Caution: Good reading ahead

If you're within reach of The Bee this holiday weekend, you are in for some excellent reading. Be sure to catch Valley Voices on Saturday. Dr. Bryan Martin, pastor of St. Patrick's Community Church in Fresno, challenges his heftier colleagues to lose weight. Chunky clergy, he says, set a poor health example for their congregations.

Nancy M. Richardson, a longtime children's advocate and a former Fresno Unified School District board member, wonders if any lessons have been learned from the testimony in the trials of the Genesis executives or the searing statements heard under oath about the death of little Savina Sanchez, 2 1/2 . Over the loud protests of her foster parents, Savina was returned to her mother, Darlene, who was recently found guilty of second-degree murder for slowly starving the child to death. The Genesis executives used money intended for needy children to finance an extravagant lifestyle. Adults first, children last. That's just wrong.

On Monday, Leonard Pitts writes an unforgettable column on his imperfect father, the soldier.

Enjoy the holiday.

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