Singing, serving and saving lives
Jon Bon Jovi, the Grammy-winning frontman and founding member of the rock band Bon Jovi, has long had a reputation for being a nice guy. Over the past three decades, he's supported many charitable causes, including the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and the Special Olympics. He also launched the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, an organization that has helped people affected by hunger, poverty and homelessness.
In 2011, Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Bongiovi opened the JBJ Soul Kitchen, a restaurant that offers "community dining with dignity.” Customers who can pay are encouraged to do so — and pay it forward. If someone can’t afford a meal, he/she/they may do volunteer work in the kitchen or the garden in exchange for food. The restaurant now has four locations in New Jersey.
Last week, Bon Jovi was reportedly filming a music video on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville when he noticed a woman standing on the ledge. Concerned she was thinking about jumping into the Cumberland River, he and another person walked over and spoke with the woman, then helped her back over the railing to safety.
Nashville police chief John Drake later thanked Bon Jovi and his team for their efforts.
"It takes all of us to help keep each other safe," Drake stated on X.
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Rooting for the condors
California condors have been struggling to avoid extinction for nearly 175 years.
Hunting and pesticides nearly wiped out North America’s largest flying birds in the mid-1800s. Over the next century, they continued to perish due to habitat loss and the consumption of microtrash and animal carcasses filled with poisonous lead ammunition. Although the federal government assigned endangered species status to the birds in 1967, only 22 California condors were left in the wild by the 1980s.
To save the species, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service created the California Condor Recovery Program (CCRP). Researchers in the states and Mexico were tasked with collecting the birds, studying their habits and placing them in captive-breeding programs.
Once it was clear that these efforts were rebuilding the condor population, researchers began to release zoo-bred birds into the wild. Currently, about 340 condors live in flocks that span from the Pacific Northwest to Baja California, Mexico.
The California condors then faced a new threat: the deadliest strain of avian influenza in U.S. history. The bird flu killed millions of birds across the U.S. and prompted the destruction of tens of millions more to prevent the spread of the disease.
In response to the outbreak, researchers enlisted condors being bred in captivity at the Los Angeles Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the Oregon Zoo to take part in a historic vaccine trial that aimed to give the birds some protection from avian influenza. After receiving two doses of the experimental vaccine, 60% of the condors showed measurable antibodies in their systems. Since the trial was successful, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service decided to provide the vaccines to all captive and free-flying condors.
In more good news, a record-breaking 17 California condor chicks hatched at the L.A Zoo this year, due to the implementation of pioneering husbandry techniques.
“Our condor team has raised the bar once again in the collaborative effort to save America’s largest flying bird from extinction,” Rose Legato, curator of birds at the L.A. Zoo, stated. "What we are seeing now are the benefits of new breeding and rearing techniques developed and implemented by our team which put two or three condor chicks together with adult surrogate condors to be raised. The result is more condor chicks in the program and ultimately more condors in the wild.”
The chicks will remain at the zoo for the next year and a half. At that point, they'll be evaluated for potential release.
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King of affection
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THIS WEEK’S POLL
LAST WEEK’S POLL
THIS WEEK IN (POSITIVE) HISTORY
On September 18, 1846, poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning exchanged the last of their 575 letters and moved to Italy to begin a life together.
On September 19, 1982, emoticons were born. Carnegie Mellon University professor and computer scientist Scott E. Fahlman proposed using a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis to depict a horizontal smiley face :-)
On September 20, 1973, top women's player Billie Jean King, 29, defeated Bobby Riggs, 55, a former No. 1 ranked men’s player and self-proclaimed male chauvinist, in the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match.
On September 21, 1937, "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien was published.
On September 22, 2019, Billy Porter became the first openly gay actor to win an Emmy Award for lead actor in a drama series for "Pose."
On September 23, 1846, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune.
On September 24, 1902, pioneering cookbook author Fannie Farmer opened the Miss Farmer's School of Cookery in Boston.
On September 25, 1890, Congress established Sequoia National Park in California.
THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS
On September 18, English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, Swedish actress Greta Garbo and actor/producer Jason Sudeikis
On September 19, actor Adam West, country singer/cookbook author Trisha Yearwood and late-night host Jimmy Fallon
On September 20, basketball coach Red Auerbach, Italian actress Sophia Loren and author George R.R. Martin
On September 21, Scottish novelist/poet Walter Scott, French Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist Charles Nicolle and actor/comedian Bill Murray
On September 22, rock singer Joan Jett, English comedian/TV host Sue Perkins and English actor Tom Felton
On September 23, Chilean poet/Nobel Prize laureate Pablo Neruda, singer/musician Bruce Springsteen and actor Anthony Mackie
On September 24, author F. Scott Fitzgerald, construction engineer Stephen Bechtel and puppeteer/Muppets creator Jim Henson
On September 25, director/writer Pedro Almodóvar, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and basketball player Chauncey Billups
THIS WEEK’S FUN HOLIDAYS
On September 18, International Equal Pay Day, National Cheeseburger Day, National First Love Day, National Respect Day, Hug a Greeting Card Writer Day, Locate an Old Friend Day, Purple Bra Day, Read an E-Book Day and Rice Krispie Treat Day
On September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, National Butterscotch Pudding Day and National Pawpaw Day
On September 20, National Care for Kids Day, National Fried Rice Day, National Punch Day, National Queso Day, National String Cheese Day, National Tradesmen Day and Pepperoni Pizza Day
On September 21, International Coastal Cleanup Day, International Day of Peace, International Eat an Apple Day, International Red Panda Day, World Gratitude Day, World Mini Golf Day, National Chai Day, National Dance Day, National Gymnastics Day, National Pecan Cookie Day, Escapology Day and Batman Day
On September 22, International Day of Radiant Peace, World Car-Free Day, World Rhino Day, World Rivers Day, National Centenarian Day, National Elephant Appreciation Day, National Ice Cream Cone Day, National Legwear Day, National White Chocolate Day, Chainmail Day, Dear Diary Day, the Fall Equinox, Hobbit Day and Mabon
On September 23, International Day of Sign Languages, National Apple Cider Vinegar Day, National Baker Day, National Checkers Day, National Dogs in Politics Day, National Family Day, National Snack Stick Day, Redhead Appreciation Day and Za'atar Day
On September 24, National Cherries Jubilee Day, National Horchata Day, National Punctuality Day, Bluebird of Happiness Day and Bollywood Day
On September 25, World Dream Day, World Pharmacist Day, National Comic Book Day, National Cooking Day, National Daughters Day, National Food Service Workers Day, National Lobster Day, National One-Hit Wonder Day, National Quesadilla Day and German Butterbrot Day
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
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SIMPLE PLEASURES
* Reading a great novel
* Using your favorite bookmark
* Writing a positive review of a book
HOW TO SPREAD JOY/KINDNESS
* Show kindness to people living in the rough. Look them in the eye, say hello and ask how they are.
* Donate money or needed goods to local shelters and nonprofits that assist the unhoused.
* Volunteer with organizations that help the poor. These groups need assistance year-round, not just around the holidays.
RECOMMENDED SUBSTACK
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"If I were a bird, I would fly about the Earth seeking the successive autumns." --George Eliot
MOMENT OF GRATITUDE
Thanks to thenews2.com, MusiCares, the JBJSoul Foundation, CNN, the JBJ Soul Kitchen, Dining Out Jersey, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, X, BBC News, Instagram, NJ.com, Apple News, Jeff16WC, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, The Guardian, The Associated Press, KTLA 5, YouTube, the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Zoo, Smithsonian Magazine, the Moonlight Reader Society, the Television Academy, Dawid Zawiła, Unsplash, History.com, This Day in History, Britannica, Time and Date, On This Day, the Library of Congress, IMDb, Famous Birthdays, This Day in Music, National Today, National Day Calendar, Holidays Calendar, Bat Conservation International, Vox, The Written Word, Emily Charlotte Powell, While I Was Drawing, Counting Beans, Canva and Deposit Photos for art and story suggestions.
Also, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to Beth Lisogorsky, who recommended “A Bit of Good News” in her newsletter, "Beth's TV & Film Recommendations." She kindly referred to me as a "Substacker Who is Bringing Back the John Krasinski Covid Craze of 'Good News.'” Love that!
KEEP IN TOUCH
Read a positive/uplifting news story lately? Have an inspiring quote you want to share? Or do you just want to let me know about some of your favorite simple pleasures?
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