Looking back over the past weeks and to the weeks ahead – to rate the noteworthy, the cringeworthy, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly amazing.
Hero does the right thing, despite fears of getting in trouble
As we know, citizens do not have the power to detain anyone, no matter what illegal endeavours they may be pursuing but sometimes you can’t just stand back and watch. This occurred in frankly hilarious style in Cambridge last week, where not only did one citizen hero chase down a burglar but a few.
Billy Jacobson witnessed a robbery at a Cambridge jeweller and decided to give chase, despite fears that he may get in trouble. Billy is a recent immigrant to New Zealand from South Africa and was worried such an act may jeopardise his residency application. Throwing caution to the wind, Billy apprehended the thief and the stolen goods were returned.
But here’s where the tale gets comedic. “‘Jacobson was not the only one who offered help to Yeates. ‘A homeless man was running beside me with his can of beer saying I’ll catch him for 20 bucks. Apparently two other people were chasing with me too.'” (Source: “Always the right time to catch a thief – new Kiwi collars crim,” by Avina Vidyadharan, 17th May, www.waikatotimes.co.nz).
5 stars – doing the right thing despite fears of getting into strife – great stuff.
Footballer buys the whole crowd a beer
German footballer, Marco Reus shelled out to pick up the tab for his last game at home as a Borussia Dortmund player. In a rather touching gesture, Reus paid for everyone of drinking age amongst the 81,000 crowd to have a few beers on him.
“’It was planned in advance,’ Reus said. ‘It was perfect, I’m unbelievably grateful for all the love people have shown me.’ Before treating everyone to a drink, he treated them on the field to a goal and setting up another in the 4-0 win over Darmstadt.” (Source: “Borussia Dortmund icon Marco Reus buys beer for whole stadium in farewell game,” May 19th, www.stuff.co.nz).
It’s nice to see players giving something back to their fans, more than the performances they put in week to week and I imagine the tab was pretty hefty. Though after 12 years at the club one could imagine Reus also felt a debt of gratitude to those who had cheered him on and supported him for so long.
5 stars – a touching gesture.
Beavers return to London after 400 year absence
This story caught me unawares – not only did I not know that beavers hadn’t been in the UK for 400 years, I didn’t know that they had ever been there at all. So, after being hunted to extinction in Elizabethan times, the furry, industrious characters were reintroduced as part of a rewilding programme last year.
“’The beavers absolutely love it here,’ says Nadya Mirochnitchenko, an ecologist and coordinator for Ealing Wildlife Group, a volunteer-run community organization that is leading a scheme to reintroduce them. “In fact, they are getting kinda chubby.’ The family of five beavers — a breeding pair and three offspring — were transported from Scotland by the Beaver Tust, a UK-based nonprofit, and released in Paradise Fields, a leafy, eight-hectare public park in West London, at an event attended by the mayor of London.
“’Beavers are a keystone species,’ adds Mirochnitchenko. ‘That means they have a disproportionately large impact on ecosystems. They alleviate flooding, they boost biodiversity, they keep everything in check. They’re like ecosystem engineers.'” (Source: “Beavers Are Back in London — and They’re Thriving,” by Peter Yeung, 13th May, www.reasonstobecheerful.world).
5 stars – returning animals to a habitat they were hounded from from humans is fantastic.
