Weekly News Recap: January 3, 2025

Weekly News Recap: January 3, 2025

Jimmy Carter, the Georgia peanut farmer who was elected as the 39th U.S. president and later earned a Nobel Peace Prize as a global champion of human rights, has died. He was 100.

I wish I had known when I was in the White House what I know now about the Third World. -- Jimmy Carter

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • 'Car wash cat' reunited with Alberta family after 7 years away (CBC) SPRUCE GROVE STORY And the cat came back (but not the very next day). #HappyReunion "An Alberta feline nicknamed the 'car wash cat' has been reunited with her family seven years after she vanished from home. Sophie returned in time for the holidays, thanks to community volunteers and Good Samaritans who helped her survive a prolonged stay on the streets of Spruce Grove, west of Edmonton."

  • VIDEO: Will you marry me? Canadians send CBC their NYE marriage proposals (CBC) CANADIAN STORY I hope they all said yes! "Canada Live! Countdown 2025 hosts Adrienne Arsenault and Jann Arden read some of the marriage proposals Canadians sent to CBC during the New Year’s Eve special."

  • VIDEO: An internet-famous dog survives a rare parasite (CBC) RED DEER STORY For dog lovers everywhere, this is a lovely story. "See how a volleyball-sized cyst helped Bunsen, a seven-year-old Bernese mountain dog, become a marvel to veterinarians."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Federal government to extend deadline for charitable donation tax deductions (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "The federal government plans to extend the deadline for claiming charitable donations on tax returns through to the end of February. The announcement from Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc comes nearly a week after the premiers called on Justin Trudeau's government to make the move. A statement from LeBlanc's office says the extension will help ease the effects of the four-week Canada Post strike."

  2. “Unprecedented” decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts (Ars Technica) I debated putting this story in the Some Good News section because...it really is very good news. "Teen drug use continued to fall in 2024, extending a dramatic decline spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic that experts expected would reverse now that the acute phase of the global crisis is well over. But, according to data released [...] the number of eighth, 10th, and 12th graders who collectively abstained from the use of alcohol, marijuana, or nicotine hit a new high this year."

  3. At the Florida Senior Games, pickleball is the crown jewel. Here's why (NPR) Feels very ....pickleball to me. "At the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus on a recent Tuesday morning, dozens of pickleball players gathered around tournament director Aaron Del Mar. Dressed in a neon green shirt, with a walkie-talkie microphone clipped to his chest, Del Mar bellowed out instructions, before dispatching the players across two dozen indoor courts. 'We're going to be running a round-robin system today,' he told the group. 'You may be playing against teams that may be younger or older than you. If you don't want to play them, you don't have to.' "

  4. VIDEO: Not your grandma's Shostakovich: How classical music is attracting younger audiences (CBC) #Yay "It's the headline violinists, bassoonists and bangers of big expensive drums look for each year: classical music is back, and young people like it again. To be fair, the data mostly checks out: According to a 2022 study from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), people under 35 are actually more likely to listen to classical music than their parents."

  5. VIDEO: 5 modern parenting trends we're more than ready to ditch in 2025 (CBC) I know I am happy to see the back of these. "What a year 2024 was for parents. What a … time. Sure, there were some positive moments in the world of parenting news that had us cheering. Bluey made us weep happy tears. The U.S. surgeon general's warning about parental stress helped many of us feel less alone. Roblox added more parental controls. Hooray! [...] So, from Sephora kids and 'sharenting' to lying on the grocery store floor next to your screaming toddler, here are all the modern parenting trends we're happy to say "see ya!" to in 2025."

  6. Why Gen Z is sparking a digital camera renaissance (CBC) CANADIAN CONTENT Our daughter loves my old Sony digital camera. "A digital camera may have been on a holiday gift wish list of a Gen Z in your life this season. If you're wondering why someone between the ages of 12 and 27 would want an outdated piece of technology, you're probably not doomscrolling enough, because digital point-and-shoots are trendy again and Gen Z is driving up their popularity in the same way they have with vinyl and film cameras."

  7. VIDEO: What's the most common 2025 New Year's resolution? Not calling it a resolution (CBC) I am definitely leaning towards a bingo card for 2025. "But as 2025 approaches, are people still making New Year's resolutions? They are, although a lot of people are now calling them vision boards [...] On Pinterest, the search terms 'vision board 2025' and '2025 bingo card' are currently trending in Canada. This is especially true among Pinterest users who identify as female, and those age 18 to 34."

  8. Museum of Bad Gifts an homage to the awkward, the unwanted and the inappropriate (CBC) TORONTO STORY #Lolz "This season of gift-giving, the awkward, the unwanted and the inappropriate are being saved from the garbage heap by four young artists who've just opened the Museum of Bad Gifts [...] Stephanie Avery, Shari Kasman, Martin Reis, and Sean Martindale came up with the idea, as a tongue-in-cheek way of answering the nagging question that comes up every year at this time: what to do with the stuff we never asked for, given by a person we never liked, that now sits in a dark corner, never to be seen again?"

  9. As Canada marks 50 years of Celsius, country still measuring in mash-up of metric and Imperial (CBC) CANADIAN STORY It was one of the most confusing parts of my early engineering education. But, now, I love the cultural aspect of our mixed bag of measurement norms. "Environment Canada's use of Celsius marks its 50th anniversary in 2025. It was the catalyst for a lengthy national metric conversion that abruptly ended a decade after it began. The result is seen and felt every day. Canadians wear clothes measured in inches and buy gas by the litre. We drink from beer cans measures in millilitres and step on bathroom scales that weigh us in pounds. We eat cereal by the gram but sub sandwiches by the foot. Give someone an inch, and they'll take a kilometre."

  10. VIDEO: Jimmy Carter, 39th U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, dead at 100 (CBC) I always admired him and his wife Roslyn. RIP President Carter, we will not see your like again. "Jimmy Carter, the Georgia peanut farmer who was elected as the 39th U.S. president and later earned a Nobel Peace Prize as a global champion of human rights, has died. He was 100."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. The Most Important Photography Settings are not Settings at all (Live View) What are your life settings?

  2. The True Totality of ‘Yoga’ Most Today Actually Have No Idea About (In Fitness And In Health) This is for yoga nerds (I am yoga nerd adjacent).

  3. The secret reason the USA beat the USSR to the Moon (Starts With A Bang) A great read.

  4. What’s happened to Spotify Wrapped? (UX Design) Everybody seems to be doing a 'Wrapped,' some better than others (I liked my Strava wrapped but the categories were confusing). Here is a deep dive into the OG of Wrapped.

  5. The Definitive Guide to How Much Water You Should Drink (F. Perry Wilson) I am a not a water drinker but I want to be, but I am confused. This article helped (sort of).

  6. Why you should consider a Bullet Journal instead of a planner for the New Year (Darwin Cruz) Bullet journals are awesome if you can get to a place where 'it just works,' which is harder than it sounds.

  7. What Makes Book Clubs So Important? (Counter Arts) I am definitely joining a book club this year (and maybe a writing club).

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Former MSU trustee and siblings donate $1M to honor parents, dorm where they met (Lansing State Journal) I often share with clients how important 'place' is in giving decisions. "Dave Porteous knew he had the perfect opportunity to honor his parents when he heard about the renovations underway at Michigan State University's Campbell Hall. 'I wasn't sure if my sister and my brother would agree, or what level of commitment they wanted to make,' he said. Porteous, an MSU graduate and former trustee, immediately called his sister, Ruth, and his brother, Bill. He asked if they'd be interested in a donation to the university. Both were also MSU graduates, and both said yes."

  2. Annie E. Casey Foundation invests $3 million to increase renter wealth (Philanthropy News Digest) "The Annie E. Casey Foundation has announced a $3 million impact investment in the Renter Wealth Creation Fund, which aims to preserve affordable housing while helping renters build assets and savings."

  3. Wake Forest's Center for Entrepreneurship receives $30M donation (wfdd) "In early December, Wake Forest University received a whopping $30 million donation for its Center for Entrepreneurship. [T]he money, which was gifted by an anonymous donor, will go toward improving every aspect of the program from course offerings to class size."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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