The week's good news: March 1, 2018

1. Little Miss Flint raises $16,000 so local kids can see Black Panther

Hundreds of kids in Flint, Michigan, were treated to a day at the movies recently, courtesy of Little Miss Flint. Mari Copeny, 10, raised more than $16,000 through a GoFundMe campaign so local children could see Black Panther. Working with the Flint Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and churches, she put together a list of kids who would benefit from seeing the film, paid for 150 tickets at the Rave Cinema in Flint Township, and distributed 650 tickets on gift cards. Copeny told MLive that kids in Flint "always see themselves portrayed in the media as victims," and Black Panther gives them a chance to "see themselves represented on the big screen as royalty and heroes." Each child also received a letter encouraging them to chase their dreams, and a comic book featuring a person of color as the hero.

MLive

2. Iowa point guard refuses to break fallen player's free-throw record

After making 34 consecutive free throws, University of Iowa point guard Jordan Bohannon had his reasons for intentionally missing the shot that would have set a school record. During Sunday's game against Northwestern, Bohannon, a sophomore, tied former player Chris Street's existing record. Street was killed in a car accident in 1993 during his junior year, and Bohannon decided he didn't want to shatter the legend's record, preferring to tie. Iowa had the lead, and when he was up for a free throw, Bohannon missed, having faith the team wouldn't need the point for the win. "I know where the record deserves to stand, and that's in Chris' name," he told the Des Moines Register. Iowa won 77-70, and when the game was over, Street's parents hugged Bohannon. "What a good kid," Patty Street said. "That was so special that he thought of Christopher and that record."

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Des Moines Register

3. Nature loving-family donates 204 acres of forest to nonprofit

Pamela and John McPherson had so many good memories of going on hikes, cross-country skiing, and hunting in the forest next to their home in Groton, New Hampshire. So when a 204-acre parcel of land came up for sale, they purchased it and immediately donated it to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. The McPherson family bought their cabin near the Cockermouth Forest in 1992, and said they did not want to see the land, which is hilly and packed with trees and streams, developed. As nature lovers, they wanted others to be able to enjoy the land, and felt it was best to give it to the Society, which was founded in 1901 and has helped conserve more than 1 million acres of land in New Hampshire.

The Associated Press

4. Rare identical triplets born in Missouri

Nicole and Caleb Choge were excited to find out they were expecting another baby, surprised when told they were having more than one, and shocked when they ultimately welcomed rare identical triplets. The baby boys — Ron, Elkanah, and Abishai — were born last Thursday, six weeks premature, and are "doing wonderfully," doctors at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, said. Nicole and Caleb also have a toddler son, and Caleb told The Kansas City Star the three of them "prayed for another child. And then, I like to say, God answered everybody's prayer: one, two, and three." Reality has slowly started to settle in for the new dad of four, who told the Star, "Man, I need a bigger car." A 2003 study in the Journal of Biosocial Science found that identical triplets happen only 20 to 30 times per 1 million births.

Kansas City Star

5. Amateur astronomer accidentally witnesses the birth of a supernova

A self-taught astronomer has won the cosmic lottery. Argentine locksmith Victor Buso, 58, was photographing the stars from his Rosario rooftop when he witnessed what no scientist had ever seen before: the birth of a supernova. Until then, the burst of light that shines before a star explodes had only been observed in computer models. The sighting was many years in the making for Buso, who began building telescopes out of tin cans, Play-Doh, and magnifying glasses as early as age 11. "In many moments you search and ask yourself, why do I do this?" Buso told The Washington Post. It "all clicked" that night, he said.

Nature The Washington Post