There was something neighborly in the air in the 1970s. Right around the time that Barry Manilow wrote State Farm’s iconic jingle — and only a few years after Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered — a woman named Becky Mattson in Lakeside, Montana, decided the country needed a bit more goodwill and camaraderie, and thus started National Good Neighbor Day. In 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter issued a proclamation making the holiday official, and praised the “sense of community” neighborhoods can provide. If you haven’t guessed by now, today is National Good Neighbor Day: Join the movement.
Must Reads
Actor Maggie Smith died yesterday at age 89 — here are 10 of her best performances that you can stream in honor of the late dame
Younger Generations Explore a New Path to Homebuying: Co-Ownership
Mihaela Rosu/ iStock
Buying a home as a young person is hard right now, and seemingly getting harder. The median age of first-time homebuyers in 2023 was 35, up from 31 in 2013 and 29 in 1981, the National Association of Realtors reported last year. But some have found a way to make their homeownership dreams come true, and it all hinges on teamwork: Millennials and Gen Zers are increasingly turning to co-ownership. Niles Lichtenstein, who launched a company called Nestment that provides guidance for the homebuying process, told CBS News that co-owning is a great way to offset the “incredibly large gap” between wage increases and home price increases. The setup requires a great deal of trust, but it’s working for Gilbert Nyantakyi and Kwame Nkrumah, who are both under 30 and co-own a house in New York City. “We bought our first property at 26. Very big risk that we took but it felt good doing it with a partner,” Nkrumah said. Added Nyantakyi: “I would not be a homeowner in 2024 had we not co-bought.”
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“Poetry in Motion”: Portrait Collection Highlights America’s Endangered Languages
B.A. Van Sise
In Koasati, which is spoken in Louisiana and parts of Texas, the word “ihoochastontihchotok” means “bringing time back from the past to now.” It’s one of nearly 100 terms from an equal number of languages represented in author and photographer B.A. Van Sise’s latest book. On the National Language, published today, features evocative portraits of speakers and learners across the United States who are working to keep the country’s many endangered languages alive, with each image encapsulating the meaning, history, and culture of the term that inspired it. “Language is a cultural binder. Every language has cultural concepts unique to them that exist only in their language; Italians have no word for ‘privacy’ but a word for ‘doing something beautiful and making it look effortless,’” Van Sise explains to Nice News. “In English you can ‘do something on a whim,’ ‘get the gist of an idea,’ or ‘run amok into a brouhaha’ and be absolutely unable to say any of that in any other language. Language is tied to who we are.” Hear two of the languages being spoken.
Health
In Less Than 100 Days, Minnesota Is Going PFAS-Free
Manuel Augusto Moreno/Moment via Getty Images
We’ve learned over the past few years that PFAS, or forever chemicals, find a way of showing up almost everywhere, invited or not. In Minnesota, though, they’re getting the boot. On Jan. 1, 2025 — less than 100 days away — the Midwestern state will ban thousands of products containing PFAS, the strictest ban on these chemicals in the nation. “Phasing out ‘forever chemicals’ in consumer products is a change that will help protect Minnesotans’ health, environment, and economy for generations to come,” Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Katrina Kessler said at a recent event. The legislation is known as Amara’s Law, honoring Amara Strande, who grew up near a PFAS disposal facility and was diagnosed with cancer at age 15. Before she died in 2023, she campaigned for stricter regulations on PFAS. “Minnesota has just become the world leader in legislation to protect its people from PFAS,” Michael Strande, Amara’s father, said in a previous statement. Learn some ways to lower your exposure to PFAS.
In Other News
The Interior Department granted $254 million to local parks, the largest investment in the 10-year history of the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program.
Researchers created a “bone-inspired” concrete that’s over five times stronger than conventional cement-based mixes.
Scientists are abuzz at the discovery of six new bee species in Pennsylvania, including a honeybee and two “sweat” bees.
The twice-yearly wildebeest migration across the Serengeti is one of the seven natural wonders of Africa. Here’s how to watch the epic scene from home.
Inspiring Story
“Righting this wrong matters”
During World War II, Waverly B. Woodson Jr. was a member of the only Black combat unit involved in D-Day. As a medic, he spent more than a day treating wounded soldiers under German fire, while suffering from injuries of his own. Over eight decades later and nearly 20 years after his death, he is getting long overdue recognition for his heroism, with his wife accepting a Distinguished Service Cross on his behalf this week.
Photo of the Day
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Johnny Cash will forever be remembered as an American icon, and now there’s a statue of him to show it. The late singer has been immortalized in the U.S. Capitol, making him the first musician featured in the National Statuary Hall Collection. The nearly 11-foot-tall bronze artwork was donated by his home state of Arkansas. At the unveiling ceremony on Tuesday, Cash’s daughter Rosanne Cash said he would have seen the statue “as the ultimate” honor, per the Associated Press. “This man was a living redemption story,” she shared. “He encountered darkness and met it with love.” Now we’re in the mood to listen to some Cash.
