It wasn’t all bad
■ There were only 80 known Javan rhinos alive, all of them living in Ujung Kulon National Park, located on the island of Java, Indonesia. But a few weeks ago, Indonesian authorities spotted one more: a newborn female calf believed to be around 8 months old near her 12-year-old mother. The critically endangered species, which used to live in northeast India and Southeast Asia, suffers a wide range of threats, such as habitat loss and degradation, poaching, and a low genetic diversity. With such a small population, the birth of each new calf is a cause for celebration.
■ When Roberto Rivas, a high school teacher in Norwood, Mass., served a table of 16 at an IHOP, where he works on the weekends, he had no idea that he would receive a $1,600 tip. The surprise came from Richard Brooks, who belongs to the $1,000 Breakfast Club, a group of friends who each agreed to leave a $100 tip. Rivas, an immigrant from Venezuela, said he would use the money to buy new hearing aids for his mother. Brooks, a lawyer, started the club earlier this year, inspired by a similar group in California. When he was in his 20s, Brooks worked as a waiter, and he still remembers the first time someone tipped him with $20. “By giving it all to one person, you’re doing something that could make a difference in their life,” he said.
■ Capt. Joshua Haveman, an Air Force flight instructor, was ascending Yosemite’s Half Dome when a fellow climber slid down about 80 feet. He landed on a 6-by-1½-foot ledge, which prevented a fall of 500 feet. Despite intense winds, Haveman stepped beyond the trail’s cable barriers to help him. The climber’s legs were broken in the fall, so Haveman gathered sticks and turned them into splints. Then Haveman and a ranger helped him descend a cable ladder before a helicopter arrived. Haveman says his military training taught him to be on the lookout for situations like this one. “I knew people were going to be in trouble as soon as I topped the hill.”