GOOD NEWS SUNDAY October 18, 2026 Six real stories this week. Here’s what went right. THE ORIGAMI CRANE A stranger taught a girl to fold a paper crane, and she waited ten years to look inside it. Rika Matsuda was 7 when she got a new bike. When she tried the brakes, nothing happened, and she slammed into a wall. A man in his 20s took her to a water fountain and helped her wash her injured foot. Then he gave her his phone to call her grandfather. He taught her to fold a crane the right way, she recalled. As they parted, he said nothing. He smiled and handed her the crane. She put it in her desk. Ten years later, at 17, Matsuda found herself thinking about that moment again. Her English teacher, Benjamin Johnson, had introduced the class to a writing assignment called My Unsung Hero. Matsuda hurried home from school and unfolded the crane to check. Inside was a well-known Japanese expression about how every encounter is precious. Roughly translated, it means “cherish the moment.” Of the man, Matsuda said, “Then I realized even more how kind and how nice of a man he was.” The account never names him. Sources: KUOW (Seattle, public radio; republishes NPR News, Oct. 7, reporter Laura Kwerel: the crash, the stranger’s help, the crane, Johnson, the message and translation, Matsuda quote) FIRE RETURNS TO MINNESOTA POINT Fire is back on Minnesota Point. The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and partners conducted a cultural prescribed burn there on Thursday, October 8. Minnesota Point is a narrow strip of land between Lake Superior and the bay in Duluth. The burn was described as covering 17 acres of woodlands. A University of Minnesota Duluth article in June said fire, called Ishkode in Ojibwe, would return to the point for the first time in more than 180 years. The article said burns stopped when the Anishinaabe people were displaced from the point. It gave no date for either. Ricky DeFoe, a Fond du Lac elder, led the opening ceremony. “The objective is to connect, reconnect to our Mother Earth,” he said. Vern Northrup, an elder and a former wildfire fighter of 25 years, lit the fire. “We’re going to help it to breathe,” he said. Valerie Ross, whose Ojibwe name is Zhaawendaagozikwe, helped with the ceremony and mapped old-growth red pine. “In our way, we believe fire is a spirit,” she said. Evan Larson, who studies fire ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, worked with Ross’s research crew. The university article credits the researchers with studying fire scars on old downed pines in Minnesota and Wisconsin Point. Larson says clearing built-up fuel lowers the risk of severe wildfire, and the forest stores carbon as it recovers. The project is supported by a three-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Sources: MPR News (Minnesota public radio, Oct. 10, reporter Melissa Olson: the burn, the Thursday date, 17 acres, DeFoe, Northrup, Ross, Larson, the cooperative agreement); University of Minnesota Duluth (university news article, June 4, David Cowardin: the 180-year figure, the displacement, the fire-scar research) ROMAN TELESCOPE SHARPENS FOCUS NASA says the main instrument on its Roman Space Telescope is performing nearly 30 percent better than the Roman team predicted. The telescope launched Aug. 30. NASA’s team measured the Wide Field Instrument’s optics at an error of just 63 nanometers RMS. The requirement for image quality was set at about 90 nanometers RMS. All of Roman’s sweeping surveys will rely on this instrument. The 30 percent figure compares the result with the team’s own prediction, not with the requirement. Both figures come from NASA’s team. The coronagraph is next. NASA says the team will attempt to demonstrate its light-blocking capabilities “in the coming weeks.” Sources: NASA (U.S. space agency, Roman mission blog, Oct. 14, author Ashley Balzer: 63 and 90 nanometer figures, the 30 percent comparison, launch date, coronagraph timing) SAVING 100 SPECIES A project launched in August is aiming to bring 100 species back from the brink of extinction. The Phoenix Species Project is led by Re:wild and the Bezos Earth Fund, in collaboration with the IUCN Species Survival Commission. It was announced on August 4. The effort begins with a $200 million commitment, and $100 million of it comes from the Bezos Earth Fund. The 100 species face imminent extinction. They come from 30 countries and include mammals, birds, fish and plants. The funding is structured to support recovery work over multiple years. Four species are highlighted. The bowmouth guitarfish is an ancient shark-like ray found in shallow waters from South Africa to Japan and Australia. The Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander lives only in a small North Carolina canyon. The Charco Azul pupfish, a freshwater fish from Mexico, is extinct in the wild. The night parrot lives in Australia’s remote deserts and dry grasslands. The announcement does not say whether $200 million is the full budget. It says the project will track population recovery and threat reduction and report updates online. Sources: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature, Aug. 4 announcement: leadership, funding, the 100 species and 30 countries, the four named species) BEAVER KITS IN THE HIGHLANDS At least two baby beavers have been born in the Scottish Highlands. They were born in the Glen Affric area, about 15 miles from Loch Ness, and are estimated to be from May or June. The births are described as the first recorded in the region in four centuries. Eurasian beavers were hunted to extinction there in the 16th century. The beavers are part of a joint re-introduction project by Trees for Life and Forestry and Land Scotland. The kits were spotted at Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin. The report says they are in good health but does not name who said so. Tobias Leask is a beaver management officer at Trees for Life. “These beaver kits symbolise a wildlife success story four centuries in the making,” he said. Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer of Beaver Trust said their arrival is a very encouraging sign that the beavers have settled well. Sources: ITV News (UK, July 29: the births, location, timing, the four-century claim, the project, Leask and Campbell-Palmer) RUNNING FOR JOAN Chris Weakley is running the London Marathon for his mother, Joan Hale. Joan died on October 23, 2024, of acute myeloid leukemia. His site says it was the TP53 mutation, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. In 2022, Chris ran the New York City Marathon. Joan was there, cheering near the finish line. Chris counts it among the highlights of his life. After Joan died, he ran again. He raised money for the American Cancer Society, and for the first time he wore some of her ashes in a locket around his neck. “She ran it with me,” he said. In April, he runs the London Marathon. For the first time, the race is being held over two days in 2027. The dates are April 24 and 25. Chris runs on April 24. His goal is to raise $10,000 for the American Cancer Society. As of October 18, his fundraising page shows $1,181.70 raised. The page says the money helps fund research, provides information for people facing cancer, and supports free rides to treatment and free lodging when care is far from home. Editor’s note: Chris is a friend, and I built his website. Today is my birthday. The best gift you could give me is a donation to his fundraiser, or a share of this story. More information here. Sources: Team Joan (Chris Weakley’s own site: Joan’s death date and diagnosis, the 2022 finish line, the goal); American Cancer Society (Chris’s fundraising page: $10,000 goal, $1,181.70 raised as of Oct. 18, how the money is used, the London Marathon); World Marathon Majors (race organizer’s announcement: the two-day format and April 24 and 25 dates); the editor’s account of what Chris has said (the locket worn after Joan’s death, the quote, and the April 24 start) “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789 Get full access to The Rest of the World Report at www.restoftheworldreport.com/subscribe
