John Lopez of JS Shop in Poteet makes ink pens from cow manure. He said he’ll never run out of supplies in South Texas.

Chris Edwards is an Army staff sergeant who was burned over 80 percent of his body when a roadside bomb exploded under his patrol vehicle in Iraq in April 2005. I followed Chris, his wife Tammy and their son Riley for eight months for this three-part story on what it takes for a family to recover from the unthinkable.

From Sept. 10 to 13, 2008, I traveled to the Texas coast to cover Hurricane Ike for the San Antonio Express-News. I filed video stories on the evacuation of special-needs residents, people preparing their homes for the storm before leaving, others who decided to stay, and the destruction after the hurricane.

While many people are cursing high fuel costs, those at Alamo Biodiesel in central San Antonio smile as prices climb. The company’s business has blossomed as customers seeking financial relief have sought out its cheaper alternative fuel.

A three-alarm fire Monday afternoon at the Atlas Pallet Company in downtown San Antonio sent plumes of black smoke hundreds of feet into the air, drawing onlookers who heard multiple loud explosions as propane tanks ignited.

More than an awesome hangout with rails and ramps, Delta Force Skate Church ministers to young people who are often exposed to drugs, gangs and crime. The Lakeview Baptist Church program has been successful at turning many of them to God.

In the thick of a smoke so oppressive that visibility was cut to a couple feet, the shadowy figures of the firefighters drifted in and out of sight. But their voices on the radio were loud and clear.

“We’ve got a victim,” called the tinny voice. “We’re trying to bring him out.”

Girls from the Young Women’s Leadership Academy race each other to build computers the fastest at the Geek Squad Summer Academy, a program aimed at getting girls interested in science and technology.