No Ticket, Just Lunch: 5 Brilliant Stories This Week

A trooper's gesture and two celebs making headlines for the right reasons make the list:

• Panhandler Expects Ticket, Gets Lunch: Lynn Murphy, a homeless mother of four, was panhandling on a road in Fall River, Mass., when she noticed a state trooper driving toward her. She was thought she was going to get a citation. Instead, she got lunch. A passerby happened to capture the scene in a viral photo.
• An Abused Pony Is Adopted by Jon Stewart: A pony that was hit with more than 125 paintballs at close range has a new home thanks to Jon Stewart. He and his wife, animal advocate Tracey MacShane, have agreed to adopt Lily, who was starving and half blind when she was abandoned in Pennsylvania. There's some other justice of the legal kind for Lily as well.

• Jeopardy Win by Louis CK Elevates Obscure Charity: A little-known women's charity had a welcome problem this week: The website of the Fistula Foundation crashed because of an influx of visitors. The reason? Louis CK played on behalf of the group in a celebrity Jeopardy! match and won $50,000 for it. The group helps women who've suffered a specific problem—but a treatable one—during childbirth.
• Teen Sets World Record, With a Purpose: Three new Guinness World Records were set by a 17-year-old Virginia kid inspired by his dad's fight against colon cancer. All of those records involved pull-ups. And his impressive total raised money for the American Cancer Society.
• Dog Rescued After Living on Highway Median for Weeks: For five weeks, police in Galt, Calif., were getting calls about a dog stranded on a freeway median, but responding officers were never able to find her. Finally after yet another call, authorities shut down the highway and rescued the frightened dog, whom they dubbed Freeway Frida. Next up: finding a new home.

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