More than a month after Hurricane Helene made landfall, the devastating effects of the natural disaster are still being felt, and food banks are continuing to work overtime to keep communities fed and hydrated. That’s why we’re giving readers the opportunity to donate to Feeding the Carolinas, a network that unites the 10 Feeding America Food Banks serving North and South Carolina. As of mid-October, the network was back to serving all 146 counties in the two states and implementing new supply drops weekly in all Helene-impacted counties. Your support is especially appreciated with Thanksgiving and the winter holidays around the corner!
Airline Customers Entitled to Automatic Refunds for Flight Delays, Cancellations
KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images
To be frank, airline delays suck, and they feel all too common these days. Thankfully, a new Department of Transportation rule took effect this week that will make delayed and canceled flights suck a little less, at least from a financial perspective. The rule guarantees passengers automatic refunds (meaning: no paperwork or lengthy calls with customer service representatives) when an airline fails to get you to your intended destination. That includes “significant” delays, defined as over three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international. “When an airline knows that all — instead of just a few — of the passengers on a canceled flight are likely to actually get their money back, it gives them a different set of reasons to put in the investment, and the realistic scheduling that makes those cancellations less likely to happen to begin with,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday, per CBS News. It doesn’t end there, though: Customers are also entitled to refunds if they’ve been downgraded to a lower class of service than what they paid for; if they paid for a checked bag and the bag didn’t arrive on time; and if they paid to use an airline’s Wi-Fi that didn’t end up working. The refunds must be prompt and provided in cash or original form of payment, the DOT said.
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NYC’s Iconic Fifth Avenue Is Getting a Pedestrian-Focused Redesign — See the Renderings
Alexander Spatari/ Moment via Getty Images
New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue runs along some of the most iconic sites in Manhattan: the Plaza Hotel, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center — the list goes on and on. And now, a stretch of the 6.2-mile thoroughfare between Bryant Park and Central Park will undergo a major redesign to make the already pedestrian-friendly street even more walkable. Renderings for the makeover, the first of its kind in the avenue’s 200-year history, were unveiled last month. Proposed improvements include widening sidewalks by nearly 50%, shortening crosswalks and adding lights for increased safety, reducing the number of traffic lanes from five to three, and installing more greenery. The schematic designs are expected to be completed by summer 2025. “By expanding sidewalks, we can turn this avenue into an iconic boulevard, a place for all, for all hours and especially for pedestrians — who can now safely stay on sidewalks rather than navigate cars to get by and through,” Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said in a statement. “But this isn’t only for today — it’s for tomorrow, a verdant, sustainable boulevard to grow with our city.”
Environment
World’s Largest Wildlife Crossing Hits Milestone in California
Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Los Angeles’ Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing was one of the first stories Nice News ever reported on, way back in March 2022 (shout out to those of you who have been around since then!). More than two and a half years after the initial news and groundbreaking, the crossing-in-progress now spans the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, California. The project is slated for completion in 2026, at which point it will be the world’s largest wildlife crossing. It’ll connect the Santa Monica Mountains to the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, providing a safe pathway for wildlife like bobcats and mountain lions. But there’s still lots of work to be done between now and then, and much of it is incredibly tedious, detailed work, the Los Angeles Times reports. That’s because project leaders must replicate nature as best they can on the massive slab of concrete. To start, the crossing has been painted a “dusty mocha” shade in order to replicate the surrounding dirt, lead designer Robert Rock told the outlet. The top will also be covered in “engineered soil,” which will be primed for proper drainage, placed strategically so as to mimic hilly terrain, and inoculated with hyper-local fungi spores collected within five miles of the site so that native plants will be able to flourish. See photos from the construction process.
Global Good
🇦🇶 The ozone hole over Antarctica is shrinking and expected to make a full recovery, the NOAA said (read more)
🏴 A centuries-old Scottish oak won the U.K.’s 2024 tree of the year competition (read more)
🇲🇽 Archaeologists discovered thousands of ancient Mayan structures in southeastern Mexico (read more)
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South Africa, hosted a colorful kite festival to raise awareness of mental health issues(read more)
🇦🇷 The oldest known tadpole fossil, dating back 161 million years, was found in Argentina(read more)
Something We Love
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Inspiring Story
Just keep surfing
Meet the “Surfers of Bulleji”: a group of dedicated wave riders on the southern coast of Pakistan, where the waves are iffy and surfboards are hard to come by. Still, these self-taught surfers are committed to their passion. “Our community is getting bigger and stronger,” one said.
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