Some of my subjects have little news to report: The former Lombard Central Presbyterian Church - turned by an Israeli builder into a one-of-a-kind home in Center City - is still for sale.
The Pennsylvania legislature failed to act on the bill to outlaw texting while driving, so its backers will have to redial next year.
And the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging's emergency fund is still dangerously low: $4,100.74 as of last week. With heating oil averaging $3.04 a gallon, the fund is giving out money for the needy as fast as it takes it in.
What's happened to Mattrick, the bird lady of Lancaster, strikes her as a flight of good fortune. The Elizabethtown woman was featured in her local paper in the spring: The finch she'd rescued from a storm had managed to lift her depression.
But the game commission promptly seized the bird, outraging many readers as well as the county prosecutor. Though the state still will not tell Mattrick where authorities took Stormy Girl, Mattrick has found comfort volunteering at a Harrisburg bird-rescue wildlife shelter. "So many wonderful people," she said. She's wound up adopting a special-needs macaw named Sarge. He's had a stroke.
One more good thing happened: A man in England read the story and recognized the name Mattrick. He and her husband were boyhood pals and had been searching for each other for 40 years.
Gallagher, a former IT guy at St. Joseph's University, is freelancing as a production assistant and gaffer while writing and editing video from his cross-country trek.
"The transition for me initially was tough, going from between 70 and 100 miles a day to not going anywhere," he said. "I felt lazy and unaccomplished. I also had a newfound appreciation with the things that I have or have had."
