It wasn’t all bad
■ Trevor Penny was magnet fishing in the River Cherwell, in central England, when he found a piece of metal that turned out to be a millennium-old Viking sword, one of only 70 or so found in Britain. Guessing it might be important, Penny contacted the authorities, who dated the sword between 850 and 975 A.D. The object, covered in rust, is expected to be restored and displayed in a local museum. In prior outings for magnet fishing—essentially dredging waterways with a magnet on a rope—Penny has found old railway tools and even a World War II grenade that required controlled detonation.
■ Sergio Florian, a 44-year-old marathon runner, was exercising on Pu’u Manamana mountain in Oahu when he saw a distressed dog close to the edge of a 1,000-foot cliff. The dog, dehydrated and covered in scratches, was too fragile to make it down the mountain, so after approaching her carefully, Florian transported her down the steepest portion of the trail for half a mile. The dog, which weighed around 45 pounds, had been missing for three days after getting lost while chasing a wild pig. With the help of his wife, Dayane, Florian was able to track down the owner of the dog, named Stevie. “I couldn’t leave another living creature in distress,” Florian said.
■ In 1939, Emma and Gus Thompson, a Black couple in Coronado, Calif., rented a house to the Dongs, a Chinese-American family who were struggling to find a home because of racist housing laws. The family flourished, and in 1955 they bought the house and an adjacent barn, becoming the first Chinese-American family to buy a property in the city. Now, after the Dong family sold the Coronado properties, they are donating $5 million to support Black students at San Diego State University. “It’s just exactly what’s appropriate,” said Ron Dong, who donated part of the money with his younger brother Lloyd Dong Jr.