I’ve been talking to a few people about a fantastic Christmas story.

Dave Best, a soldier stationed at Fort Lewis, almost died from an IED explosion. He’s since had nine surgeries at the VA hospital at American Lake. He and his wife put about $3,000 worth of repairs into his car, which was stolen and wrecked on Dec. 2.

The folks at Titus Will Ford heard about the story and surprised Best with a Plymouth Voyager. Stan Nacaratto, who first met Best at American Lake Veterans Golf Course, helped connect Best with the folks at the dealership. He was there when they gave him the car (with a giant bow to place atop it to surprise his wife).

“He looked at me, and big tears began rolling down his face,” Nacaratto said. “He said, ‘I can’t take a car like that. I’m not that kind of person.’ I said, ‘Listen to me, you’re our hero now. You put your life on the line in Iraq. So, please, be our guest.’

“He got in and drove the car a couple of miles. He grabbed me when he got out of the car and hugged me and put his cheek next to mind. It about broke my jaw because he’s so strong. He was so appreciative. I’ve never seen anyone cry harder in my life. And he’s just such a sweet guy.

I’ll have more details after I meet with Best on Wednesday or Thursday.

Downtown resident Laura Hanan, upon reading my article about online crime fighting, e-mailed me to add this:

I worked for six months this year with a TPD Officer who would come to my apartment and pick up my photos for identification. Many of the people I had photographed had criminal records and several of them and others that I called in about after watching them for periods of time were arrested as a direct result of the information I provided - I made a list and came up with about twenty people.

In front of my building alone I have photographed people engaged in sexual acts, smoking crack, and dozens of people making drug deals.

Things have improved a lot lately since the D Town Market was closed and since the police have stepped up patrols in the area. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done and the effort must be consistently maintained.

I was going to try to write some poem based on “The Night Before Christmas” but using events like my 3:30 a.m. trip to Sea-Tac this morning, a trip to BJ’s Bingo in Fife and too much egg nog at Knapp’s.

But that just ain’t my style. And, like most of this post, it would just be a way for me to try to stretch out the fact that I’m just tying up some loose ends today. And that’s my way of saying I’m not sure what or how often I’ll post today, but I will find some stuff to keep y’all entertained.