The week's good news: Jan. 4, 2023
It wasn't all bad!
![A group of men and women run through a green park](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GZdZkjB2JgkBSSSFBrZZGj-415-80.jpg)
- Run club promotes making connections over competition
- Arizona elementary school students surprise strangers with their generosity
- Neighbors form a bond through their monthly 'dinner and a show'
- Beavers 'back home again' after being released into California waters
- Elusive spider rediscovered in Portugal after nearly a century
Run club promotes making connections over competition
With this running club, athleticism comes second. The Left Handed Giant Run Club was founded in Bristol, England, in 2019 by Jay Medway. She started it because other running clubs were "intimidating," Medway told BBC News, and she wanted to create an inclusive space where everyone felt encouraged and supported. Members talk while they run, and give each other advice or just offer their ears. "Nobody's left behind, and we're all in it together and it's more about talking to the person rather than the pace," Medway said. There are about 160 runners who meet twice a week, including Cat Hicks, who joined after feeling like she wasn't "fast enough or quick enough" for the competitive clubs. The Left Handed Giant Run club gives her a boost, she said, and it's "really important to make sure that I'm exercising my brain as well as my body."
Arizona elementary school students surprise strangers with their generosity
To teach his students about kindness and giving back, Phoenix elementary school teacher Derek Brown showed the kids a CBS News "On the Road" segment about an anonymous businessman who gives strangers $100 bills during the holidays. The students were impressed, and quickly realized they could do something similar. They started a Secret Santa Club, and raised $8,000 in donations from family, friends and local businesses. Before Christmas, they went out into the community and gave money to people like Deidre Taylor, who was recently diagnosed with cancer and only had $20 in her bank account. "You guys are amazing," Taylor said. The kids became emotional when they saw how they were changing lives, with student Evangeline D'Agostino telling CBS News, "Their joy — that's the gift to you." Brown said it is his hope that "this memory [is] so strong that it now drives them every day, in everything they do."
Neighbors form a bond through their monthly 'dinner and a show'
After hearing their neighbor play the piano, Lydia Pender and her husband Andy knew they needed to meet the talented musician next door. The couple, who had just moved to Honolulu, introduced themselves to 97-year-old Derek Peart, and learned he could play the piano by heart. They hit it off immediately, and began inviting Peart over for dinner. One night they watched a Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett television special, and came up with an idea: the Penders would provide dinner and Peart would handle entertainment. Once a month, the Penders come over with Peart's favorite pizza, and he plays songs on the piano, even taking requests. "When they sit down, and when I see them appreciate what I'm playing, I feel good," Peart told Good Morning America. Lydia has shared some of Peart's performances on TikTok, and one video received more than 1 million views. "He's just the greatest person, and it's been such a joy getting close with him and getting to know him, and also getting to know him through music," she said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Beavers 'back home again' after being released into California waters
The beavers are back. In late 2023, seven beavers were released into the water that runs through the Tásmam Koyóm tribal community in Plumas County, California. Beavers are a "keystone species," California Department of Fish and Wildlife Environmental Program Manager Valerie Cook told the Sacramento Bee, and the goal is for the animals to re-establish a breeding population. This was the first time in nearly eight decades that beavers were released into California waters, and they "really play a critical ecosystem management role," Cook said, with their ability to do things like increase groundwater recharge. Beavers used to be plentiful in the area, and it is "good to have them back home again," Ben Cunningham, chairman of the Maidu Summit Consortium and a Northeastern Maidu, said. "The beavers are back where they belong."
Elusive spider rediscovered in Portugal after nearly a century
A small spider that was feared to have become extinct more than 90 years ago has been rediscovered by conservationists in northern Portugal. Dubbed the world's shyest spider, Fagilde's trapdoor spiders live underground in burrows, and use web silk, leaf litter and soil to build hinged round doors for their homes. The conservationists discovered a female of the species by painstakingly examining anything circular in the ground that could be a spider's door. "The finding was pretty much like winning the lottery while getting hit by lightning," researcher Sergio Henriques told New Scientist.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Paloma recipe: the cocktail of the summer
The Week Recommends This refreshing drink balances the fresh and fizzy taste of grapefruit soda with a subtle flavour of smooth tequila
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Mushroom edibles are tripping up users
the explainer The psychedelics can sometimes have questionable components
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Prisons are simply not prepared for extreme heat
Under the radar Inmates are at severe risk of heat-related illness
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Visiting Maui a year after the Lahaina fire
In Depth The aloha spirit endures
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
6 coastal homes in Cape Cod
Feature Featuring a wall of glass in Mashpee and an undulating roofline in Wellfleet
By The Week Staff Published
-
Peng Shepherd's 6 favorite works with themes of magical realism
Feature The author recommends works by Susanna Clarke, George Saunders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Get your kitsch on Route 66
The Week Recommends These funky stops along America's Mother Road are worth a pop-over and a photo op
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Laura van den Berg's 6 favorite books with hidden secrets
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Lockwood, Gillian Flynn, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 charming homes in saltbox style
Feature Featuring an outdoor shower in Massachusetts and antique stone walls in New York
By The Week Staff Published
-
10 spectacular hotels for golfers that have just the right swing
The Week Recommends These properties are stunners off the links and on
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Forget the overtourism of the Amalfi Coast and head to Madeira, Portugal
The Week Recommends Try this stunning alternative in the Atlantic Ocean
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published