I don't miss much about high school -- the tests, the peer pressure, the ... gym shorts.

One thing anyone can agree on missing is the excitement that builds during Homecoming week. Faces [and, in some instances, whole torsos] are painted to reflect the school's colors, hair is tied in school-spirit ribbons and cheerleaders and football players walk around in their uniforms for nearly a week.

Many of the state's community papers featured homecoming celebrations during the past two weeks.

The Daily Rocket-Miner didn't lament the Rock Springs football team's loss against Sheridan. Instead, it proclaimed the town's school spirit. Willy Wonka would be proud of boys featured in the Riverton Ranger wearing "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"-inspired makeup. Torrington High fans sang the Blazer Fight Song in the middle of Main Street, according to The Weekend Telegram, and the Northern Wyoming Daily News showed what happens when one of the "B"s and an "S" take a bathroom break from their body-painted posts in the stands [Hint: They spell out "BOCAT" instead of "BOBCATS"].

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They're being called "cat vigilantes."

And though this may bring to mind Cat Woman, or crazy cat ladies, or perhaps a mixture of the two, these vigilantes are neither superheroes nor supine animal lovers. These Newcastle residents, according to the News Letter Journal, could be stealing cats in an effort to solve the city's ferile feline problem.

"Since June, we've had 13 complaints of cats missing. Some of those involve multiple cats," Police Chief Randy Dixon told the Journal.

And because the city won't start capturing ferile cats until an animal shelter is built in the area, Dixon thinks annoyed homeowners may have begun trapping cats themselves.

Unfortunately for pet owners [and the cats themselves], homeowners can do whatever they'd like with animals trespassing on their property.

Keep your friends close and your cats closer.

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In Gillette, a fence lined with 189 pairs of shoes represents the tiny feet of the 189 children abused or neglected in Campbell County this year.

An inventive but sad symbol, the shoes hang in a veritable wall outside the Court Appointed Special Advocates office in Gillette. The monument, unfortunately, grows each year, advocacy coordinator Dawn Livesay told the Gillette News-Record.

The shoes will [hopefully] raise awareness of the number of children in need of CASA's volunteer advocacy services, giving "whatever that child needs," according to Livesay.

If you're in the Gillette area and have time to spare, why not help out some children in need?

Contact columnist Megan Lee at 307-266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com