We, as in a half-million North Texans, all knew the Addison Kaboom Town fireworks show was awesome. Now, it ranks way up there with fireworks shows nationwide.

We got the news release today. According to AOL Travel, Kaboom Town ranks way up there based on factors such as attendance, cost and amount of explosive material.

Read more about it here. And read contributor Kelly Hunter's story on neighborsgo.com.

On the afternoon of Monday, May 10, my car got broken into on Dallas Morning News property. I was parked on the first floor, and some chump who saw my GPS decided to break my driver's side window, take it for himself and make a run for it.

I noticed it as I was leaving for the day, at approximately 5:10 p.m.Fan-freakin-tastic.

Yes, I should not have left my GPS out. I usually lock it up at night, but I carelessly thought it would be safe on "highly secured" grounds in the middle of the day on company property.

So I called security, the cops, my fiance and my insurance company. I didn't leave the parking lot until about 7 p.m. after having to clean out the glass and deal with all the other inconvenient tasks that come along with this type of unfortunate happening. 

I remember noticing red fibers in the crevice of my window, so using my sly detective skills, I came to the conclusion the chump was wearing a red shirt during the time of the crime. I told the cop. He didn't seem to care.

When I got to work the next morning, there were two other cops talking to the security guy as I walked into the building ... security guy said they think they caught the chump on property surveillance video.

"Was he wearing a red shirt?!" I said.

"Yes!" Security guy said.

I watched the tape. It was a black middle-aged man wearing a red t-shirt, khaki shorts and a baseball cap. He apparently jumped a fence, did his business in about 45 seconds, and was seen running back the same way he came from with his hands in his pockets. 

Security guy said he saw the same guy sitting in a chair under the overpass that is next to our building THAT morning wearing the SAME CLOTHES as the day before. Cleaning woman said he lives there. The cops say they are going to catch him, and they drive around for a while that day.

Later that afternoon, three of my co-workers and I leave to go for a quick Starbucks run. When we are pulling away ... WE SEE THE CHUMP!!!

We drive around to the front and I jump out of the car to let security guy know. I abandon the Starbucks bound car and stay at work.

Security guy and I decide to stealthfully walk around the property to see where he's headed, while he calls the police who were helping that morning and tell him the direction in which chump is going.

They catch his burgaling booty, and security guy and I walk across the street where they've got him. We are watching from a distance, but I try to snap photos. (see above.) Around this time, I start playing the COPS theme song in my head. JUSTICE. 

One of the cops comes over and tells me chump has nothing on his person (no Kendall GPS, crack, dead kittens, etc.) and he isn't fessing up to anything. They take him in for questioning with a detective and are going to show him the video surveillance to see if they can get him to fess up.

I have not heard word on the status of chump, but I do know that it was pretty dang satisfying to get a little justice on something like this. Many people have had to deal with car burglaries, but most don't get to see the sorry fool get caught.

If they get chump to fess up, I can press charges. Which probably won't do any good. But still, it was a good day. I felt like a crime fighter.

Sometimes, we’ll see strange things out our big pane glass windows on the bottom floor of The Dallas Morning News building. A few days ago, it was Gen. David Petraeus’ motorcade, as he had an appointment to speak with The Dallas Morning News’ editorial board.

But today, designers Collin Quick and Lindsay Goll caught a sight.

“Whoa, check out this dude,” Collin said.

The staff looked out the window to see a figure dressed in black – from his cowboy hat to his boots – walking (no, strolling) down the sidewalk, a cigar jutting from his mouth. It only took Mesquite editor Jenice Johnson a split-second to recognize him.

“That’s Kinky Friedman!”

Sure enough, there was the famous musician, humorist, writer, former Texas gubernatorial candidate and current Agriculture Commissioner candidate, his swagger as big as his stogie. Quite a sight, for sure.

But he was too far away. So, considering I have precisely no shame, I decided to go fetch him.

I walked out to his car, parked across the alley in full view of the gawking staff. I approached the car – and stopped short. He was on the phone.

After 30 seconds of the hold-up-one-finger-because-I’m-almost-done, I shook Kinky’s hand and introduced myself. I explained my situation – I wanted to see if he would come into our office and greet our wonderful community relations liaison, Laura Besse, as it was her birthday.

Kinky obliged. Twenty minutes, about a hundred pictures and quite a few yarns later, we had a new neighborsgo celebrity story.

And that, friends, is the tale of how neighborsgo became Kinkier.

The Coppell High School band is headed to New York City this week. They'll perform in the city's St. Patrick's Day parade and play a concert at the famed Carnegie Hall.

Yesterday, Fort Worth Adventist Junior Academy took advantage of National Recess Week -- geez, we never had that when we were kids.

But they were busy, participating in the coast-to-coast attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the largest simulaneous Four Square Game. Forty students at the south Fort Worth school participated, and it worked.

My favorite line in Garland native Mike Kollmansberger's account of the U.S. Airways jet's safe landing was his comparison of the experience to the log ride at Six Flags Over Texas "times 5 or 10."

I've been on the log ride. I can't imagine the experience magnified 5 or 10 times. I know it would be pretty wet.

Today, we learned how harrowing that landing really was with the release of the flight tapes. We find out brave Chesley Sullenberger and his crew were at the time.

Sounds much worse than the Six Flags log ride. Maybe more like the Titan a couple of times over.

Starting Friday, the Arlington police department will have some sweet rides.

According to a news release today, police will be rolling out four new patrol cars -- midnight blue Dodge Chargers with white doors with the city's red, white and blue logo on the side. The four cars are part of a fleet of 22 Chargers that will be phased into circulation.

A fleet of eight Chevy Tahoes for police supervisors, K-9 and tactical units will also be rolled out.

And coming this spring, even more new-look Arlington police: New uniform patches. They're black with the city's log in the center with sergeant and corporal patches in royal blue and white piping. Sharp.

So remember, when you're pulled over in Arlington, be sure to mention how sharp the officer looks.

It was a matter of time before the Miracle on the Hudson became a video game. An online video game lets you be  Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the brave Denison pilot who safely landed a US Airways jetliner in the Hudson River.

This is not to advocate that you waste company time playing this (Just so you know, I'll never be a pilot).

No, it's not a punchline to an obvious post-modern question.

But Pope Benedict did have something to say about the power and potential of social media in his annual message Friday for the 43rd World Day of Communications, which is to be celebrated in May. This comes after the Vatican announced the launch of its YouTube channel.

He did not, however, mention neighborsgo.com and/or answer why the Vatican hadn't updated its FB status line since the late 1400s.

When Daphne Custard of Plano pulled up to her favorite Starbucks drive-thru this morning, she was in for a surprise.

A pleasant surprise.

She was part of pay-it-forward moment, one that she said lasted about 40 minutes.