Weekly News Recap: March 28, 2025

Weekly News Recap: March 28, 2025

Teacher gives $20 to her students with one rule: Use it for kindness © Kristina Ulmer/Kristina Ulmer

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. -- Oscar Wilde

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • VIDEO: This Octopus’s Other Car Is a Shark (New York Times) #Sharktapus "Researchers in New Zealand saw a colorful blob on top of a shark’s head. When they looked closer, they realized it had eight arms."

  • How Alabama students went from last place to rising stars in math (NPR) Give kids toys and all kind of great things can happen. "In DeKalb County, Ala., elementary school math classes have gotten noisy. In a good way. Instead of worksheets and textbooks, children practice adding and subtracting with tiny toy bears. They multiply with plastic blocks and learn fractions using multi-colored magnetic tiles."

  • Canadian city blocks street for weeks so tiny salamanders can cross (MSN) BURLINGTON STORY Yay salamanders! "Traffic on a busy roadway in Canada has halted for several weeks — not due to construction or road repairs, but to protect a tiny, slithery creature: the Jefferson salamander. The city of Burlington, about 37 miles southwest of Toronto, has closed off a portion of King Road for the past 13 years to make way for the annual migration of the Jefferson salamander, which is endangered in Ontario."

  • Teacher gives $20 to her students with one rule: Use it for kindness (MSN) #BeKind "Kristina Ulmer’s younger sister, a waitress, worked the breakfast shift just hours before she died in a car accident in October 2014. Ulmer and her parents were called to the accident scene in northeast Philadelphia, where Ulmer asked a police officer to climb into her sister’s mangled car and retrieve her purse. It contained the tips that Katie Amodei, 29, had earned that morning — more than $100 worth [...] Ulmer told her students about her sister, then gave them each a crisp $20 bill. She’d exchanged her sister’s tips at the bank and added several hundred dollars of her own money, so she had a total of $500."

  • VIDEO: This deepsea diver was cut off from his air supply for half an hour. He survived (CBC) Now, a movie on Amazon Prime with Woody Harrelson. "Chris Lemons says the day of the accident that would nearly claim his life started like any other. 'It was very much a normal day at the office,' Lemons told The Current's Matt Galloway. For him, 'the office' was the ocean floor, where he spent six hours each day working as a saturation diver servicing offshore oil rigs [...] This particular job found him in the middle of the North Sea, working on a large structure called an oil manifold to remove a section of pipeline some 100 metres below the surface. Lemons was inside the manifold when alarms started blaring over his communication line to the main ship. The supervisor in command of the three-person dive team told Lemons and his colleagues to get back immediately to the diving bell..."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. 'Clearly a movement': How major spending on arts infrastructure, institutions is creating a very different Calgary (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY "Earlier this month, Alex Sarian attended a funding announcement for a major arts institution. It was not, however, the major arts institution where he serves as president and CEO. Sarian was one of many packed into the theatre at Contemporary Calgary to hear the provincial government pledge $40 million as part of a $150-million transformation of the former Centennial Planetarium [...] 'You look at a project like Arts Commons and it’s not a fluke, it’s not a one-off,' Sarian says. 'We’re building on the legacies that are the National Music Centre and the Central Library. Then you look at the Glenbow across the street and Contemporary Calgary — we can no longer say these are just one-offs. It is clearly a movement.' "

  2. VIDEO: National defence is often an afterthought in Canadian elections. Not this time (CBC) CANADIAN STORY This is one of the 'silver linings' of current U.S. policy -- a stronger Canada. "Issues of sovereignty, national security and defence — often footnotes, or even ignored outright in federal election campaigns — are likely to dominate the political landscape over the next five weeks as Canadians march toward the April 28 vote. The economy, health care, social programs and the environment were the tried-and-true, bread-and-butter issues politicians took to the stump for decades. The established political wisdom was that there are no votes in defence, especially defence procurement. That long-established paradigm has been thoroughly and completely upended by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and repeated threats to annex this country."

  3. VIDEO: Canada drops to 18th in 2025 World Happiness Report rank, among the 'largest losers' (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Last week, I shared where the U.S. was. We are also slipping. "Canada has slipped to 18th place in the global World Happiness Report, down three spots from last year and placing it among the 'largest losers' in happiness rankings over the last two decades, according to the annual report released Thursday. At its peak, in the 2015 report, Canada had placed fifth. Now, in 18th, Canada has dropped to its lowest-ever position since the polling began in 2005."

  4. Lacombe's Broom Tree Foundation looking to build 12-unit Attainable Housing Project as need soars (Central Alberta Online) LACOMBE STORY Congrats to all. ViTreo is proud to have worked with Broom Tree on this transformation. "The Broom Tree Foundation's 2023/2024 Attainable Housing Pilot Project was a big success. Cofounder Tamara Noordhof says the project, which wrapped up last September, was able to serve 21 women and their children in two suites located in Lacombe. All of those women were eventually transitioned into long-term affordable housing. The project was completely funded by local donors and a grant provided by the Echo Lacombe Association. Local churches have also been instrumental to the success of the organization."

  5. George Foreman, two-time heavyweight boxing champion and Olympian, dead at 76 (CBC) I loved my Foreman Grill. RIP George. We will not see your like again. "American George Foreman, one of the great second acts in sports who reclaimed the heavyweight boxing title after coming out of retirement and later became a celebrated product pitchman, died on Friday at age 76, his family said. 'A humanitarian, an Olympian, and two time heavyweight champion of the world, He was deeply respected — a force for good, a man of discipline, conviction, and a protector of his legacy, fighting tirelessly to preserve his good name — for his family,' the family said, describing Foreman in a post on Instagram." RELATED: George Foreman's famous grill wasn't always a knockout.

  6. VIDEO: NASA’s Webb Telescope Unmasks True Nature of the Cosmic Tornado (NASA) #Wow "Craving an ice cream sundae with a cherry on top? This random alignment of Herbig-Haro 49/50 — a frothy-looking outflow from a nearby protostar — with a multi-hued spiral galaxy may do the trick [...] Herbig-Haro objects are outflows produced by jets launched from a nearby, forming star. The outflows, which can extend for light-years, plow into a denser region of material. This creates shock waves, heating the material to higher temperatures. The material then cools by emitting light at visible and infrared wavelengths."

  7. 'Twain hated bullies.' Conan O'Brien receives Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center (NPR) Congrats to Conan. Well deserved. "It was a night of silliness, scatological humor, cutting political satire and poignancy as Conan O'Brien received the 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Among those celebrating O'Brien were his longtime comedy peers Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Stephen Colbert, Tracy Morgan and Bill Burr, along with others who had been influenced by his work, including John Mulaney and Kumail Nanjiani. O'Brien was announced as this year's Twain Prize winner in mid-January. A month later, President Trump ousted the Kennedy Center's president, board chair and Democratically appointed board members. In response, artists resigned from leadership roles and canceled gigs."

  8. We already knew chimpanzees were smart – but new research shows their engineering prowess exceeds all imagination (Discover Wildlife) "New research shows that chimpanzees are engineers, with an innate comprehension of material properties that help them choose the best tools for the job."

  9. Bill Gates: Within 10 years, AI will replace many doctors and teachers—humans won’t be needed ‘for most things’ (CNBC) "Over the next decade, advances in artificial intelligence will mean that humans will no longer be needed 'for most things' in the world, says Bill Gates [...] At the moment, expertise remains 'rare,' Gates explained, pointing to human specialists we still rely on in many fields, including 'a great doctor' or 'a great teacher.' But 'with AI, over the next decade, that will become free, commonplace — great medical advice, great tutoring,' Gates said."

  10. VIDEO: How I keep my 500 houseplants happy and healthy all year (CBC) #GreenestThumb "Aja Burton's house in Regina is brimming with greenery, and she couldn't be happier about it. Here are her tips and tricks for getting them to thrive ... even when the sun isn't shining."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. Why Deep-Diving Seals Don’t Drown (Mental Floss) They can hold their breath for up to two hours. What! #Crazy.

  2. Wine Pairings: Five perfect dinner party albums (Far Out Magazine) For those of you into or about to be into vinyl, this is for you. I own none of these but I am now looking for them.

  3. How to Think Like a Military Leader: 9 Lessons for Aspiring CEOs (The Startup) Excellent examples.

  4. Unlocking Note-Taking: My Proven Strategy for Digesting Books (A Hands-On Example) (The Note Strategist) This writer's process takes you through a detailed path. Worth the read if you really want to retain what you read.

  5. VIDEO: LITERATURE - Oscar Wilde (YouTube) The story behind the playwright and author who wrote 'The Importance of Being Ernest' and 'The Picture of Dorian Gray.' Worth a watch.

  6. 15 breathtaking images from the Nature Photography Awards (Popular Science) Gorgeous.

  7. How to Get Better at Delegating (Harvard Business Review) Great (and evidence-based) article on how to delegate better.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Netflix founder donates $50 million to Bowdoin to study AI (Portland Press Herald) "Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings is donating $50 million to Bowdoin College, his alma mater, to launch an initiative for the study of artificial [intelligence.]"

  2. Rodan Family Foundation commits $15 million to Milken Community School (Philanthropy News Digest) "The Rodan Family Foundation has awarded a $15 million grant to the Milken Community School in [Los Angeles.]"

  3. University of Oklahoma receives $6 million for student scholarships (Philanthropy News Digest) "The University of Oklahoma (OU) has announced a $6 million gift from entrepreneurs Leo Mingee and Lauren Von Mingee to establish a scholarship for first-generation students at the Price College of Business."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo President & CEO Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca.

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