Here’s a video that will make you smile. A collection of babies laughing – each one different, and all adorable.
Photo of the Day – Mali Rebels Agree to End Hostilities
Rebel groups from northern Mali have agreed to end hostilities and present a united front ahead of negotiations with the Malian government that begin in Algiers next week.
With peace talks between the rebels and the Bamako government around the corner, representatives from two rebel groupings have signed an agreement to end fighting and work towards a sustainable solution for northern Mali.
(READ the story from Voice of America)
UN Photo
Weekly ‘Pop-up Picnic’ Builds Community in Oakland
No one knows exactly who started it, but since spring, people who live in Oakland, California have been showing up Sunday afternoons for a pop-up picnic that is drawing families, boaters, runners and musicians to the once-neglected Lake Merritt, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
Locals say such a display of Oakland pride hasn’t been seen for a long time.
A publicly financed $198 million makeover of the lake supported by a clean-water bond passed in 2002, has created “lush greenways, swaths of flowers, a widened walkway with benches and public telescopes to get a closer look at the scullers, kayakers, boats and birds gliding on the water.”
(READ the story in the San Francisco Chronicle) – Story tip from Mike McGinley
Photo of Lake Merritt in June by Scott Schiller (CC license)
Teen Cancer Survivor Fitted With New Teeth When Community Rallies
He’s all smiles now that he’s been fitted with dentures after a GoFundMe campaign raised more than $11,000 in less than one day, reported the Daily Mail.
The dental procedure was not covered by insurance, but Good Samaritans have donated more than $21,000 to help the brave young cancer survivor.
Alex Hunter, 16 was first diagnosed with cancer when he was four and then diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 13; his family say he is now cancer-free.
(READ the story from the Daily Mail) – Story tip from Jae Bird
Firefighters Finish Mowing Lawn for Wife Whose Husband Collapsed in Yard
Firefighters in Texas are receiving praise after they responded to a 911 call when a man had collapsed while mowing the yard.
The guys from Baytown’s Engine 4 decided to do something nice for the family and returned to the scene to finish the lawn chore.
They left a note for the family saying they locked the garage and left the key in the mailbox. “We are very sorry that your husband became ill, we hope he has a speedy recovery,” they added. “Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you out.”
A neighbor saw them mowing the lawn and snapped some pictures, later posting them on the Baytown, TX Facebook Page.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story from KHOU) – Photo by Ashley Odom Chandler
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GNN Website Tip: Using “Latest News” vs “Load More”
Do you find it frustrating looking at stories while using the LOAD MORE button when it sends you back to the homepage rather than the long list of stories you just loaded?
Javascript is the creator of the “Load More” feature and it doesn’t work with a back button.
But, there is a solution.
If you want to get caught up on the Latest News, just click the Blue title that says, LATEST ARTICLES, instead of using the ‘Load More’ option.
It will open a page with all our stories in chronological order. The infinite scroll allows you to keep going back in time, with a flick of the wrist.
If that helped, or not, let me know in the COMMENTS below.
Thanks for your support!
Geri, Managing Editor and Founder, GNN
Habitats Restored as World’s Largest Dam Removal Unleashes U.S. River
The second of two dams along the Elwha River in Washington State was demolished by crews Tuesday at Glines Canyon. The Elwha River now runs free for the first time in more than 100 years, and habitats for fish and wildlife are already recovering.
Since the National Park Service began the Elwha River restoration project three years ago and the first dam was removed, sediment once trapped has gradually rebuilt riverbanks and created estuary habitat for crabs, clams, and other species.
Salmon populations are recovering, and researchers expect the whole food web—from invertebrates to birds to otters and bears—to benefit.
(READ the story from National Geographic)
Photo: Glines Canyon Dam and barge, by the National Park Service
Paramedic Finds Parking Ticket in Ambulance, Pays it for Grieving Woman
An Australian ambulance paramedic trainee found a parking ticket dropped in the vehicle by a family whose mother died three days later.
Marc Primrose sympathized with the grief the daughter must be feeling and instead of returning the ticket to Rosemary Morgan, he paid the $129 fine for her.
He contacted them at the address on the ticket lest they worry about late fines, and sent this note:
Dear Rose and Family, I found this in the back of the ambulance after we dropped you and your mother at home from the Broadmeadows Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. I didn’t want you to incur a late fee from this parking fine so I’m posting this back to you. I also decided to pay this fine for you given the difficult time you and your family are going through.
(READ the story, w/ photos, from the Herald Sun/Whittlesea Leader)
Arizona Man Drives an Hour to Save Injured Bear
“An injured bear cub is recovering in Arizona after a man who initially thought it was a dead dog along the side of the road scooped it up and drove it 80 miles to get help,” reports the Associated Press.
(READ the story from KTAR-TV)
Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center Photo – Story tip from Mike McGinley
Cape Town’s Pop-up Store for the Homeless Goes Global
In a very trendy neighborhood of Cape Town, among chic boutiques and restaurants, two advertising creatives saw from their balcony the homeless residents, too.
They dreamed up the idea of a “Street Store” that makes it easy for the wealthiest residents to donate, and more importantly, a place to give to the poorest with dignity.
Street Store poster boards with hangers are hung from fencing over which donors can lay their clothes. Boxes are placed in a neat row for shoes and accessories. Watch the video below to see it in action.
To date the concept has grown to see street stores being duplicated in the city streets of Brussels, Vancouver, San Diego, Sao Polo and a number of other cities worldwide since then. More than 263 cities from around the world have signed up to host a Street Store — posters have been translated through social media into nine languages.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story in the South African) – Story tip from Mike Kaufmann
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Emergency Foster Mom Opens Home to Four Siblings in Need
After getting a call from the social service agency and “without a second thought about the limited space in her house, the beds they didn’t have or the children’s clothes she didn’t own,” a Pennsylvania woman — for the fourth time — drove immediately to pick up siblings who needed emergency foster care. This time it was four brothers and sisters ranging in age from 5 to 11.
Kelly Abell and her husband Brian welcomed the children, as they first did six years ago when they first volunteered at the Children’s Home of York.
Before arriving back at her Hanover home, family friends had brought bunk beds to the house and her church’s orphan ministry also brought over clothes, car seats and side rails for the beds.
(READ the “Everyday Heroes” story from the Evening Sun)
Photo by Justice Beitzel (CC license on Flickr)
Something in Pink? How to Shop for a Good Cause
When people shop, they generally know what they’re looking for. New boots, a new necklace, a replacement iPhone charger—you could be searching for a variety of things. Why not search for companies that regularly donate a percentage of their sales to a charitable foundation. That way you can use your purchase to make an impact and feel better about it at the same time.
One Hope, a social enterprise based in California, donates half of their sales of wines, coffees, and teas to worthy causes. They have partnerships with a number of different causes and, since their founding in 2007, have donated a total of over $1 million to make an impact. Similarly, Keeper Springs America is a bottled water company that donates 100% of their proceeds to improved water quality and waterways. To date, they have donated more than $900,000 to water preservation and clean up projects around the United States.
Founded by actor Paul Newman, Newman’s Own, known for their salad dressings and spaghetti sauce, is the daddy of them all, having donated $400 million since 1982. All of the profits at that company are donated to charity, two of which are Edible Schoolyard NYC, a nonprofit that works to incorporate health and fitness programs into New York City public schools, and Food Corps, an organization that teaches children about healthy food options.
But food products aren’t the only way that you can support worthy causes with your purchase decisions. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation encourages buyers to Shop Pink to fight breast cancer. The organization, founded in 1993, has donated upwards of $45 million to research for a cure. They are unique in how they include survivors of breast cancer in their business model: they allow private businesses to become vendors for Shop Pink products on the condition that participants have been personally affected by a breast cancer diagnosis. Not only do consumers help the cause through purchases online or in-store, but they do so knowing that they’re connecting with someone directly affected by breast cancer.
When people actively participate in a cause that they care about, it creates a burst of endorphins, the feel-good hormones we experience to lift our moods and make us happy. Knowing that shopping for a good cause can boost your mental health, why turn down the opportunity to make the most of your dollar? Put your money towards something greater than yourself and shop with a purpose on your next purchase.
Health Care Wait Times for US Veterans Have Decreased, New Data Show
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reduced by half the number of veterans waiting more than three months to see a doctor since a scandal erupted at the agency in spring over delays in health care, according to data released Thursday.
The agency’s health care system for veterans has paid to send nearly 200,000 patients to private doctors in order to speed up care, part of an effort that has decreased average wait times to see primary physicians from 51 to 43 days.
(READ the USA Today story via Navy Times)
Photo credit: Veterans Administration
70 Year Mystery Solved: Death Valley’s Moving Stones
Littered across the surface of a dry lake in Death Valley are hundreds of rocks – some weighing as much as 700 pounds (320kg) – that have eerily moved across the ground, leaving trails that can stretch for hundreds of meters.
The mystery has stumped scientists since the 1940s because the stones can sit for a decade without moving. No one has seen them actually in motion – until now.
In a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE on Aug. 27, a team led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, paleobiologist Richard Norris reports on first-hand observations of the phenomenon.
But in December 2013, Norris and co-author and cousin Jim Norris arrived in Death Valley to discover that the lake bed (also called a ‘playa’) was covered with a pond of water seven centimeters (three inches) deep. Shortly after, the rocks began moving.
“Science sometimes has an element of luck,” Richard Norris said. “We expected to wait five or ten years without anything moving, but only two years into the project, we just happened to be there at the right time to see it happen in person.”
Their observations show that moving the rocks requires a rare combination of events. First, the surface fills with water, which must be deep enough to form floating ice during cold winter nights but shallow enough to expose the rocks. As nighttime temperatures plummet, the pond freezes to form thin sheets of “windowpane” ice, which must be thin enough to move freely but thick enough to maintain strength. On sunny days, the ice begins to melt and break up into large floating panels, which light winds drive across the playa, pushing rocks in front of them and leaving trails in the soft mud below the surface.
“On Dec. 21, 2013, ice breakup happened just around noon, with popping and cracking sounds coming from all over the frozen pond surface,” said Richard Norris. “I said to Jim, ‘This is it!’”
It turned out the rocks moved under light winds and ice less than 3-5 millimeters (0.25 inches) thick. The rocks moved only a few inches per second (2-6 meters per minute), a speed that is almost imperceptible at a distance and without stationary reference points. That means that tourists might have actually seen this happening without realizing it.
“It is really tough to gauge that a rock is in motion if all the rocks around it are also moving,” said Norris
(WATCH the video below, or READ more at Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
Photo: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Growth Spurt for US, India Economies
The U.S. economy grew at a brisk annual rate of 4.2 percent in the April-June quarter and India’s economy expanded by 5.7%, according to official figures released this week.
2,700-Year-Old Phoenician Shipwreck Found With Cargo Intact
A Phoenician ship that sunk in the waters off the island of Malta around 700 BC has been discovered with its cargo in a “fantastic state of preservation.”
One of the oldest shipwrecks found in the Mediterranean, the vessel is about 50 feet long and rests in a bed of sand at a depth of 400 feet, reports Discovery News.
“There are very good chances that the wooden hull is still present, buried beneath the sand,” said Timmy Gambin, a senior lecturer in maritime archaeology at the University of Malta and the co-director of the international team.
(READ the story from Discovery News)
Before City Pool Closes for the Year, They Let All the Dogs Go for Swim
In Idaho, when the ‘dog days of summer’ are over and the Nampa public pool is about to close, a new clientele comes to play: The “Pooch Pool Party” allows dogs to take a swim before the water is drained for the year.
The annual dog-only swimming event began in 2007 as an idea to raise money to help build the Nampa Dog Park.
The Lakeview Pool party includes not only a dog swim, pet-friendly vendors and a raffle, but a 1-mile walk, entertainment, contests and more. Proceeds continue to help fund Nampa Dog Park amenities like the dog swimming pond and permanent restrooms, according to the Nampa Parks and Rec page.
Video of the 2014 event uploaded by Mandy Mahan shows dozens of dogs gleefully jumping into the pool for a refreshing dip.
(WATCH the video below) – Story tip from Jeffery Scharn
Photo via YouTube screenshot
After Mentoring Immigrant Teen, Sign Maker Is Paid Back Years Later
Phil Bono from Long Island, whose selfless decision to teach a 17-year-old immigrant about the signage business, is finding that his good deed paid off.
Years later, with Bono down on his luck, his old apprentice got the chance to offer his mentor a hand.
(WATCH the CBS video by Steve Hartman above)
Maine Scientists Say Acid Rain Effects Are Reversing Much Faster
“Two Maine scientists are celebrating good news about the environment, after a decades-long study has shown that the negative effects of acid rain have been reversed much faster than expected,” reports the Bangor Daily News.
The study looked at lakes throughout most of New England and New York, and it found that environmental regulations and the voluntary actions of industry have sharply reduced sulfur emissions in rain and snow. It also found that soils are recovering quickly, without taking centuries to bounce back that some had predicted would be necessary.
(READ the story from the Bangor Daily News)
Photo by Benjamin Edelstein Photography
Tricking Memory in Lab Animals Stokes Hope for PTSD
The frailty of remembrance might have an upside: When a memory is recalled, two research teams reported on Wednesday, it can be erased or rewired so that a painful recollection is physically linked in the brain to joy and a once-happy memory to pain.
The research adds to a growing body of work that suggest this might be applicable to treating disorders such as post-traumatic stress.
(READ the article from Reuters)