Top 10 Good News Stories of the Week
<OL><LI class=style3>Americans Set Record for Charity in 2006
"Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year, setting a record and besting the 2005 total that had been boosted by a surge in aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the Asian tsunami." (AP via USA Today) <LI class=style3>Violence Drops Dramatically in Iraq After Alliance is Formed
"Violence in Iraq's al-Anbar province has dropped dramatically since the beginning of the year, due in large part to friendly relations between coalition forces and 11 local sheikhs who have decided to ally with the U.S. in the fight against al-Qaida." (NPR)
<LI class=style3>Bald Eagle Soars Off Endangered List: 11,000 Pairs From Only 417
The bald eagle population in the lower 48 states reached 11,040 pairs in 2007. This is a nearly 1,300-pair increase over 2006 and represents a shining success after just 417 pairs remained in 1963. This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally removed the bald eagle from the list of threatened species entirely. <LI class=style3>Chernobyl Area Becomes Wildlife Haven
Two decades after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, when a radioactive cloud was thought to have created a nuclear dead zone, dense forests have reclaimed farm fields and town courtyards, and wildlife such as moose -- and lynx, which is rarely sighted in the rest of Europe -- thrive. (AP) <LI class=style3>Honest Airport Worker Lands Handsome Reward
While working at his second job with an airline in Kansas City, Robert Lewis peeked into a bag to find "$266,000 worth of individually wrapped diamond rings and wedding bands." He turned the sack over to police, and for his honesty he received a $10,000 reward from the jewelry store that owned them. (AP) <LI class=style3>A Greener Way to Grow Green Lawns<A href="http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/content/view/1486/224/" target=_blank rel=nofollow>