GOOD

“Kids and their phones these days” has been a complaint ever since the first cellular phone was introduced. However, there has been growing concern over the amount of time children spend not just on their phone, but scrolling through social media. The state of New York is hoping to address this issue through their finalized SAFE for Kids Act. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act aims to hold social media companies more accountable for the time children spend on their apps.

Michaela Haas for Reasons to be Cheerful When musician David Byrne, the founder of Reasons to be Cheerful, performed at the sold-out Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles last fall, the entire crowd was on its feet for almost the entire show. They danced enthusiastically for nearly two hours straight, feeling a kind of unfiltered joy that’s rare to access in everyday life. The experience was a reminder of a long-dormant love of dance.

Trevor Mahoney Summer 2026 is shaping up to be one of the densest live music seasons in recent years. From packed festival calendars to a resurgent touring industry, a handful of breakout U.S. states are finally getting the traffic they deserve. Not all states are created equal when it comes to live music density, though.

Firefighter Maddie Geer was shocked when she heard the news. Another firefighter was diagnosed with stage five kidney failure out of nowhere. She rushed to volunteer her kidney to save her colleague’s life. That colleague also happened to be her husband. Geer and her husband, Robert Coleman Jr., fell in love while training to become firefighters at different stations. Last year, they got married.

Jeff Temple Nearly every state requires drivers to carry auto liability insurance, yet millions of motorists are still on the road without it. In 2023, 15.4% of U.S. drivers were uninsured, according to the Insurance Research Council, meaning more than 1 in 7 motorists lacked coverage that could pay for injuries or damage they caused in a crash. The rate has increased since 2017 and remains elevated after a pandemic-era jump that affected nearly every state.

Around 40 years ago, a young elephant named Julie was captured in Africa. Since 1988, she has performed with the Victor Hugo Cardinali Circus. Now, as the last circus elephant in Portugal, she’s finally getting the retirement she deserves—becoming the first resident of the Pangea Elephant Sanctuary. In 2018, Portugal officially banned wild animals from performing in circuses. The law was fully implemented in 2024 with the circus’s full cooperation.

Arizona middle schoolers that were a part of Greenway Middle School’s “After the Bell” summer program were really looking forward to their field trip. However, funding for their end-of-summer field trip fell through. That’s when School Resource Officer Sean Reavie stepped in. Using money from his own pocket, Reavie rented out all 144 seats at a local movie theater so the kids could enjoy a screening of Toy Story 5. The movie, the snacks, the sodas, all on him.

Playing sports has been a common childhood experience that has led to lifelong hobbies, exercise, and forming lasting friendships. However, it’s gotten less common in recent years. Sign-up fees, uniforms, and many other expenses have led to most low-income families unable to afford to have their kids play. With that in mind, the city of Oakland, California believes they found a solution: a library. No, not the book kind.

A teenager is being praised for pulling off a heroic act straight out of an American western film. The boy saved a man from drowning by lassoing him like a cowboy. Fourteen-year-old Jory Thomas was just visiting with his grandparents on their campground near Yellowstone River. Jory had his lariat to practice the roping skills he’d been learning for the past year. That’s when he heard cries for help from the nearby river. “We all heard, ‘Help, help,’” Jory said to KTVQ News.

It’s pretty commonly known, and not very startling, that free-ranging cats eat birds and small rodents. But the degree to which they eat insects might surprise you. We are biologists who for many years have been trying to figure out what feral or outdoor-roaming pet cats eat outside.