BRIEF: A St. Paul boy, whose family is unable to afford health insurance for him, is given the gift of hearing. [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.]

May 20--Fifteen-year-old Anthony Uriah got his ears back Wednesday.

"I can get my driver's license now without my mother freaking out," he said after finally getting his own pair of hearing aids. The Uriah family of St. Paul can't afford health insurance for Anthony, who's in ROTC at Arlington High School, because of his pre-existing condition of hearing loss. After their story appeared in the Pioneer Press recently, a reader connected the Uriahs with the Starkey Hearing Foundation. On Wednesday, the foundation, an outgrowth of Starkey Laboratories Inc., an Eden Prairie-based hearing-aid manufacturer, fitted Anthony with his first pair of hearing aids at no charge. The devices are worth more than $6,000.

"This means I'll get a little bit longer leash from my parents than normal," said Anthony, who has never been able to leave the house on his own. "Walking to my friend's house will be pretty much a lot more fun than I can imagine."

-- Ben Garvin

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