Ron Drake

The dog days of summer took on a whole new meaning for people in Castle Valley last month. Many Castle Valley folks spent part of their summer days and evenings cruising the town’s dusty roads in search of Jackie Chan. It wasn’t the well-known Hong Kong martial artist and actor they were searching for, but rather a little seven-pound Chinese Crested hairless Chihuahua mix who escaped his enclosure on Shafer Lane on Aug. 15.

It was back to school last week at the Castle Valley Academy. School officially started Monday, Aug. 17, but the first day was basically limited to getting to know each other and to get acquainted with the school and farm and their new way of life in Castle Valley. The students and staff got down to business on the following day with classes of traditional subjects as well as an array of other classes that will prepare the students for life.

If you’re old enough, you remember where you were 25 years ago on Sept 11, 2001, when you heard the terrible news about the terrorist attacks on the United States. As a refresher, that was the day that terrorists linked to al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners in a coordinated suicide attack against the United States. The attacks killed 2,977 people, destroyed the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City, and reshaped global security and foreign policy.