CAT SCRATCH FEVER
Once again, a fat cat has come out on top. No, we’re not talking about a Wall
Street banker or a well-connected politician. This time, it’s literally a portly feline gaining the spoils. Merry Noel, a chubby kitty at Springfield’s Forever Home Feline Ranch, has won some new furniture for her fellow felines in a nationwide contest. Merry inadvertently posed for an amusing picture, which was then sent in to the Big Kitty Photo Contest, held by ModernCat.net, a cat-centric blog focusing on modern designs and products. The winning photo shows Merry lazily straddling a couch arm, and the Ranch now gets to pick a Scratch’n Slumber Comfort Lounge from Brawny Cat. The lounge, which can be seen at BrawnyCat.com, allows cats to sleep on and scratch their own furniture, instead of their owners’ couches or drapes.
The feline ranch aims to be a no-kill, nocage sanctuary for all cats in need of a home, though the group doesn’t have an official property yet. They’re seeking donations of money or land to make the ranch a reality, and they have cats for adoption in the meantime. See the winning picture and get more info on Forever Home Feline Ranch by calling 679- 1593 or visting http://www.felineranch.org/.
TAKING THE BULLET
Vice President Joe Biden is apparently a fan of Illinois, and maybe even a bit
of a dreamer. In a recent report from the White House, Biden touted the present and future accomplishments of $787 billion in federal money doled out under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The VP is in charge of administering ARRA, and among the few projects featured in his report was the proposed high-speed rail corridor that will someday link St. Louis and Chicago, going right through Springfield along the way. The project is supposed to upgrade rail lines to accommodate passenger trains at speeds up to 110 miles per hour – a 39 percent increase from the current 79 mph speed limit.
Biden didn’t stop there, however. His report, which cites a study from the Chicagobased Midwest High Speed Rail Association, indicates that the rail upgrade could be a stepping stone to the 220 mph bullet trains that zoom across Asia and Europe. The only problem is that the passenger trains here will still have to stand down when freight traffic comes barreling through – the main reason passenger trains are often delayed or can’t reach full speed for much of their voyage. Here’s hoping Biden’s dream has legs.
