News often revolves around things that

.

Things that can

.

But a few Detroit-area stories gave us reason to hold on this year.

Here are eight of them. Share your own in the comments:

1.

Nobody cares about Terry Jones anymore

Terry Jones, a Florida pastor known for frequently asking people to burn Islamic scripture, visited the Detroit area in April and again in October, when he tried to prompt a walkout at Edsel Ford High School.

No one cared.

His visits in the past led to crowd confrontations, arrests, court orders and lawsuits.

But interest in his attention-grabbing efforts has faded.

There were more reporters surrounding Jones than there were ralliers or counter-protesters in October. Students paid little attention.



And police never had any use for the crowd-control barricades they brought with them to Jones' appearance.

2.

Detropia, Burn and Detroit Unleaded

"Detropia" won a Sundance award. "Burn" was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and "Detroit Unleaded" premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

Three intimate and inspiring – though certainly not rosy – looks at Detroit each garnered mainstream international attention for a city that needs and deserves it like never before.

Comedian Denis Leary, star of "Rescue Me," is executive producer of Burn, which follows Detroit firefighters as they battle flames and budget cuts like nowhere else in the world.



Detropia is another documentary making waves at screenings around the country with a look at the grit and resilience of Detroiters fighting through the city's collapse and recovery as a reflection of postindustrial America.

And Detroit Unleaded uses the unique setting of a Detroit gas station where Arab and African Americans come together in a story of romance and comedy.

3. Sculptural skate park built on vacant lots

Ride It Sculpture Park 8 Gallery: Ride It Sculpture Park

Skateboarders from all over the region flocked to the corner of Davison and Klinger in Detroit this summer as the first phase of the Ride It Sculpture Park was being completed.

The park is being built on four vacant commercial lots along East Davison, with green space and sculptural landscape paths to come in the second phase of the project.

The people behind the park, Gina Reichert and Mitch Cope,

neighborhood revival projects,

this year in

Grand Rapids' ArtPrize contest

for a piece of work using objects found in an abandoned Detroit home.

4.

Quadriplegic swimmer takes in blind Paralympian

Detroit-area couple Cheryl Angelelli and Shawn Kornoelje opened up their home and took blind swimmer Tucker Dupree under their wing as the North Carolina native prepared for the 2012 London Paralympic Summer Games.

Angelelli, a quadriplegic, is a retired Paralympian swimmer with six medals from the 2000, 2004 and 2008 games.

Kornoelje is assistant head coach of the Oakland University swim team.

Dupree came home with a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke and two bronze medals in the 100-meter freestyle and the 50-meter freestyle.

5. Dan Gilbert keeps buying buildings

It may be a little scary to have one guy own so much of Downtown Detroit, but Dan Gilbert is moving things along and spurring all kinds of investment.

The Quicken Loans Chairman and Cleveland Cavaliers owner continues to look to diversify Detroit's economy and boost confidence in the value of Downtown buildings.

He just bought five more buildings to close out the year, bringing Rock Ventures' Downtown Detroit real estate investments to 15 structures totaling 2.6 million square feet of commercial space.

6. Transit, finally

It was the 24th attempt over 40 years to create a regional transit authority that could raise money and organize a real Detroit-area public transportation system.

And finally, Detroit and its suburbs got together and convinced the state legislature – during a wild lame-duck session – to approve a mechanism for building a modern, regional system of trains, buses and street cars.

There are a number of big plans now being taken seriously, including a rapid bus system that would occupy a lane on Woodward Avenue from Detroit Pontiac.

And, more immediately, construction on a streetcar system from Downtown Detroit to the New Center area is expected to start in 2013. That could finally extend the Downtown-Midtown housing boom further north.

The theory behind all the focus on Downtown revival has always been "You have to start somewhere."

And maybe, between the streetcars and the new Red Wings arena that the Ilitches say will bring more action to New Center, some of the central success will finally start to spread.

7. Happy ending in auction demolition debacle

Kristine Diven bought a Detroit house in the Wayne County Tax Foreclosure auction this fall with plans of restoring it and making it home, only to find it demolished before she even recieved the deed.

She drove by to check on the 2,700-square-foot Morningside neighborhood home and found a pile of rubble.

It appeared at first to be a sad story of someone trying to do something positive in the city and being left out in the cold.

But – it wasn't Detroit's fault; it was Detroit city officials who came to her rescue; Diven won't be stuck with the bill for the purchase, the demolition or the cleanup; and she hasn't given up on the city.

It was in fact the state that demolished the home, Diven learned after getting some help from Karla Henderson, director of Detroit's buildings and safety engineering department. And a lack of communication between Wayne County and the Michigan Land Bank is to blame.

The county has agreed to cancel the sale and city officials have been working to find another home for Diven, a Detroit photographer who owns the art gallery District VII.

County officials have also said demolition list information will be added to the bidding website by next year's auction to keep it from happening again.

8. Kitten rescued



There's not much to this one. But it will lift your spirits. Animal welfare workers in August pulled a kitten out of a Detroit drain pipe in a rescue caught on video:

Follow Khalil AlHajal on Twitter @DetroitKhalil or on Facebook at Khalil MLive. He can be reached at kalhajal@mlive.com or 313-643-0527.