Grace Turner
It was 1997 when a high paying job became available at Newman Enterprises for Grace Turner. With no education and no experience, Turner's only aptness was in the field of horse face imitation and 70's dress style.

Turner was not subjected to a formal interview with the company, obtaining her new position thanks to long lost pal, Sharon Newman who had recently married into the Newman clan. Turner accepted the position sight unseen. She had no idea what her job would entail caring only that she make enough money to pay her rent.

Remarkably, Turner was escorted to her new office, complete with personal secretary, by Victor Newman who received a kiss on the cheek for his kindness.

Granny gives up granddaughter
May 1997 - It happens all the time. Two college aged kids go to a small town in search of a friend's child and within hours are able to find out all the information they need to locate the child.

Grace Turner and Tony Viscardi blew into Madison, Wisconsin on such a mission. At the time, Viscardi was not employed and had no source of income. Although she had only recently started a new job, Turner was able to take time off too.

The crusaders located the lawyer who had handled the adoption of Sharon Collins' baby and learned Alice Johnson adopted the child named Cassie. When Johnson developed an addiction she dumped the kid onto her mother, Mildred Johnson. The lawyer was in prison for his involvement in a black market baby scheme and died within moments of Turner's visit with him.

With very little money, Viscardi and Turner stayed a few days at a plush Madison hotel while they made repeated trips to the home owned by Mrs. Johnson. Millie told the strangers over and over to get off her property but never had the guts to call the police. She apparently liked being called "old and tired" and finally allowed them to take Cassie away to Genoa City where Viscardi and Turner promised the kid would be treated like a princess.

Millie Johnson didn't have the foresight to check out the strangers or call a lawyer to see if she had a legal right to just turn over her granddaughter to strangers. Millie even told Turner she didn't want to know where they were taking Cassie. Millie apparently felt guilty after Turner told her repeatedly that Cassie was a very lonely girl with only a rag doll 'Cindy' for a friend.

Suddenly, with an unlimited source of money, Turner took Cassie to the local K-Mart, bought her a new dress and then went to Sharon Newman's executive hospital suite to prepare Newman for the news.

Before Turner could get to Newman an orderly appeared with a new and improved Noah Newman. The baby had been born premature while Turner was away. Turner was shocked. This changed everything. She couldn't tell Newman about Cassie now. Maybe later.

Turner returned to her apartment where Viscardi had been feeding Cassie leftover pizza and sugar. Viscardi wanted to take the kid back to Madison but Turner had another plan. She would use the kid as a wedge between Nick and Sharon Newman.

The Tricia Dennison/Ryan McNeil story

It was 1997 when Ryan McNeil separated from Nina Webster and became romantically involved with young Tricia Dennison. McNeil did break it off with Dennison briefly to give his marriage to Webster another shot. Spurned, Dennison was cooking a plan to make McNeil jealous when Webster led her to believe that she and Ryan had spent a night in the sack. Enraged, Dennison told McNeil what he weasel he is and slapped his face.

Upset by his wife's lying ways, McNeil announced their marriage over and moved out. McNeil assured Dennison he was finished with Webster.

One day while Tricia and Ryan were swapping spit, Ryan got a call from Nina's mother, Freaky Flo. Nina was missing!. During the search, Nina's son walked in on Tricia and Ryan swapping bodily fluids. Upset, Phillip Chancellor blamed Tricia for his mother's disappearance. Ryan flew to St. Louis, where an unidentified woman matching Nina's description was found dead. It wasn't Nina. While this was going on, Nina had returned home to find Tricia in her apartment. During an argument, Nina pulled a gun. Ryan beamed back to Genoa City just in time to convince Nina to talk about it.

Alone with Nina, Ryan tried to talk some sense into her. Nina held the gun to her head and threatened to pull the trigger. Ryan struggled to get the gun but during the struggle, the gun went off and Nina was shot.

At the hospital, Nina regained consciousness, but couldn't recall how she was shot. Later, Ryan was arrested. Bummed at her father and Jill Abbott's efforts to undermine her romance, Tricia moved out. Ryan was released and from jail and at the hospital, helped Nina recall how she was shot. Tricia arrived at the hospital, saw Ryan and Nina snuggled together, and assumed they were back together.

When the cops found out Nina had regained her memory, they charged Ryan with coercing Nina's statement. Nina testified on Ryan's behalf and he became a free man. Nina told Tricia she could have Ryan but when Ryan tried to visit Phillip, whom he had been calling his "son", Phillip didn't want to see him. Nina kicked Ryan out of the apartment and had him served with divorce papers.

Tricia was elated and pestered Ryan to let her move into his apartment but there was no room at the inn. Ryan was already rooming with Neil Winters. Nina accused Tricia of being responsible for breaking up her marriage.

After the holidays, Ryan and Tricia went to Aspen on a skiing trip where Tricia lost her virginity. The two were married in 1988. By 1999 Tricia had become pregnant. Ryan was upset because he was unemployed after Brad Carlton and Jack Abbott, in control of Newman Enterprises, gave Ryan his pink slip. Ryan came to accept the pregnancy but Tricia fell and had a miscarriage. Tricia slipped into a depression and has never been quite right in the head since.

Last year, Tricia ran over and killed her sister's boyfriend on the eve of their wedding. The tragedy only exasperated Tricia's mental condition. She began withholding sex which drove Ryan up the wall. Ryan wanted his wife to seek therapy. Tricia made a few feeble attempt to please Ryan but the marriage was all but a lost cause. Ryan and Tricia separated with Ryan turning to another former wife for support.

Rejected, Tricia teamed up with Carter Mills/Matt Clark hoping to extract a pound of flesh from Victoria Newman. When the plan backfired, Tricia drove her car off the road adding to a long list of suicide attempts. Her mind totally warped, Tricia snuck out of the hospital, returned to Ryan's apartment and pretended as if nothing had ever happened. Her father, two head shrinks and Ryan escorted her to a local mental facility where she is now undergoing treatment.

Noah Newman Born

It was February 1997 when Sharon Newman stumbled out into blizzard-like conditions at the Newman ranch intent on paying her mother-in-law a visit up at the main house. Sharon was under the gun by Nikki Newman to prevent her husband Nick from leaving town after a spat Nick and Victor Newman got into over the Dennison-Vanguard acquisition.

Pregnant at the time, Sharon was also very fragile. She slipped and fell on some ice and became unconscious and partially buried in the snow. Although she remained in the snow for hours, Sharon survived the ordeal! She spent days in the hospital under the care of Dr. Joshua Landers.

Just when it looked as if everything would be fine, Sharon doubled over in pain and underwent surgery and her son, Noah, was born prematurely and wasn't expected to live.

Thinking Sharon's baby would die, Grace Turner and Tony Viscardi went to Madison where the sweet-talked Millie Johnson into turning Sharon's daughter, Cassie over to total strangers.

Her baby clinging to life, Sharon wanted Noah to be baptized. Amazingly, Noah began to get better from that moment on.

Ellie Leaves Newman Employment

Ellie said she was calling it quits because she had become too old to do Mrs. Newman's dirty work and she found the Newman ranch too isolated.

Mrs. Newman raved how she would miss Ellie since "over the years" Ellie had become, "like a member of the family."

Long time Genoa City News readers found Mrs. Newman's statement odd because previously there had never been a maid at the Newman ranch.

Landers made her way to the Newman ranch by escaping from a mental institution where she had been confined after failing to commit suicide. Landers was given free medical care including plastic surgery. The nut house made no attempt to discover her identify or to inform local authorities that one of their patients had escaped.

The local police didn't do a follow-up either. In most states, suicide is against the law.

Veronica easily obtained Mrs. Newman's telephone number and called once to hear Nikki say she was Dr. Josh Lander's wife.

Also prior to escaping, Landers wandered the nut house halls aimlessly talking to herself about the need to find Dr. Josh Landers.

One day, Landers returned to her hospital room to find Pam typing away on a laptop computer. Pam had been admitted to a mental hospital because she had a low blood count, normally an outpatient procedure at any medical clinic.

Landers was intrigued by the technology and became very excited when Pam showed her how to find people on the Internet. Pam actually typed in the words, 'Genoa City News' and information about Genoa City began filling the screen.

After more free laser surgery, Landers ripped $400 off a poor woman who had left her purse unattended and quietly slipped away from the hospital.

Landers jumped on a bus to Genoa City and went immediately to an employment agency. As luck would have it, Mrs. Newman was on the line at the time demanding the agency find her a maid - and pronto! It was Veronica's lucky day. The agency manager personally took her to the ranch where without so much as a background check, she was hired on the spot.

It took some doing but in the end Veronica shot and killed Dr. Josh Landers and pumped four bullets into Nikki.

Victor Newman saved the day when he confronted Veronica down in the stables. Veronica tripped and fell onto a pitchfork. Mrs. Landers wasn't discovered until some eight hours later when Jack Abbott just happened to be delivering a fast-food breakfast. (The ranch is a good hour drive from the city)

Even though she had been laying in a pool of blood for all that time, Nikki survived.

All In The Family
It was late 1997 when Nikki Newman Landers decided she needed a maid. A quick call to the local employment agency produced Ellie - one of many people in this city with no last name.

After only a few days on the job, Ellie announced she was quitting because of old age and working at the Newman ranch was isolating.

Slightly upset at the thought she might actually have to break out a dust mop, Mrs. Landers told Ellie how much she would be missed because according to Landers, Ellie was, "Like a member of the family".

Low Plains Drifter!
A bearded Kurt Costner was allegedly on his way to Chicago when he spotted a large house parallel to the highway he was walking on. 

See Also: July 1997

Drug stupor
It was July 1997. People were wondering. How could it have happened? Drucilla Winters had taken an overdose of cold medication given to her by sister Olivia and in a drug stupor had sex with Malcolm Winters thinking that he was her husband, Neil Winters. Nobody knew how anyone could take so much medication they wouldn't know who they were having sex with.

A similar situation took place a short time later at the Newman ranch. Grace Turner was spending the night in little Noah Newman's room. Sharon Newman had requested Turner stay when she came down with the flu and claimed to need help watching the baby. Turner was anxious to help since it meant she would be able to sniff the chairs for scents left behind by Mrs. Newman's husband, Nick, whom she had the hots for.

Mr. Newman was out on the town with the boys that night. Before retiring, Turner removed a sexy nightgown she had stashed in an overnight bag and slipped into it while thinking about the man of her dreams.

Nick Newman returned home late in a drunken stupor. Thinking the woman in his son's room was his wife, Newman slipped into bed with Turner. Even though he looked right at Turner he couldn't tell that she wasn't his wife and began humping her.

At the time, the Genoa City News polled a group of men at random. Would any of them have sex with a woman and not know it wasn't their wife? "I know how my wife feels when we're having sex. I know her sounds, he smells, her body," one man said. Another suggested that if Nick Newman was so drunk the odds of becoming aroused would be slim. "When I'm loaded the last thing I want is sex. Hell, I can't even get an erection," the man said.

So how is it that many men in Genoa City are always able to "perform" when they've drunk a gallon of booze and then not be able to remember later? Adding insult to injury, after humping Turner, Newman went upstairs and crawled into bed with his wife.

The following morning, Mrs. Newman had made a remarkable recovery from the flu and Mr. Newman had some memory recall. Did he really have sex with Turner, Newman asked himself. Confused, Mr. Newman confided in world renown author, Cole Howard. Howard was of no help leading Newman to believe he must have been dreaming.

As time went on, Mr. Newman would have sex with Turner again during a business trip with Turner. This time, he wasn't drunk. He knew exactly what he was doing. Sharon Newman discovered, and Nick Newman admitted, that he had humped Turner but to this day Mrs. Newman does not know about the second time and Mr. Newman has never told.

Who's The Daddy?

For the newer GCN readers who don't know, and those who can't remember, it was 1997 when Danny Romalotti was vehemently denying that he was Danny Jr's father.

Thanks to some quick maneuvering Phyllis Summers Romalotti had managed to doctor the results of a paternity test to show that Romalotti had sired her baby. When Romalotti insisted on a second test to be sure, Phyllis ran to Michael Baldwin who told her to get a blood sample from the boy's real father, Brian Hamilton.

Phyllis summoned Hamilton to Genoa City, drugged him, got a sample of his blood and then switched it with Romalotti's. Thinking she was one step ahead, Phyllis didn't know that Danny had a second sample taken which when tested independently revealed that he was not the father.

Phyllis finally admitted that she had doctored the tests but, in a desperate effort to hold her marriage together, insisted that she did it out of love. Danny sued for divorce and custody of the baby.

The creepy crusader, Christine 'Bug' Williams represented Romalotti in court. The trial dragged on for weeks and in the end Romalotti won. Phyllis was granted visitation rights, but only saw her son for one brief moment in 1998 after which Romalotti packed himself and the baby up and moved unexpectedly and without notifying the court to Europe.