HIT: Supporters of Auburn Memorial Hospital have found a way to avoid missing out on a $4.4 million state grant.

To get the money, the hospital had to guarantee it could provide matching funding. This was accomplished with a $2 million pledge from the Auburn Hospital System Foundation; taking $2 million from the hospital's operational reserve fund; and adding $400,000 from the hospital's operating budget.

A capital campaign will soon begin as the AMH foundation works to raise its $2 million pledge. The state funds will help with restructuring, modernization and improved delivery of patient care.

MISS: Two Elbridge men face animal cruelty charges for allegedly stealing someone's pet cat, dousing it with gasoline and setting it on fire.

The arrests come only days after an Auburn man was charged with killing a cat by putting its head between a garage door and the door frame.

Animal advocates aren't the only ones who should be disturbed by these reports. We wonder what the future holds for people who exhibit such vicious behavior, and we worry that more victims - whether animals or people - will suffer because of them.

HIT: State Comptroller Alan Hevesi has finally decided to resign, in an apparent deal to avoid being indicted for having used state workers to act as drivers for his wife.

Hevesi reimbursed that state more than $200,000 after the impropriety became public during his re-election campaign but had refused repeated requests to step down. Hevesi secured 57 percent of the vote Nov. 7 and said the numbers were proof that New Yorkers must have forgiven him. It seems the Albany County District Attorney was not so forgiving and offered Hevesi the option of leaving office instead of facing criminal charges.