Isn't it fun when a bunch of jerks get their just desserts?

With the election of Barack Obama as our nation’s next president, attention turns to what will happen when he takes office, and the hopes and fears that his campaign raises.

The transition has begun at the Erie County commissioners.

Pat Shenigo, the commissioner-elect, attended Thursday's and today's commission meetings, and told me he intends to keep coming to the meetings. He takes office in January.

Erie County’s newly-renovated elevator at the courthouse is having its ups and downs again.

Except when it’s not.

Erie County spent $144,112 on the elevator, shutting it down for weeks this fall so that the often-broken elevator would be fixed once and for all.

The frozen kitten dumped off in the after-hours book return slot of a public library in Iowa has hit the big time.

Along with the other organizations getting in line in Washington, D.C., to ask for a bailout, such as banks, General Motors and state governments, you can add another group — public libraries. If Congress can’t write the check during the day, lawmakers can leave it in the slot after hours.

Plain Dealer columnist Thomas Suddes, in yesterday’s paper, has an impassioned column arguing that Congress needs to to move quickly to bail out the Big Three automakers.

This weekend, the Ohio Veterans Home is taking part in a national effort to place holiday wreaths on the graves of America’s veterans.