Not All News is Bad!

Veteran Penny Curtis-Norgren receives free dental care from providers with Aspen Dental on Saturday, June 24, 2017, in Ruskin, Fla.

Source: Smile! Thousands of Veterans Given Dental Care Free of Charge – Good News Network

Further quoting the linked article:

“My income didn’t allow me to afford dental insurance,” said Air Force veteran Nadine Nowlin. “So without any coverage, it’s the last thing that gets taken care of. To honor our veterans specifically on that day, is a gift from Aspen Dental.”

A wonderful and meaningful way to give back.

Could shipping containers help to combat homelessness? Social enterprise Help Bristol’s Homeless thinks so

Source: The project transforming shipping containers into emergency homes for homeless people

I’ve heard of similar projects in assorted places. I love the concept of re-purposing things like old shipping containers.

Woodinville High School graduate Esteban Underwood is greeted by Tulalip Police’s Jeff Jira along with many other law enforcement officers from various departments at his school’s graduation ceremony at Xfinity Arena on Monday, June 19. Underwood’s father, a Des Moines police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2001. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Source: 100 cops greet son of slain officer at Woodinville graduation | HeraldNet.com

They didn’t have to. 100 of them certainly didn’t have to. But they did. “He wanted it to be a special day, for Esteban to feel the support of his second family, the ones in uniform.”

A free meal and a friendly smile aren’t easy to come by. But a pair of Muslim immigrants changed that for some in Montreal with a sign in their restaurant window.

Source: Restaurant owners offer free meals in Montreal, no catch – CNN.com

This is so cool. There are two aspects mentioned in the linked story that I want to draw attention to: it spurred other restaurants to do it, and paying customers are now occasionally over-paying in order to fund the effort. Nice.

A teenager fell about 25 feet from a stopped gondola ride at an upstate New York amusement park Saturday night, tumbling into a crowd of people below.

Source: Man catches teen who fell 25 feet from New York park ride: ‘It’s OK to let go’ – Chicago Tribune

What I truly appreciate about this is how total strangers come together spontaneously to catch her — something that just one or two could not have done.

Luckett founded Veteran’s Next Mission, a nonprofit that offers veterans a paid four-year training program to prepare them for a career in the construction industry.

Source: Trading helmets for hard hats, veterans explore career in construction – The Washington Post

An excellent combination: veterans transitioning from military life, and an industry that pays well and is always in need of reliable skilled labor.

We were just kind of searching here waiting for our next hit on this story when we spotted the child,

Source: 7SkyForce HD finds missing 11-year-old boy on Hialeah rooftop – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale

It’s actually not at all uncommon for news helicopters in cities that have them to lend a hand when covering an incident. There’s usually a lot more cooperation in the sky than you might think.

IF ELEPHANTS never forget then this swift rescue of a drowning elephant calf by two adult elephants will be a lesson in pool safety the family of gentle giants will be sure to remember.

Source: Elephant rescue video: South Korea Grand Park Zoo in Seoul

It’s amazing footage because of the clear cooperation between these two animals working together to save the calf. They’re much more intelligent than most would give them credit for.

“If he didn’t have any help, I don’t know what would have happened to him.”

Source: These Inmates Could Have Fled When Their Guard Collapsed. They Saved His Life Instead. | HuffPost

The person who passed this along(*) commented “There is still hope for this country!” Absolutely! I’ll also amplify that in two ways: 1) there’s still hope for this planet: good news transcends all borders, and 2) these types of things continue to happen all the time, they’re just … under-reported. Hence: Not All News Is Bad.

(*) Sure, I take suggestions, though I generally don’t have too much trouble coming with good news on my own – it’s out there, if you know where to look, my job is to give it greater visibility. If you run across something you think represents some good news that more people should see just reply to one of these with a link to the original source. I can’t guarantee I’ll use everything I get — heck, I can’t even really tell you what my specific criteria are – but I generally know it when I see it. Please do make sure it’s from a legitimate news source and relatively recent.

It can take all night for this mountain park’s search and rescue team to find missing hikers – but thanks to new drone technology, a recent search was over in a matter of hours.

Source: Lost Hikers Rescued in Record Amount of Time, Thanks to Drone – Good News Network

Drones are actually hamstrung in many jurisdictions due to privacy and other concerns. Let’s hope that this great example of their value helps make them become more generally usable by search and rescue.