Go sports!

⚽️ The women’s Euro 2025 is underway and proving that the momentum behind women’s sports isn’t slowing down … before the first game was even underway, a record 600,000 tickets were sold (we could type out all of the attendance records so far, but it’d take up the whole newsletter).

🏈 The NFL now has a record number of women team owners, with at least 12 of the total 32 NFL teams now having women as controlling or significantly active owners. (Not to mention yours truly, a woman and “owner” of the Green Bay Packers … iykyk).

Governments doing good

France built a new bike and pedestrian crossing off the side of an old railroad bridge

Connecting the car-free city center of Albi, France, to a new development across a river is a stunning new bike and pedestrian crossing that repurposes an old railway bridge.

Rather than creating entirely new infrastructure for the crossing, architects attached it to a viaduct that’s still in use by trains today.

Previously, people were only able to get to the other side of the river via a narrow, car-filled bridge located further down the river.

Why is this good news? Creating communities that work better for people doesn’t mean starting from scratch. Creatively using existing infrastructure to make it better and more functional for human beings — not cars — can be our default.

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More Good News

​Community-based volunteer patrolling efforts in Brazil’s Amazon reduced environmental crimes by 80% in a decade. The study also found there was no clear decline in environmental violations detected by government-led operations outside those protected areas, suggesting that community-based patrols were more effective.

​Thanks to the canine companion in the “Superman” film, interest in dog adoption has skyrocketed 500%. Krypto is a key character in the latest “Superman” installment, and while he’s created with CGI for the film, he was inspired by the director’s own rescue dog, Ozu.

​The founder of the Miami Tropical Botanical Garden raised enough funding to save the property from development. Private investors stepped in to help Casey Zap raise the money to purchase the land that holds the lush three-acre garden, saving it from being turned into a high-rise or retail development and preserving it within the Little Haiti community.

​A Ukrainian doctor drove a child’s heart through a Russian attack to perform a life-saving transplant. As the Ukrainian authorities called on people to hide in bomb shelters and basements amid intensifying attacks, the doctor made a 10-mile drive across Kyiv while missiles and drones were flying around.

Good business

Buy one, get one: This realtor offers a free shelter dog with every home sold

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good progress

There were fewer boating deaths in the U.S. last year than in more than five decades

The U.S. Coast Guard announced that in 2024, there were 556 boating-related deaths in the U.S., down 1.4% from 2023 and fewer than any year in more than five decades.

The leading causes of the fatalities were operator error, boaters improperly trained on the rules of water safety, and alcohol.

Before the Safe Boating Act was enacted in 1971, the number of boating deaths was 20.6 per 100,000 registered vessels. Last year, that number was 4.8 per 100,000 — demonstrating how the improved safety measures have been instrumental in saving lives.

→ Read more​

More Good bits

🏉 And the winner is ... Ilona Maher. (Instagram)

🦦 An otter gives a masterclass in flying under the radar.

🐶 Your dog’s late-night barking: Annoying? Or life-saving?​

👏 A German backpacker was found alive after 12 days missing.

🔥 A hero’s honor for a heroic rescue.

What’s good?

I looooove that French community’s creativity in using what they already have to make life better for its residents!

Do you wish your community were more walkable?

Yeah? Or you’re fine with the way it is? Reply and tell me!

— Megan