Blog Posts by Nadine Kalinauskas

On April 4, Simba the cat will be honoured for his loyalty to Westbrook High School in Westbrook, Maine.

For 13 years, Simba has been showing up at the school each morning at 7 a.m. He greets students at the school's front door, visits the superintendent's office for a quick cuddle, and makes his rounds to various classrooms.

School administrators keep close watch on the cat, ensuring he doesn't get too close to students with allergies.

"He'll show up in class and sit on people's text books and just intrude," grade-12 student Kim Larley told WMTW.

"(For) most people, it's human nature. Animals are very warm. They're calming. They bring a sense of peace," said Westbrook superintendent Marc Gousse.

The school's art department will be holding a celebration in the 15-year-old tabby cat's honour tomorrow. Simba's owner, local resident Eileen Shutts, will be in attendance.

"I think he probably knows he's liked and loved, and it's mutual," Gousse told WMTW.

(Photo courtesy Facebook/Elly Steinmetz)On Sunday, Colorado couple David Lewis, 25, and Elly Steinmetz, 24, got engaged at a scenic overlook near Denver where they shared a memorable date years earlier.

Because their first date at the spot involved eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the elated couple decided to celebrate at the doughnut shop, the Huffington Post reported.

The couple ordered five doughnuts and asked a Krispy Kreme employee to take their photo. What they didn't expect: boxes and boxes of free doughnuts congratulating them on their engagement.

"Krispy Kreme gave us a THOUSAND doughnuts for getting engaged and coming here!" Steinmetz wrote on Facebook Sunday.

Steinmetz later told the Huffington Post she was unsure of the exact number of doughnuts, only that it was far more than she'd ever seen at once.

"They came with just bags and bags. And these boxes and boxes of donuts," Steinmetz said.

After being congratulated personally by most of the staff, the happy couple headed to Steinmetz's parents' place in nearby

It's a classic case of "mom to the rescue," only with 911 involved.

On Sunday, a 911 dispatcher in Wahkiakum County, Washington, sent her own mother to rescue a stranded boater in the Columbia River, knowing that she could kayak to her boater's aid faster than the sheriff's office could send out a patrol boat.

A 45-year-old kayaker was out paddling with a companion when her kayak sank. She climbed on to a log piling near a jetty while her companion went to call for help.

911 dispatcher Raedyn Grasseth overheard the call.

"Jetties are very dangerous. The currents around them are horrible. It sounds like her kayak just got sucked toward the jetty and went down," Grasseth told The Daily News.

Grasseth notified the sheriff's office of the stranded boater — then called her own mother, Cindy Faubion.

Grasseth knew that her own family members, who live near the river and who own boats, could reach the woman before the sheriff's office could round up a crew and rescue the woman.

"I knew they

You're never too old to go for gold.

Emiel Pauwels, a 94-year-old from Belgium, and Ilmari Koppinen, a 95-year-old from Finland, recently raced in a 60-metre sprint at the 2013 European Veterans Athletics Championships in San Sebasian, Spain.

Koppinen ran in lane 3 and took an early lead. Pauwels ran in lane 4 and soon overtook his older competitor — barely.

According to MSN, Belgian media said of the victor that "Emiel Pauwels has never been a strong starter, and at 94, that will not change."

Both men took home gold: Koppinen for the 95 and older category, and Pauwels for the 90 to 94 category.

At a Remembrance Day assembly at Veteran Elementary School in Veteran, Alberta, Dave Pennington shared with students stories of his World War II experience.

The 91-year-old veteran was a 20-year-old private when he left for Italy with the First Edmonton Regiment.

He earned five medals for his military service, but lost them all when his sister accidentally threw them out more than 20 years ago, CBC News reported.

"The doggone mice got in there and they made a nest and chewed up my ribbons," he said. "So she threw them out."

Eighteen junior high students were moved by his story and secretly petitioned Veteran Affairs to get replacement medals. Veteran Affairs sent the school new medals at no cost and praised the students for taking the initiative to have Pennington's medals replaced.

"Acts like these are the finest examples of a new generation of Canadians who are making remembrance an active part of their lives," said spokesperson Niklaus Schwenker in a statement.

The students

Pedro Quezada, 45, is using some of his $338-million Powerball jackpot to help out his neighbours.

The newly minted megamillionaire — Quezada took the lump-sum payout of $152 million — has offered to pay rent for everyone on the block in Passaic, New Jersey, where he was running his bodega at the time of his win.

Now retired, Quezada has put his business up for sale.

"He said he's going to pay the rent for everybody here on this block for at least a month or two months," a good friend of Quezada's told the New York Daily News. "He's such a good guy."

"God bless him, and thank you," said neighbour Richard Delgado, 45, after learning of Quezada's generous offer.

When he accepted his cheque at a New Jersey Lottery press conference, Quezada vowed in Spanish, "I will help those in need."

He is currently settling the matter of back child support he owed for three of his children. According to the Daily Mail, he settled his $30,000 debt in state Superior Court yesterday and told the judge

A man identified only as Paul had been trapped under rocks on Mount Rubidoux in Riverside, California, for as many as eight days without food or water when a hiker's dog found him.

On Friday morning, Ramon Llamas was hiking on a trail with his German shepherd-mix "Molé" when the dog suddenly stopped.

"He kept on tugging at my pant and whining, pulling me," Llamas told MyFoxLA.com.

Molé then led Llamas to a hole. Llamas looked inside it to discover a pair of eyes looking back at him.

Llamas called out to other hikers to call 911.

"I said to the guy, 'You need help? Are you OK?' When he reacted, he says, 'Somebody there? Please don't leave me. Don't leave me,'" Llamas told NBC News. "'You got some water?' And I gave him water, and a minute later, he said, 'You got some more?' Are you by yourself? 'Yeah, I'm a tourist here. I'm hungry.'"

Llamas kept talking to the man as they waited for rescue personnel to arrive.

Rescue workers were able to free 44-year-old Paul about an hour later.

Not all kids like walking the dog, but this one sure does.

A video of a little girl walking her dog — and then intentionally dropping the leash and laughing maniacally — has gone viral, with more than 1.7 million YouTube views since it was posted three days ago.

"She kept asking for the leash, just so she could drop it and watch my dog run with it dragging behind him," her father wrote on YouTube.

Watch the cuteness below.

"Don't worry — no pets were harmed in the making of this video. Dad Jason Adams was able to grab his daughter's furry partner in crime before he got too far," HuffPost reassures viewers.