Good morning and Happy Sunday, everyone! Welcome to your good news only update—a chance to start the week on a bright and hopeful note. These past couple of weeks have been especially tough for many, and later today I’ll bring you the serious stories that deserve your full attention. But right now, let’s pause to celebrate reminders that kindness, resilience, and progress are still very much alive in our world.
I also have some exciting news of my own to share this week that I can’t wait to tell you about. Stay tuned.
At a time when misinformation spreads faster than truth, and when even the foundations of free expression are under pressure, my mission has never been clearer: deliver journalism rooted in facts, not spin—guided by integrity, not outrage.
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With that, here’s your good news:
When college freshman Joey Romano broke his wrist skateboarding in Austin, he called Uber instead of an ambulance; driver Beni Lukumu not only drove him to the ER for free but stayed by his side for six hours, signed him in, and comforted him until family arrived—an act of kindness that Romano, grieving his brother’s earlier death, says “changed my life” by restoring his faith in people; seven years later, the two remain close friends, with Lukumu now working in insurance and singing gospel, and Romano building a career in renewable energy
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The volunteer-powered nonprofit 412 Food Rescue and its nationwide Food Rescue Hero network have saved 250 million pounds of food from going to waste—turning it into millions of meals while preventing 450 million pounds of emissions, proving community-driven solutions can tackle hunger and climate challenges.
NASA’s Perseverance rover discovered two minerals—vivianite and greigite—closely tied to microbial activity on Earth, marking the strongest potential biosignature yet for past life on Mars and what officials call “the closest we have ever come” to finding evidence of Martian life.
After a tornado flipped and crushed his family’s truck in Oklahoma, 9-year-old Branson Baker ran a mile in the dark to get help, leading to the rescue of his severely injured parents; their recovery has been aided by community support, including $100,000 raised on GoFundMe.
In Shropshire, England, barber Firat Davutoglu spotted a lump on 17-year-old Owen Norgrove’s neck during a haircut, leading to an early Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis; after chemotherapy, Owen is now in remission and reunited with the barber who likely saved his life.
Boston will build affordable housing developments atop public library branches—including a 12-story mixed-use project in Chinatown and others in the West End and Upham’s Corner—combining homes with community library spaces to restore neighborhood resources and strengthen immigrant and local communities.
In New South Wales, Australia, farmer Will Henderson proposed to childhood sweetheart Steph Carter by spelling out “Will You Marry Me?” in his canola field, revealed from a plane ride, with months of planning, GPS-guided sowing, and a surprise family gathering to celebrate their engagement.
A large U.S. clinical trial found acupuncture to be a safe, effective, and lasting treatment for chronic back pain in seniors—improving pain and mobility compared to usual care—while highlighting the need for broader Medicare coverage to expand access beyond physician-supervised settings.
In British Columbia, teen Connor Belanger rescued a week-old baby beaver from river rapids during a tubing trip, safely delivering it to a wildlife rescue center where it is now thriving and preparing for reintroduction to the wild—an experience his mother called “such a Canadiana moment.”
Cumberland Community School in London invested $150,000 to provide all 270 new students with uniforms, ties, and laptops—easing financial burdens on low-income families, boosting pride and focus, and continuing its transformation into one of the UK’s most improved schools.
Trail cameras in Thailand’s Huai Kha Khaeng Forest captured rare footage of a gaur mother with calves, signaling successful reproduction of the world’s largest bovine in a protected UNESCO reserve where decades of conservation have also sustained elephants and tigers.
Maine’s Treworgy Family Orchards won USA Today’s “Best Corn Maze in America” for the 4th straight year with a design honoring farming and fishing—featuring imagery from Maine author Robert McCloskey’s classic Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man—while continuing its tradition of celebrating local culture and children’s literature.
Mexico’s second national jaguar census revealed a 30% population increase since 2010, with around 5,300 jaguars now thriving across the country—an extraordinary conservation success despite deforestation and development pressures.
See you this afternoon.
— Aaron
