MARY LYNNE RICHARDS of our staff has a great blog here talking about the benefits of running with her dog.

I’m not a runner, but I love to walk our two dogs, Lucy and Bella. We have a couple of favorite out-of-the way spots and the girls know when it’s time, they go nuts when they see me putting on my shoes.

Walking is good for the soul, doesn’t cost a dime and makes you feel even better when you are done. Many days I come home from work dragging my sorry tail, only to see the excited tails of Lucy and Bella wagging back and forth in anticipation of the late afternoon/early evening stroll.

The urge to sit there and do nothing is great. The rewards of being active are even greater.

YES, WE ARE wrestling geeks.

No, we don’t care.

Just like last year, we present to you our take on the upcoming WrestleMania card. If we can figure out how to plug the computer in, we might have live blogging Sunday night as well, just like last year.

MONDAY’S SENTENCING FOR a couple who pleaded guilty to giving alcohol and drugs to a 15-year-old-girl, then taking photos of her having sex, was difficult to sit through. Click here for the story.

Defense attorney Monroe McWard attempted to enter into evidence copies of Facebook entries supposedly made by the victim. The judge then replied that he didn’t know anything about Facebook or how it worked.

Perhaps in the smaller and more rural communities, technology may still have some catching up to do. But it doesn’t matter where you live — Facebook has rapidly become the way people communicate.

Last year when some Quincy kids vandalized Wavering Pool, their idle Facebook chatter helped investigators solve the case. Then there were the Facebook comments from two kids who recently got busted sitting in an off-duty Quincy Police Department officer’s truck smoking pot.

Or, how about the local DCFS investigator allegedly threatening a law enforcement officer via Facebook? He’s facing a serious felony charge now.

Like it or not, Facebook is the way of the world, and familiarity wouldn’t hurt for those in the judicial system.

THE NINTH EDITION of the Trial Handbook for Illinois Lawyers is out, and the esteemed Robert Hunter of Quincy had some help.

The former judge wrote the handbook many years ago and has continually updated it. Adams County Assistant State’s Attorney Josh Jones and retired Judge Mark Schuering are on the cover and contributed to the book this year. I’ll let Jones tell the tale …

“For the past year to 18 months I have been getting copies of every appellate and supreme court decision in the state of Illinois.  I then go through all the decision to determine which ones are relevant to the area of sentencing in general. At that point I go through the book and attempt to place the new decisions in the appropriate section of the book.

“For this most recent edition we also reorganized the book so that each section went from more general areas of sentencing to the more case specific issues.

“Finally, I attempted to go through every statute and update them to include the most recent version. New sections were added, such as the
methamphetamine control act and updated sentencing rules as to DUI offense.

“I am currently working on the next edition with the same basic process. Every case decided by every Illinois appellate court and the Illinois supreme court is sent to me.  I go through each of those.

“Also in this edition we are going to try to add some more practical advice to the reader.  In other words, instead of just giving them the
statute and the laws, we are going to try and slowly add some practical advice about how to use these statutes in individual cases and what
types of evidence or issue the individual practioner should be on the lookout for.

“Judge Hunter is amazing. Even at his age he is remarkably current on the law.  He was a tremendous resource and it was a tremendous honor that he thought us to continue his work on this book.”

THE SENTENCING OF a Payson woman for a meth conviction Thursday was interesting, to say the least. Click here to read the story.

Everybody should be required to sit in on a sentencing at some point in their life. In fact, I’d make a pitch to require all high school students to attend at least one, during a school day, as part of the curriculum. They would have learned a lot Thursday, that’s for sure. I’d make sure it’s appropriate, not an awful murder or sex case sentencing.

I’ll have a lot more thoughts about this story in my column Saturday.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER delay in our criminal justice system.

Lewis County Sheriff David Parrish made the drive to St. Louis Wednesday, hoping to see five local residents get sentenced in a federal meth conspiracy case.

As it often happens, the sentencings were continued. Click here for the story.

This is a big case for Parrish and his small rural office. Prosecutors said the case involved defendants purchasing cold pills and trading them the meth makers for drugs. Parrish caught a huge break when a sawed off shotgun was found in one of the defendant’s vehicles, and that made ATF agents take notice.

Because it stretched between Missouri and Illinois, it became much easier for the federal government to handle the case.

“I can say that things slowed down dramatically in the meth trade after the initial arrests were made,” Parrish said.

Parrish will now make three trips to St. Louis in the next month for sentencings, beginning Friday. The delays were attributed to “scheduling conflicts” and other issues.

As usual, it isn’t Law & Order. It’s our criminal justice system, creeping forward ever so slowly.

SO I KNOW a guy who lives in the Calftown hood. He has a dog, Stella, who is as big as my shoe but doesn’t smell nearly as bad, and has a much better disposition all the way around.

Anyway, our neighbor likes to take Stella down to the Bob Bangert Park in Quincy and watch a group of Pelicans hanging out in the bay. Yesterday morning he parked his vehicle by the river and looked out, and lo and behold he saw something that looked like a guy about 150 yards out in the water.

“At first it looked like something floating,” the neighbor said. “Then he stood up. And I said, ‘That ain’t right.’”

Turns out the man was Jason Nebe, wanted in connection with an incident the night before in McDonough County. Click here to read about Nebe getting away, at least initially, from the local cops.

The neighbor called 911 to report the man in the water. He stayed on the phone with the dispatcher as the man came back out of the bay, dripping wet and shivering from the cold.

“He looked,” the neighbor said, “like he’d been drug through a rat hole.”

Nebe was actually talking to somebody in a vehicle for a few minutes as the neighbor stayed in his vehicle and kept the dispatcher updated. Then the police arrived, and Nebe was taken into custody.

As for the pelicans?

“He (Nebe) scared them away,” the neighbor said. “But they were back down there this morning.”

I AM A huge Cars fan. The band’s first album was the first New Wave record ever made and I used to go into time warps wearing out the cassette tape from beginning to end. Best Friend’s Girlfriend, Just What I Needed, All Mixed Up, Moving In Stereo … Geesh. I’m having an early 1980s flashback as we speak.

Today I found out The Cars are back with a new album. Take a gander and listen … maybe they’ll tour around here! The other new song, Blue Tip, is on the band’s official website here.

IF THE MOON looks a little bigger than usual tonight, here is why …

BE SAFE IF you go green today! Click here for the story.

From Illinois State Police trooper Mike Kindhart during Wednesday’s press conference at Rinella Co. ….