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Welcome Sight: 5 Great Things This Week

Including a baby whale and a desert covered in flowers

(Newser) - A baby boom of sorts for Puget Sound's whales, and a police officer's unique moves make the list:
  • This Photo Just Made Scientists' Entire Week : Scientists are celebrating after an orca calf was spotted off the coast of Washington state. The baby whale is the sixth born since
...

Woman, 97, Finally Gets High School Diploma

She dropped out in 1936 to care for her family

(Newser) - Margaret Bekema would have loved to graduate with the rest of the Class of 1936 but life got in the way—almost eight decades of it. The Michigan woman, who had to drop out of high school when she was 17 to look after her mother, who had cancer, and...

One of the Driest Places on Earth Is Covered in Flowers

The Atacama Desert is blooming thanks to record rainfall

(Newser) - One of the driest, harshest landscapes in the world has been transformed into a psychedelic canvas of reds, purples, and greens after record-setting rain. Live Science reports that Chile's Atacama Desert averages just over half an inch of rain a year, with some parts of the desert getting even...

Another Cop Encounters Defiant Teen, and Brilliance Ensues

'Who knew community policing could involve the Nae Nae?'

(Newser) - If all conflicts could be solved through dance-offs, the world would be much less violent (and Channing Tatum would probably be president, or something). Thankfully it's a world we're one step closer to after a Washington, DC, police officer and Iraq War veteran was caught on camera defusing...

Uber Will Bring You a Kitten. Right Now

It costs $30 for a 15-minute cuddle session with proceeds going to shelters

(Newser) - Have 15 minutes to fill and $30 to spare? Get on Uber. From 11am to 3pm Thursday, Uber will deliver kittens to the place of your choosing in 50 cities across the US and Canada just so you can get in a 15-minute cuddle session on National Cat Day, reports...

This Photo Just Made Scientists' Entire Week

6th orca calf born since December spotted off San Juan Island

(Newser) - Scientists are celebrating after a days-old orca calf was spotted off the west coast of Washington state's San Juan Island on Saturday. The calf was born into one of three pods of Southern Resident orca whales, known as "J Pod," which happens to have the best record...

Korean War Vet's Remains Return, 65 Years Later

Robert Witt's remains returned to his sister in California

(Newser) - Laverne Minnick vividly remembers learning that her older brother had been reported missing in action during the Korean War some 65 years ago when she was just 17. "When I got up the next morning and looked at my dad, his hair was gray. It was brown the day...

43 Years Later, 'Napalm Girl's' Pain Could End

Kim Phuc is finally getting treatment that could offer relief

(Newser) - Some 43 years after a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo made her the world's most famous napalm victim, Kim Phuc is finally getting treatment that could end the pain. Phuc, who was 9 when AP photographer Nick Ut captured her running down a road in Vietnam naked and screaming in pain,...

Awesome Traffic Stop: 5 Great Things This Week

Including a teacher's aide who foiled an apparent kidnapping

(Newser) - Here are five of our favorite good-news stories of the week:
  • Cops Give Dad Help Instead of Ticket : When police officer Justin Gower pulled a truck over in Cedar Park, Texas, for a faulty light, he spotted three young girls in the back, none in car seats. Instead of handing
...

Town Comes Together to Give Boy With Cancer One More Christmas

St. George, Canada, will be celebrating Christmas on Saturday

(Newser) - A small Canadian town is providing a real-life Christmas miracle to a 7-year-old boy with a brain tumor, bumping up the holiday by two months to make sure he can experience one last Christmas, WPTZ reports. According to ABC News , Evan Leversage has been fighting cancer for five years and...

Couple Says Rare Identical Triplets Are 'Blessing'

Thomas, Oliver, and Finnegan were born Oct. 6 in Maryland

(Newser) - What Kristen and Thomas Hewitt assumed was one baby turned out to be a Costco three-pack of identical boys, the Baltimore Sun reports. Thomas says it was "pure joy and shock" during the first sonogram, according to CNN . The rare identical triplets were delivered Oct. 6 at the Greater...

Instead of Tickets, Cops Give Dad a Much-Needed Gift

Texas police pool funds, pitch in for 3 new car seats for down-on-his-luck dad

(Newser) - When police officer Justin Gower pulled a truck over Saturday in Cedar Park, Texas, for a faulty light, he wasn't prepared for what he found: three girls, ages 1, 3, and 4, in the back, none in car seats, KVUE reports. "I was upset because it's extremely...

Israeli Cafe Gives 50% Off Hummus for Jews, Arabs Who Co-Dine

Israeli eatery hopes common bond of chickpeas will ease ongoing tensions

(Newser) - In a month marred by violence between Israelis and Palestinians, one little Israeli café is trying to give chickpeas a chance. The Hummus Bar in Kfar Vitkin is offering half-off hummus to tables of Jews and Arabs dining together, the Times of Israel reports. "With us we don't...

School Aide Thwarts Alleged Abduction En Route to Work

'It was kind of like a superwoman power thing. I can't believe it did that!'

(Newser) - Sandra Ferguson, a teacher's aide at Sutter Elementary School in Antioch, Calif., recognized a student at the school sitting in the front seat of a car while Ferguson was on her way to work Friday. Not recognizing the man, and noticing the 11-year-old girl looked frightened, Ferguson stopped and...

Girl With Odd Brain Disorder Is Homecoming Queen

MichaelAnn Byrne is happy about it, too

(Newser) - A girl who can only communicate with motions and facial expressions said that all she wanted was to have 100 new friends. Now she's been named Homecoming Queen at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Pa., at the very point in life where her condition may well worsen, PennLive...

Groom Gets Cold Feet, Homeless Get to Eat

Jilted family opens hotel doors to the unfortunate

(Newser) - What do you do when the groom gets cold feet and bails on a $35,000 wedding? If you're the Duanes—whose daughter nearly became the bride—you open the doors of a fancy hotel and invite the homeless to eat all of your wedding food, 14 News reports....

An Odds-Defying Reunion: 5 Great Things This Week

Including a heroic senior who still remembered his Army training

(Newser) - An incredible family reunion and the world's bravest chess teacher were among the good-news stories of the week:
  • Sisters Separated 40 Years Ago Meet, Incredibly : How's this for a reunion tale: Two orphaned sisters from South Korea who were separated more than 40 years ago and adopted by
...

Vet, 75, Saves Kids From Knife-Wielding Attacker

He used his 50-year-old training to disarm man allegedly bent on killing children

(Newser) - A 75-year-old veteran used his Army knife-fight training to stop a man armed with two hunting knives from going after a roomful of children Tuesday at an Illinois public library, the Pekin Daily Times reports. Sixteen children were getting a chess lesson from James Vernon in a room at the...

11-Year-Old's 'Stick Figure' Drawing Helps Cops Catch Burglar

'It wasn’t like the best picture,' she admits

(Newser) - When police showed up at Rebecca DePietro's Connecticut home a few months ago asking if anyone had seen a suspicious person around the neighborhood, "I was like, yeah I can draw a picture of him," DePietro tells NBC Connecticut . But, she says, "it wasn’t like...

How a Tortured City Fought Back Against Heroin

Rutland is working to shed its reputation as 'heroin city'

(Newser) - Rutland, Vt., is fed up with heroin. Tom VanEps and his neighbors used to just watch, disgusted, as dealers worked Baxter Street, their buyers sometimes littering the ground with used syringes. Now, they confront the dealers and the junkies. "We'll make them throw their crap right down that...

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