• How about a nice, happy story for a change? The story of Oreo, for instance. Oreo is a pretty impressive cat. Her owner, Tammy Herckner, wasn't able to grab her before escaping from her apartment building (on Locust Street near Camac) during a fire. That night, the building collapsed, but Herckner kept returning to the rubble, certain the cat, who was once a stray, would somehow survive. And somehow, she did; last week, five weeks since the building burned down, Herckner found Oreo alive and well in the ruins.
• The Daily News disocvers that folks in the 'hood (that being, in this case, North Philly) can win the lottery, too.
• The Green Party candidate for state governor, as well as her running mate, have asked that their names be removed from the nominating papers because they can't afford to defend themselves against the Democratic party's legal challenge to their collection of signatures. However, they are hoping that a lawsuit filed to overturn the state's signature requirements will succeed. It's funny how essential the judiciary is to our political system anymore...

Photo of a different cat named Oreo by Flickr user TheWayOfTheGun