Good News Headlines 5/6/2024
Courtesy of Kadir Tolla
Dramatic Video Shows Strangers Desperately Fight To Remove Man From Car Engulfed In Flames–And Succeed
by Andy Corbley, Good News Network
On I-94 in Minnesota, a team of good samaritans and highway rescue personnel bandied together to save a stranger trapped unconscious inside a burning car. Simply incredible dash camera footage shows 5 or 6 people pulling over and leaping out of their cars after an SUV runs off the highway and bursts into flames. They fail in their team effort to open the doors as the flames rise, but a member of the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Freeway Incident Response Safety Team—formerly called the Highway Helper—arrived in time to smash the window glass and pull the man out to safety.
The Biden Administration Is Moving To Reclassify Marijuana. Here’s What That Means
by Deepa Shivaram, NPR
The Biden administration is taking another step toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a move President Biden promised when he was running for office in 2019, and that could be popular with young voters this year. Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, which comes with the most restrictions. Other drugs in the category include heroin, ecstasy and LSD. But Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday circulated a proposal to reclassify pot as a Schedule III drug, said Xochitl Hinojosa, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department. That’s a lower-risk category that includes ketamine, Tylenol with codeine, and anabolic steroids.
‘Beautiful Prize’: Oregon Man With Cancer Wins $1.3bn Lottery Jackpot
by Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian
It was about eight years after a cancer diagnosis when Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, his wife and their friends bought a batch of lottery tickets at a north-east Oregon convenience store in early April. They ended up winning the eighth-largest jackpot in US lottery history, officials revealed on Monday, when Saephan appeared at a news conference and wondered how much time he had left to enjoy the windfall he is splitting with two of his loved ones. “How am I going to have time to spend all of this money?” Saephan said at Oregon’s state lottery headquarters of the $1.3bn Powerball jackpot that he had a hand in claiming. “How long will I live?”
Philips Agrees To Pay $1 Billion To Patients Who Say They Were Injured By Breathing Machines
by Debbie Cenziper, ProPublica; Michael D. Sallah, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; and Julian Andreone, Medill Investigative Lab
After years of legal battles, Philips has agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle lawsuits waged by thousands of people who say they were injured by breathing machines capable of releasing toxic particles and fumes into their noses, mouths and lungs. The proposed settlement unveiled Monday between the global manufacturer and plaintiffs’ lawyers will effectively end more than 700 lawsuits filed after the 2021 recall of millions of the company’s widely used sleep apnea devices and ventilators. More than 50,000 people are involved in the litigation. It has yet to be determined how many will have claims that fall under the terms of the settlement.
New Rule Requires US Airlines To Give Automatic Refunds For Canceled Or Delayed Flights And Late Baggage
by Good News Network
The White House recently announced it has issued a final rule that requires airlines to promptly provide passengers with automatic cash refunds when owed. The new rule makes it easy for passengers to obtain refunds when airlines cancel or significantly change their flights, and following significantly delayed checked bags, or failures to provide extra services when purchased. “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them—without headaches or haggling,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Our new rule sets a new standard to require airlines to promptly provide cash refunds to their passengers.”
