The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Decorator of I-17 Christmas tree still a mystery

BLACK CANYON CITY, AZ (CBS5) - Each night on CBS5 News at 10 p.m. this week, we're highlighting an Arizona Christmas tradition or legend.

Chances are, if you've driven from the Valley to northern Arizona in December, you've seen it from Interstate 17.

The question is: Who decorates it every year?

"We were driving along and all of a sudden we saw this Christmas tree all decorated and it was like a little surprise," said Lisa Symonds, of Gilbert, about her trip up to Prescott Monday.

Each December, for about 30 years now, someone has decorated a tree in the median of I-17 - just north of Sunset Point near Milepost 254.

"I was wondering who did this, and were they really sneaky?" asked Symonds. "Did they do it at night time when no one was there?"

The star-topped Christmas tree is adorned with glass ornaments, stuffed animals, flags, bells and bows. It's also draped with tinsel-garland.

"We see it every year," said Jeff Chastain, of Flagstaff. "Every holiday it's changing and it's very elaborate."

Clearly, a lot of work goes into putting the decorations up and taking them down.

Amazingly, no one has ever been caught in the act.

As for who does it, people have their suspicions.

"We've heard a few rumors," said Tommy Meredith, of Prescott. "Transportation people, ADOT people and so forth."

Others suspect law enforcement of being the mystery decorators.

But, for now, no one is taking credit.

"I really don't know who does it," said Chastain. "I just see it and look at it and say it looks nice and keep on going."

[kuhio98]

Cecil Williams to Keep Guide Dog Who Saved Him After Donations Pour In


Cecil Williams, whose life was saved by his guide dog after he fell on New York City subway tracks, will get to keep his pooch after animal lovers donated money to pay for the retiring pup's expenses.

Williams, 61, faced finding a new home for Orlando, the Labrador who jumped on the tracks to revive him after he fainted, because the 11-year-old pooch is getting to be too old to be a guide dog and the owner's insurance plan doesn't cover the expenses of nonworking dogs, the New York Post reports.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which trained Orlando, created a fund to help Williams keep his brave pup, and animals lovers have also donated more than $55,000 on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo so that the pair can stay together. "The spirit of giving, Christmas and all that – it exists here. It's in New York," a tearful Williams said from his hospital bed on Wednesday.

Williams, who became blind in 1995 from meningitis, was going to have to re-home Orlando in January and get a new guide, but thanks to the donations he can afford to keep the dog he calls his "best buddy."

The pooch jumped on the train tracks at the 125th Street station on Tuesday morning after Williams fainted and fell. Orlando began licking Williams' face to get him between the rails, where a train passed over them.

"That dog deserves to be spoiled rotten for the rest of his life," said Andrew Piera of Blue Star Transportation, who offered to pay for Orlando's upkeep. "This guy can't afford it and I can – and it's Christmas."

Williams has been moved by the generosity of strangers and by his dog's loyalty.

"I'm not a cry baby or nothing but my eyes are misty," he admitted. "He was there. He's always with me … He's always looking out for me. That's his job."

[kuhio98]

Little girl's note sent to late grandma gets a surprise response

CHAPEL HILL, TN (WSMV) - Anyone who's lost a loved one knows there are countless moments when all you want is another chance to speak to them again. One little girl wanted to reach out to her great-grandma, so she did it with a balloon.

"I really do miss her, because she was my favoritest grandmother ever," said Bella Hosford, of Chapel Hill, TN.

Bella lost her great-grandmother when Minnie Sue Watts died in August 2012.

"The last day I got to see her, it was a really special day to me, because I knew that she was going to go to Heaven," Bella said. "Whenever I hugged her, the last thing she ever said to me was, 'I love you, Bella.'"

A year later, the 8-year-old girl had an idea to say goodbye: a simple note tied to a balloon and sent into the summer sky.

"Tell Mawmaw I love her," the note said.

Months passed, and life moved on.

And on Monday, came a surprise. Bella got a response when a small box appeared in the family's mail.

"Then, when you open it and you see this brown satin envelope, and then you open it up and you see the locket with a balloon, and then it all hit you," said Bella's mother, Tricia Hosford. "We stood at the end of the driveway for probably five, 10 minutes, just crying and embracing and just absorbing the moment."

Whoever did it also sent a note on the back of the one Bella wrote.

"Dearest Bella," Tricia Hosford said, reading from the note. "Mawmaw is always with you. Just close your eyes and you will see her. Love, your guardian angel."

Consider that Bella released the balloon in a very rural part of Marshall County. It could be considered a miracle someone found it at all. But for someone to do what they did?

"I have no idea. No idea," Tricia Hosford said. "It's priceless."

"I thought that it had to be from Mawmaw," Bella said.

A few days later, it still doesn't seem to make sense, and that's OK. Sometimes the best moments in life are the ones you can't quite fully put into words.

"It was a very selfless act, especially at this time of the year, that is worth volumes," Tricia Hosford said.

"If I knew who that person was, I would walk up to them and hug them on their neck and tell them thank you," Bella said.

Bella told us she plans to wear the locket to school every now and again, but not too often. She worries she might lose it, now considering it one of her most prized possessions.

[kuhio98]

'Miracle' puppy born in Aurora, surprising veterinarian who thought it had not survived

AURORA, Colo. - For nearly 45 minutes veterinarians thought a puppy was stillborn and tried to tend to the mother, when suddenly the new life began to move and cry.

Aurora Animal Shelter veterinarian Nicole Bartley wrote on the City of Aurora's Facebook page that she was preparing to spay three other dogs on Monday, when the dog in emergency labor was brought to the shelter's front desk. She determined that the unborn puppy was too large to fit through the mother's birth canal and rushed the dog into surgery for an emergency C-section.

"It was obvious the puppy had been stuck for a long time. There was a lot of infection and very little chance for the puppy," Bartley wrote. "However, we always try to save puppies and kittens born by C-section and the veterinary technicians went to work, but the puppy never breathed, never moved."

With the puppy unmoving, the veterinarian and technicians turned their attention back to the mother.

After nearly three-quarters of an hour of work, they were starting to wake the mother when they heard the newborn begin to cry from inside the blanket in which it was wrapped.

"It should not have been possible for that puppy to be alive that much later when we couldn't get it to respond right away," Bartley wrote.

Because of the miraculous circumstances surrounding the birth, the new puppy was named "Miracle."

Bartley also announced that the puppy and mother will be going into foster care.

[kuhio98]

California Community Replaces Stolen Gifts for Soldier's Family

A California community has taken a holiday heartbreak and turned it into a touching Christmas story.

Residents of Lodi, Calif., joined together to replace Christmas gifts and other items stolen from the home of an active-duty soldier just before he returned from Afghanistan.

Cpl. Christopher Petrossian was getting ready to surprise his wife, Cheryl, and their two daughters at the Sacramento airport last week when he received a call informing him that their home had been robbed. About $5,000 worth of items, including their gifts and electronic equipment, were taken, ABC News reports.

Officer Eric Bradley was one of the police officers to respond to the break in, and when Bradley discovered that the burglarized home belonged to a soldier and his family, he encouraged his fellow police department employees to donate money and gift cards to the Petrossians.

Bradley, himself a veteran of the first Gulf War, started a movement of giving that stretched beyond the Lodi police department and out into the community.

"I think they were able to buy a good, substantial portion of the items they lost," Lodi Police Sgt. Doug Chinn told ABCNews.com. "And we have even more gift cards and electronic items to give to them."

"It's going to be nice to deliver them and see their faces," he said.

[kuhio98]

Vt. Community Breaks National Blood Drive Record

A Vermont community has broken the national record for the most amount of blood collected on a single day.

Organizers of Rutland’s annual Gift-of-Life Marathon say they collected 2,337 pints of blood on Tuesday, beating the old national record of 1,968 set by Manchester, New Hampshire.

Rutland now holds three of the top four spots on the list of the 10 biggest blood drives in U.S. history.

"This is such a statement by the greater Rutland community," said co-organizer Steve Costello from Green Mountain Power. "To outdo every single city and town in America is really mind-boggling."

More than 2,000 people had signed up for the event. They had numerous blood collection sites setup across the community.

[kuhio98]

Ski Crash Survivor Credits Dog With Saving His Life

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Leonard Somers knows exactly why dogs are considered man’s best friend. The Grand County resident credits his dog Juneau with saving his life after a ski accident.

Somers, of Tabernash, was backcountry skiing near Berthoud Pass at the beginning of November with his 5-year-old Siberian husky keeping him company.

“That area where I skied, I had probably skied 50 times,” Somers said Monday.

But that day was different. On his way down the mountain, he hit a rock and crashed into a ravine.
His neck hit a tree trunk, causing a severe spinal injury. Somers was buried in the snow.

“I went to get up and realized I couldn’t move,” he said.

For 20 or 30 minutes, Juneau lay on top of him to keep him but when the pair heard voices in the distance, her behavior changed.

“She actually ran off and they had a dog with them,” Somers said. “She somehow or another brought the dog back to me.”

That dog’s family followed as well and found Somers and got help to get him off the mountain.
Somers said Juneau not only saved his life that day but also in the ones that followed.

“When I first woke up, I wasn’t sure if I was happy to be alive or not,” he said.
But with Juneau at his side, he has persevered through physical therapy at Craig Hospital.
“It helps me remain hopeful that I’ll walk out of here or someday I will walk again.”

Juneau had no special training at the time of the accident. Now she’s a certified service dog, even joining Somers for his rehabilitation treatments at Craig.