Good News Tuesday for Dec. 20, 2022: Respect for Marriage Act, Drones Study Hawaii’s Endangered Plants, CNN’s Hero of the Year, and Diversity Among Santas

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Respect for Marriage Act Becomes Law

US President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law last week. The bipartisan legislation requires that the US government and states recognize same-sex and interracial marriages that were legally performed. Here’s more from Politico. ABC News provides a detailed explanation of the law here.

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Drones Help Fight Plant Extinction in Hawaii

Drones in Hawaii help locate endangered plants growing on cliffs. Robots attached to the drones can collect samples and seeds for planting. In the future, scientists hope to drop seeds encased in fertilizer. This in-depth article appeared in my 1440 Daily Digest. The illustrations, photos, and videos are fascinating. Take a look by clicking the Reuters article HERE

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CNN’s Hero of the Year (Please Watch this Heartwarming Video!)

Nelly Cheboi was voted CNN’s Hero of the Year for her work creating computer labs for children in Kenya.  Ms. Cheboi quit a lucrative job in Chicago to start the nonprofit, TechLit Africa which provides donated and upcycled computers to thousands of students in rural Kenya. I couldn’t wait to share this video showing Ms. Cheboi’s enthusiasm as he honors her mother and thanks others who have helped her.

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Growing Divesity Among Santas

After being harassed for having a Black Santa decoration on his lawn two years ago, Chris Kennedy became a professional Santa Claus. Chris is one of the Santas featured in the documentary, Santa Camp. Below is a video from ABC News about Chris, diversity, and Santa Camp. The video includes a very brief segment reporting on protests of inclusivity from 3:17 to 3:42 in case you want to skip to Mr. Kennedy’s response.

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Good News Tuesday for Dec. 15, 2020: US Vaccines, Protecting Polar Bears, Toronto’s Oldest Tree, Recognizing Teachers, and Neighbors Support Black Santa

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

US Begins Vaccinating for COVID 19

The first doses of vaccines against COVID 19 were administered on Monday at US hospitals after FDA approval on Friday. The emergency use authorization released 2.9 million doses to 636 sites across the country, starting with front line health care workers followed by nursing homes and long term care facilities. Here’s more from Good Morning America

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A Victory to Protect Polar Bears

A US court of appeals ruled against an offshore drilling project in the Artic. Read about why this is a huge victory for polar bears in this article from the Good News Network.

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Saving Toronto’s Oldest Tree

The huge 250 year old red oak was in danger until the city of Toronto voted last month to create a mini park around the tree by adding to donations. Here’s more from the Good News Network.

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Recognizing Teachers

 As winner of the Global Teacher Prize, Ranjitsinh Disale decided to give half of his $1m (£750,000) to runners-up in the competition from countries including Italy, Brazil, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea, the US and the UK. Click here for details from BBC

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Neighbors Support Family with Black Santa

After Chris Kennedy received a letter telling him to remove the black Santa from his yard and move out of the neighborhood, Chris received support from his community. His neighbors put up their own black Santas. The letter had the neighborhood association address taped to the envelope, but the head of that association visited Chris to make it clear the letter did not come from them and that they want Chris and his family there. Chris originally had only one black Santa in his yard. Then a company donated the second one. (Personally, I believe that since Santa is magic, he can be any color. Anything is possible! )

You can learn more from this article in The Washington Post and the interview with Chris below:

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