For many, the revelation Lepsis played high through the first six games of the Broncos' 2007 season was jolting. I'm not so naive to think Travis Henry is the only Bronco who ever tried drugs. But Lepsis didn't seem like the type. He not only was nice, he was unfailingly polite. He didn't talk much but he laughed easily.

"I know a lot of people will look at this and say, 'Here we go again, another professional athlete who got mixed up on drugs, was in the gutter somewhere, and decided to become religious,' " Lepsis said Friday from Dallas, where he is studying at a theological seminary. "My story couldn't be any further from that. I didn't grow up in the church. I wasn't at rock bottom. I'm not stupid. I didn't seek God, God was seeking me. This happened to me and it can happen to you if you accept the free gift that God has given us."

Drugs and God may be entwined in this story, but people should know the sensational had far less impact on Lepsis' on-field performance than the spiritual.

(What a powerful true story. This shows me no one is too high in life that they don't need to be saved or too low in life that they can't be saved. Lepsis, now studying theology in a seminary at Dallas. He also  is anxious to tell his story of redemption.  Here's a couple of other news stories where he does just that: the Seattle Times, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and this particularly detailed story in Winston-Salem's JournalNow. You can also read more of the above story right here.) 

"Please don't allow the allegations against me to taint a good an honest man," the governor said, turning to the smiling 71-year-old standing by his side.

Burris said he discussed the appointment with Blagojevich Sunday night. "I was asked if he would appoint me, would I accept, and the answer is yes," Burris said.

Burris said he has no connection to the charges against Blagojevich, who was arrested earlier this month on charges that he tried to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

(So far I have heard on TV how Roland Burris has nothing to do with the problems that Gov. Rod is facing. However wouldn't it have said something to the voters if  Burris  had said I don't think it is right to accept this offer with all the charges against you Gov. Rod. Also now no matter what Burris  wants his name will be tide to the Gov. of Ill. )

She grew up incurious about him -- she was a year old at the time of his death -- but that changed the day her spiteful mother told her, ``You are like your father and you will die like him.''

It turned out her father was a monster named Amon Goethe, and he commanded Plaszow, a forced labor camp in Poland. After the war, he was hanged. Once she knew these things, Monika Hertwig's uninterest became her obsession. ``I wanted to know what happened to the Jews and I wanted to know how my father was involved.''

(The above is from a column written by Leonard Pitts Jr. 

More of his column is below.)

If you saw Schindler's List, you remember Ralph Fiennes' portrait of Goethe as a preening, sadistic bully who amused himself by gunning down Jews for sport. That film, says Hertwig, made her ''sick with the truth.'' When she saw Jonas on a German documentary, it became her mission to find her. Eventually, Hertwig sent a letter. I know you are suffering, she wrote. But I am suffering, too.

(Good for this lady trying to change things unlike her evil father. We must never forget the evil of the Holocaust. Read more of the above column Holocaust tale of courage and redemption )

"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two U.S. Senators," said Blagojevich, whose arrest on corruption charges earlier this month places Burris' appointment under a cloud. "If I don't make this appointment then the people of Illinois will be deprived."

(Boy oh boy and you thought we couldn't get anymore exciting news at the end of this year. It looks like Gov. Blagojevich cares anything about the law and waiting for  the process of the courts to take place. This man needs to be removed from office ASAP. This kind of reminds me of the things which happen  when Clinton was our leader in regards to not following the courts. Read more on this issue Blago names Roland Burris to Obama's Senate seat..)

The 16-year-old, with reddish-brown bangs that hang in her face, has spent the last 11 months at Omaha's Uta Halee Girls Village, a psychiatric residential treatment program for youths ages 12 to 18.

Uta Halee organizes Cindy's Super Saver, a holiday program that rewards residents for good behavior and teaches them about giving.

It started seven years ago when dietary supervisor Cindy Heaton noticed a boy crying because he had no Christmas presents for his family.

Heaton raided her "Christmas closet" at home, where she stashes bargains that she buys year-round, and gave the boy five presents to give. "He needed something, and I had it," she said.

The boy was so touched she would help him. Maybe there are more kids like him, she thought.

Her good will has evolved into Cindy's Super Saver.

(Read more of this cool story Good conduct spreads joy.)