Onion Bandits Fail to Foil Kids' Act of Charity

An unusual theft that has a happy ending, and friends' efforts to help teen achieve a posthumous goal were among the week's most uplifting stories:

• Theft of Kids' Onions Has Happy Ending: What started out as a lousy lesson for a fifth-grade class in Maine has turned into a nice one instead. The lousy part is that somebody raided the onion patch planted by the class for charity. The nice part is that donors have replaced them and then some. Same with preschoolers' pumpkins elsewhere.
• After Scout's Death, Friends Helping Him Get Eagle Rank: Scores of friends, family members, and fellow Boy Scouts have joined forces to help a Pennsylvania Boy Scout win his Eagle badge weeks after his sudden death. Noah Cornuet, 16, collapsed and died after football practice last month from what turned out to be a rare heart tumor.

• Iowa Women Marry After 72 Years Together: It was "a celebration of something that should have happened a very long time ago," said the reverend officiating the wedding of Vivian Boyack, 91, and Alice "Nonie" Dubes, 90.
• Waitress Hits Lottery, Won't Quit Job: Rhonda Meath waits tables for a living, and a lottery payout of $11.7 million isn't about to change that. The Minnesota 51-year-old has no plans to quit her job, though she may get a new car.
• Giant Panda Gets Its Chipped Tooth Fixed: The San Diego Zoo's giant female panda Bai Yun underwent a procedure to fix a chipped lower canine tooth that could have seriously cut down her bamboo consumption. All went well for the 23-year-old zoo favorite.

Click to read about more uplifting stories. (More uplifting news stories.)