Today is whatever-happened-to day, catching up with folks from previous columns -- a grandmother, an ophthalmologist and a contractor.

ANOTHER CHANCE: Maria Lopez, the grandmother deemed by county officials suitable to care for five grandchildren but not the sixth, is getting another chance. The Nevada Supreme Court recently agreed to rehear its own order dismissing her appeal and will hear oral arguments on the case Dec. 12 in Las Vegas.

Some big guns have entered the case on Lopez's behalf as friends of the court: the Nevada Trial Lawyers, Culinary Local 226 and the Thomas and Mack Clinic of the Boyd Law School at UNLV. Lopez is represented by Clark County Legal Services.

The case centers on the decision by Child and Family Services to oppose Lopez's efforts to gain custody of her sixth grandchild. Shortly after the infant was born with meth in her system, county officials placed her in a foster home and fast-tracked her for adoption, even though the grandmother wanted to keep the family together. (The children's mother lost custody because of drug and prostitution convictions.)

Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle in July agreed with the county that Lopez, 50, a kitchen worker and Culinary worker who is divorced, seemed "overwhelmed" by caring for all six children and lacked "emotional support."

In appellate briefs, lawyers opposed the county's position and the judge's decision and argued that the case involved public policy issues. Plus, they said, Lopez has the time, money and emotional support to raise her granddaughter.

Questions also were raised about whether Lopez, who does not speak English, has communication problems with county officials.

The Lopez case also raises issues of consistency in Family Court. In the case involving the custody of Brittney Bergeron and her mother, Tamara Schmidt, Hardcastle said keeping the family together was a priority. In the Lopez case, he took another angle, saying it was in the child's best interest to stay with the foster family.

STILL OPERATING: For those who keep calling to ask, Dr. Kurt Buzard is still performing delicate eye surgery more than two years after his second cocaine bust, and the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners still has a case pending against him.

Like a slow-moving glacier, the investigation has been pending since it was filed April 2004, and every time there's talk that it will be resolved one way or another, another delay occurs.

Way back on Aug. 24, 2003, at 1:30 a.m., police records say, a woman was driving Buzard from his office at the Buzard Eye Institute on West Sahara Avenue. She was stopped for a traffic violation.

Unforgettably, Buzard was incoherent and wearing a dog collar and scanty underwear. Oddly, the police report never identified the woman. The doctor settled the criminal case in October 2003 by pleading no contest to possession of 2.6 grams of cocaine. He paid a $500 fine and agreed to enter a drug program.

In April 2004, the state Board of Medical Examiners filed a complaint alleging Buzard brought his profession into disrepute.

The board's general counsel, Bonnie Brand, said recently that a couple of other cases involving Buzard have come forward and have been consolidated into the first complaint for consideration. The details are not public.

The consolidated case probably will be considered at the board's December meeting, Brand said.

Buzard had a misdemeanor cocaine charge in 1985 in Colorado, which was dismissed after he spent six days in jail, performed 100 hours of community service work and underwent treatment.

BAD CONTRACTOR: Frank Boyd Hall, the contractor who defrauded 69 Southern Nevadans by taking their money and not completing their remodeling (in some cases not even starting the work), pleaded guilty to a 49-count indictment and agreed to pay back about $404,000 at a rate of $47,481 a month.

When he was sentenced Aug. 1, Hall was placed on probation by District Judge John McGroarty.

Hall was doing business as Curtis Construction Co. The case involved the largest number of victims and the largest dollar amount the Nevada Contractors Board has investigated. The best result: Hall won't be able to work as a contractor again in Nevada.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.