Today's Featured Good News
Knocking down pins to make a difference
Bowling operators in hard-hit Vehicle City are bringing smiles to kids’ faces NBC’s Lee Cowan reports.
Big Hearts in the Little League
Handicapped children get to live out their baseball dreams.
Musicians Revive Spirit in New Orleans
Most of the New Orleans reconstruction effort has been accomplished by carpenters, plumbers and masons, but as Russ Mitchell reports, musicians have donated their talent and energy into reviving the city.
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It's $uper girl
(Rita Delfiner, New York Post) For her 13th birthday in June, Alison Wasserman gave her ailing dad a gift of love -- she raised more than $300,000 for brain-cancer research. It had been two years since her lawyer father, Craig Wasserman, 49, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. For the "mitzvah," or good-deed part of her bat mitzvah, Alison decided "to help my dad and raise money." The Upper East Side girl teamed with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Equinox fitness clubs for a "Kids for Survival" fund-raiser in January. Contributions ranged from $36 to $18,000, and the $303,250 went to the cancer center.
Mysterious 'bearded antelope' photographed in the wild
(Andrea Mustain, OurAmazingPlanet) When Paolo Torchio set out across Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve a few weeks ago, it was just a typical Thursday morning for the veteran wildlife photographer, who has lived and worked in Kenya for two decades. Torchio is intimately acquainted with the beasts that wander the nearly 600-square-mile (1500-square-kilometer) game reserve, so he was astonished to see a terrier's face poking out of the tall grass. "I was wondering, what is this dog doing?" Torchio said. "And when it came out from the grass, that was a surprise."
Green leafy vegetables can cut risk of diabetes: study
(Kate Kelland and Genevra Pittman, Reuters) Eating more green leafy vegetables can significantly cut the risk of developing diabetes, scientists said on Friday. British researchers reviewed six earlier studies on links between diabetes and the consumption of fruits and vegetables and found eating an extra serving a day of vegetables like spinach, cabbage, and broccoli reduced adults' risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 14 percent. The findings don't prove that the veggies themselves prevent type 2 diabetes which is often linked to poor diet and lack of exercise and is reaching epidemic levels as obesity rates rise. People who eat more green leafy vegetables may also have a healthier diet overall, exercise more, or may be better off financially and any of those factors could affect how likely they are to get diabetes.
New microbe discovered eating oil spill in Gulf
(Randolph E. Schmid, AP) newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe is suddenly flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., reported Tuesday in the online journal Sciencexpress. "Our findings, which provide the first data ever on microbial activity from a deepwater dispersed oil plume, suggest" a great potential for bacteria to help dispose of oil plumes in the deep-sea, Hazen said in a statement.
Pop-Tarts Sushi fuels Pop-Tarts mania at flagship store
(Sarah Skidmore, AP) One of Kellogg Co.'s most popular brands is popping up in Times Square on Tuesday at Pop-Tarts World, with more than 3,000 square feet dedicated to toaster pastries. Customers will be able to eat Pop-Tarts "sushi," order a customized pastry or create a custom box filled with a mix of their favorite flavors. They can suggest new types of Pop-Tarts, select a Pop-Tarts T-shirt made by specialty artists or get "frosted" and "wrapped in foil" by a light show. It's the first time Kellogg has focused a store on one product to cash in on its dedicated following and increase its exposure.
Old and young create garden for the needy
(Daniel Roberts, Bronx Times-Reporter) "Did you bring your green thumb today, Elsa?" That’s what Dr. William Smith, president of Aging in America, asked one of his senior citizens as he approached the gorgeous new garden at Bartow-Pell Mansion on Wednesday, August 11. It was a sweltering day, but seniors from the Morningside House, which is a part of AIA, as well as a number of different representatives involved in the project, came out to celebrate the opening of a special vegetable garden that seniors had built from scratch with kids from Morningside House’s summer daycamp. The intergenerational effort was a source of pride for all involved, and not just because of the achievement of creating a garden.
US Boy Returns From Outreach Visit to North Korea
(Christopher Bodeen, AP) A 13-year-old American boy who made a rare visit to Pyongyang says officials there welcomed his idea for a "children's peace forest" in the demilitarized zone dividing North and South Korea, although they said it would only happen if the countries signed a peace treaty first. Jonathan Lee returned Thursday from an eight-day visit to the reclusive country during which he was taken on a tour of the DMZ. A hoped-for meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il did not materialize, although Lee said the officials forwarded to Kim a letter from him.
Levon Helm, soul of The Band, rambles on
(Quinn Brown, CNN) When the last decade began, Levon Helm was voiceless and nearly homeless. The Band's drummer, whose treasured drawl gave soul to rock 'n' roll classics such as "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," was fighting several battles. Throat cancer had taken his voice. Medical bills were threatening his house. "You got to pick one -- pay your medical bills or pay the mortgage. Most people can't do both, and I'm no different," he says. So The Barn, as the residence is known around Helm's adopted hometown of Woodstock, became the setting to what he called a "last celebration. We thought we were moving on down the line." Not quite. Instead, The Barn became the center of an unlikely and unrivaled rock 'n' roll revival.
Finland Plans to Build the World's First 'Green Highway'
(Clay Dillow, PopSci.com) Green cars require green roadways, and to that end Finland is planning the world's first "green highway," an 81-mile stretch of pavement dotted with electric charge stations and pumps pouring locally made biofuel that will hopefully stimulate the adoption of next-gen auto technologies. The project goes beyond the highway itself to include local economies along the route. The plan calls for increased local ethanol production from waste and other resources found along the way, as well as clean electricity to power both the cars and infrastructure along the way.
Stadium a stage of Hope for kids
(Jay Greenberg, New York Post) Eighteen years the father of an autistic child, Mark Reid still finds the need to take a step back and a deep breath. "Oh, it's very frustrating," he said. "You get to the point where you have to walk away and come back and try to calm Adam. Show them a lot of love and they'll do anything for you. But they challenge you. That's just part of life." Peter Ladka founded You are Beautiful People so that special-needs children could do more than just watch life, but be part of life. "Joshua misses a lot of school because of his therapies," said Ashley Decker about her 10-year-old brother. "But when he goes on the field, it's not Joshua with spina bifida, [it's] just Joshua having a good time."
