45 people volunteered on a recent night to carry salamanders, frogs and newts across the road during their annual migration to mate.
On rainy nights in early spring, roads between forests and vernal pools are hopping and crawling with activity. On some nights, hundreds of amphibians cross small stretches of asphalt to mate. But many don’t make it.
A British teenager’s suicide note on Facebook sparked a transatlantic rescue mission which saved his life.
The 16-year-old boy’s threat to kill himself, sent to a girl 3,600 miles away, in Maryland, America, was the starting point for an extraordinary race against time.
When she read his private post at 11.30pm on Wednesday night his American friend told her parents, who called the local state police.
The only details they were given were his name and the fact he went to school in Oxfordshire.
13 Palestinian girls and boys from a West Bank refugee camp traveled on March 25 with their musical director to Israel to sing for elderly Holocaust survivors. The event, held at the Holocaust Survivors Center in Holon, was part of “Good Deeds Day,” an annual event there.
Most of the elderly did not know the youths were Palestinians from the tough area of the West Bank until it was announced. Amidst surprised gasps, the choir burst into songs for peace, and the audience broke out in applause.
During the medley of Arabic and classical tunes, the Holocaust survivors clapped along to the violins and the oriental drumming.
(READ more about the inspiring event in this AP story)
File photo by padesucre (Flickr-CC) / Story tip from Beth Gern
Jennifer Gold recycled at home with her family, but when she realized her school lacked a recycling program, she took action.
She got tired of seeing overflowing trash cans filled with plastic bottles or glass, and decided to do something. She become known in her school as “the Recycling Girl” for her efforts to get bins organized and kids to change their habits.
(Watch the video on NBC San Diego)
When it comes to college, Minneapolis, Minn. native Camille Thomas has two philosophies: it’s never too early to plan to attend and it’s never too soon to start helping a young person get there. Putting her money where her mouth is, Thomas has established a scholarship for students at her high school alma mater.
Just a couple of years out of college herself, Thomas, a 2002 graduate of Washburn High School in Minneapolis, Minn., has decided to create and coordinate a scholarship fund to raise awareness and educate others about the importance of higher education. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in holistic health in the College of St. Catherine’s Henrietta Schmoll School of Health.
Thomas also serves as the director of the non-profit community organization, Preparing Healthy Youth to Transform Tomorrow (PHYTT), a center of college preparation, personal and community health development and employment readiness. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
The Camille A. Thomas Scholarship was created with the intent to provide financial assistance to committed and highly motivated African-American and Latino-American college students.
The scholarship provides up to $3,000 to first-year college students who are graduates of the Minneapolis Public Schools, students studying abroad and students studying a form of health education.
Camille Thomas also hosts a show on the holistic health of the community with Tiffany Scott-Knox on KMOJ-FM (89.9), Mondays, 6-6:30 p.m.
Deadline to apply for the scholarship was April 1, 2009. More information about St. Kate’s: www.stkate.edu.
Demi’s Twitter fascination may have been a lifesaver for one very troubled woman.
Moore reposted the woman’s promise to kill herself and many who read it flew into action calling the police. The woman is in the hospital now for a 72-hour psychological evaluation.
(Watch the video on NBC San Diego)
George Harrison will get a star on Hollywood’s glittering Walk of Fame.
A star bearing Harrison’s name will be added to the famous sidewalk in a ceremony on April 14 to be attended by his widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, organizers said.
Harrison died of cancer in 2001 at the age of 58.
(AFP story and family photo on Google)
Last month, Dan Leone was fired from his part-time job with the Philadelphia Eagles after criticizing the team for letting veteran Brian Dawkins leave via free agency.
The employee worked during the Eagles’ 10 home dates each season and his termination meant he would have been unlikely to attend any of those games in 2009. But now help is coming from the football player himself.
(It is easy to see why most people in Philly didn’t want to see such a class act like Dawkins leave town.)
An inspirational new film set to premiere at the 2009 Full Frame Film Festival in April tells the story of an aspiring fashion photographer whose career took an unexpected turn when she discovers a hidden world of beauty within the lives of people with significant disabilities.
SHOOTING BEAUTY: Everyone deserves a shot was filmed over the span of a decade. It puts you in Courtney Bent’s shoes as she works to invent cameras for use by her new friends with disabilities. The group’s efforts snowballed into an award winning photography program called “Picture This”—and became the backdrop for this eye-opening story about romance, daring, loss and laughter that will change what you thought you knew about people living
with disabilities—and people without them.
“This is good news indeed!” said filmmaker, George Kachadorian, who invites you to watch the film’s trailer below.
Visit the film’s official site: www.everyonedeservesashot.com
SHOOTING BEAUTY trailer from George Kachadorian on Vimeo.
Contact George via email with any comments and/or questions: [email protected]
An NPR Story Corps recording of two friends, a hotel owner and one of his guests. The hotel owner shows kindness to a family, helping them get back on their feet after losing their home. The businessman and the family started out as strangers, but became friends.
Hernandez says, “When I had money, I had a lot of friends, but when I didn’t, Sid was there.”
(Listen to the inspiring entry to NPR’s StoryCorps)
A jewelry store called Gems of La Costa, in Carlsbad, CA, wanted to steer media reporting in a more positive direction.
“After so much negative news reporting over the last months,” gemologist Marianne Laleuf told the Good News Network, “our store decided to help people keep a positive attitude by displaying “No Hablo Recesion” signs, and handing out “Doom Gloom Prohibited” stickers.”
An overwhelming positive customer response to the signs and stickers brought a flurry of media coverage from local San Diego news shows and newspapers, like the San Diego Union Tribune.
Neighborhood business owners are displaying the signs and agree that media reporting is affecting consumer confidence. Watch or read this report on the TV News 8 website, featuring the jewelry store’s owner explaining, “Bad news is bad for business.”
With only 52 Mexican gray wolves remaining in the American Southwest, a decision by a federal judge gives these native inhabitants a fighting chance.
On March 29, 1998, captive-reared Mexican wolves were released to the wild for the first time in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. Here, 11 vanguards of the rarest and most unique subspecies of gray wolf in the United States began an historic journey – the journey of recovery.
Read more about the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program at the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
RELATED STORY: Read a 2006 Good News Network story from Yellowstone, Reintroduction of Wolves an Environmental Success.
There is history being made in London this week and it has nothing to do with the G-20’s response to our economic difficulties.
Negotiations will begin immediately for a new treaty to verifiably reduce nuclear weapons held by Russia and the United States and commit “to achieving a nuclear free world,” as the START treaty is set to expire in 2009.
“We, the leaders of Russia and the United States, are ready to move beyond Cold War mentalities and chart a fresh start in relations between our two countries.”
(Read analysis in the Huffington Post)
(White House photo)
President Obama emerged from the global summit of G20 leaders with an agreement to provide funding for $1 trillion in additional loans and credits for struggling emerging markets and low-income countries through the International Monetary Fund and other institutions.
The summit also started the process of clamping down on tax havens for the wealthy and loosely regulated investment funds for the rich.
Mr. Obama said the G-20 meeting approved critical, bold steps. He said there is no guarantee they will all work, but he stressed the healing process has begun.
“I think we applied the right medicine,” he said. “I think the patient is stabilized. There are still wounds that have to heal. There are still emergencies that could arise. But I think you have some pretty good care being applied.”
Global retail sales of organic cotton apparel and home textile products reached a record $3.2 billion in 2008, representing a 63 percent increase from the $1.9 billion market in 2007, according to the Organic Cotton Market Report 2007-2008 released this week.
The Organic Exchange, which released the report this week, said the leading organic cotton retailers in the United States are Wal-Mart, Anvil Knitwear, Nike, Pottery Barn, and Greensource.
The top organic cotton retailers internationally included C&A (Belgium), H&M (SE), Zara (Spain), Coop Switzerland, and Hess Natur (Germany).
How do you stimulate your own economy so you get the results you deserve rather than getting caught up in the mass consciousness of lack that’s become so pervasive these days.
Here are seven stimulating secrets that’ll get you back on track. Wealthy people depend on these principles to keep their cash flow humming so when someone asks them about their business they can honestly and enthusiastically say, “We must be doing something right. My business hasn’t been impacted by this at all.”
If you’re like millions of business owners you put on a happy face to the rest of the world that says, “Everything’s great!” but on the inside you may be concerned about what’s happening with your cash flow lately. Here are seven tips to charge your strategy.
1) Stay away from the nattering nabobs of negativity. Whether its cable news almost predicting Armageddon lately, or, just the people you meet at a networking mixer who have fear all over their face, your job is to stay away from anything less than optimistic. About 10-15 minutes of news a day is all you need to keep up to speed with what’s happening. Turn off the news and focus on the 99 percent of the world that’s just fine.
2) Make progress every day and give yourself credit. Focus on doing what gives you the greatest results. Creating a successful business is about moving energy and building momentum. Consider all the thrust it takes to get a jet off the ground. Except the most important work you do may not be about running around. The most important work can be about consciously shifting your mindset. Then, when you take action amazing things happen.
3) Speak with enthusiasm and passion. Wealthy people attract others to their dreams by speaking with passion, enthusiasm and confidence. They give the impression they just know their product or service is amazing and their business will be a winner. Once you launch your business stop looking for validation. Get over feeling like you need “permission.” If you offer good value and products or services that help others you don’t need permission or validation from anyone.
4) Be bold. One bold stroke to get the word out can do much more than dozens of hesitant, little moves. This means expanding your comfort zone because your business growth doesn’t happen any faster than your personal growth. This mean when you decide you’re going to get on a radio talk show or do some other promotion that’ll make a big splash you do it with your head up, with boldness and confidence.
5) Understand the importance of marketing. Marketing is about building relationships – but it’s more than smiling and chatting with other business owners at a networking mixer. Your marketing message goes out ahead of you. It precedes you. It should filter out people not likely to do business with you and filter in people who are likely to do business with you. Filtering means when you actually talk with a prospective customer chances are they already know about you and are partially pre-sold making sales much easier. Niche marketing is a way to filter. Ask if you can better thrive when focusing on a niche.
6) Be emotionally compelling. People still have wants and needs. What’s lacking right now is trust and confidence. When people feel you understand, empathize and have a solution for their problem they will do business with you. Too many business owners try to play it safe because they think customers will buy based only on features and benefits. They must see how your features and benefits help them solve their problems.
7) Ask for the sale. Some business owners enjoy building the relationship however they’re afraid they might mess it up by asking for the sale. Don’t be pushy but do be willing to confidently guide and direct a conversation. After I’ve explained everything about what I offer, me fees and answered all their questions and gotten strong signals they are interested my closing question is, “When would you like to get started?”
By following these seven secrets you’ll crack the code on stimulating your own economy. You’ll discover more people are receptive and open to what you offer. They will come to trust you and have confidence in you and as a result your cash flow will increase. You will be in your own flow of wealth and abundance so when people ask you about your business you can sincerely smile and say, “My business is great!!”
Denise Michaels is the author of Testosterone-Free Marketing: The Yin and Yang of Marketing for Women.
San Francisco’s first 15 hybrid taxis, all Ford Escapes, have made it to about the 300,000-mile mark — nearing the city’s official taxi retirement age. Their longevity shows that hybrid technology is more durable than previously imagined; they also have saved drivers about $9,000 a year, depending on gas prices and number of shifts driven.
Today, 14% of San Francisco’s 1,438 taxis are hybrids. Fifteen percent of New York’s 13,237 cabs are, according to a spokesman for the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which just passed a hybrid incentive plan.
Wind turbines in Europe, micro-credit in Africa, organic mango-growing in Asia — Dutch bank Triodos only finances sustainable projects. The bank’s profits now make its struggling rivals green with envy as new clients queue up to put their money where their conscience lies.
Watch the AFP video below, or at Clip Syndicate…
U.S. stocks climbed Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its best month since October 2002, as investors snapped up top-performing bank and technology shares as the first quarter came to an end.
Scientists studying a mysterious neurological affliction in cats have discovered a surprising ability of the central nervous system to repair itself and restore function.
A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that the restoration in cats of myelin — a fatty insulator of nerve fibers that degrades in a host of human central nervous system disorders, the most common of which is multiple sclerosis — can lead to functional recovery.
(Read the full story in Science Daily)
Thanks to Pam Guthrie for the story tip!
