Cerebral Palsy

She requires surgery but her family is uninsured."They work all the time but it's $70,000 to get her fixed," Ezra said.

"The school has been doing bake sales and churches have been helping but you aren't going to reach that selling cookies - or playing music.

But we're working on it."You can't change their lives and put them in a mansion, but you can give people hope and make them feel like someone's on their side.

It gives people a boost of some kind."Headlining Village Fest 2007 will be Athens, Ga., singer-songwriter Bill Mallonee, a fast-talking, rootsy musician who has put out 23 CDs in his 15 years as a professional musician.

Americana rock fans may know him from his days in the band Vigilantes of Love.

In 2001, he split up the band to concentrate on a solo career.

Mallonee's latest music is in the vein of Neil Young and Bob Dylan.

It's rootsy with clever, strong lyrics.The 45-year-old says he writes "50 to 60" songs a year.

Mallonee says he looks to his past and the human condition for writing inspiration."I like to write about the darker side of what's within the human skin," said Mallonee from his home in Athens.

"And a lot of songs stem from years and years on the road."Lately, Mallonee performs with his wife, Muriah Rose, who sings and plays key...

One of the four had recently met Kile online and set up plans to prey on the 29-year-old man's vulnerability, police said.

On Wednesday, the family learned about the community support that has arisen for Kile since the attack was publicized.

A movie producer and shop owner want to donate cash.

A Pennsylvania manufacturer of communication devices for the disabled wants to help.

The Claremont Colleges will give Kile a new computer system, replacing what his mother called "his lifeline." "He's got a lot of friends around here," said Paulette Kile, referring to the outpouring of donations since the attack.

Police said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that they have set up the Steven Kile Fund to accept donations, which the family said will go toward a security system for his apartment and to replace many of the stolen items.

Steven Kile had been living alone in a handicapped-accessible apartment on New York Street.

Unable to speak, his main means of communication was his computer, on which police say he met 20-year-old Riverside resident Seyyed Hadi Mi...

But his ability to think and reason is tip-top - above average, in fact.

“He gets straight As,” said Lynda Horney, an occupational therapist for the school system.

“And that’s not a gimme.

Those are real grades that he has worked very hard for.” The school system has helped Bryan by providing technology that makes learning and studying easier.

It has also provided him with a one-on-one assistant, who sits with him in class, takes notes and reviews homework.

David Roscana has been Bryan’s one-on-one since fourth grade.

Roscana said they are a great match except that Bryan, a Duke fan, has been known to needle Roscana, who backs North Carolina.

(Roscana noted that the needling seemed to end this year.) Students with all sorts of physical and mental disabilities have benefited from advances in technology, Horney said.

When she hears of a new piece of technology that she thinks might help students with motor-control issues such as Bryan has, she asks him to try it out.

“He has been wonderful about taking time to explain both the good things and bad things about various types of technology he has tried,” Horney said.

“We can get very honest feedback from him.” Some of the technology Bryan has tested included a c...