From the desk of...

Did you see that until last month, the U.S. Government was still paying a pension to a Civil War survivor? Irene Triplett of North Carolina died last month at 90. She was born when her father, Mose Triplett, was 83, and her mother, Elida Hall, was 34. Mose Triplett had fought for the Confederacy, deserted, and joined the Union Army, qualifying him and l…