What better way to start your week than with some heartwarming canine content? Introducing: Penny, Bo, Niki, Sampson, and Dayo, the finalists for the 2024 American Humane Hero Dog Awards. In its 14th year, the competition recognizes “often ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things, whether it’s saving lives on the battlefield, lending sight or hearing to a human companion, or helping people achieve their goals.” The final five pups were chosen by the public from hundreds of inspiring pooches across the U.S., and they’ll now compete for the overall title, announced in January. — Rebekah, Ally, and Natalie
Featured Story
Practical Ways to Become More Eco-Conscious in Your Day-to-Day Life
Yaryna Bondarchuk/ iStock
Growing up, many of us were instilled with some basic principles for not wasting Earth’s resources — don’t run the water while brushing your teeth, recycle your aluminum cans, use cloth napkins rather than paper. As we hear more and more about the changing climate, however, it might feel like those habits aren’t making enough of an impact. Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to embark on an eco-conscious journey. Click below for some helpful guidance, from adjusting your mindset to swapping out products.
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WalletHub Names South Burlington, Vermont, the Safest US City
halbergman/ iStock
Vermonters may be sitting up a little straighter, because WalletHub’s safety rankings are out and two of the top five cities are in the Green Mountain State. The personal finance website analyzed 182 cities in the U.S., using three key factors to determine the safest of the bunch: home and community safety, natural disaster risk, and financial safety. Of all the cities, South Burlington, Vermont, took the No. 1 spot. WalletHub noted the area “really shines” in financial safety, with the lowest unemployment rate in the country and the second-lowest share of seriously underwater mortgages. “This demonstrates that residents are doing well financially and are at a reduced risk of being unable to pay their bills, losing their property, or becoming homeless,” the site explains. South Burlington also has one of the lowest pedestrian fatality rates and is generally at a low risk of natural disasters. Second place went to Casper, Wyoming, among the safest cities for walking alone at night and during the day. Warwick, Rhode Island, took third, followed by South Burlington’s neighbor, Burlington, and then Boise, Idaho. See the complete list.
Environment
First Salmon Spotted in Klamath River After Dam Removal Project
Mark Hereford, ODFW
In August, the last of the four dams in the Klamath River along the California-Oregon border was officially removed — a milestone preceded by decades of advocacy efforts by Indigenous communities and conservationists. Already, the completed project is making a splash, as a Chinook salmon was recently spotted swimming upstream in a previously blocked area. That salmon is the first anadromous fish to return to the Klamath Basin in Oregon since 1912, when the initial dam was built, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced. The organization said the fish, and others, likely traveled over 200 miles from the Pacific Ocean. “The return of our relatives, the c’iyaal’s [salmon], is overwhelming for our tribe. This is what our members worked for and believed in for so many decades,” Roberta Frost, the Klamath Tribes secretary, said in a statement, adding: “I want to honor that work and thank them for their persistence in the face of what felt like an unmovable obstacle. The salmon are just like our tribal people, and they know where home is and returned as soon as they were able.” Watch the first salmon swim.
Culture
A Lost Story From “Dracula” Author Is Unearthed at Irish Library
Just in time for Halloween, a new ghost story from a legendary author is coming to light from the grave (sorta). The previously unknown tale is by Bram Stoker, the writer of Dracula, who died in 1912. Last year, a lost short story from the Irish author was discovered by a Stoker fan named Brian Cleary while he was researching archives at the National Library of Ireland. “I sat in the library flabbergasted, that I was looking at potentially a lost ghost story from Stoker, especially one from around the time he was writing Dracula, with elements of Dracula in it,” Cleary told CBS News. He added: “I sat looking at the screen wondering, am I the only living person who had read it? Followed by, what on Earth do I do with it?” Titled Gibbet Hill, it’s “a classic Stoker story, the struggle between good and evil,” explained Paul Murray, a Stoker expert and biographer. It was first published in a Dublin newspaper supplement in 1890, seven years before Dracula. The tale — packaged into a book with illustrations — was unveiled and read aloud at Dublin’s annual Bram Stoker Festival, which concludes tomorrow, per The New York Times.
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
Japan is known for minimalism, but the country’s “hidden clutter culture” proves that more can be just as magical as less
As evidenced by the alliterative title of her new book, Julie Sedivy really loves language. The author and linguist draws on her years studying the topic as well as her life experiences, from childhood to the present, to create a work that’s “part memoir, part scientific exploration, and part cultural commentary.” Overall, Linguaphile is a joyful meditation on why and how language so meaningfully shapes our lives.
Nearly a decade in the making, Memoir of a Snail took home the top prize at the London Film Festival earlier this month, with the jury calling it a “singular achievement” in cinema. The stop-motion movie follows a young girl with a penchant for reading books and collecting snails who is separated from her twin brother after their father dies. Thought-provoking, emotional, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, it’s now playing in select theaters across the country.
New York City’s underground subway system is a microcosm of culture, a place to experience art, human connection, and, sure, the occasional (or not so occasional) odor. Today, you don’t live in or visit the Big Apple without taking the train, but in 1904, it was a brand-new and quite innovative way to get around. At 7 p.m. on its inaugural night, the subway opened, with more than 100,000 people paying a nickel each toexperience their first ride. The rapid transit system initially ran from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown and then west to Times Square. To celebrate its 120th anniversary, and the profound impact the transportation method has had on residents, the New York City Transit Museum recently launched an exhibit called “The Subway Is...” — see photos.
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