Fishermen pull 11,000 pounds of metal from Spokane River


This is a win-win for Spokane, Washington.
Since June, a group called H20 Magnet Fortunes has pulled 11,000 pounds of metal from the Spokane River, KXLY reports. The magnet fisherman have spent every weekend down at the river, hooking everything from manhole covers to cell phones. They will now turn in the metal for recycling money, with all proceeds going to SOAR, an organization that provides in-home care and therapy for children with autism and special needs.
H20 Magnet Fortunes founder Paul Swanson told KXLY that just because they are turning in the scrap metal, it doesn't mean their work is done, and they will continue to go magnet fishing until the river is clean. A local recycling facility has offered to pay double the usual price for prepared iron, in order to give SOAR an added boost. Swanson said he's contacted Guinness World Records, as this is likely a record for most metal collected by a magnet fishing club. Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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