7 minute read
That’s Odd
– which includes the local divorce rate, the weather, and crime.
Fremont ranked number one among all U.S. cities when it comes to emotional and physical well-being. The city also ranked second in community and environment and finished in the top 50 in terms of income.
Rounding out the top five happiest cities in the nation are Columbia, Maryland, and California’s San Francisco, San Jose, and Irvine. What do all these cities have in common? Interestingly, they all ranked in the top five for emotional and physical well-being in WalletHub’s study.
New York, NY, came in at the 58th spot on the list.
Cities with a high-income workforce did well when it comes to their happiness scores, with cities like Seattle, Washington (#2 in income), Charleston, South Carolina (#3), and Austin, Texas (#4), all finishing within the top 30 happiest cities in America.
When comparing the new study to a recent WalletHub report on the neediest cities in the U.S., it quickly becomes clear that when Americans have less problems, they’re happier more often. In that report, Detroit, Michigan, finished as America’s neediest city. Unsurprisingly, Detroit ranked as the least happy city – finishing dead-last out of 182 cities.
Tornado Rips Through Iowa
Residents of the Madison County town of Winterset, Iowa, were shocked over the weekend when a tornado racing through the community left at least six people dead, including two children under age five.
A seventh death was reported in Chariton in Lucas County.
During a Sunday news conference, Madison County officials released the names of the six victims who died in the tornado: Melissa Bazley, 63, Rodney Clark, 64, Cecilia Lloyd, 72, Michael Bolger, 37, Kenley Bolger, 5, and Owen Bolger, 2. Authorities added that the tornado spanned 13.7 miles.
According to Madison County Emergency Manager Diogenes Ayala, as of Sunday, six victims were still being treated for their injuries, and at least 52 homes had been damaged or destroyed by the tornado.
In a statement, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said, “Our hearts ache during this time, but I know Iowans will step up and come together to help in this time of need. They already are.”
The storms that swept through Iowa on Saturday were the deadliest to occur in the state since May 2008, when one tornado destroyed nearly 300 homes and killed nine people in the northern Iowa city of Parkersburg. Another tornado a month later killed four boys at the Little Sioux Boy Scout ranch in western Iowa.
Saturday’s storms damaged or destroyed other homes and downed powerlines and trees, causing some power outages.
The tornadoes were followed by winter storms that dropped about 5 inches of snow in central Iowa and 6.5 inches in Mount Vernon.
Alaska’s Iditarod Kicks Off
The 50th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicked off on Sunday with 49 mushers eyeing the western coast of Alaska.
The race will span two mountain ranges, the Yukon River, and the Bering Sea. The winner is expected to reach the finish line, located in Nome, after about nine days.
Last year, the race, which usually ends in Nome, began in Willow, went to Iditarod, and then doubled back to Willow, due to the pandemic. That race was won by Dallas Seavey, who, with his fifth victory, matched musher Rick Swenson’s record for highest-ever number of wins.
Swenson last won the race in 1991 and has not participated in it since 2012. Seavey, who is participating this year, is seeking to break their shared record and become the first-ever musher to hold six titles. After this year’s race, however, he expects to take a break to spend time with his daughter.
Also participating in this year’s race are two four-time champions, as well as Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Pete Kaiser, winners of the 2018 and 2019 races, respectively.
Seavey set the record fastest time for the Iditarod in 2017, crossing the line in Nome in 8 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes, and 13 seconds, while also becoming the oldest winner.
A Biden Octopus
President Joe Biden does not have to worry that his name will ever be forgotten. Scientists recently named an extinct 10-armed octopus after the current President of the United States.
The syllipsimopodi bideni was discovered in a fossil in the Bear Gulch Limestone in Fergus County, Montana, in 1988. It wasn’t until recently, though, that scientists from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and Yale University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences examined fossil.
The fossil, which is several centimeters long, indicates the syllipsimopodi bideni had a gladius, or a hard internal body part, 10 arms with suckers, two of which may have been elongated.
Vampyropods are a group of cephalopods that includes octopuses and vampire squid. Turns out, the specimen is the oldest vampyropod ever discovered.
Maybe as old as our president?
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
Missing your Walkman from the ‘80s?
Have no fear. Sony is here to help you remain as cool as you were when leg-warmers and permed hair were the height of fashion.
Recently, Sony announced the debut of two new Walkman music players, for the audiophile with an eye for nostalgia and some quite deep pockets.
The NW-WM1AM2 and NWWM1ZM2 are priced at $1,600 and an eye-watering $3,200, respectively, but those price tags come with some pretty fancy bells and whistles.
The more “affordable” NWWM1AM2 features an extremely strong aluminum alloy frame that resists to electrical noise and other interference while delivering high-quality sound.
Want more from your Walkman? The NW-WM1ZM2 is made with a 99.99% purity gold-plated oxygen-free copper chassis, prioritizing nuanced sound for a premium listening experience.
Lest you think Walkman are just about mix-tapes, both music players feature Wi-Fi capability for downloading and streaming and can read Mp3 files and files in high definition. For the true audiophile, both devices also use the 3.5mm headphone jack, have a touchscreen, and offer loads of storage.
Talk about a walk down memory lane.
Face Lift
Police were confounded when they were notified that a box of human heads was stolen from a truck that was heading to a medical re-
search lab in Denver, Colorado.
The incident took place last week, although officials are not quite sure when the box of human remains was lifted. The suspect had broken into the truck and took the container labeled “Exempt Human Specimen.”
“Pretty shocking. I guess I don’t see too many strange things happening around here usually, but you know, you never know,” Isaac Fields, who resides in the area where the box was stolen, said.
For now, police are still searching for the suspect. When they do find him, though, we’re sure that heads will roll.
Oldest Siblings
It’s nice to grow old together.
Four siblings are now being crowned by Guinness World Record for earning the record for the highest combined age. They total 383 years that they share together.
Gerry Bulger, 100, of Greenfield, WI, the eldest, was excited to learn that the sibs earned the prize again this year.
“I can’t wait to see it,” she said. “I saw last year’s issue, and I realized I’m going to be in the next coming issue.”
Bulger will be joined in the book by siblings Marjorie Gilmartin, 97; Robert Goebel, 95; and Richard Goebel, 93.
“We all ended up very healthy,” Bulger noted.
Ginny Bulger Cowan, Gerry’s daughter, said her mother’s family members help keep one another feeling young.
“When they get together it’s always a really good time. There’s a lot of humor and it’s always a party atmosphere,” Bulger Cowan said.
And that’s something that never gets old.
Overbooked
Better late than never, they say. And in some ways, it’s true. This week, a British library was overjoyed when they received an overdue library book.
Turns out that the book had been missing for 65 years. A young reader had found it abandoned on the side of the road years ago and then never got around to returning it – until this week.
The book, appropriately titled Forgotten Submarine, was found by young Jill Davies at the side of Portsmouth’s Fratton Road in 1957. Davies took the book home to read it and then return it to the proper place.
“As an avid reader, there was no way I was going to return the book until I had read it – which I did, and thoroughly enjoyed. But the one thing I never got around to doing was taking it to the library,” Davies said in a letter to the Portsmouth City Council.
The book has been sitting on a shelf in Davies’ house – even moving with her numerous times throughout the years – until she rediscovered it recently.
Thankfully, the library waived the fees that had been due on the book. We’re happy they didn’t throw the book at her for being so late.
