Photo credit: California Department of Fish and Wildlife On a late-August afternoon in the San Gabriel Mountains, a group of hikers near La Verne, California, heard an unsettling sound: what they described as “howling” coming from a large water tank along a trail. When they investigated, they discovered a mother black bear and her two…
A thick green carpet can make a pond or reservoir appear almost solid, but giant salvinia is a floating fern, spreading across the water rather than growing from the bottom. In Texas and Louisiana, the plant had become difficult to manage, forming dense mats that blocked sunlight, reduced oxygen and interfered with waterways. According to…
In 1932 a brand new theater opened in South Los Angeles showing movies and live shows to a growing neighborhood. Decades later, after years of decline and closure, that same building sat dark and deteriorating, its ornate interior hidden behind boards and dust. In 2011, the city of Los Angeles committed to saving it, launching…
The restoration included repairing much of the original oak frame, but also creating contemporary spaces that met the needs of modern family living. Cadman Construction was already undertaking one of its most challenging heritage projects: restoring a Grade II-listed 16th-century longhouse in Suffolk. But for Stuart Cadman, Managing Director of Cadman Construction the challenge had…
A small group of muskrats arrived in Bohemia in 1905, carried across the Atlantic as curiosities from a hunting trip in North America. Five animals were released into ponds at Prince Colloredo-Mannsfeld’s estate near Dobříš, where they were expected to remain little more than a private collection and perhaps a source of valuable fur. They…
More than 1.3 million plastic bottles were collected from coastlines and waterways worldwide in a massive volunteer cleanup effort that began 40 years ago with just 2,800 people on the Texas Gulf Coast. The International Coastal Cleanup, organised by Ocean Conservancy, drew about 630,000 volunteers in 2025, who removed nearly 13.9 million pieces of rubbish…
Wail Alselwi is encouraging kids to improve their grades. A Staten Island deli manager who started giving neighbourhood children cash and free snacks for getting top marks three years ago has turned his small reward programme into a major community effort, raising more than $500,000 (£380,000) to provide school supplies to 3,000 students. Wail “Wally”…
Family of man killed after falling on tracks at Forest Hills T stop speaks to 7NEWS A 19-year-old man on his first trip on Boston’s public transit system died after jumping onto the tracks to save his girlfriend at Forest Hills station. Frankey Wright Jr, of Lowell, Massachusetts, died on Saturday afternoon after landing on…
Five miles from the South Dakota border, a dirt road winds through the Nebraska prairie towards a town that has almost vanished. Monowi still has its street signs, a few battered buildings and three lampposts, but there is only one person left to see them each morning. Elsie Eiler, 84, lives in a trailer beside…
According to reports, Diaz Torriente was arrested in 2023 by the State Attorney’s Office Elder and Vulnerable Adult Exploitation Task Force after a four-month investigation. A Miami-Dade man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for exploiting a 94-year-old woman by pretending to be her son, draining her finances and putting himself on the title…
