Sydney & Betty

LEFT: Sydney Peterson, 5, shows off her ballet skills in her Lisle home July 6. Sydney has a medically fragile condition that requires costly at-home nursing care. Her family is among a group of Illinois residents who filed a class-action lawsuit to stop changes to a state program that funds in-home nursing care for 1,050 medically fragile and technology-dependent children. (Alex Garcia, Chicago Tribune) Go here to read more about Sydney.

RIGHT: Betty Koeing, who grew up on a farm in northern Wisconsin and now lives in Hammond, Ind., won second place in the Tribune's 2012 Holiday Cookie Contest. Her recipe for chocolate almond shortbread was inspired by a gift she received from her daughter: a bag of almond meal. (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune) Go here to read more about the contest winners.