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Sewage-Sniffing Dogs Locate Trouble Spots Along Milwaukee River

dog sniffing manhole - Riverkeepers photo

dog sniffing manhole - Riverkeepers photoCanines have a sense of smell 1,000 times better than humans. So, you might imagine how amazing a dog could be at finding unwanted sewage draining into urban storm sewers. Such discharges usually come from failing infrastructure or illegal connections in sewage systems and result in nasty point-source pollution being flushed into area rivers.

Now, Milwaukee Riverkeepers has partnered with Environmental Canine Services to sniff and test over 50 manholes around Milwaukee.

Kindness Challenge Winner Makes Handmade Toys to Give Away

working on table saw - Storytellers for good video

working on table saw - Storytellers for good videoA retired man in California is one of three winners of the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation’s Kindness Challenge.

The wood-working carpenter is bringing smiles to the faces of hundreds of kids with handmade toys created in his workshop garage.

His wife died 10 years ago and he needed something to keep him busy.

“I just love making things for people.”

(WATCH the inspiring video below from Storytellers for Good)

 

Kindness Challenge Winner Makes Handmade Toys to Give Away

working on table saw - Storytellers for good video

working on table saw - Storytellers for good videoA retired man in California is one of three winners of the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation’s Kindness Challenge.

The wood-working carpenter is bringing smiles to the faces of hundreds of kids with handmade toys created in his workshop garage.

His wife died 10 years ago and he needed something to keep him busy.

“I just love making things for people.”

Gold! Haiti Finds Potential $20 Billion of Precious Buried Ore

miner-pakistani-morguefile

miner-pakistani-morguefileExploratory drilling in Haiti has uncovered gold and silver deep inside the country’s northeastern mountains that may help relive centuries of poverty in the Caribbean nation.

Now, a Haitian engineer and his firm, SOMINE, is drilling around the clock to determine how to excavate the precious metals, potentially worth $20 billion.

Teen Driving Deaths Tumble 64 Percent Across US

Driving teen Morguefile TaylorSchlades

Driving teen - Photo by TaylorSchlades via MorguefileTraffic deaths for all age groups continue to plunge at a record-shattering pace across America.

But the drop among teen drivers is especially important, given that traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for teens.

Teenage driving deaths, registering a historic decrease, dropped 64 percent since 1975.

‘Dead’ Man Wakes at Funeral

Roman statue

Roman statueThe funeral of a 28-year-old waiter in southern Egypt turned into a celebration when he woke up after being declared dead.

Hospital officials had pronounced dead Hamdi Hafez al-Nubi, after he suffered a heart attack while working.

The burial ceremony was about to begin when a doctor was called in to sign the death certificate.

 

(READ the story from News.au)

Town Rallies to Deliver One Last Gift to Fallen Soldier’s Wife

community gives back to soldier-TV9video

community gives back to soldier - TV-9 videoThe community of Laramie, Wyoming came together with strangers across the country in a touching tribute to a US soldier who never got the chance to finish a project which was to become a significant gift for his wife.

Before being deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard, Captain Bruce Hays paid an auto mechanic $17,000 to transform the rusty shell of 1959 Chevy truck into a surprise gift that would remind his wife of fond memories with her father, who drove the same model.

While Bruce was serving overseas, he was killed by a roadside bomb. To make things worse, the unscrupulous mechanic had left town with all the money.

The truck remained a heap of unfinished business and sorrowful regret until word spread and the community rallied to deliver one last gift for the fallen husband and father.

A website was set up and auto enthusiasts from across the country joined the project donating car parts, like these, to help complete the restoration of the antique pickup. As a token of thanks, each contributor received a commemorative gift for their involvement. A ceremony was held unveiling the truck, with dozens in attendance, as the keys were turned over to Bruce’s wife.

(WATCH the video below, or read the story from 9-News)

Town Rallies to Deliver One Last Gift to Fallen Soldier’s Wife

community gives back to soldier-TV9video

community gives back to soldier - TV-9 videoThe community of Laramie, Wyoming came together with strangers across the country in a touching tribute to a US soldier who never got the chance to finish a project which was to become a significant gift for his wife.

Before being deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard, Captain Bruce Hays paid an auto mechanic $17,000 to transform the rusty shell of 1959 Chevy truck into a surprise gift that would remind his wife of fond memories with her father, who drove the same model.

Happiness for Scotland’s Saddest Dog

dog says goodbey to Scottish SPCA

dog says goodbey to Scottish SPCAScooby, the two-year-old bull terrier of Staffordshire, dubbed Scotland’s saddest dog, was back to his bubbly best yesterday after being found a new home.

Last week, the Daily Record revealed how Scooby had been in kennels for so long she was “dying of depression”.

New Ad Gives Olympic Moms (and Regular Moms) Their Due

Olympic moms honored on YouTube

Olympic moms honored on YouTubeWhen you think of Olympic heroes, you think of those gold-medal winning performances. That record-setting swim race. The lightning-fast relay. The winning gymnastic routine.

But a new video ad from Procter & Gamble puts the spotlight on an entirely different hero: The Olympic mom.

They are the ones who got up earlier than everyone else to feed and drive their little athletes to pre-dawn practices for all those years. The ones who logged millions of miles chauffeuring to games and competitions; the ones who sat on the sidelines and in bleachers and cheered louder than anyone else.

US Panel Approves Pill to Prevent HIV Infection

Pill-taking Truvada

Pill-taking Truvada“We are in an era now, for the the first time, when we can foresee the end of the AIDS epidemic.” said an expert speaking about the new pill, Truvada, a drug to prevent HIV infection in healthy people that was just recommended for use by a US advisory panel.

Studies from 2010 showed that Truvada reduced the risk of HIV in healthy gay men – and among HIV-negative heterosexual partners of people who are HIV-positive – by between 44% and 73%.

Unemployed Man’s Luck Changes Finding Signed Picasso Print

Picasso print bought for 14

Picasso print bought for 14An unemployed man down on his luck was browsing in a Columbus thrift store for items he could restore and resell when he spotted a Picasso poster with the word “Exposition” written across the front, some French words, and the image of a warped round face.

He paid $14.14 for what he saw as a nice commercial print.

Some Internet searches later — and a closer look at markings on the lower right area — and he sold what’s believed to be a signed Picasso print for $7,000 to a private buyer.

 

(READ the AP story from CSNEWS)

Thanks to Gordon Gray for sending the link!

Columbia University Janitor Graduates With Honors

janitor graduates Columbia University -ABC News video

janitor graduates Columbia University -ABC News videoA Yugoslavian-born custodian at New York’s Columbia University will be trading in his uniform for a cap and gown this weekend when he graduates with honors after working on his degree for 12 years.

Gac Filipaj, 52, will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in classics with honors from Columbia’s School of General Studies.

He fled to the United States from war-torn Yugoslavia in 1992, leaving behind his parents and siblings. Arriving in New York speaking virtually no English, he asked where the best school was and his friend pointed him to Columbia.

(WATCH the video below, or READ the story from ABC News)

Thanks to Craig Withers for sending the link!

Columbia University Janitor Graduates With Honors

janitor graduates Columbia University -ABC News video

janitor graduates Columbia University -ABC News videoA Yugoslavian-born custodian at New York’s Columbia University will be trading in his uniform for a cap and gown this weekend when he graduates with honors after working on his degree for 12 years.

Gac Filipaj, 52, will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in classics with honors from Columbia’s School of General Studies.

He fled to the United States from war-torn Yugoslavia in 1992, leaving behind his parents and siblings. Arriving in New York speaking virtually no English, he asked where the best school was and his friend pointed him to Columbia.

Hero Pit Bull Pulls Unconscious Owner From Train’s Path

pit bull hero pulls lady from train

pit bull hero pulls lady from trainA pit bull named Lilly is being hailed a hero after she pulled her unconscious owner from the path of a freight train last week, and was severely hurt in the process.

An engineer of a westward-bound freight train saw a dog pulling a woman away from the tracks in the early hours of May 3.

The dog had been adopted to help the woman with her alcohol addiction.

Microsoft Pledges to Become Carbon Neutral by July 1

Microsoft logo

Microsoft logoWeeks after coming under fire for using excessive energy for cloud computing, Microsoft announced it will become carbon neutral across all of its operations starting July 1.

The software giant pledged to turn green all of its data centers, software development labs, air travel, and office buildings.

Orangutans Use iPads to Communicate and Have Fun at Zoos Around the US

orangutan with iPad Photo by Kotaku

orangutan with iPad Photo by KotakuJoining several zoos experimenting with computers and apes, a Miami zoo is letting its six orangutans use an iPad to communicate as part of a mental stimulus program to keep them from getting bored or depressed.

Orangutans are extremely intelligent but limited by their physical inability to talk. The devices help them communicate with humans who don’t know their sign language, but they also provide fun and enrichment, especially favorite apps like DrawFree and Flick Kick Football.

Orangutans Use iPads to Communicate and Have Fun at Zoos Around the US

orangutan with iPad Photo by Kotaku

orangutan with iPad Photo by KotakuJoining several zoos experimenting with computers and apes, a Miami zoo is letting its six orangutans use an iPad to communicate as part of a mental stimulus program to keep them from getting bored or depressed.

Orangutans are extremely intelligent but limited by their physical inability to talk. The devices help them communicate with humans who don’t know their sign language, but they also provide fun and enrichment, especially favorite apps like DrawFree and Flick Kick Football.

Highway Deaths in 2011 Reach All Time Low

US highway deaths declined again last year, reaching their lowest rate, when compared to miles driven, since record-keeping began in 1921, according to government data. Overall, traffic fatalities have plummeted 26 percent since 2005. –Associated Press

With Help of a ‘Bionic’ Suit, Paralyzed Woman Finishes London Marathon (Video)

Paralyzed marathoner Claire Lomas, London

Paralyzed marathoner Claire Lomas, LondonA 32-year-old British woman paralyzed from the chest down has finished the London marathon after 16 days of walking with the help of a “bionic” suit.

Although Claire Lomas was not eligible to receive a medal, more than a dozen runners donated theirs, in a touching tribute after an Olympic rowing champion launched a Twitter campaign to get her one.

She walked almost two miles per day saying that her spinal cord injury “didn’t change who she was inside.”

Her inspiring effort also raised $150,000 for spinal research.

(WATCH the ABC video below and READ the story with photos in the UK Sun)