Ten-year-old Elizabeth Roess scored a victory for Halloween this year when she brought trick-or-treating back to Oil City, Pennsylvania. That was the teaser for Robert Siegel's story on National Public Radio the day before Halloween. Worn out by political coverage, my attention was piqued.

Years ago, an 11-year-old girl in Oil City was kidnapped and murdered around Halloween. Inspired by hatred and fear (as lawmakers sometimes are) the city council passed an ordinance restricting trick-or-treating to the daylight hours of 2 and 4 PM. Halloween wasn't much fun in Elizabeth's hometown.

This year she took matters into her own hands and invited the city council to vote for hope rather than fear. Elizabeth collected signatures on a petition to allow night-time trick-or-treating and she wrote an essay outlining her rationale. I bet she was adorable when she presented the petition and read her essay at the City Council meeting. At any rate, she was successful. Today Elizabeth addressed the nation on NPR.

Her voice quivered, and with utmost delicacy Robert asked what lessons she had learned about politics from her experience. Her response: "Don't ever go alone and wear bright clothes."There's a young woman who understands politics!

Here's a link to the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96344552