Alumna leaves Lake Forest College $7 million, and more

Alumna leaves Lake Forest College $7 million

An alumna of apparently modest means shocked administrators at Illinois’ Lake Forest College by leaving the school $7 million when she died. Grace Groner, who died in January, at age 100, occasionally had donated small amounts to the college. But no one at the school realized she had amassed such a fortune after 43 years of secretarial work. Groner lived frugally, her lawyer said, shopping for clothes at rummage sales and living in a small house, which she also left to the college. It will be used to provide housing for the scholarship students who are aided by her bequest.

Female World War II pilots receive Congressional Gold Medal

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Hundreds of women who flew airplanes for the U.S. military in World War II were finally recognized this week, receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest civilian award, at a ceremony in Washington. WASPs—Women Airforce Service Pilots—were barred from combat, but they flew thousands of missions starting in 1943. Overcoming a highly selective recruitment process, stigma, and a paucity of benefits, 1,000 WASPs flew a total of 60 million miles, paying for their own lodging, food, and uniforms. “You answered the call of duty,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski told the group, “and you did it on your own dime.”

California condors produce an egg

For the first time in a century, a pair of California condors living in a wildlife reserve in California has produced an egg. It’s the latest good news in the effort to restore the nearly extinct majestic birds to their native regions across California and the Southwest. In 1982, the last 22 California condors were placed in a captive breeding program, and today, there are about 350 of them in the world, with about 180 flying free in three locations in California and Arizona. Wildlife officials are optimistic that a new hatchling will soon join that small but growing population.