Posted: May 7, 2021

A pizzeria owner in Detroit, Michigan, was upset. People were getting $150 tickets for unknowingly parking in a handicap zone near his shop. So he got a bucket of blue paint and marked the street himself.

“People come to Detroit, try to support our city, and walk away with a $150 ticket, and they feel like they were tricked into it, and they kind of were tricked into it,” says Tony Sacco. He is a co-owner of Mootz Pizzeria.

The last straw for him? A woman and her children getting ice cream got a ticket across the street from Mr. Sacco’s pizzeria.

“I was talking to my buddy sitting with me and I said, ‘We’re going to go buy some blue paint.’ And we did,” Mr. Sacco says.

There is a just one sign along the Library Street curb. That sign says that the parking is only for drivers with a handicap tag. But Mr. Sacco says it’s confusing. Drivers may realize they shouldn’t park in front of the sign. But what about farther down the street? Ticketers consider the street space reserved for as many as four handicap-tagged vehicles. Mr. Sacco wants drivers to be warned.

“I mentioned it to the people writing the tickets. I said, ‘People don’t understand this is handicapped,’ and they said, ‘That’s their problem. They should read the sign,’” Mr. Sacco says.

The TV coverage and the blue paint got the city’s attention Wednesday. Traffic engineer Prasad Nannapaneni told Mr. Sacco that more signs will be installed to warn drivers. But the city sent a crew to wash Mr. Sacco’s blue paint away.

Even though Mr. Sacco’s work was removed, he still thinks he did the right thing. In this life, our efforts to help others aren’t always appreciated. But God sees them. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)

Posted: May 6, 2021

The cat is coming. That’s the latest pet news coming out of the White House. “She is waiting in the wings,” says First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. The Bidens’ female feline will be coming to the White House “pretty soon,” according to the First Lady. What’s her name? What’s her breed? Those details haven’t been revealed yet. 

In an interview with NBC News, the First Lady revealed that the Secret Service is training the Bidens’ German shepherd for the cat’s arrival. Major is the younger of the President’s two dogs. New to the White House, Major has been involved in two biting incidents. To help the dog prepare for his feline roommate, Major was exposed to cats. “That was part of his training,” Dr. Biden says. “They took him into a shelter with cats. He did fine.” President Biden was asked during the interview whether that cat was his idea. “No,” he replied.

The Bidens’ cat is teasingly called the “First Cat,” but won’t actually be the first cat to roam the White House halls. The last cat to live there was India “Willie” Bush, President George W. and First Lady Laura Bush’s black cat. Before Willie, there was Socks, a stray cat adopted by President Bill Clinton and his family.

According to Andrew Hager, the historian in residence at the Presidential Pet Museum, President Abraham Lincoln loved his cats Tabby and Dixie. He was the very first president to have cats at the White House. Mr. Hagar told The New York Times, “At one point, [Lincoln] told a friend that Dixie was ‘smarter than his entire cabinet.’”

Other famous White House cats belonged to presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Calvin Coolidge. President Coolidge had four of his own cats––not to mention a bobcat and two lion cubs!

For more on presidential pets, read The White House Is a Zoo!

Posted: May 5, 2021

When will the ice break? That’s the big question everyone playing Alaska’s most famous guessing game asks. This year, the annual Nenana Ice Classic ended at 12:50 pm on Friday, April 30.

Here’s how the game is played. People pay $2.50 per ticket to play. Tickets are on sale from February 1 through April 5 of each year. Contestants try to correctly guess the day, hour, and minute that the ice will break on Alaska’s Tanana River. The best guess gets 43% of the jackpot. If multiple people choose the winning time, they split the money. This year’s jackpot was $233,591!

A tripod sits on the ice-covered river in the city of Nenana. The tripod is connected to a clock near the riverbank. As temperatures warm, the ice melts. When enough ice melts, the tripod falls through, triggering the clock to stop. This year, the ice was 45.5 inches thick when organizers set the tripod.

No one knows exactly when the ice will break each year. But we know who does! Job 37:10 says, “By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.”

When the ice goes out, the tripod usually starts going downriver or toward the south bank. This year, it floated backwards! The tripod went upriver, just enough to trip the mechanism that stopped the clock. The tripod was still sitting in the same spot hours after the game ended instead of floating off with the river. It was an unusual end to the annual game.

The game began in 1917. Railroad engineers were waiting and waiting then for river ice to break up. The game helped them wait patiently with good attitudes. Since then, the game has paid out more than $14 million. In 2019, the ice broke on April 14. That was a record for the earliest ice melt. The latest the ice has ever broken for the game was on May 20. That happened in 1964 and again in 2013.

Posted: May 4, 2021

On Sunday, four astronauts returned to Earth in a rare night splashdown. Infrared cameras tracked the capsule as it reentered the atmosphere. It looked like a bright star streaking through the sky.

“We welcome you back to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX,” announced SpaceX’s Mission Control radio. It was the first United States crew to splash down in darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot. That was in 1968!

“For those of you enrolled in our frequent flyer program, you’ve earned 68 million miles on this voyage,” the astronauts heard over the radio. “We’ll take those miles,” joked spacecraft commander Mike Hopkins.

It took six and a half hours to get from the International Space Station to the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The capsule the travelers were in looked more like a toasted marshmallow than a spacecraft when it landed in the ocean. But within 30 minutes, crews hoisted it up onto a recovery ship. The astronauts came out quickly after that. Everyone working with the mission marveled at how fast and smooth the operation went.

Astronaut Hopkins was the first one out. He did a little dance. “It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people come together,” he told SpaceX flight controllers.

The crew was going to return to Earth last week. But high offshore winds forced SpaceX to pass up a pair of daytime landing attempts. Managers swapped to a rare splashdown in darkness because of calmer weather. Mission Control had practiced for a nighttime landing––just in case.

“It’s not very often you get to wake up on the space station and go to sleep in Houston,” chief flight director Holly Ridings told reporters. After their medical checks, the astronauts hopped onto a helicopter for the short flight to shore. Then they caught a plane straight to Houston for a reunion with their families.

Posted: May 3, 2021

Deirdre Freeman lugs a large, colorful painting a mile down the road. She brings along a tote bag with her hammer and nails in it. Her destination is a utility pole at a busy street intersection. That’s where she’ll hang her largest “heartwork” painting yet. Her goal is to spread smiles to people with her canvas heart painting.

“Hopefully it stays here for a little while,” says Ms. Freeman, hammering away as traffic hustles by. “Sometimes cars will beep and wave when they see me doing it.” People around town recognize Ms. Freeman. “Oh, you’re the heart lady,” they tell her.

Two years ago, Ms. Freeman cut out small paper heart prints of her work. She wrote messages on the backs. Some she pinned to trees around town. Others traveled around the world. Around 6,500 paper hearts made it to places like Italy, France, Portugal, and Japan.

Now, the artist paints larger pieces. Ms. Freeman has hung more than 120 heartworks overall. She loves using art to encourage people. “Sometimes I hide them in little surprise places,” she says. Every now and then she shares a photo clue on social media to see who might find a heartwork first.

One of Ms. Freeman’s heartworks near her house has a special addition. A child added a painting that hangs beneath Ms. Freeman’s art. The painting says, “Be awesome.”

“My happiest part of this is there are children and others who are starting to put things up,” explains Ms. Freeman. “It’s starting a love and kindness movement, which is what we need.”

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Posted: April 30, 2021

Cookies by drone? A company called Wing is testing drone deliveries of cookies and other goods to people in Christiansburg, Virginia.

Wing drones were already hauling drugstore items, packages, tacos, and coffees. The company started tests in 2019. (Read Drone Deliveries Begin.) So Wing also teamed up with local Girl Scout troops. The scouts have had a harder time selling cookies during the pandemic.

Amazon, Walmart, UPS, and others are also giving delivery drones a try. In 2013, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years. But that deadline passed several years ago. The company got government approval for drone deliveries last August. But Amazon says it was still testing them. Their drones haven’t started bringing parcels to shoppers yet.

There are a lot of hurdles to clear first. Companies need to follow government rules. New rules allow small drones to fly over people and at night. That could make it easier for companies to use them.

And the drones need to be strong enough to carry packages safely. Some people use their God-given gifts to create technology like drones. But God calls us to care for others as we do so. (1 Peter 4:10) That means making sure that our inventions won’t hurt others.

Wing’s drones can fly without a human controlling them. They have two forward propellers on their wings and 12 smaller vertical propellers.

“It was so smooth and it didn’t shake,” says 11-year-old Gracie Walker. The Girl Scout is in Virginia Skyline Troop 224.

Most people aren’t clamoring for drone delivery. Some worry about privacy and safety. Others don’t want the noisy machines over their homes. But most people in Christiansburg seem content with the drones.

“I’m excited that I get to be a part of history,” says Gracie. “People are going to realize. . . ‘I can just walk outside in my pajamas and get cookies.’”

Posted: April 29, 2021

“Oh, look at that beautiful gray horse.” That’s what admiring equine fans often say to each other. But not many of those remarks have come from observing the winner’s circle after the Kentucky Derby. Gray horses are rare when it comes to horse racing. So it’s even more rare for a gray horse to win the famous Kentucky Derby horse race. But this year, there’s big news: A gray horse is a race favorite. 

Essential Quality is a gray three-year-old colt that people think might win the Derby this year. He’s the first gray horse favored to win in 25 years. The last time a gray horse won the Derby was in 2005. That was a bit of a surprise. In total, only eight grays have won the race since 1930!

So where are all the gray horses? According to historians and experts, there just aren’t as many gray horses as other colors. There are more chestnut, bay, brown, and black horses. That means there are fewer chances that a gray would win the sport’s biggest race.

Are black horses faster than chestnut-colored ones? Dr. James MacLeod says no. He’s a professor of veterinary science at the University of Kentucky. Dr. MacLeod says there is no connection between the gene that determines coat color and the gene that determines how fast a Thoroughbred can run.

Having a few gray horses to keep an eye on during the race will help announcer Larry Collmus figure out who is who as the horses zoom by. “I think people just get a kick out of seeing gray horses because they’re somewhat rare,” he says.

Essential Quality’s trainer isn’t worried about what the horse’s coat looks like. He just wants to see it draped in a winner’s blanket of red roses on Saturday, May 1. 

Posted: April 28, 2021

These baby sharks were born at a gigantic luxury resort, not in the wild. The resort is on an artificial (man-made) island in the Persian Gulf. The sharks had never splashed in the open sea. But last week, a team of conservationists plucked the tiny carpet sharks from the aquarium at Dubai’s flashy Atlantis Hotel. It was finally time to swim to the ocean!

People used nets to carefully catch the two-year-old sharks as they swam in warm pools at the resort. They placed the young fish into safe tanks in the back of a Ford pick-up truck. Their final destination was a short drive away––the beach!

At the beach, the baby sharks were on the move again. The specialists plopped each one into a plastic bag. They carried the squirming sharks over the white sandy beach of the Jebel Ali Wildlife Sanctuary.

For several years, the hotel’s aquarium has tried to help conserve native marine species by breeding honeycomb stingray and brown Arabian carpet sharks. When they are old enough, workers at the aquarium release the stingrays and sharks into the sea. In the Persian Gulf, they'll swim among coral reefs and shrubs that grow in the water.

The conservationist team stood shin-deep in the warm gulf waters. Small, slowly circling sharks surrounded their legs. The creatures are harmless to humans. They prefer to munch on snake eels, shrimp, crabs, and squid.

At first, many of the sharks seemed spooked. They stayed very close to shore. But after a little time, each one ventured out into its vast new ocean home.

Genesis 1:21 takes us back to the fifth day of creation. It says, “So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” The Creator gave us the privilege of caring for all the animals He creates. (That includes Baby Sharks, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo! Baby Sharks, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo!)

Posted: April 27, 2021

The United States Mint struck a small piece of copper in 1794. It was a model for the United States’ first dollar coin. The coin was just auctioned off. It brought in a surprising amount of money. This not-even-a-real-dollar coin sold for $840,000!

Heritage Auctions spokesman Eric Bradley said that bidding on the coin started at $312,000. But “in less than a minute,” bids on the piece of copper skyrocketed. It sold in under 60 seconds for nearly three times the asking bid.

Businessman and Texas Rangers co-chairman Bob Simpson owned the coin. He expected it to sell for $350,00 to $500,000, according to Mr. Bradley. The final price tag was considerably more than that!

The coin’s nickname is “No Stars Flowing Hair Dollar.” How did it get that name?! The coin is missing stars. Jacob Lipson of Heritage Auctions says that starless coins are one-of-a-kind. They were prototypes—or models—for other silver dollar coins.

The front of the coin features the flowing hair portrait of Lady Liberty. It has the date 1794. The back of the coin shows a small eagle. The bird is on a rock with a wreath. There are similar starless coin examples in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection. (Numismatics is a big word for the study of money—coins and bills.)

The proof coin is not in “mint” (perfect) condition. Coin collectors think it was buried at the site of the first Philadelphia Mint before 1876. There are some scratches and other marks on its brown surfaces. It has been traded eight times according to the auction house.

“I think coins should be appreciated almost as artwork,” says the coin’s latest seller, Mr. Simpson. “I have gotten more than enough joy from them.”

Remember the joy that Jesus had when the widow placed her two copper coins in the offering box? That wasn’t about the value of the coins. It was about her faith-filled heart, which made her generous. Mark 12:43 says, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”

Posted: April 26, 2021

They are old, old, old items. Government officials found 33 stolen artifacts in the United States. Now the ancient relics are headed home to Afghanistan.

Officials seized the collection from a New York-based art dealer. Authorities say the dealer was one of the world’s largest art smugglers.

Roya Rahmani says, “Each one of these pieces are priceless depictions of our history.” She is the Afghanistan ambassador to the United States. She officially received the collection on behalf of her country in a ceremony. The masks, sculptures, and other items are now headed to Kabul. They will be on display at the National Museum.

Ms. Rahmani is happy the relics are returning to their home country. They are “returning to a government and a people who cherish their past,” she explains. Her country will keep the artifacts safe. She wants future generations to be able to enjoy them.

“Afghanistan is one of the richest countries in archaeology and history in the world,” says Fredrik Hiebert. He’s an archaeologist who studies Afghanistan. That history makes the country a target for looters. Smugglers steal artifacts. They sell them outside the country. That’s how these 33 items ended up in the United States.

The recovered relics are worth around $1.8 million dollars. “They belong to the people of Afghanistan,” says special agent Stephen Lee.

It took years for the United States government to locate the stolen treasures. Officials searched hard for them. They looked for clues to help track the relics down. Proverbs 2 tells us to look hard for wisdom just like we would search for a treasure. Verse 4 says to seek wisdom “like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures.”

Posted: April 23, 2021

People living around the Pacaya volcano in southern Guatemala are worried. Lava from the volcano is getting close to their homes. The lava is only two and half blocks away from the town of San José el Rodeo.

Emma Quezada has lived there her entire life. She says she’s used to the volcano. But this time she’s afraid.

“These last three days the lava stopped; we hope it stays there,” Ms. Quezada says.

The volcano started erupting in early February. Now the lava stretches at least three miles. Ash and gases spew from its crater.

Local authorities had spoken to residents about moving to another location about 62 miles away. But they won’t have the space they have now, Ms. Quezada says. “Maybe we don’t have a great thing here, but we live in blessed peace, we don’t face any other danger, not even thieves. . . . The options they give you don’t compare with what we have here.”

The ash has already damaged corn crops and pastures where cows graze.

The Pacaya volcano is about 8,372 feet tall. It’s a popular tourist destination. Twenty-one communities surround it.

About 350 people live in San José el Rodeo, says Juventino Pineda. He is president of the Urban and Rural Development Community Council. He thinks that at least 50% of the homes could be destroyed by the lava.

What is it like near the volcano? You can feel the temperature rise close to the lava. There’s a light sulfur smell (that smell is a bit like rotten eggs). And a crunching sound comes from the rocks under the magma pushing up to the surface.

“At night, when the volcano erupts, everything turns red, everything shines, it looks like day,” Mr. Pineda says.

Posted: April 22, 2021

Sandbars are taking over parts of the Rio Grande River. It has been 30 years since residents in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last saw their stretch of the river go dry. That could happen again this summer. Water officials have confirmed the bad news. The Rio Grande is shrinking.

Federal water managers say there hasn’t been enough water flowing into the river this year. That’s because of below-average snow in the mountains. Snow along the Colorado-New Mexico border usually feeds the river. Too little snow and too sparse spring rains are causing the river to dry up.

A reservoir holds extra water. The Rio Grande’s reservoirs aren’t even close to full. New Mexico doesn’t have extra water stored like it has in previous years.

Soil near the river is too dry. The ground absorbs melting snow before it gets to the river. What isn’t absorbed evaporates because of warm air temperatures. Rain is the only thing that will fill the river back up.

Things look dismal for the Rio Grande this year. It is one of North America’s longest rivers. It’s a major water source for millions of people. It supplies water to thousands of square miles of farmland in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.

What happens next? Farmers in central and southern New Mexico need to plan for a shorter growing season with less water for crops. There is less water for the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow to live in. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is busy rescuing fish from dying parts of the river. Officials are watching water levels closely. City managers will try to stretch what little water they have as far as it will go.

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” — John 7:38

Posted: April 21, 2021

Look between the temple of King Rameses III and the colossi (huge statues) of Amenhotep III. (That’s near the west bank of the Nile River.) It’s where scientists have found an ancient, lost city in Egypt. The best-known archaeologist in Egypt just released more details about the city. It was recently discovered in the southern province of Luxor.

Zahi Hawass said researchers found brick houses, artifacts, and tools at the site of the 3,000-year-old civilization. “This is really a large city that was lost.” Mr. Hawass told reporters.

The city at Luxor is from the time of Pharaoh Amenhotep III’s rule. (He was King Tutankhamun’s grandfather.) His personal seal is preserved on some mud bricks discovered at the site. Amenhotep III ruled from 1391 B.C. to 1353 B.C. That was over 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus!

Archaeologists started digging in the area last year. They weren’t looking for a city. They were searching for the mortuary temple of boy King Tutankhamun. (A mortuary temple was a place built near a pharaoh’s tomb. It was not a place to worship the true God. People remembered pharaohs as if they were gods instead.) But a few weeks after they started digging, archaeologists found mud brick formations. They realized they’d uncovered part of a large city. It is well preserved.

The team has unearthed enough to see the old city walls. The archaeologists found rooms filled with ovens, utensils, and storage pottery. The city has different sections. One was probably a sleeping area for workers. Another is where dried meat was stored.

Mr. Hawass believes the city is “the most important discovery” since finding King Tut’s tomb in 1922.

Officials in Egypt hope tourists will come to visit the ruins. The country has a long, rich history to share. The lost city was announced to the public a few days after Egypt paraded 22 of its prized royal mummies to their new resting place. That is the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.

Posted: April 20, 2021

Sonia Sein is breathing freely again. Her body has a new windpipe. In January, doctors at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital replaced her trachea with one from a donor. Doctors say that this drastic operation could help other people who have serious windpipe damage like Ms. Sein.

The windpipe is a very important tube inside a person’s neck. It carries air from the throat to the lungs. It’s also called the trachea. The tube is made of rings of sturdy cartilage. Cartilage is stronger than skin. But it is not as hard as bone.

God made the windpipe organ incredibly complex. A healthy trachea has tiny hairs that move mucus around inside it. It is perfectly flexible. The organ can collapse as we breathe, swallow, and cough.

It took 18 hours to complete Ms. Sein’s operation. A team of more than 50 specialists took a donor trachea. They very carefully reconnected it to an intricate web of tiny blood vessels in Ms. Sein’s body. Then they watched the organ come to life. “In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind,” says Job 12:10.

When the windpipe is damaged, breathing can be very difficult. Over the years, doctors have tried different things to repair damaged windpipes. They remove damaged sections. They fix them with lab-grown tissue or tissue from a patient’s skin and rib cartilage. But these methods may not restore full function to a windpipe.

Severe asthma broke Ms. Sein’s windpipe. She says she spent the last six years “trying to catch every breath at every moment.” Doctors hope this transplant will help other people with trachea damage.

As for Ms. Sein, “Now I feel good,” she says. “I dance with my granddaughter. We chase each other around the house. I jump on my grandson. We play. We watch a movie together. I cook for them. We’re making memories together.”

Posted: April 19, 2021

Thrill-seekers, West Virginia is waiting for you! The state wants more people. So it is trying to draw workers who can do their jobs from home to move to the state known as the gem of the Appalachians.

 Government officials are trying to lure outdoor enthusiasts with their state’s epic natural beauty. Mountain biking. Fishing. Whitewater rafting. Horseback riding. Cash and free recreational passes are up for grabs to remote workers who move to West Virginia. 

The program’s goal is to boost the population of the state. It currently has fewer residents now than it did in 1950. With these incentives—or free gifts—the population might boom! Participants will receive $12,000 when they move to West Virginia. They’ll also get passes for a year to indulge in activities like ziplining, rock climbing, golf, skiing, and other outdoor activities. All in all, the package is worth more than $20,000!

West Virginia’s state tourism cabinet secretary Chelsea Ruby explains. “We want to give folks the opportunity to escape big cities. In West Virginia, there are no crowded places, long commutes, or traffic jams. There’s just plenty of places to put down roots and explore the great outdoors.”

The coronavirus pandemic prompted tens of millions of employees across the nation to work outside their regular offices. West Virginia’s officials are counting on employees to continue working remotely. So why not work from the mountains?

The program is accepting applications for the first 50 openings in Morganton, West Virginia. There will be openings later this year for remote worker spots in the cities of Shepherdstown and Lewisburg. Organizers hope the program will expand across the state.

The remote worker program began in October with a $25 million gift to West Virginia University from Brad and Alys Smith. Mr. Smith grew up in Kenova, West Virginia. He expects the state’s outdoor attractions to sell themselves to remote workers. “I think if they’ve had the chance to do the things that I had the chance to do growing up, they’re not going to want to go anywhere else,” he says.

Posted: April 16, 2021

A postcard written by the RMS Titanic’s senior radio operator is up for auction. The card has a glossy image of the ship on the front. Jack Phillips wrote it to his sister, Elsie Phillips, in March 1912. He mailed the card just weeks before the ocean liner sank on April 15, 1912. The auction company expects the card to sell for around $15,000.

“Very busy working late. Hope to leave on Monday & arrive Soton Wednesday afternoon. Hope you quite OK. Heard from Ethel yesterday,” he wrote. It’s signed “Love Jack.”

The card is postmarked Belfast, Northern Ireland. Titanic was built there. “Soton” is a shortened version of Southampton. That’s the English port city from which Titanic left on its first and only voyage.

Mr. Phillips stayed at his post even after Titanic struck an iceberg. He sent calls for help to other ships in the area until water was lapping around his feet.

The captain told Mr. Phillips that he had done his duty. Mr. Phillips made it off the ship. Sadly, he died of the freezing cold.

Mr. Phillips sent his sister hundreds of postcards. Many of them show the ship where he was serving at the time. But only five were connected to Titanic, says Bobby Livingston. He is executive vice president at RR Auction. That’s the Boston, Massachusetts, company holding the sale.

Titanic collectables are still popular, more than 100 years after the disaster. “It’s one of those stories that still resonates around the world,” Mr. Livingston says. It reminds him of the “hubris of man.” “Hubris” means too much pride. Like the builders of the Tower of Babel, humans often think they are in control. (Genesis 11:1-9) Some thought Titanic was nearly unsinkable. But only God is all powerful.