Hello! We Americans are heading into Thanksgiving week here and my mind seems to be trying to spin everything into how I can be thankful for the many blessings I enjoy. There’s lots to be thankful for, that’s for sure. I think each of these current event stories are an example of something to be thankful for…each in a very different way. Cheers and happy weekend!
Wealthy Texan to Save Wild Horses
The wife of Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens will create a refuge for wild horses. This is in response to the federal agency that manages the animals stating that it may have to kill some to control the herds and protect the Western range. About 33,000 wild horses and burros roam the open range in 10 Western states. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wants that population to be about 27,000.
Horses that are too old or are unadoptable for some reason are sent to long-term holding facilities. The BLM now has about the same number of the animals in holding facilities as on the range. The costs of keeping animals in the holding facilities has caused officials to consider euthanasia for these animals.
Madeleine Pickens proposes purchasing about 1 million acres to be a refuge for the horses now in holding facilities. The BLM has agreed to give her the horses once she has the land. The animals brought to the refuge will be sterilized. She will be able to take the horses the BLM takes out of the wild every year as well.
Pickens is the child of British father and Lebanese mother and grew up in the Middle East. She went to school in England and France and has always had a love for the West and wild horses.
“It’s such a beautiful sight to see,” Pickens said. “This is our national heritage, and it needs to be preserved.”
Scientists Find New Penguin, Extinct for 500 Years
Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have discovered a brand new species that disappeared about 500 years ago.
Their research suggests that the first humans in New Zealand hunted the Waitaha penguin to extinction by 1500. The demise of the Waitaha allowed another kind of penguin to thrive — the yellow-eyed species that now also faces extinction.
Competition between the two penguin species may have kept the yellow-eyed penguin from expanding north. The yellow-eyed penguin is considered one of the rarest in the world. There are currently an estimated 7,000 in New Zealand and this is the focus of an extensive conservation effort.
Immigrant Worker Turns in $7500 Found in Goodwill Shoebox
Can you imagine finding $7,500 in cash stuffed in a shoebox at Goodwill????? A recent Bulgarian immigrant found this cash last week while she was at her first day of work at Goodwill.
Teodora Petrova didn’t hesitate after she found the money tucked in with a pair of donated shoes. She gave the money to a manager, who told executives for the nonprofit charity. Goodwill organization says it’s eager to find the owner of the money. The charity assumes it was left with the shoes accidentally.
If the owner isn’t found, Goodwill will use the money for the charity’s job-placement efforts.
