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The best good news stories from June
June was filled with so much good news, it’s easy to overlook some of it!
Today, we’re highlighting stories from the past month of Goodnewsletters — to help make sure you catch all the good news you might have missed.
Photo: Courtesy of Ruck You Match/Instagram
A pro rugby player organized a trans vs. cisgender match to protest athlete bans through friendly competition
“The Ruck You Match” put trans players toe to toe with cisgender women to disprove the supposed threat trans athletes present to their cis counterparts.
LGBTQ+ advocates made ‘petty’ Pride merch to protest Utah’s flag ban and help community members
In response to a new state law banning certain flags, Salt Lake City’s mayor introduced three new “official” city flags that incorporate the city’s existing flag design into new iterations that celebrate LGBTQ+ pride, trans pride, and Juneteenth.
Providing ‘a huge morale boost,’ rare sightings of ‘blue ghosts’ helped Asheville rebuild months after Hurricane Helene
Every summer, bioluminescent bugs fill the forests with a steady glow of soft blueish-white light, attracting thousands of tourists to the national park and surrounding woods — and this year, that boost is very much needed.
Denali National Park debuted its ‘sled dog puppy cam’ with 5 new recruits
The Denali Kennels have been the only sled dog kennel in the NPS for over 103 years, and one of the oldest in the U.S. as a whole. Each year, Denali aims to breed or adopt one litter of sled dogs.
In an effort to help save public lands, an artist displayed lit-up protest statements at night on Yellowstone National Park
Swedish-American artist and activist Michele Pred has been creating guerrilla public art installations across the United States for years, and her latest at Yellowstone projects messages like “Money for parks, not oligarchs.”
More than 70 art and history sites have been destroyed in Gaza — so Europe opened its first Palestinian art museum
While the destruction in Gaza continues, allies across the globe are working to preserve important cultural artifacts and contemporary art from Palestine.
As the U.S. government boosts fossil fuels, mayors in cities like Cleveland, Ohio, are tackling climate change on a local level
Together with ambitious state governments, hundreds of cities large and small are pursuing climate action plans — documents that lay out how they will reduce emissions and adapt to extreme weather — with or without support from the feds.
Florida passed a new state law inspired by a dog that was chained to a fence during Hurricane Milton
The bull terrier, who was later named “Trooper,” was seen in a viral video chained to a fence while belly-deep in water. After being taken into the Florida Humane Society’s care, he officially found his forever home following an influx of applications.
A trio of teen scientists just won a $50k prize for the brain-controlled prosthetic leg they designed for their friend
Their version is powered by the wearer’s brain, not limbs, translating the wearer’s brain signals through an EEG headband, telling it how the wearer wants to move, and the prosthetic uses its motors to support that movement.
A UK startup recycles pet ashes into artificial reefs to save marine life — and human remains are next
Their first project placed 24 memorial reefs for pet owners in the United States and U.K. It was a huge success, attracting 84 fish species and achieving fish diversity “14 times greater than nearby degraded areas.”
Spotify is working with Noah Kahan and Chappell Roan to provide free therapy to small artists
In a first-of-its-kind partnership, major streaming platform Spotify has partnered with Backline, a nonprofit that connects music industry professionals and their families with mental health resources.
Scientists discovered a new butterfly species that’s been ‘shaped by 40,000 years of evolutionary solitude’
The important discovery was given the common name of “curiously isolated hairstreak,” and there was “no evidence of contemporary or recent gene flow” between another hairstreak species, indicating that it had evolved in isolation.
Park rangers in a Senegalese national park celebrated a beloved ‘Ghost elephant’ making a rare appearance
In 2019, a beloved African forest elephant named Ousmane was thought to be only one of five to 10 elephants left living in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park — but hadn’t been seen since.
Netflix released a documentary about a prison’s quilting club. Now, they’re ‘overwhelmed’ with donations
The 33-minute documentary, directed by Jenifer McShane and released in 2024, tells the story of a group of men in a maximum security prison in Missouri who sew beautiful, personalized quilts for foster children.
The Minnesota shooting also took the life of the lawmaker’s dog — donations poured in to a local service dog training program
Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman, her husband, and their family dog, Gilbert, were fatally shot in a “politically motivated” attack. A nonprofit has become an outlet for people to share their grief.
College students in Louisiana invented a ‘smart car seat’ to prevent hot car deaths in infants
The project started as a graduation requirement for three LSU seniors and grew into something much more meaningful — a means to help bring the average number of children who die in hot cars every summer in the U.S. from 37 to zero.
A ‘breakthrough,’ twice-a-year HIV prevention drug got FDA approval
Scientists behind the drug say it’s the “best tool yet in helping end the HIV epidemic for everyone, everywhere.” And experts agree, hailing lenacapavir as a “breakthrough.”
During a routine research dive, scientists discovered a new methane-eating deep sea spider species
In addition to living exclusively in methane seeps and hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, the Sericosura sea spiders displayed a curious behavior: They consumed methane gas.
A student-led group in LA is delivering groceries to people sheltering at home amidst ongoing immigration raids
Amid continuing immigration raids in the L.A. community, what started with about 10 volunteers gathering and sorting donations has grown to more than 500 people reaching out to join in and volunteer. They’ve made deliveries to over 200 families so far.
A majority of people around the world support a ‘carbon tax’ — even if they’re the ones paying it
Japan showed the highest support, with 94% of respondents supporting a carbon tax. The policy was least popular in the U.S., but still half of those surveyed said they’d support it.
Americans are sharing their hopes for the country on ‘wish walls’ nationwide — the responses are surprisingly unifying
In a project designed by 26-year-old artist Katie Costa and developed by Made By Us, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement among Gen-Z, thousands are responding.
Two companies collaborated to create a plastic-free cheese packaging that biodegrades in 300 days, not 1,000 years
As an alternative to single-use plastic wrapping, Ogilvy Colombia and Nestlé Central America created “Self-Packing Cheese” that’s entirely made from cheese waste and whey.
Yosemite mules are returning to help patrol and take care of the national park this summer
Part of the country’s third-oldest national park since 1917, the mules help rangers patrol the park, carrying supplies for trail crews as they oversee 800 miles of trail and helping workers who are clearing trails of downed trees.