It does show a commitment on the county's part to support drug court.

I'm happy that drug court will be able to continue to serve defendants and I look forward in the future to being able to expand the program with local, state and federal funds.

Drug Court understands there are very important competitive needs for budget consideration for the county.

If you ever have to support a flagging conversation, introduce the topic of eating

That means there's hope. Gene Upshaw made a commitment to the union that he's not backing down, and we support him 100 percent. The owners must finally realize if they don't come back to the table, the ramifications are potentially catastrophic.

It's extremely frustrating. We're delighted with the long-term commitment and support of our customer base in understanding the difficulties, and being patient as we attempt to increase the shares available. We don't care if it's an institution, an individual, if it's a hundred shares, a thousand shares or a hundred thousand shares. Anybody can place a bid.