How to propose to a news anchor, and more

How to propose to a news anchor

A local news presenter in Huntsville, Ala., unwittingly broke the news of her own engagement on live TV this week, after her boyfriend persuaded station bosses to switch her script. Reading aloud, Jillian Pavlica told viewers that “Fox 54 has just learned that a Huntsville news anchor is being proposed to on live TV right now,” before breaking into laughter and tears as Vince Ramos walked onto the set and slipped a ring on her finger. After Pavlica said yes, the weather forecaster predicted “a hundred percent chance of tears of joy tonight.”

Two 106-year-olds received diplomas

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The average age of the nation’s high school graduates ticked up a fraction this month, as two 106-year-olds separately received their diplomas decades after attending high school. Reba Williams of Columbus, Ohio, and Fred Butler of Beverly, Mass., were each belatedly awarded high school diplomas. Butler had dropped out of school in ninth grade to look after his family, while Williams was denied a diploma in 1925 after refusing to reread a required book. Williams encouraged today’s kids to keep informed. “If they expect to get anyplace in this world, they have to learn,” she said.

Good friends turn out to be related

When Paula O’Brien met Abbey Donohoe at a party in Davenport, Iowa, in 2009, people said they looked like sisters. They hit it off despite an 11-year age gap, and became Facebook friends. But a chance posting by O’Brien this month clued Donohoe into a remarkable coincidence—the two are in fact aunt and niece. O’Brien noted the birthday of her brother’s child, who was given up for adoption, and Donohoe, who knew she was adopted, realized it was the same as hers. She has now happily reunited with her birth family. “It feels like I got a little sister,” said O’Brien.