That's my favorite part of youth sports -- the cheers.

I'd like to see A-Rod and Derek Jeter chant "Pitchers got a big butt" before facing my beloved CC Sabathia, who undoubtably fits that description.

It's natural here. These ladies are creative, too. Some of these chants put those we had on my pigtail leagues to shame. They've got synchronized claps and everything.

And they've got talent, too. The teams I caught never made it past the participation ribbon phase. I think I have a trophy for most innings caught -- that's how good we were.

Those three S's seem to be gospel for the young ladies playing in the tournament and their families.

A couple of girls in hand-decorated T-shirts sat on the sidewalk, cradling their legs under the shade of a small bush. Amy Smith, of Mooresville, said that's how they are staying cool.

Smith, whose daughter is playing as we speak, chose to watch from the slightly shaded sidewalk over the metal bleachers that have been baking in the morning sun.

Smith said she's staying cool with water, shade and trying to find a breeze.

A security guard watching the entrance of the tournament told me he's cool.

Despite the 100-degree forecast, he identified himself as Uncle Tommy Cool, the coolest. He said his KoolAid has kept him refreshed.

Good to see the security guards have a sense of humor -- and a tent to shade them from this blistering sun.

I haven't seen a thermometer, but sitting on these bleachers, I feel every bit as warm as the weathermen said.

I’m not a gardener. I’ve never been one for decorating with flowers. And a single rose from the fiancé does just as much as a dozen in my eyes.

Now, I’m supposed to figure out what to carry down the aisle and decorate our tables. And it’s low on my budget priority list, right there with the fancy cake I feel we can do without.

But my father likes sweets, so we’re going to do something cake-related. And I guess a bouquet will complete my elegant and classic church bride look.

Will Bigger, the Democrat Joe Cox defeated to claim his York County Council seat, has come out in support of Cox. Bigger, who has plans to campaign in the county for Cox, sent me an e-mail last week detailing his reasons:

“In 2006, I ran for County Council District Three and secured the Democratic nomination. The general election race was civil; the debate was issue-oriented and spirited. Neither then-Mayor Joe Cox nor I saw the race as a race against each other but rather we ran campaigns that focused on the issues for the betterment of the district.

You'll notice my byline when you check heraldonline.com in the mornings before work and on videos.

That’s because I started as The Herald’s online reporter this week. It involves an earlier shift and an emphasis on updating news stories on our Web site.

York County government and issues will be primarily covered by the talented Charles Perry.

I’m not quite sure this has ever happened before. Six women agreed on one dress. And it didn’t take all day.

Bridesmaids dress shopping was painless, and dare I say, fun. I picked out at least 20 dresses I liked and stuck a number of them in the fitting rooms. My maids each came out in one and we eliminated the rejects. The dresses we liked were rotated in the other fitting rooms so we could see it on the different body types — all slender, but ranging from 5-foot on the dot to nearly 6.

So I’m apparently a particular bride.

I felt way ahead of the game. Church and venue booked (with college alumni discount) Save the dates in the mail. Photographer, entertainment and videographer all contracted with 11 months to go.

Then the photographer suggested by my future mother-in-law (NOTE: I’m not knocking her recommendation at all, I actually made that decision) sent me an e-mail saying he couldn’t do what we contracted him to do.

It’s lawsuit week in York County.

Greeneagle filed two lawsuits against York County this week relating to a proposed construction and debris landfill in York.

One lawsuit says the county blocked plans for the landfill on Quarry Road by changing the solid waste plan and asks for at least $5 million in damages in addition to allowing the landfill under the old solid waste plan.

The other suit requests an answer to a zoning question related to the property.

Look for a story about these suits in an upcoming story in The Herald.

It looks like the county’s going to have money problems with the 2003 Pennies for Progress program, too.

Upfitting S.C. 160, from Springfield Parkway to Lancaster County, to include a turn lane, sidewalks and a bike path was estimated to cost $1.6 million in 2003. This project is halfway down the priority list on the county’s second 1-cent sales tax programs for road improvements.

The less than a mile project would now cost $3.45 million if completed as originally designed. Yes math majors, this .9 of a mile project has doubled.

Finding the right wedding gown for the woman who takes months to decide on new glasses that her closes co-worker didn’t notice the change shouldn’t have been this easy.

People told me I’d just know the dress was right for me. I was fairly doubtful until it happened for me. I put on the designer couture label dress I couldn’t afford and didn’t want to take it off for hours.

My mom in tears, my maid of honor, too. I just knew. So the budget for the wedding dress has multiplied, but I’m still in search for discount accessories to level the cost of the ensemble.

The Herald’s editorial board endorsement of Joe Cox for York County Council’s District 3 seat in the Republican primary election in today’s paper reminded me of another endorser of Cox — his Democratic opponent in 2006.

Will Bigger, who was defeated by Cox in the general election for the council seat in 2006, called to say he backs Cox.

I’ve been playing phone tag with him since, so I can’t share his reasons yet. Stay tuned.

The cynic and the skeptic, otherwise known as my fiancé and I, spent a large chunk of the weekend completing the Catholic church’s required preparation and counseling.

As you can tell from the descriptors I used for us, I don’t think either one of us was expecting to get much out of this session, aimed at learning about each other as a couple.

What more did we need to learn? In our courtship we’ve dealt together with deaths of close family, some ridiculous job situations and letting go of our Ohio lives. We’ve got handling the rough situations down.

For the fourth year in a row, no York County resident brought a suggestion or complaint about county leaders’ plan to spend their tax dollars at the public hearing Tuesday night.

That’s not too surprising because this budget year doesn’t come with an increase on overall property taxes. There’s a slight increase in a couple of the fire districts.

County agencies like Keystone and the York County Council on Aging expressed gratitude for the support the county has given them.

Roy Blake’s plan for discount prescriptions gained no support from his fellow York County Council members.

County staff didn’t recommend pursuing a discount prescription program offered through the National Association of Counties because the contract couldn’t be tailored to the county’s needs. County Manager Jim Baker said county staff was uncomfortable with some of the wording in the contract.

The program, offered free to counties belonging to association, would allow people to receive about 15 to 30 percent discounts on retail medication costs, Blake said.

Marty Taylor, president of Greeneagle Co., stopped by The Herald this morning to talk about lawsuits he plans on filing related to his proposed construction and debris landfill on Quarry Road in York.

He says his attorneys are sorting out how many lawsuits to file and who to name in them.

Taylor said he was notified by the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control Monday that his landfill permit application was denied. The same day he stood before the York County Council and declared intentions to sue the county.

It’s a good thing the county’s proposed budget includes another assistant county attorney because they could need more legal assistance if another landfill lawsuit it filed.

Marty Taylor, president of Greeneagle Co., told the York County Council during Monday’s meeting that he plans on suing the county over his proposed construction and debris landfill on Quarry Road.

“I’m here to apologize to citizens of York County,” Taylor said before informing the county of his company plans to file a suit.

An ordinance recently proposed by County Councilman Tom Smith caught the eye of many, including the state’s Forestry Commission.

But Smith’s proposed burn ban isn’t supposed to limit what residents burn in their backyards. Instead, it’s aimed at stopping large businesses from blowing smoke across Lake Wylie.

Smith wants to limit new business’ ability to burn items that could be turned into mulch.

“We don’t want to take away farmers ability to burn leaves,” Smith said. “We’re looking more at developments.”

Councilman Roy Blake wants to help citizens pay for prescriptions.

He proposed staff takes a look at a discount prescription program offered through the National Association of Counties.

The program, offered free to counties belonging to association, would allow people to receive about 15 to 30 percent discounts on retail medication costs, Blake said.

“With rising medical care costs, a large percentage of population is having a hard time getting medications they need,” he said.

“How am I being charged with murder?” The 21-year-old accused of being involved in the 2006 shooting of Ned Marshall at a BP Station in Rock Hill asked in court Monday.

Ben Stewart was arraigned on conspiracy and accessory charges related to that event, but I guess no on told him he had been indicted on murder charges in addition to aggravated robbery and gun charges.

He's just returned from Pennsylvania where he’s serving eight to 16 years for carjacking.

Stewart is accused of helping plot the 2006 robbery, but wasn’t at the gas station that October morning.

For Earth Day, let’s talk about York County and recycling.

As part of the packet York County sends the media before meetings, I received a 50-page recycling program overview.

Recycling brought York County more than $940,000 in 2007, according to the presentation, not on recycled paper. The county processed more than 10,000 tons of recycling last year.

I saw York County Councilman Paul Lindemann submitted a letter on landfills and Home Rule. Here’s some expanding thoughts to his comments on pending landfill-related bills in the state’s legislature.

Here’s four current bills about landfills:

York County is now the proud owner of six more miles of roads.

Yes they can’t pay for all the Pennies for Progress projects. And yes, Councilman Joe Cox said there wasn’t enough money to fix all the roads in the western part of the county that need repair.

But the council voted yes this week to 6.4 more miles of roads to maintain. Resurfacing all of roads in subdivisions in Fort Mill, Lake Wylie and Rock Hill will cost around $650,000 in the future.

In December the county added more than 10 miles of roads and since 2002 the county’s adopted 92 miles of roads.

Curwood Chappell asked the York County Council to change the zoning of about half of his 216-acre land on Chappell Road in Rock Hill so he can subdivide portions of it for family members.

“I look to you to do what I helped thousands of others to do,” Chappell told the council before they gave initial approval to his rezoning request.

Chappell, who has served on the council for 16 years, is opposed in the June primary by 27-year-old Ashley Martin.

April 18, 2009.

I have more than a year to plan, so I have more than a year to look for the best deals. We’ve decided on our native Ohio. That means a white dress to match the probable falling white snow.

Here’s a little about the wedding we’re envisioning -- yes Billy has a vision and a role in planning our wedding.

Business owners interested in cleaning up Carowinds Boulevard and its exit ramps from I-77 are making progress.

While a bill that will allow them to pick up trash and trim brush on the state-owned property along the interstate themselves works its way through the state legislature, some have taken steps with Palmetto Pride to beautify parts of the area, said Bennish Brown, executive director of York County Visitor's Bureau.

“We would love to be doing spring cleaning,” Brown said. “With Carowinds now open on the weekends, traffic will continue to build in that area.”

York County is sorry if you’re one of those people living around the airport that wasn’t notified of the changes being proposed in the area.

The county has been working with Rock Hill for months, updating zoning restrictions for the area around its growing airport. These changes are meant to correct earlier oversights.

Some residents who won’t see more zoning restrictions but could have to make the person buying their house sign a special form weren’t notified of the meetings and workshops.

A non-smoker who lost his parents to smoking-related illnesses is against a smoking ban in York County.

Mark Palmer of York recently told the county council not to fall for junk science or faulty studies and enact a smoking ban.

Instead, he asked them to let restaurants and businesses chose if they want to be smoke-free.

In January, the council signaled support for a smoking ban after a presentation by Rock Hill physician Alan Nichols about the dangers of second-hand smoke. Palmer disagreed with some of the studies used as the basis for Nichols presentation.

It’s really easy to forget you’re planning a wedding. For the past two weeks, I let the wedding just sit there: date on hold for the reception site, no church agreeing to marry us the weekend after a Holy Day.

Saturday, I thought I’d be productive. I started writing in my awesome wedding organizer binder from Target. In it I found all these helpful checklists —- each more overwhelming than the next.

There are way too many details that go into a wedding. I’m officially overwhelmed, and I love details. Any ideas to tackle all these tasks?

After the Duke Energy Foundation announced its intention to give $1 million for the development new Museum of Life and the Environment along the Catawba River, we checked in with the Stans Foundation on what would have been the largest donation to the museum.

The Museum of York County has housed the stuffed and mounted big-game animals that Maurice Stans collected during his trips to Africa for decades. His oldest son, Steven Stans, promised $10 million to the Culture and Heritage Foundation in September 2006 if fundraisers matched the pledge 2 to 1 within three years.