NBA Player to Donate $1,000 For Every Point He Scores at Next Game

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Mar 2, 2017

The New Orleans Pelicans point-back Jrue Holiday has pledged to donate $1,000 to New Orleans tornado relief for every point and assist that he makes during his next game.

The Pelicans, who will be facing off against the San Antonio Spurs, are set to play at the Smoothie King Center on Friday. Holiday’s donations will be going towards The Greater New Orleans Foundation Tornado Relief Fund.

The money will benefit families and individuals affected by the tornadoes that rampaged through the city in early February.

“It’s a shame that in the matter of minutes these storms produced such violent tornadoes that literally upended the lives of so many residents of New Orleans,” Holiday told NBA. “This financial pledge is a unique way I thought of that can have a positive impact on some of the peoples’ lives and help them get back on their feet and assist them in getting their lives back in order.”

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New Study Finds Reading Can Help With Chronic Pain

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Mar 2, 2017

Hold onto your hats, book club fans: researchers have found that shared reading can be a useful therapy for chronic pain sufferers.

The study compared Shared Reading (SR) – a literature-based intervention developed by the national charity The Reader – to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as an intervention for chronic pain sufferers.

Chronic pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage persisting for more than six months.

Usually pain is picked up by specialized cells in your body, and impulses are sent through the nervous system to the brain. What happens in people with chronic pain, however, is that other nerves are recruited into this ‘pain’ pathway which start to fire off messages to the brain when there is no physical stimulus or damage. But the body can ‘unjoin’ again. Drugs and CBT are both ways to convince the brain to send new messages back to the body.

CBT is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It’s most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems. But CBT’s benefits, while useful are shown by recent research to be both limited and short-term.

Shared Reading is used in a range of environments that have similarities with chronic pain, in that the conditions involved can often be chronic and unsolvable, as in the case of dementia, prisons, and severe mental illness.

The model is based on small groups coming together weekly to read literature – short stories, novels, and poetry – together aloud. The reading material ranges across genres and period, and is chosen for its intrinsic interest, not pre-selected with a particular ‘condition’ in mind.

MORE: Simple Checklist Leads to 82% Drop in Mental Health Patient Suicides

Regular pauses are taken to encourage participants to reflect on what is being read, on the thoughts or memories the book or poem has stirred, or on how the reading matter relates to their own lives.

Group members participate voluntarily, usually in relation to what is happening in the text itself, and what may be happening within themselves as individuals (personal feelings and thoughts, memories and experiences), responding to the shared presence of the text within social group discussion.

CBT allowed participants to exchange personal histories of living with chronic pain in ways which validated their experience. However, in CBT, participants focused exclusively on their pain with ‘no thematic deviation’.

In SR, by contrast, the literature was a trigger to recall and expression of diverse life experiences – of work, childhood, family members, relationships — related to the entire life-span, not merely the time-period affected by pain, or the time-period pre-pain as contrasted with life in the present. This in itself has a potentially therapeutic effect in helping to recover a whole person, not just an ill one.

CHECK OUT: This Bar’s Simple But Clever Way of Combatting Sexual Assault

As part of the study participants with severe chronic pain symptoms were recruited by a pain clinic. A 5-week CBT group and a 22-week SR group for chronic pain patients ran in parallel, with CBT group-members joining the SR group after the completion of CBT.

The study found that CBT showed participants ‘managing’ emotions by means of systematic techniques, where SR turned the passive experience of suffering emotion into articulate contemplation of painful concerns. The combination of the two created a strategic therapy treatment for chronic pain.

“Our study indicated that shared reading could potentially be an alternative to CBT in bringing into conscious awareness areas of emotional pain otherwise passively suffered by chronic pain patients,” said Dr. Josie Billington of the Centre for Research into Reading.

“The encouragement of greater confrontation and tolerance of emotional difficulty that Sharing Reading provides makes it valuable as a longer-term follow-up or adjunct to CBT’s concentration on short-term management of emotion.”

(Source: University of Liverpool)

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Generous Chef Gets Paid Back For Kindness After His Restaurant Burns Down

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McKinley Corbley

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Mar 2, 2017

Bruno Serato has dedicated his career to serving gourmet Italian food to the rich so he could feed the poor: kids from the local Boys and Girls Club.

Bruno ran his restaurant, The White House of Anaheim, California, solely for the purpose of serving up Italian meals to the children every day. He was so devoted to the kids, he had to refinance his house so he could continue to afford feeding the youth.

This continued until his beloved restaurant burned down from an electrical fire earlier this month.

Heartbroken, Bruno had no idea how he was going to pick himself back up after the disaster. But then the community that he so tirelessly worked for answered his prayers.

Thousands of loving messages and well wishes flooded Bruno’s social media inboxes. Competing restaurants offered up their kitchens so he could continue feeding his favorite children. Fundraisers were set up to help rebuild the restaurant.

All as a thank you for Bruno’s generosity over the years.

(WATCH the video below)

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New York City to Build 90 New Homeless Shelters in Five Years

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Mar 2, 2017

There have been many success stories across the US when it comes to getting homeless veterans off the street in places like Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Virginia and Connecticut, but homelessness in the general population is rising in America’s largest cities.

Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, has just unveiled a five-year plan that realistically will reduce the number of people in shelters by 2,500 by the end of the 2021, but more importantly begin to turn the tide on rising homelessness.

The plan announced Tuesday will replace the use of hotels and “cluster” shelters scattered across the city with 20 new shelters this year and 20 more in 2018 that will house people in their own neighborhoods or boroughs, nearer to the support system available from churches and family members, and nearer to jobs and schools.

The initiative also calls for opening shelters in existing buildings over the next five years. In total, 90 new shelters will be established across the five boroughs. The city would also renovate and expand 30 existing shelters, according to a report released by the mayor’s office.

With more than 60,000 people in NYC shelters currently, progress will be “slow and incremental” says the Mayor.

“I hope and I believe it will be steady,” de Blasio told an audience of nonprofit service providers, and faith and community leaders. “If we sustain incremental progress, it will be the first time that’s happened in three-and-half decades, and that can open the door to something better up ahead.”

The City has achieved some success over the last year: the HOME-STAT initiative, which has attempted to do something that was not done previously – literally go out and meet each individual who is living permanently on the streets, get to know them deeply, understand everything that can be understood about them and their situation. The program has dispatched 387 outreach workers—mobilized citywide 24 hours per day, seven days a week—to bring homeless individuals into shelters, including 690 individuals last year.

“Every community in this city has homeless people. We need a shelter system that reflects where people come from and allows people to be sheltered in their own neighborhoods or borough,” said de Blasio.

WATCH: Man Builds Tiny House for Homeless Woman Sleeping in the Dirt

The city is also shifting more affordable housing units to folks at lower incomes – to seniors, to veterans, with a commitment to 15,000 new supportive apartments, of which 550 will be available this year.

Recent efforts to prevent homelessness has included rental assistance that has reached 161,000 households over three years.

“We provided rental assistance to help 51,000 New Yorkers avoid coming into shelters or move out of shelters,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks.

In a media release, The Mayor’s Office says the plan will:

Continue to implement an aggressive prevention-first strategy that keeps more people in their homes by making housing more affordable, stopping illegal evictions, and connecting New Yorkers who are struggling to resources that will help them stabilize their lives;
Continue to actualize the 46 reforms identified throughout the 90-day review of homeless services, making long-needed operational and other reforms to better serve New Yorkers on the verge of homelessness and homeless New Yorkers in shelter;
Completely eliminate the use of cluster apartment units by the end of 2021 and commercial hotel facilities by the end of 2023;
Reduce the overall current number of shelter sites (which include hotels and cluster sites) by 45 percent;
Keep homeless New Yorkers closer to their communities and supports that they need;
The City will eliminate the use of 360 cluster sites and commercial hotel facilities and replace them with approximately 90 new shelter facilities and 30 expanded existing sites;
The City estimates opening about 20 new shelters annually over the next five years, which will require a combination of building new locations and renovating existing buildings.

At the same time, prevention and rehousing initiatives will reduce the current number of homeless New Yorkers in shelters by 2,500 people over five years – the first projected systemic reduction of New York City’s homeless shelter population in a decade.

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“Saved by the snooze”: Man Turns Off Alarm Just Before Tree Spears His Roof

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McKinley Corbley

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Mar 2, 2017

Raymond was having trouble falling asleep on Tuesday night while thunderstorms were wracking the city. His lack of sleep may have ended up saving his life, however, when a tree speared through the roof of his bathroom.

The Austin, Indiana man’s alarm went off at 5:30AM, waking him up for work. But due to his restlessness during the night, he uncharacteristically decided to hit the snooze button. A few minutes later, he heard a crash coming from somewhere in his darkened house.

WATCH: Gymnast Falling on Her Head Saved By Coach With Ninja Moves

Raymond entered his bathroom to find that a limb from a 40-foot-tall pin oak tree had fallen through the roof of his ceiling in the exact spot where he typically brushes his teeth in the morning. He says that if he hadn’t stayed in bed, he would almost have definitely been struck by the bough.

“I actually stood up to start getting ready for work but decided to let the snooze go off one more time,” says Raymond. “Laid back down and this happened just minutes afterwards.”

“Good Lord was looking out for me for sure,” Raymond added.

Click To Share The Story With Your Friends (Photo by Raymond Bowling)

Cop Befriends Loner Veteran With Dementia, Raises Money, Applies as Guardian

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Mar 1, 2017

Sergeant Jon Sterling says he bonded with a Korean War veteran named Norm because they’re both a little “eccentric.”

The two became fast friends after Norm called the police station where Sterling worked to report suspicious activity.

LOOK: When a Preschool Opens Inside a Nursing Home All Heaven Breaks Loose

Now that Norm has been diagnosed with early on-set dementia, Sterling is doing what he can to help, like making sure he is getting veterans benefits. He’s applied for guardianship of his friend and has raised almost ten thousand dollars on a GoFundMe page to help care for his health and living needs.

(WATCH the video below)

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Mom Draws Birthmark On Doll’s Face To Match Her Daughter (LOOK)

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Mar 1, 2017

One girl’s mother had a great idea to encourage her daughter to feel like she is not alone.

Jessica Bird used lipstick to recreate a Port Wine Stain on the face of her daughter’s doll so the two would look alike.

Her little girl, Nevaeh, 5, was born with a birthmark on her face and when she received the doll as a gift, couldn’t help but notice its unmarked completion.

WATCH: Surgeon Lifts Young Patients by ‘Treating’ Their Toys Too

It took Jessica just twenty minutes to create a similar stain with the lipstick, and after removing the excess make-up, the two became inseparable.

(WATCH the video below)

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Abandoned Baby Otter Being Nursed Back To Health

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Mar 1, 2017

A baby otter found alone by the side of a river in the United Kingdom is being watched around the clock by rescuers.

The Stapeley Grange Wildlife Center thinks the six-week-old pup, named Daffi, was separated from her mother during a storm.

Daffi was taken to the vet where animal experts say she was lethargic and dragging her back legs.

They’ll work to rehabilitate the otter with the aim of reintroducing her back to the wild within twelve months.

(WATCH the video below)

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Grandmother’s Quilts Play Lovely Role in Funeral – Gracing the Pews (Photo)

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Mar 1, 2017

Our lives are woven with the thread of friends and family, forming a tapestry of life –especially if you’ve lived more than 89 years.

Margaret Hubl, who passed away in Nebraska last July quilted her way through life, and at her funeral friends and family could feel the creativity and care with which she lived that life.

Her purpose in quilting was to communicate love to her family. Her memorial service spoke loud and clear.

Draped over the back of the seats in the church, were more than 30 colorful quilts, each exuding the warmth and love of this seamstress, who hand crafted each one as a gift for someone special—often for special occasions, like a wedding day.

“Never did I imagine how many there were,” Hubl’s granddaughter, Christina Tollman, told TODAY. “We covered almost every single pew in that church. I never knew how many she actually made.”

WATCH: World’s Largest Crocheted Blanket to Warm Thousands of Sick and Poor

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New Video Game Walks in Footsteps of Thoreau at Walden Pond

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Feb 28, 2017

How about a video game in which the goal is stillness and the survival skills are based on growing your own beans?

That’s the essence of a new game launching later this year in celebration of Henry David Thoreau’s 200th birthday. Walden, A Game gives players the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the world famous philosopher who lived a self-reliant life for one year at Walden Pond, then wrote a beloved 1854 memoir about the experience.

The American author began his adventure by building his own one-room cabin in the summer of 1845, and that’s just what gamers will do, by following along.

Game creators at the University of Southern California’s Game Innovation Lab consulted with Thoreau experts in Massachusetts every step of the way, placing plants and animals as Thoreau would have experienced them.

Players will survive in the woods by finding food and fuel, and making shelter and clothing. At the same time, they are surrounded by the beauty of the woods and the Pond, and can learn about the flora and fauna as Thoreau did. The game follows the loose narrative of Thoreau’s first year in the woods, with each season holding its own challenges for survival and possibilities for inspiration.

WATCH: Children’s Hospital Uses ‘Pokemon GO’ Game to Get Patients Excited and Out of Bed

As Thoreau set out to “live deliberately,” he found spiritual fulfillment within the harmony of nature’s four seasons.

The game has a subtle narrative arc, in homage to the original text, which is not a quest for the body pitted against the wilderness, but of the mind and soul living in nature over the course of a New England year. At game’s core is a stillness that will calm even the most active ’monkey mind.’

Thoreau’s work should be important to us today for many reasons —from his core environmentalism, to his fundamental questioning of the role of government in society.

“As the 200th anniversary of Thoreau’s birth approaches in July, the opportunity to relive his famous experiment in simple living in the form of an immersive game seems particularly relevant in a world dominated by concerns about our relationship to nature, technology and governments,” writes the game’s creators.

And, what a great way to introduce the book, Walden, to a whole new audience. After all, they may not be the same people who would sit down and read Thoreau’s book.

(WATCH an early release game preview below – and follow developments at waldengame.com)

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Global Plan Launched to Save Coral Reefs From Extinction

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Feb 28, 2017

coral reef released by The Ocean Agency- Richard Vevers — The Ocean Agency / Richard Vevers

A global plan to save coral reefs from possible eradication due to climate change, pollution and poor fishing practices, was launched in Bali at the February 2017 World Ocean Summit.

The initiative known as 50 Reefs is the first global plan to save the most biodiverse ecosystem on the planet. It brings together leading scientists and conservationists to develop a list of the 50 most critical coral reefs and target them for protection by catalyzing global action and investment required to prevent their extinction.

A unique philanthropic coalition of innovators in business, technology and government are supporting 50 Reefs, including Bloomberg Philanthropies with The Tiffany & Co. Foundation and The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

“When people think of climate change, they often think of extreme heat, severe storms, and raging wildfires. But some of the most disastrous effects of climate change are out of sight – on the ocean floor — and saving the remaining coral reefs is critical,” said Michael R. Bloomberg UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. “Without coral reefs, we could lose up to a quarter of the world’s marine biodiversity and hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people would lose their primary source of food and livelihoods.”

The 50 Reefs initiative builds on work already done by The Ocean Agency and the Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland, responding to what they call “this perilous moment for coral reefs.”

MORE: Farmer Returns 700 Acres of California Coast to Native American Tribe

Their work is the subject of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award-winning documentary, “Chasing Coral,” which will be released worldwide on Netflix. Watch the trailer below:

Coral reefs worldwide have been estimated to have a value of $1 trillion, which generates at least $300-400 billion each year in terms of food and livelihoods from tourism, fisheries and medicines, according to recent reports examined by the Smithsonian Institute. The worldwide coral conservation communications campaign aims to preserve the livelihoods and culture of reef-dependent communities all over the world.

“This is an all hands on deck moment,” said Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland.

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Yum! Brands Now Gives New Parents Generous Extended Family Leave

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Feb 28, 2017

Yum! Brands yesterday announced a new expanded parental time-off policy as part of the company’s bid to stay competitive in the corporate market, and invest in its employees.

The expanded parental time-off policy offers birth mothers at its U.S. headquarters in Louisville, Plano, Texas, and Irvine, Calif., 18 weeks of fully paid time away from work. In addition, the policy offers six weeks of fully paid “baby bonding” time away from work to fathers and partners, as well as adoptive and foster parents.

Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, says workers can take advantage of the policy effective immediately.

“Engaging and attracting talent is a top priority,” said Tracy Skeans, Chief Transformation and People Officer at Yum! Brands. “This expanded parental time off and baby bonding benefit builds on our strong legacy of investing in our people and culture to fuel great results and continuously providing meaningful ways to help our employees be and contribute their best at work and at home.”

MORE: Costco Raises Minimum Wage For Lowest Paid Workers

In addition to the expanded parental time-off policy, Yum! Brands recently started offering increased flexibility to corporate employees with half-day Fridays and a minimum of four weeks paid vacation plus two additional bonus weeks in an employee’s 10th, 20th or 30th year of service. The company says it also offers a range of other benefits to support working parents and families including 24/7, 365-day access to a doctor via telephone, financial support for adoption services and infertility treatments, autism support services, daycare facilities and a host of wellness programs.

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After Random Meeting With Homeless Man, Youth Surprises Him With Ticket Home

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Feb 28, 2017

A young man from Boston recently received a video camera for his birthday and decided to hit the streets to invite a homeless person to lunch to tell their story. The very first man that he met inspired Matthew so much that the youth later surprised him with a bus ticket home—bringing him back into his father’s arms.

Matthew Bilodeau’s debut episode for his YouTube show, “A Bite With…”, features Jason Stevens, a 36 year-old mechanic who decided to go to Los Angeles and follow his dream to work for a prestigious auto parts dealer.

He didn’t get the job, though, and ended up panhandling on L.A. streets

Jason told Matthew about life on the street and recalled the time he had only $7 in his pocket when he ran into another homeless man, and his dog, who looked hungry. Jason gave the man all he had—the seven dollars—sharing with those who had less.

Through listening to his story, Matthew learned that the man has a passion for cars and keeps a sketch pad handy for drawing engine designs. Before leaving for L.A., the East Texas man had worked for Ross Motorsports in Lufkin where they sell parts for recreational vehicles.

Matthew tells Good News Network he was curious to know more about the man whom he described as “kind and intelligent”. He telephoned Ross Motorsports to inquire about Jason.

“I learned that Jason left home and didn’t tell anyone — he was actually a missing person in Texas.” And there were newspaper headlines to prove it.

The former employer reported that Jason had been “a model employee.”

“Jason’s story showed me that you never know the reason why someone might be homeless. In Jason’s case, he truly wanted to make a better life for himself and find a higher paying job working on cars, only to find out that it wasn’t so easy.”

Just a few days later, 20-year-old Matthew, who recently moved from Boston, returned to the streets to find Jason—this time with a big surprise, so much more fulfilling than a free lunch.

With the help of his dad who bought the bus ticket, they presented Jason with the chance to return to his father and possibly his job.

He was so excited, exclaiming, “Dude, I get to go back to work!”

“Sending Jason home has been an unforgettable experience,” Matthew wrote via email. “There’s no better feeling in the world than seeing how happy and excited he was to see his dad and to get back to work.”

Jason made it home on Saturday February 25, and has chatted often with Matthew on Facebook. He plans on applying either at his previous job or at the Yamaha Motor Corporation in Grand Prairie.

WATCH: Inmates Break Out Of Jail To Save Life Of Officer Guarding Them

“It’s Jason’s dream to go to school at the Universal Technical Institute to one day work on high-end cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghini’s.”

Matthew has spent the past 2 years interacting with and oftentimes making friends with the homeless around him. It wasn’t until he recently got the camera that he decided to document it. He plans to do more such interviews for his YouTube channel.

(WATCH his entertaining video—and the follow-up surprise below)

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Watch Hero Soccer Player Save Opposing Goalie From Choking

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McKinley Corbley

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Feb 27, 2017

The Czech First League league game on Sunday may have ended in disaster if it weren’t for one of the team’s quick-thinking strikers saving an opposing player from choking to death.

During the first half of the 0-0 game, Bohemians 1905 goalkeeper Martin Berkovec accidentally ran smack into his teammate Daniel Krch, leaving them both injured.

Berkovec, however, was knocked unconscious and fell on his back.

While referees signaled medical officials onto the field, Slovacko striker Francis Kone didn’t hesitate jumping into action.

Kone climbed on top of Berkovec’s motionless body and pulled the goalie’s tongue out of his mouth. If Kone hadn’t acted so quickly, Berkovec would most likely have choked to death.

MORE: Anonymous Tip Saves Olympic Swimmer From Skin Cancer

While Kone has received nationwide praise for his intervention, Berkovec himself took to Facebook to announce his gratitude after recovering in the hospital..

“I would like to thank Francis Kone for rescue and emergency at today’s game,” the goalkeeper said. “I’m glad for the relief and thanks again!!!”

(WATCH the video below)

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Solar Water Wheels Prevent 1Mil Pounds of Trash From Entering Baltimore Harbor

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Feb 27, 2017

Mr. Trash Wheel may look a little silly with his googley eyes and gaping mouth, but he has a serious job: keeping trash from entering the Baltimore Harbor.

He’s good at his job too – since his installation in May 2014, this solar-powered trash wheel and his compatriot Professor Trash Wheel have saved over 1 million pounds of trash from entering the Baltimore Harbor.

From his perch on the Jones Falls River, Mr. Trash Wheel rotates based on power drawn from the river’s current. If not enough electricity can be generated from the river alone, the wheel uses solar energy instead.

The trash that is picked up by the wheel is either sorted into groups of recyclable material, or burned to provide electricity for the city. The most common articles of litter gathered by Mr. Trash Wheel is either cigarette butts or plastic chip bags.

Officials say that most of the trash that ends up in the water is simply because of rain runoff washing away garbage overflow within the city.

Mr. Trash Wheel has been so successful – with up to 38,000 pounds of litter gathered per day since he was installed – that Professor Water Wheel was built at Harris Creek Park in Canton in December.

You can follow the two garbage machines via their Twitter or Facebook pages.

(WATCH the video below)

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Watch Shocked Busload of Tourists Find Themselves on Academy Awards Show

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McKinley Corbley

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Feb 27, 2017

This Starline bus tour may go down in history as the best bus ride ever given in history.

Last night during the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel let the crowd in on a little secret – they were all about to play a rousing prank on a bus full of tourists who would be unsuspectingly entering the Dolby Theater at any second.

When the tourists entered the theater, their faces looked flabbergasted. All while trying to take as many cell phone pictures of the celebrities as possible, the group was led to the front of the theater.

WATCH: George Clooney And Julia Roberts on Carpool Karaoke w/ Gwen Stefani

Kimmel set about introducing some of the newcomers to such celebrities as Ryan Gosling and Nicole Kidman. One couple from Chicago – who said that they were soon engaged to be married – happened to mention that Denzel Washington was their favorite actor.

In honor of the special occasion, Denzel decided to simply marry the couple on the spot.

“He’s Denzel, so it’s legal,” Kimmel said.

(WATCH the video below)

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Israeli Doctors Help Deaf Palestinian Kids Hear For First Time

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Feb 27, 2017

Thanks to a program that works to build healthier peaceful international relationships, 16 Palestinian children are now able to hear after being given cochlear implants by Israeli doctors.

The Peres Center For Peace coordinated the 16 successful surgeries over the course of the last year at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. Six of the surgeries occurred last month in “marathon style” back-to-back operations.

Though the surgery may be a fairly common operation in more advanced countries, it is not yet as accessible in developing countries.

“This is an amazing project that gives these children the opportunity to step out of their world of silence and live their lives normally and fully,” the project’s leading surgeon Dr. Michal Kaufmann told YNet News.

“These children couldn’t speak prior to the surgery, they were bereft of any supporting environment, uncommunicative. The surgery opened up their world, the ability to communicate and spread their wings… We are happy to have been able to contribute to such a dramatic change in their lives.”

Can You Hear The Love Tonight? Click To Share (Photo by ReSurge International, CC)

Police Build Kitty Condo for Cat Who Has Visited Department for 3 Years

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Feb 26, 2017

The feline fondly dubbed as SWAT Cat has been visiting the Boston Police Department for 3 years – but when she disappeared for a few months, the boys in blue decided to give her a more permanent home.

Department members in the Roxbury neighborhood built an elaborate condo earlier this week for their furry friend to “relax in while visiting the police department.”

SWAT Cat has reportedly since moved into the studio – and she’s loving it.

“Officer Jamie Pietroski, a 15-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, stayed late after work for several nights painstakingly preparing SWAT Cat’s new home,” the department’s website read.

Click To Share The Pawesome Story With Your Friends – Or, (Photo by the Boston Police Department)

Florida Panther Populations Increase Sharply Since Days When 20 Remained

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Feb 26, 2017

The endangered Florida panther is improving its chances of survival every day—with a little help from their government friends.

The estimated number of endangered Florida panthers roaming in their breeding territory south of the Caloosahatchee River has just been updated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). According to the February 2017 report on conservation and recovery efforts, the adult and subadult Florida panther population has seen a 27% increase since 2014—and the numbers do not include kittens still dependent on their mothers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, it was estimated only 20–30 panthers remained in Florida, while today there are 230.

The report emphasizes both the importance and difficulty in obtaining accurate panther population estimates. Currently, Florida scientists are evaluating several methods to refine their ability to estimate the panther population size, including the use of trail cameras and panther road mortality data.

“This latest Florida panther population estimate is good news, an indication that conservation efforts are on track in helping recover this endangered animal,” said Kipp Frohlich, FWC’s Deputy Director for the Division of Habitat and Species Conservation.

Larry Williams, the USFWS’s Florida State Supervisor of Ecological Services, believes the new numbers indicate things are trending in the right direction – due in part, to a strong partnership with the State of Florida.

MORE: Giant Panda No Longer Endangered!

“Continued recovery will require a long-term concerted effort by many partners committed to finding common sense solutions that balance many different and competing interests, yet are grounded in a shared purpose of conserving the lands that support Florida’s native wildlife and its ranching heritage,” Williams said.

The current numbers, developed jointly by scientists in the two agencies, use annual counts of panthers primarily conducted on public lands. Density of panthers on these areas is then multiplied across the larger area that makes up the primary breeding range in south Florida.

The public is encouraged to report sightings of panthers or their tracks, and send any photos, to My FWC to help with panther research and management in areas like the cattle ranches, forests and farms west of Lake Okeechobee. Biologists are especially interested in pictures of panthers north of the Caloosahatchee River, which runs from Lake Okeechobee to Fort Myers.

Click To Share The News With Your Friends (Photo by Cary Lee, CC)

7,000 Railway Stations in India to Be Powered By Solar

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McKinley Corbley

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Feb 26, 2017

Solar Panels CC PublicDomainPictures — PublicDomainPictures, CC license

Almost all of the train stations in India will soon be powered by solar panels.

While announcing the Union Budget for the 2017–2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley declared plans to power over 7,000 Indian railway stations with solar energy.

The project has already started implementing the renewable energy system at 300 different stations.

The government also plans on expanding their solar reach beyond the initial goal set by the Solar Mission of the Indian Railways, decreasing further their dependence on fossil fuels.

This initiative is not India’s first campaign for sustainability either; the nation was hailed after implementing the first airport in the world powered entirely by solar energy.

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All Your Nutrition in a Daily Drink That Also Feeds Hungry Kids

GNN Paperback Book: “And Now, The Good News”

Holistic Patches Relieve Anxiety, Cramps, or Nausea – Without Drugs

The Heartwarming Feel-Good Book We All Need

A Daily Dose of Positive Affirmations–Right on Your Toes

Native Americans Were Making Dice and Gaming Thousands of Years Before Anyone Else

Why You Feel Rejected When Someone Doesn’t Text You Back: Your Brain is Trying to Protect You

The Science of How Your Brain Forms Habits (and How to Take Control)

How To Love Yourself: 5 Ways to Let Go of the River Bank and Go With the Flow

NBA Player to Donate $1,000 For Every Point He Scores at Next Game

New Study Finds Reading Can Help With Chronic Pain

Generous Chef Gets Paid Back For Kindness After His Restaurant Burns Down

New York City to Build 90 New Homeless Shelters in Five Years

“Saved by the snooze”: Man Turns Off Alarm Just Before Tree Spears His Roof

Cop Befriends Loner Veteran With Dementia, Raises Money, Applies as Guardian

Mom Draws Birthmark On Doll’s Face To Match Her Daughter (LOOK)

Abandoned Baby Otter Being Nursed Back To Health

Grandmother’s Quilts Play Lovely Role in Funeral – Gracing the Pews (Photo)

New Video Game Walks in Footsteps of Thoreau at Walden Pond

Global Plan Launched to Save Coral Reefs From Extinction

Yum! Brands Now Gives New Parents Generous Extended Family Leave

After Random Meeting With Homeless Man, Youth Surprises Him With Ticket Home

Watch Hero Soccer Player Save Opposing Goalie From Choking

Solar Water Wheels Prevent 1Mil Pounds of Trash From Entering Baltimore Harbor

Watch Shocked Busload of Tourists Find Themselves on Academy Awards Show

Israeli Doctors Help Deaf Palestinian Kids Hear For First Time

Police Build Kitty Condo for Cat Who Has Visited Department for 3 Years

Florida Panther Populations Increase Sharply Since Days When 20 Remained

7,000 Railway Stations in India to Be Powered By Solar