1. Penguin Becomes ‘Guide Bird’ Companion For Zoo Pal Suffering with Cataracts
A penguin has become a ‘guide-bird’ for a fellow African Penguin with poor eyesight, escorting her around their enclosure to get food and build confidence.
The animal helper named ‘Penguin’ has bonded with ‘Squid’ the three-year-old that suffers from cataracts, a debilitating condition that clouds the lens of the eye.
Squid is often disoriented during busy feeding times and relies on Penguin’s “unwavering calmness”.
Penguin has become Squid’s beacon, guiding her around the enclosure and acting as her ‘eyes’.
The hand-reared birds are now inseparable—to the delight of their human keepers at Birdworld who are sharing their remarkable relationship.
2. Man Awarded for Quick Rescue Response to House Fire in the Washington Mountains
A humble maintenance worker for the Washington State DoT is being honored for rescuing several people from an intense blaze.
The story comes from Blewett Pass on US 97 where Brandon Haight was checking conditions on a route he frequents for his work. Amid the snow and the failing light, he noticed a red glow coming from a residential area and black smoke swirling up among the pines.
Pulling over, he discovered a house had caught fire. Thinking quickly, Haight radioed the traffic management center, since there is typically no mobile phone service in that section of Blewett Pass.
With fire and rescue made aware of the emergency, Haight flew to the scene and began banging on the doors and windows of the home yelling “fire!”
All the residents had made their escape just minutes before the whole house was engulfed in flames and spread to a nearby RV, but Haight had warned the man inside it as well, and all those present cleared the area.
3. Third-Generation Craftsman Goes Viral–Now has Millions Watching Him Fix Shoes as ‘America’s Cobbler’
“You know what you call it [when] a cobbler is just getting waves and waves of shoes in? A ‘shoenami.’”
This A+ dad joke can be attributed to Jim McFarland, aka ‘America’s Cobbler’—a viral internet star who has millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube that tune in to watch him fix shoes.
Some men are born to do a job, and with a story about being teethed as an infant on a piece of shoe leather, McFarland’s title seems well-earned.
“My great uncle trained my grandfather,” McFarland told Fox News 13’s Extraordinary Ordinary segment.
“He had a shop in Anderson, Indiana, around 1900. My grandfather, by the time he was about 20, had his own shop in Hamilton, Ohio around 1918. In 1981, my dad opened this shop, and I took over in ’86.”
