This young male cat followed our reader, Tekla, home from the area of 44th and Pine on Saturday morning. If this is your cat, please email Tekla at: teklalb@gmail.com.

Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to speak at a rally of Obama-Biden supporters and volunteers at the Palestra Arena at the University of Pennsylvania (215 S. 33rd St.) this afternoon as part of his final campaign swing through Pennsylvania on behalf of the Democratic ticket. The rally begins at 4 p.m. and Penn Public Safety has issued a heavy traffic advisory in this area from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

If you’re interested in attending this rally, tickets are available online here.

The votes have been tallied and the judges have made their decisions. You, the community, voted for the Reader’s Choice and an esteemed panel of judges picked the winners in the other categories. So here we go.

The Reader’s Choice winner is Nate Johnson and his remarkable Edgar Allan Poe pumpkin, which received 100 of the 283 total votes cast. Congrats Nate! You win our main prize package – a gift card from Sabrina’s Cafe ($40), a gift card from Four Worlds Bakery ($30), a copy of BATMAN: The Long Halloween from Locust Moon Comics, and a prize from Penn Museum (two general passes to the Museum + a MAYA 2012 t-shirt + a copy of the latest issue of Expedition Magazine).

The Kids Category winner is Nadia Salamon and her Starry pumpkin. Nadia is only 4 1/2 years old and we were blown away by her non-traditional approach to pumpkin carving. She didn’t want to do a Jack-O-Lantern with a face but wanted one big star on each side and little stars around it! Very cool! Nadia wins a gift card from Lil’ Pop Shop ($30) and a gift card from Four Worlds Bakery ($30).

The Funniest category winner is Ellis M. Mumford and her Grumpy Cat pumpkin. Good job, Ellis, on using one of the most popular memes these days! Ellis wins a Green Line Cafe gift card ($20) and a goodie basket from Mariposa Food Co-op.

The Philly-themed category winner is Katrine Lvovskaya and her Zombie Ben Franklin pumpkin. Nice work, Katrine! You and Ben Franklin win a gift certificate from Honest Tom’s Taco Shop ($20) and two Curio Theatre tickets.

Finally, the Scariest category winner is Bimal Desai (our last year’s Reader’s Choice winner, by the way) and his “Halloween 1982” pumpkin featuring Michael Jackson from the “Thriller” video. Bimal’s pumpkin also finished second in our Reader’s Choice voting with 78 votes cast for it. Bimal wins a gift card from Dock Street Brewery ($20) and a gift card from VIX Emporium ($20).

Congratulations to all the winners! We’ll be contacting you shortly about your prize delivery. And thank you to all who participated in this contest! We loved all your pumpkins, but there had to be only five winners. Who knows, you could be a winner next time.

The West Philadelphia Cooperative School (4625 Baltimore Ave.) will be collecting donated items for victims of Hurricane Sandy after its open house tomorrow – from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Volunteers are specifically asking for clothing, linens and cleaning products, but all donations will be accepted. The donation drive begins after the school’s open house, which runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Donated items will be distributed to shelters on Staten Island.

A young woman who died on Monday night in Brooklyn when a tree fell on her during Hurricane Sandy had West Philly connections.

Jessie Streich-Kest, 24, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 and spent many hours working with homeless families and tutoring neighborhood children. She was a member of Penn Haven, a campus group “dedicated to people suffering homelessness and economic injustice,” according to its website.

Streich-Kest, a Brooklyn native, was walking her dog with a friend, Jacob Vogelman, during the storm when a tree fell on them. Neighbors discovered the two several hours later, Ditmas Park Corner reported.

Friends and relatives have flocked to Ditmas Park Corner to post tributes to Streich-Kest and Vogelman, including Streich-Kest’s former classmates from Penn. Here’s what one of them wrote:

“Jessie Streich-Kest was an extraordinary person, and I am tremendously privileged to have been her friend. No one I have ever met has devoted more of her life to service, to social equity, and to her friends than Jessie. Whether it was tutoring students in West Philadelphia, working to help the homeless, or dropping everything to listen to your problems, Jessie always strove to leave a positive mark on the world.”

If you knew Jessie, feel free to leave a comment.

Ghosts, goblins and all sorts of ghoulish creatures were out in force last night. Luckily we were able to get a bunch of photos. Check out the costumes in the gallery below. There were some great ones, but we think the best may have been Gandalf the Grey and Gollum. We don’t have the precious, but we do have the pictures.

[wpsgallery]