Good News Headlines 12/11/2023
Melissa Enright – US Forest Service
Ancient California Redwoods Defy Scientists’ Expectations And Sprout New Shoots From Blackened Trunks
by Andy Corbley, Good News Network
A devastating fire sparked fears that California’s redwoods would never recover, but these old timers had a trick up their trunks, and utilized deep stores of energy in their roots to sprout new growth weeks after they were charred. The story begins after lightning sparked a fire in California’s Big Basin Redwoods State Park during the early years of the recent drought. Scientists were worried about the ancient trees, but also knew that they evolved to deal with fire over millions of years. Nevermind their thick shaggy bark which acts like a fireman’s coat—the fire blazed right up to their crowns, torching every needle along the way, and frightening scientists into thinking they would never recover.
How Philadelphia Disrupted The School-To-Prison Pipeline
by Amanda Nemoyer and Naomi Goldstein
Across the United States, arrest rates for young people under age 18 have been declining for decades. However, the proportion of youth arrests associated with school incidents has increased. According to the U.S. Department of Education, K–12 schools referred nearly 230,000 students to law enforcement during the school year that began in 2017. These referrals and the 54,321 reported school-based arrests that same year were mostly for minor misbehavior like marijuana possession, as opposed to more serious offenses like bringing a gun to school. School-based arrests are one part of the school-to-prison pipeline, through which students—especially Black and Latine students and those with disabilities—are pushed out of their schools and into the legal system.
‘We Tell Kids, This Ocean Is Yours’: How South Africa’s ‘Black Mermaid’ Inspires Children To Swim
by Emma Shephard, The Guardian
When Zandile Ndhlovu looked below the surface of the ocean for the first time, she was terrified. Then 28, she was on a snorkelling trip in Bali. “The captain told us to jump off the boat into the water, and I started freaking out when I realised I couldn’t touch the ground,” says Ndhlovu, who has since gone on to become South Africa’s first black female freediving instructor. Eventually, she calmed down enough to enjoy the experience. “The blue was overwhelming. There were yellow fish moving through the honeycomb coral, which looked like it was lit up from above. It blew my mind. Something inside me opened up, it felt like home.” Despite the country having thousands of miles of coastline, only one in seven South Africans know how to swim.
Palestinian Olive Farmers Hold Tight To Their Roots Amid Surge In Settler Attacks
by Marta Vidal, Mongabay
The first rainfall of autumn after months of drought signals the start of the olive harvest, the most important time of year for many Palestinian farmers. Between October and November, Palestinians gather mats, ladders and buckets to pick olives and picnic in orchards that have been passed down through generations. “Many farmers rely completely on their olive harvest,” says Ghassan Najjar, a 35-year-old organic farmer using agroecology techniques in Burin, a village near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank. “It’s our livelihood, our source of life.” Nearly half of all cultivated land in the occupied West Bank and Gaza is planted with more than 10 million olive trees of mostly native, drought-resilient varieties.
Mom Channeled Her Terminal Cancer Into Debt Relief Fundraiser–Wiping Out $65 Million In Medical Debt
by Andy Corbley, Good News Network
A wife and mother turned her last month on Earth into a fundraiser to wipe out medical debt burdens of families and individuals in need. Passing away 12 days ago at the age of 38, Casey McIntyre’s death and the humble request at its onset has raised $650,000, which has the likely potential to pay off $65 million in privately-shouldered medical debt. A mother of one and a publicist at Razorbill, Casey is survived by her husband of 8 years Andrew Gregory and her daughter Grace. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2019. A long battle resulted in hospice care for her final 6 months. On November 12th, a post appeared on her social media accounts that announced her passing, saying “I loved each and every one of you with my whole heart and I promise you, I knew how deeply I was loved.”
