A Mississippi man credits his pet cat with preventing a robbery at his home and possibly saving his life. While cats have a reputation for being aloof, this cat did everything she could to alert her owner of danger. Fred Everitt, 68, adopted the 20 pound calico from theTupelo-Lee Humane Society four years ago with the intention of saving her life; he never thought she’d return the favor. But Bandit, who is now referred to as Everitt’s guard cat, did just that.
On July 25th, sometime between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Everitt said he was first awoken by Bandit’s loud meows in the kitchen. Then, she raced into the bedroom, jumped onto the bed and began pulling the comforter off of him and clawing at his arms. Everitt said she had never done that before so he knew something was wrong. “I went, ‘What in the world is wrong with you?” Everitt said.
When he got up to investigate, he turned on the lights and saw two young men outside his back door. One had a gun, and the other was using a crowbar to try and pry the door open. Everitt said by the time he retrieved his handgun and returned to the kitchen, the would-be intruders had already fled. He said the situation could have been very different without Bandit. “It did not turn into a confrontational situation, thank goodness,” Everitt said. “But I think it’s only because of the cat. You hear of guard dogs. This is a guard cat.”
Everitt said he’s been a longtime supporter of the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society and was dropping off a donation check four years ago when he asked to see what kittens were available for adoption. Bandit came home with him that day. “I want to let people know that you not only save a life when you adopt a pet or rescue one. The tides could be turned. You never know when you save an animal if they’re going to save you” he said
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A 12 year old boy in Auburn, Maine opened a farmstand in hopes of taking over the family farm one day. Brayden Nadeau said he’s been farming his whole life and now he essentially runs the family farm himself and has opened a farm stand to help feed his community. Nadeau started his first farmstand two years ago and earned enough money to buy a new one.
He sells homemade zucchini bread and zucchini relish made by his family and other community members with vegetables straight from his garden. He also raises livestock and turkeys for meat, chickens for meat and eggs, and pigs for meat and breeding. Nadeau works 12 hours a day, seven days a week in the summer. During the school year, he picks vegetables in the morning and sets up the farm stand before heading to school.
Nadeau says he always wanted to be behind the wheel of a tractor. “I’ve been farming my whole life. As long as I could remember, I’ve been on his lap, steering the tractor, running the bucket,” Nadeau said, pointing to his grandfather, Dan Herrick. Herrick always had a farm at his home but until now, it didn’t serve as more than just a way to feed his family.
Herrick said “There ought to be more 12-year-olds like him. The farmstand teaches him business, it teaches him how to work, it teaches him to stay out of trouble, it teaches him where food comes from, and it teaches him that without farmers, there’s no food.” Nadeau said he’s learning a lot more out in the fields than he would have sitting in front of a TV playing video games.
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A Detroit community saved a local bookstore after it was scammed out of $35,000. 27th Letter Books opened just over a year ago and is owned by two couples-Drew and Erin Pineda and Jazmine Cooper and Jake Spease. The little store offers a diverse selection of books and hosts events aimed to bring the community together.
They run story-time sessions for children, book club meetings, open mic nights and many local authors and artists showcase their work at the brick and mortar store. The owners were happy when they started receiving large online orders for textbooks. The customer, who used the name of a professor, placed several orders of medical and engineering textbooks.
In May, the store’s merchant service provider flagged one of the credit cards used as stolen.
The owners quickly realized the previous orders had also been paid for with stolen cards. After contacting law enforcement, their insurance company and several banks-they were told the financial loss would fall on them. Cooper said the loss left them with two options, close their doors or ask for support. They started a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of saving the store.
News of the GoFundMe campaign spread among their customers and they were able to surpass their $35,000 goal in just 10 days. Over 400 of the contributors were local customers, leaving the owners stunned by the generosity and the outpouring of messages they received. One local artist, Nicole Miazgowicz, who showcased her artwork at the store raised funds selling her work to help, saying the decision was a no-brainer considering what they bring to the community.
Pineda said “It’s wonderful that people are willing to pay it forward because of what they’ve seen us provide to the community. It creates a beautiful reciprocity of gratitude between the people in our community and us as a business who care deeply about southwest Detroit”. The owners were able to cover the loss and say they are motivated now more than ever to keep their doors open.
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A Hanover man is being called a guardian angel for rescuing a missing five-year-old girl with autism who had wandered from her home in Plymouth, MA. Jake Manna, 20, was at work installing solar panels at a home when he learned the neighborhood girl was missing. Manna didn’t know the area but decided to join the search.
A spokesperson for the police department said Manna and one of the girl’s neighbors decided to search an area other searchers hadn’t headed and walked down a rural trail that ended at a stream. There, he noticed a diaper and t-Shirt in the stream. Manna panicked and said his heart dropped when he saw the clothing. He ran down the stream to a marsh area where he spotted the girl waist deep in the water.
He called out to her but she continued wading outward so waded out and put her over his shoulder, carrying her to safety. Officer Vinnie Roth, who responded to the original call, called Jake “a guardian angel” for the young girl. “Jake is not from Plymouth and doesn’t know the area. If he didn’t pick that path and see the missing clothing, we hate to think about what the outcome would have been” Roth said.
Plymouth Police Department said in a Facebook post “If he didn’t pick that path and see the missing clothing, we hate to think about what the outcome would have been.” Manna later met with Plymouth police officers Chief Dana Flynn and Captain LeBretton to receive a certificate and Command Coin for his heroic deed who described him as he’s the nicest, most unassuming young man that one could meet.
The mother of the young girl said it was the worst moment of her life and she’s very grateful for Manna and others involved in her rescue. Manna was humble about his actions, crediting the many people who helped bring the girl home safe. “I wouldn’t call myself a hero. It was just the right time, right place. And I think anyone else would’ve done the same,” Manna said. “It’s good the community came together and everyone helped.”
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A Kentucky woman decided to pay it forward after a lottery win by handing out gift cards to strangers. Earlier this month, Crystal Dunn of Louisville won $146,000 playing the Bank Buster Jackpot Instant Play game online after wagering just $20. A few seconds later, she got a message on her computer screen saying that she had won the progressive jackpot which starts at $100,000 and increases with each ticket purchase.
Dunn said she didn’t believe she had actually won until she received an email from the lottery officials confirming the win. “I saw that and didn’t believe it at first. It’s a pretty exciting feeling. I never thought I would win something like this, but this goes to show it can happen.” Dunn decided to pay it forward after receiving her winnings, which amounted to $103,909.73 after taxes.
After depositing the check in the bank, lottery officials said she immediately made a stop at a local Meijer grocery store where she purchased $2,000 in gift cards. She then walked around the store giving the gift cards to random strangers. Dunn said “A few were taken back, thinking I was wanting something in return. I got an unexpected gift and I believe in paying it forward and wanted to pass it along.”
Dunn told lottery officials she wanted to pay it forward and she also plans to use the remainder of winnings on things she was already working toward, such as buying a car and paying off bills. “I’ve worked hard for everything I’ve had. This is a pretty amazing gift,” she said.
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Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, auctioned his Nobel Peace Prize to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees. The prize sold for $103.5 million, shattering the old record for a Nobel. Muratov also donated his $500,000 cash award. The proceeds will go directly to UNICEF in its efforts to help children displaced by the war in Ukraine.
Muratov said the idea of the donation, he said, “is to give the children refugees a chance for a future.” In an interview with The Associated Press, Muratov said he was particularly concerned about children who have been orphaned because of the conflict in Ukraine. “We want to return their future,” he said. The auction was held by Heritage Auction, who is not taking any share of the proceeds.
Muratov started out as a journalist for Soviet newspapers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, he and other journalists co-founded the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which soon became a leading advocate for democracy and freedom of expression in Russia. Muratov was co-awarded the peace prize in 2021 for defending freedom of expression in Russia. He was the publication’s editor-in-chief when it shut down in March amid the Kremlin’s clampdown on journalists and public dissent in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Under Mr Muratov’s leadership, Novaya Gazeta has criticised the Russian authorities for corruption, electoral fraud and human rights violations. Six of the newspaper’s journalists have been murdered because they wrote critical articles on Russian military operations in Chechnya and the Caucasus. The best known of them is Anna Politkovskaya.
The sale of the gold medal in New York will benefit Unicef’s humanitarian response for Ukraine’s displaced children, Heritage Auctions said in a statement. “The most important message today is for people to understand that there’s a war going on and we need to help people who are suffering the most,” Muratov said in a video released by Heritage Auctions.
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A heartwarming video went viral of a Louisiana man surprised to find a stray kitten in the middle of the road, then being swarmed by a dozen more kittens. The 43-second-long video starts as a person steps out of their car and points the camera at a small kitten that was wandering on the side of the road. As the man proceeds to pick up the kitten, the camera turns to reveal a stampede of adorable kittens running out of the grass. “Oh my gosh, I can’t take y’all,” the person on the video said.
Robert Brantley decided to record as he approached a small kitchen he saw in the road and said he was not prepared for what happened. The video shows the kittens swarmed Brantley’s feet, clearly all wanting the attention their sibling was getting. Brantley can be heard expressing his shock over the ambush.
There were 13 in all and Brantley loaded them up into his car and took them all home for a bath and some milk. Shortly after, he posted another video when all 13 kittens were loaded up in his car—he noted that “the tactical Honda was not prepared for this.” He posted an update on Instagram that also went viral “Anyone wanting a kitten at a screaming price? I’ll cut you a deal.” He soon received hundreds of adoption offers for the little ones.
Brantley said he believes the kittens were dumped and believes he pulled up right behind whoever had dumped them. He recalls seeing a car pull off to the side of the road and pull away not long after he arrived. He took them to a vet who commented they were in exceptional shape considering they had been abandoned. His wife Courtney set up an Amazon wish list and packages were being sent in from all over to help with things the kittens might need. All the kittens have been adopted.
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A Long Island teen is being hailed a hero for diving in to save a woman who accidentally drove into Patchogue Bay. Mia Samolinski, 18, stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake when pulling her Subaru Outback out of a parking spot along the docks of Long Island’s Patchogue Bay. Anthony Zhongor, 17, immediately dove into the water as her car sank.
Zhongor said “She went pretty deep in there and was banging on the door, banging on the window, trying to break the window, of course, and that kind of got me nervous, scared for her, so I just went into the water.” The door wouldn’t open from the outside either. Zhongor realized that the weight of his body tilted the nose of the car down, bringing the back of the car above water level so he kept his weight on the car, allowing Samolinski to escape through the back.
Together they swam to shore. “She just came up to me and said, ‘Oh my God, thank you’ and was crying,” Zhongor said. “It doesn’t matter who it was, they were suffering. I couldn’t watch anybody suffer in front of me.” Mia managed to make it out unscathed but was shaken up by the experience and is thankful was there at that moment.
Mia’s father Charles Samolinski visited the dock where it happened to reunite with and thank 17-year-old Anthony Zhongor for saving his daughter’s life. “The reason I’m here is because he’s really the hero of the day” Mia said. The Samolinskis expressed their their gratitude for Zhongor’s bravery. “He jumped out of his car and jumped in, and because of that, my daughter is alive and not really harmed,” said Mia’s father Charles. “It’s a miracle.”
The pair who went to the same high school live less than a mile away but never crossed paths until that night. Zhongor is set to graduate this year and will be heading off to South Carolina for Marines boot camp. Staff Sgt. Christian Erazo with the U.S. Marine Corps said “It shows that our training and mentorship has gone to the right place and I’m happy he acted because it could’ve ended somewhere very differently.”
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A Minneapolis community rallied around a 70 year old woman, known as the “Bright Star” in her neighborhood, when she was facing eviction after her landlord of 19 years decided to sell the property she lives in. Linda Taylor, a beloved neighbor in her community has been known for her heart of gold and her green thumbs for nearly two decades. When she was beside herself after being given two months to vacate, her neighbors stepped in.
Linda had previously owned the house she lived in but sold it when she fell prey to a real estate deal she didn’t understand. She has rented the home for about 15 years and when her landlord notified her the house would be sold, Linda knew she couldn’t afford the $299,000 selling price. After she told one neighbor in her tight knit community, word of her predicament spread fast and the greater part of Powderhorn rallied around her.
She decided to share her struggle with Andrew Fahlstrom, 41, who lives across the street and works professionally as a housing rights organizer. Since he moved to the neighborhood six years ago with his partner, he and Taylor have built a strong rapport. He contacted neighbors to see what they could do to help Taylor.
Given his line of work, Fahlstrom knows Taylor’s story isn’t unique, particularly as the local housing market has skyrocketed in recent years. “So many people are losing housing right now,” he said. “If we actually believe housing is a right, then we need to act like it, because the next stop is homelessness” Fahlstrom said.
After months of demonstrations, the 70-year-old was given the option to buy her home before the end of June. There was no one-size-fits-all approach to the fundraising efforts as the community worked together.. They held an art show, bake sale, there were countless small donations and other community-fund drives to come up with the funds needed along with some pro-bono work by a real-estate agent. The raised the money a full month ahead of the June 30th deadline.
Linda said “Yesterday I went and did the closing for the house, it makes me feel so good, everything that I have given, it’s coming back to me and I want to continue to give. I love this neighborhood.” Taylor said this marks the start of a new chapter and another opportunity to stick around and give back. “When we are sticking together, we are going to be successful in our neighborhood. We’re going to take care of each other.”
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A California woman got the shock of her life after bringing home a set of sofas and a chair that she found on Craigslist for free. Vicki Umodu of Colton, California said she just moved in and was excited to get the first pieces of furniture in her new home. A lump in the cushion of a chair she initially thought might be a heating pad but said it felt like a bunch of paper.
When she unzipped the cover, she pulled out envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars in cash. It turned out to be more than $36,000 stashed inside the cushion. “I was just telling my son, come, come, come! I was screaming, this is money! I need to call the guy” she said. When Umodu called she learned that a family member had recently died and the family was selling furniture as they were clearing out the house. .
The man’s family said they believe it was hidden away by the deceased as part of a saving strategy. Vicki said it never once occurred to her to keep the money. “God has been kind to me and my children,” Umodu said. “They are all alive and well, I have three beautiful grandchildren, so what can I ever ask of God?”
Umodu said she was not expecting a dime from them but the owners were so grateful for her honesty that they gave Umodu $2,200 to buy a new refrigerator for herself. They also said they later found money hidden in other places in the house and are now checking all the furniture they were planning to sell-all thanks to Umodu’s honesty.
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