, a second-grader, might not be talking to his teachers or classmates.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - When Sarah Fung was 9 years old, she fell in love with a book that began to change her life.

"Misty of Chincoteague," by Marguerite Henry, tells the story of a group of ponies that lived on two small islands off the coast of Virginia -- and two children who wanted very much to own one.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Struggling is everywhere in drought-ravaged Texas. Fawns have been abandoned by their mothers. A dehydrated baby beaver was found left behind by its mother along a highway. Desperate birds are being rescued in growing numbers.

In a hospital emergency room, a doctor urgently needs to communicate with his patient, who doesn't speak English.

At a police station, an English- and Spanish-speaking police officer needs to communicate with a victim of domestic violence, who speaks Vietnamese.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., says he already has put the ugly incident behind him. And those who know him say they are not surprised that he chose to turn the other cheek.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - "Come on, girls!"

Peggye McNair stands at the barbed wire fence at the side of U.S. Highway 287. She has parked her car, with its license plate that reads simply, "Camels." She calls to 20 of the beasts grazing in the distance on the Texas field and tosses treats over the fence.

Gregoria Martinez, 94, might seem like your typical grandma. She made quilts for her grandchildren, encouraged them to go to church, prayed for them and gave advice.

Except the Vernon, Texas, grandma didn't have just a handful of grandchildren when she died late last month.

She had nearly 300.

The true story of how Midwestern State University balked at opening its doors to black students in the early 1950s came as such a surprise to two current students that they set out to publicize its details.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- When Herschel Walker talked about the best thing that ever happened to him, he didn't mention anything about his storied football career.He didn't cite playing 12 years as a running back for the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Minnesota Vikings - or winning the Heisman Trophy in 1982.