Wednesday was a hard day at work.

After 24 years in this business, you get pretty jaded sometimes with all the reports of misdeeds, angry folks and general mayhem. And sometimes, it gets to you.

We've been following the tragic fire at Cherry Creek and the death of the two toddlers. As it continues to unfold, the news has grown worse each day. Now, an 18-year-old sibling is being held as a suspect in the case.

And then there was the alleged huffing accident in front of a North Rapid school on Wednesday that left the parent of a 2-year-old fighting for life at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

Of course, there's more, including the ceremony for the Ellsworth Air Force Base airman killed in Afghanistan, reports that gas could rise to $4 a gallon this summer, political bickering … the list goes on.

That's why today, I'm dedicating The Fives to some good news in traditional Fives scattershot manner.

Allegiant flying high

Although it might take a little persuasion amidst all the stories about bankruptcies, delayed flights and increased fees, it appears that not all news is bad news when it comes to the airline industry.

Allegiant Travel, which flies to Las Vegas and Mesa out of Rapid City, was recently featured in the Fresno Bee for its unusual business approach that has helped it stay in the black.

Castro ousted

No, no, not that Castro. I'm talking about a much more dangerous threat to the youth of America - or at least their ears and their pop music sensibility.

Dreadlocked Jason Castro was tossed off "American Idol" last night, bringing the number of contestants down to three. Castro's Sunny D vibe and pretty boy dreads had taken him thus far (thanks in part, no doubt, to millions of 13-year-old girls advanced musical tastes), but is no more.

How, you ask, can I consider this good news? Well, if you're asking, you haven't been watching, or more specifically, listening.

Give me the bill

OK, I admit it. I'm a sucker for stories about platypuses (it's the preferred spelling, believe it or not). Maybe it's because there are so few about them. Maybe it's because when I told my 7-year-old daughter about their existence, it took me two days to convince her of their existence. Or maybe I just like saying the word platypuses.

Regardless, I love this story about how scientists have cracked the genome of the platypus and will be able to use that discovery to study the evolution of mammals.

A Falcon finally soars

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching ESPN's "SportsCenter" when a preview of the upcoming featured what would be a news segment about Michael Vick, the imprisoned former Atlanta Falcon quarterback who was locked up last fall for funding a hideous dog fighting ring and for killing off some of the contestant.

I turned off the television.

It isn't that I didn't find the story newsworthy, but it is simply hard to stomach sometimes the extent of media coverage star athletes get for being bad.

That's why my day improved greatly when I saw this story out of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution on Warrick Dunn getting recognition for his philanthropy.

For more than a decade, the Falcons running back has helped single parents buy their first homes through his "Home for the Holidays" program.

I didn't see it on ESPN or Fox Sports as a breaking news item, but with all the stories of athletes behaving badly coming out these days, it may have been even more newsworthy for being an exception.

Pet-acular

There's nothing like a pet hero story to add a little cheer to the day.

Hey, I suspect that if something like this happened in my house, our cats Lucy and Callie might wake me up … if there wasn't anything in their food dish.

Regardless, though, it's always nice to know you have someone looking out for you.