Birdie: By Slayton Maness, the Robbins Elementary third-grader who, while crossing a road to board a school bus last November, was struck by a pickup truck and so gravely injured that it seemed doubtful he could ever lead a normal life. And after many weeks of therapy, he still has a long way to go. But there he was the other day, gamely walking through the school doors under his own steam for a surprise visit. Doctors are amazed at Slayton’s progress, and it’s easy to understand his mom’s feeling that “God had his hands on him.”

Birdie: By our own state Sen. Harris Blake, whose colleagues in Raleigh demonstrated the esteem in which they hold him by making him deputy president pro tempore of the Senate. We salute Sen. Blake for bringing this distinct honor upon himself and his home county.