Good News Headlines 8/26/2024

Photo courtesy Sydney Sea Life

Magic Moment: Sydney Aquarium Filled With Song After Sea Birds Mourn Death Of Gay Penguin Sphen

by Emily Wind, The Guardian

There wasn’t a dry eye among staff at Sydney’s Sea Life Aquarium as Magic and his fellow gentoo penguins cried out, mourning the loss of Sphen in an emotional scene never before witnessed by employees. Sphen, whose same-sex love story with Magic made the couple globally famous, appeared to die of natural causes as he approached his 12th birthday, the aquarium confirmed on Thursday morning. Penguin keeper Renee Howell witnessed the couple’s love story bloom from the beginning, and said the pair’s impact as a worldwide symbol of equality was “immeasurable”.

First Women’s Sports Bar In California Officially Opens With Line Around The Block

by Andy Corbley, Good New Network

Just off the Pacific Coast Highway, a line around the block heralded the presence of an exciting new spot in Long Beach—the state’s first sports bar dedicated to the women’s game. Watch Me is not only the first such location in the state, but just 1 of 5 in the whole world, according to local news. Resting on the 6500 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, Mean Eddy and her partner Jax Diener opened the bar after months of laboring. “We look at the sea of people and realize the need is here,” Eddy told NBC 4. “It’s been a labor of love. We’ve put our heart and souls into it for months and months.”

Massachusetts Raised Taxes On Millionaires To Give Its Students Free Meals

by Tod Perry, Upworthy

The state of Massachusetts passed a 4% tax hike on residents making over a million a year in 2022, which took effect in 2023. The tax has raised more revenue than lawmakers originally expected and provides free school lunches for the state’s children. Before the tax hike, Massachusetts residents paid a 5% annual income tax. After the Fair Share Amendment went into effect, those making over $1 million a year now pay an additional 4% on the portion of their income above $1 million. The extra income generated by the tax means the state can now afford to provide free school lunches.

‘Now You Can Have Rest In Your Home’: The Mirror Roofs Cooling Homes In Freetown

by Eromo Egbejule, The Guardian

Mohamed Koroma has lived in the Kroo Bay waterfront community in Freetown for more than 50 years but cannot remember a time when the weather has been as hot as it was in the first few months of 2024. In that period, he and many others in the Sierra Leonean capital had to cool down in their baths and sleep on their verandas. “Those that can afford to, they bought electric fans,” said the unemployed 61-year-old. “Those who cannot afford [them] you just leave your body like that.” A heatwave hit parts of west Africa from February until April, with temperatures of between 30C and 40C- but with intense humidity.

Babies Don’t Come With Manuals–But In Oregon, They Now Come With A Nurse

by Andy Corbley, Good New Network

Oregon has recently become the first state in the US to offer free nurse visits to new mothers and fathers statewide. No one can deny that the United States and its citizens have an array of problems and are facing major challenges, but one which isn’t well reported on is the high rates of death among infants and new mothers compared to other high-income countries. Oregon’s home visit program called Family Connects is based on a successful model deployed in Durham, North Carolina, and involves a nurse visiting the home of a mother who has just given birth, whether to her first child or her fifth, up to three times in the first month.