It’s Erica with your new dose of Feel Good News — stories to remind us the world’s not so bad after all.
1. Appeals court blocks Republicans’ bid to dismantle Grand Canyon national monument
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously dismissed every argument from the Arizona Legislature, including claims about lost mining revenue, in a lawsuit challenging the creation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The court ruled that the legislative leaders lacked standing to bring the lawsuit because all of the harms they claimed the monument would cause were speculative. The monument was designated by President Joe Biden in 2023 in response to advocacy from Native American communities whose ancestral homelands are located in and near the Grand Canyon. The court rejected the legislature’s claims about lost tax revenue, water supply, and energy prices, and found that the legislature failed to show any concrete injury from the monument’s creation.
2. Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom in attempt to reverse declines in reading, math, and science.
Sweden is moving away from a heavy reliance on digital technology in schools and returning to more traditional teaching methods, including the use of physical textbooks and handwriting. This shift is in response to declining test scores and concerns that excessive screen time and digital distractions have hindered students’ learning, especially in foundational skills like reading and writing. The Swedish government is investing heavily to provide every student with physical textbooks and has also announced plans to make schools cellphone-free. While digital technology is not being completely removed from classrooms, the goal is to introduce it more selectively and at later stages of a student’s education, after basic skills have been firmly established. This recalibration of technology’s role in education reflects a growing debate, not just in Sweden but also in the US, about the potential drawbacks of excessive digitalization in schools.
3. Carney announces $3.8B to protect nature. Government plans to create new national parks and marine reserves.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced $3.8 billion in new funding to protect nature, as part of the federal government’s goal to protect 30% of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030. The government plans to create new national parks and marine reserves, including the Wiinipaawk Indigenous Protected Area and National Marine Conservation Area in eastern James Bay, and the Seal River Watershed National Park in Manitoba. Up to 14 new marine-protected and conserved areas and up to 10 new marine conservation areas would also be created, aiming to protect 28% of Canada’s waters. The federal Conservatives criticized the announcement as “illusions”, arguing that the government has failed to meet its own environmental targets in the past.
4. Despite claims of his death spreading on social media, the world’s oldest known land animal, a giant tortoise named Jonathan, remained alive and well on Wednesday, April 1, the reptile’s caretaker said.
Despite claims of his death spreading on social media, the world’s oldest known land animal, a giant tortoise named Jonathan, remained alive and well on Wednesday, April 1, the reptile’s caretaker said. Jonathan the tortoise is very much alive, and the account claiming his death is a fake. Jonathan has spent most of his life living in St. Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic Ocean, and is thought to have been born around 1832. He holds the records for the world’s oldest living land animal and the oldest chelonian, the category of reptiles including all turtles, terrapins and tortoises.
That’s it for last week :)
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