Roosevelt elk are back in the Lower Mainland after an absence of a hundred years.
The huge elk subspecies was hunted out of southwestern B.C. near the turn of the last century.
Beginning seven years ago province officials, with funding assistance from conservationists, began re-locating small herds back to this coastal region.
Of the nearly five thousand personnel that have bravely battled the massive 19-day-old Yosemite Rim Fire, more than 550 are California inmates.
They’re the “work horses”, cutting lines alongside the elite “hot shot” civilian crews, according to an article in National Geographic.
Sentenced for non-violent offenses, 4,100 such inmates are stationed around the state as part of a partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Barcelona has captured the lead in cities with hip, sustainable transportation after its launch of a new electric scooter sharing program that allows rentals by the hour, or by the month arranged via mobile app.
Starting with 50 bright purple scooters that can go up to 40 miles per hour, Motit, as the project is called, plans to offer 500 such bikes next year in more locations.
Debbie Sexton was half way home in the car after her cancer treatment when she realized she left her phone somewhere in the hospital.
When they realized the phone’s GPS could lead them to the phone, Sexton’s friends drove to the location, a nearby town from Riverside, Cal.
When they arrived, the door was opened by a young man who looked frail but had a smile on his face. Without a word, Patryck Livers, 21, said, “That GPS really works!”
Livers suffers from cancer too, and on August 23 he had just finished a treatment when he found the phone in the cafeteria. When he called Verizon to report it, they told him to leave the phone on and the GPS might lead the owner to the device.
Most importantly, a friendship blossomed and animals were part of the resulting mutual compassion.
(READ the story in the Press-Enterprise)
Israeli soldiers were caught by cell phone cameras as they boogied alongside Palestinians while on patrol in the West Bank.
The soldiers were making their rounds in the city of Hebron last week when they entered a dance hall and joined dozens of Palestinian men dancing to the hit Gangnam Style.
Footage aired on Israeli Channel 2 TV shows the solders in uniform, flak jackets and carrying guns, dancing with abandon among the Palestinian civilians.
This fall, 75 pianos will be installed in public locations across Boston – freely available for anyone to play, thanks to British artist Luke Jerram.
Jerram’s “Play Me, I’m Yours” public piano installation has been touring internationally since 2008. More than 1,000 pianos have been installed, reaching some four million people across 37 cities worldwide, organizers said.
(READ the story from the Boston Globe)
Kanye Ortiz loves the football players on the Houston Texan team, so his family showed up at their practice field to try to get an autograph. They had no idea the nine-year-old’s spontaneous act of kindness would melt hearts across the city.
It all started when one of them asked, “What would J.J. Watt do?”
Endangered sea turtles are nesting in record numbers along the southeast Atlantic Coast this summer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Friday.
For instance, Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge on the Florida coast reported nearly 1,150 green sea turtle nests by August, more than double the record it set two years ago — a sure sign for officials that 35 years of conservation efforts are paying off.
In the province of Verona, an artist, who says he uses his plough as a painter would a brush, created a giant portrait of the pope with just a tractor and farmland belonging to his parents.
The crop-art took six hours to complete with no prior planning. He simply has an innate sense of proportion when carving the land with his tractor.
Generous Chinese CEO Yang Yuanqing will again give away his own $3 million annual bonus to workers at his electronics company after another season of record sales.
About 10,000 workers will get payments this month to recognize their contributions.
A Florida family who spends their time together hunting for treasure struck it rich over the weekend, hauling up an estimated $300,000 worth of gold from a historic wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean.
“What’s really neat about them is they are a family, they spend family time together out there and the most amazing part about them is they always believed this day would come,” said a fellow treasure hunter.
With six children and eight grandchildren who live 3000 miles apart, Colorado toy inventors Charlie and Maria Girsch dreamed up a better way to communicate with their family.
Their app for iPads brings families together for more than just talking. With FamZoom, you are reading, doodling, shopping, chatting and doing homework together in real time. Whatever you draw or move on the iPad in your lap shows up on their screen, too.
A 6th grade boy, Gerry Orz, persuaded the California state government to declare December 12 as a “Day of Silence” to officially honor the victims of bullying who cannot speak for themselves. He’s calling on schools and people everywhere to mark twelve seconds of silence at 12 o’clock on 12-12.
The eloquent student from Rancho Palos Verdes produced a short bully-prevention movie last year tailored to younger school children. He says there is more bullying in the younger grades than people realize.
A family in Rowan County, North Carolina got dinner paid for by an unexpected stranger who also sent an inspiring note to their table Friday.
When their 8-year-old special needs child started getting loud and banging the table, a waitress walked over with tears in her eyes and a note.
A photo of the note, which is being shared on social media, shows the message, “God only gives special children to special people.”
(READ the story, w/ photos, at WBTV)
A huge orca pod showed-off for whale watchers in Active Pass off the shores of Galiano Island in Canada.
They posted the video on YouTube, complete with whoops of excitement from the people gathered.
When Kristen Chenoweth called a fan out of the audience to help with a fun duet, she didn’t know the lady was a stupendous voice coach.
Sarah Horn is now a YouTube sensation, thanks to the surprise duet August 23 at the Hollywood Bowl.
You’ll get tears in your eyes watching this performance, a song from Wicked with the heartfelt refrain, “Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”
(WATCH the video below and READ the full story at People.com)
SHARE the awesome moment with your musical pals…
American football fans will be glad to hear that CBS reached a new broadcasting rights agreement Monday with Time Warner Cable, ending a month-long blackout of the network’s shows at several major markets in the country.
More than 3 million cable customers in eight markets, including New York City, Los Angeles and Dallas, had been unable to watch the nation’s No. 1 prime-time network, or its pre-season football games, since the blackout.
Near Yosemite National Park the stubborn Rim Fire, one of the largest wildfires in California’s history, is 70% contained, the U.S. Forest Service said Monday night.
With rain and cooler temperatures in the forecast, firefighters who have toiled tirelessly for days will likely make further gains in the coming days.
This time, neither storm, jellyfish, nausea, nor utter fatigue could keep 64-year-old endurance swimmer Diana Nyad from achieving her lifelong ambition of conquering the Straits of Florida.
Nyad today became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, willing her way to a Key West beach just before 2 p.m. ET., nearly 53 hours after jumping into the ocean in Havana for her fifth try in 35 years.
After swimming more than 100 miles in open seas, Diana had three things to say at the finish line: “One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is it looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team.”
(WATCH the video below or READ the story from CNN)
Officers at a San Francisco police station Friday thanked a homeless man who came to the aid of a colleague who was attacked when she tried to make an arrest.
After four days of looking for Ryan Raso, San Francisco police finally found him. The 35-year-old was a wanted man; not as a suspect, but as a hero.
