Despite Being Bullied, This 8-Year-Old Boy Grew Out His Hair for a Good Cause

Most people choose to change their hairstyles every once in a while as a way to switch up their style. In fact, one study has found that 44% of women decide to change their hairstyle because they’re bored, while another 61% do so because they want a change.

But despite being teased for looking like a girl, one 8-year-old boy grew out his hair for two years for a completely different reason: to donate this hair to children who had lost theirs.

According to Time, second grader Christian McPhilamy, of Melbourne, FL, cut the hair he’d been growing and produced four 10-inch-long ponytails. On May 20, he sent his locks to Children With Hair Loss, a Michigan-based nonprofit foundation that gives hair replacements and wigs to children at no cost.

“Christian has such a huge heart,” Christian’s mom, Deeanna Thomas, said.  “I don’t even know if there are words to describe how proud I am of him.”

In a Facebook post, Thomas explained that McPhilamy endured his fair share of teasing and even bullying for choosing to grow out his hair, “from his peers calling him a girl to even coaches and family friends telling him he should cut it or offering him money to.”

But what inspired McPhilamy to think of donating his hair in the first place?

It all started one evening two years ago, when Thomas and her son were browsing the Internet to find things that interested him. While Christian usually looked up information about animals, that night he stumbled across an ad from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for hair donations.

After listening to Thomas’ explanation that cancer patients often accept hair donations to conceal their hair loss, Christian’s mind was made up — and no one could change his mind, Mashable reported.

“Usually when Christian sets his mind to something, he pretty much goes with it,” Thomas said. “He doesn’t let anything falter his goals. I was pretty confident that he was actually going to follow through with it.”

North Carolina Dry Cleaning Business Caused 40 Years of Contamination in Neighborhood

A former dry cleaning site in Durham, NC is still posing a toxic contamination risk nearly 40 years after it shut down.

One-Hour Martinizing Cleaners was located at 1103 W. Club Blvd from 1963 to 1975, but it wasn’t until 1993 that subsurface contamination was discovered resulting from the chemicals used for dry cleaning.

Before the invention of the Martinizing process, which became popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s, dry cleaners used flammable solvents, which had to be used far away from populated areas. The invention of Martinizing chemicals allowed dry cleaning to be done within one hour in town rather than being sent away to a separate dry cleaning plant.

But with the popularity of chemicals like PERC, also called PCE or tetrachloroethylene, and other dry cleaning solvents came pollution caused by the substance’s runoff.

And those chemicals have lingered in the soil. The 2,925-square-foot building where the dry cleaning business was housed had to be demolished in 2011 to prevent continued contamination of nearby soil and groundwater.

Hart & Hickman, which specializes in groundwater remediation services, sampled groundwater in April and found that the water still contains higher levels of PCE than recommended. This was 15 months after the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources approved of an EHC injection, which is used to decrease the amount of toxins found in groundwater.

Groundwater provides drinking water for about half of all Americans and makes up 95% of the country’s freshwater sources. But when it becomes contaminated with chemicals, like those used by dry cleaning businesses all over the country, then it can cause serious problems for those who are drinking that water.

Long-term exposure to PERC can cause damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidneys and even lead to cancer. These problems have likely affected those living in Durham’s Trinity Park neighborhood if they’ve been exposed to the chemical.

So far, Hart & Hickman has reported that the PERC in the monitoring wells nearby has decreased by somewhere between 86% and 98% through remediation efforts. However, two wells still have more than 2.5 mg/L of PERC, and even though levels haven’t increased, they are still higher than recommended.

Several units in the Trinity Park area no longer face contamination, but two residences on Dollar Avenue and the Triangle Family Church are still affected. Remediation efforts will be ongoing through next year and will include another EHC injection to reduce the amount of PERC in the soil.

So far more than $2.2 million has been spent on remediation for the area. Officials have met with the public in recent weeks to let them know about the remediation process.

Business Owners in Glendale, CO, Allege Abuse of Eminent Domain

The city council of Denver suburb Glendale, CO, unanimously voted to allow the use of eminent domain to facilitate a $175 million development, despite the 100-plus protesters who packed the chamber last month.

“If you pass this measure tonight, every business in Glendale — whether it’s Target or Shotgun Willie’s — will have to ask if they’re making the right decision investing in this city,” Denver resident Jeanne Price said in her testimony. “The answer would be no.”

Still, the council decided that the city’s urban renewal authority should be allowed to use eminent domain to acquire the property in question, a 42-acre site on the banks of Cherry Creek now slated to become a dining and entertainment complex. Eminent domain refers to the government’s right to take ownership of a property for public use. The government is required to compensate the owner, but the owner need not consent to the sale.

The city currently owns about 40% of the total site.

In an apparent attempt to soften the decision, however, the council did add provisions requiring that the city attempt to negotiate with current property owners of the other 60% of the land.

That would still displace small and medium-sized businesses such as Authentic Persian and Oriental Rugs, which owner Saeed Kholghy says has been run as a family business in that same spot for two and a half decades. Supporters of the council’s decision might say that the company can sell Persian rugs (defined by their thick pile of 160 knots per square inch, distinct knotting and unique designs) somewhere else. But many long-time customers bemoaned the possibility of the council forcing it to move.

Kholghy also asserted that he has been negotiating with the city for almost 10 years, but that the exchange has become adversarial in the past year. “If you want to do something, you have to work with us,” Kholghy told the council.

After the vote, some in attendance left demanding recalls of council members.

Is a Famine Ahead for the Diet Industry?

According to a survey conducted this month for Fortune, the future of the diet industry is looking a little lean.

The survey, carried out by SurveyMonkey, found that although 77% of Americans say they’re actively trying to eat healthier, only 19% say that they’re “on a diet.” That fits with data from research group NPD, showing that the number of women who say they’re dieting has dropped a full 13 percentage points in the past 20 years.

Weight Watchers has seen sales decline for the past two years and is projecting another weak year for 2015. Nutrisystem, which had skyrocketing revenue only a few years ago, is bringing in 21% less than it was in 2011. Jenny Craig and Medifast haven’t done much better.

Even in the grocery store, frozen diet meals aren’t selling well. Sales of Weight Watchers dinners have dropped by 17% in the past five years; that figure is 11% for the Healthy Choice line and around 25% for Lean Cuisine. There’s little indication things will be turning around, either, with market research firm Euromonitor predicting the category as a whole will dip another 8% in the coming five years.

Weight Loss in America
Does that mean either that Americans don’t need to lose weight — or that they have given up trying?

No, Fortune cautioned when reporting its results. Roughly a third of American adults are obese. But in general, people seem to be choosing fresher foods over “diet” options and looking at holistic health options that balance calorie-counting with exercise.

The American weight-loss industry — still a $64 billion market as of last year — is expanding in areas such as health clubs.

Mandates put in place by the Affordable Care Act have also helped to shift many weight-loss services away from the commercial world and into the medical one, as plans are required to cover some kinds of plans supervised by nurses and doctors.

A More Diet-Savvy World?
But, as one recent incident so painfully illustrated, there are still plenty of people looking for the next so-called miracle diet.

Last week, a journalist revealed that a headline-grabbing study claiming to demonstrate that chocolate can help people to lose weight was simply an elaborate hoax designed to underscore problems in how the media vets scientific information before reporting it.

So how can consumers make smart decisions about diets when they apparently can’t trust so many of the sources reporting on them? The bottom line is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Making simple substitutions (a dip made with Greek yogurt, for example, has 67% fewer calories and 88% less fat than most sour cream-based dips) is always a good step. But the bottom line is fresh foods, moderate calorie counts and exercise are the most effective combination for the vast majority of people looking to lose weight.

Chiropractor Battles in Brutal Destruction Derby

Creating demand is one of the best business strategies out there. About 22 million Americans visit their local chiropractors for treatment each year, 35% of whom seek out treatment for back pain caused by accidents, muscle strains, sports injuries or other situations; but even so, it can be tough for Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) to generate demand. After all, any attempt to do so would likely result in assault and battery charges.

Unless you’re as clever as Matthew Stammerjohan.

This past May, the Californian chiropractor participated in the Calaveras County Fair Destruction Derby after winning the chance to do so through a Friends of the Calaveras County Fair drawing.

“It was brutal,” said Stammerjohan. “They [the other drivers] took me out in the first heat.”

Fortunately, Stammerjohan’s pit crew got him back in the game, where he continued to spread destruction and mayhem. Eventually, he was one of the last two standing, putting him in the finals.

Naturally, Stammerjohan did not enter the “brutal” destruction derby to hurt people and generate new business; auto accident injuries are quite serious. Even the victims of the most minor fender bender should probably see a chiropractor. Injuries may even occur at speeds less than five miles per hour. Stammerjohan merely wanted the free publicity that came with participating.

Although it’s hard to believe that such minor accidents can be injurious, research on low speed rear impact tests show that 29% of people developed the symptoms of whiplash at speeds of just 2.5 miles per hour. What’s more, a rear end collision of just 10 miles per hour can produce up to nine Gs of force on a victim’s neck.

Whiplash is also far more serious than people make it out to be. Though it takes a couple days to begin to affect the victim, whiplash will eventually cause pain and stiffness in the neck, a decreased range of motion, pain when shaking or nodding the head, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and/or blurred vision.

While accidents do happen, they’re not as often as most might think. As one study from 2005 concludes, “These data suggest that derby drivers sustain less chronic neck pain after multiple car collision events than might otherwise be expected.”

Ultimately, Stammerjohan held his own in the finals, but says that “I let the big boys battle it out.”

The Top Cause of Injuries at Yellowstone National Park May Surprise You

In the wake of news that a 16-year-old Taiwanese girl was recently gored by a bison as she posed for a photo at Yellowstone National Park, much of the country is abuzz about the risks of being injured by wildlife while visiting the park.

However, these types of injuries are much rarer than you might think.

In fact, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports, the chances of being mauled by a bear while visiting Yellowstone are a microscopic 1 in 2.1 million. When it comes to more docile creatures like bison, these odds shrink even lower. Only one or two bison-related incidents occur each year, if any.

The real cause behind most visitor injuries at Yellowstone? Slips, trips, and falls.

“The most common injuries in the park are typically from trips, slips and falls,” Traci Weaver, public affairs officer for Yellowstone, said.

In May, a 71-year-old man fell into the park’s Grand Canyon while trying to take a photo. Luckily, he only fell 25 feet before stopping himself on a precipice. Park rangers were able to rescue him as he braced himself on the side of the cliff.

“That was pretty incredible,” Weaver said. “If he’d have fallen just a little bit in either direction, it would have been fatal. He would have fallen over 150 feet.”

Slips, trips and falls like these aren’t just a common occurrence at Yellowstone. Every year, these injuries result in an astronomical 95 million lost days of work across the country.

Even rarer are the injuries and deaths that are caused by the park’s geysers and geothermal features. In the park’s entire history, only 20 people have died, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. As long as visitors stay on the marked boardwalks near these features and follow the park’s safety guidelines, they should be safe.

And while wildlife attacks are rare, it’s still wise to respect these animals’ boundaries. The park has launched numerous campaigns to educate its millions of visitors on staying safe around wildlife. Yellowstone park officials advise visitors to stay at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards away from the bison, elk and bighorn sheep that roam the park.

“We just hope people come here and safely enjoy the park,” Weaver said. “It’s always unfortunate when somebody gets injured while they’re out on vacation. We have our safety rules in place for a reason, and we just hope people adhere to them.”

This Man’s Journey From Wrongfully Convicted Inmate to Law School Grad Will Amaze You

In one of the more incredible stories surrounding this year’s graduating class, a man who spent 10 years behind bars under a wrongful conviction recently earned his law degree from Loyola University Chicago.

According to a May 16 CBS Chicago article, Jarrett Adams, 34, defied all odds by proving his innocence and making it this far — it’s exceedingly rare for former inmates to earn degrees, much less make it through seven years of college and graduate school.

“I couldn’t have imagined this day,” Adams, who entered prison as a teenager, said.

His professors at Loyola have said his post-grad future looks just as impressive.

“I can’t say that if that had happened to me I’d have the same outlook on life that Jarrett does, so it must be something in the core of his being that I would love to be able to bottle,” Loyola Prof. Michael Kaufman said.

At age 17, Adams, a Wisconsin native, was convicted of rape and sentenced to 28 years in prison. Throughout his trial and sentencing, he maintained his innocence and stressed that witnesses who could have cleared him were never called upon to testify.

After spending a decade behind bars, his cellmate motivated him to find a way out of his wrongful conviction.

“He was like, ‘Sit down. I’m in here for the rest of my life for something I did do. You are here for some absolute bull-crap with no evidence, and you’re not going to fight to get out.’ And so it really woke me up,” Adams explained.

He then began to study the law on his own in prison, writing letters to the Wisconsin Innocence Project. With the organization’s help, his conviction was overturned.

Wrongful convictions continue to be a problem plaguing much of the country. In an average year, 10,000 U.S. citizens are wrongfully convicted of serious crimes.

Recently, a federal investigation into wrongful convictions revealed that botched forensics play a major role in wrongfully convicting the accused. The FBI stated that experts gave inaccurate, erroneous hair analysis in more than 250 trials before 2000, and that is just a small chunk of the mishandled forensic evidence used to determine people’s innocence or guilt.

Even when exonerated from a wrongful conviction, former inmates have a difficult time adjusting back into society. Two out of three exonerated individuals are not financially independent; one in four has post-traumatic stress disorder. Formerly incarcerated people face chronic underemployment and have difficulty getting social assistance.

With his new degree, Adams plans to help those who are in the same position he was — wrongfully accused of a crime they didn’t commit. He told CBS Chicago he especially hopes to work with low-income defendants.

Four Years After EF-5 Tornado, Joplin, MO, Sees Increase in New Home Constructions

Nearly four years after an EF-5 tornado left 158 dead, more than 900 injured, and thousands without homes, Joplin, MO, is seeing an increase in new home constructions as of the month of March, according to city building permits.

In March alone, the city issued 81 permits for all types of constructions. Twenty-six of those were for homes, for a total value of $2.5 million.

Individually, houses ranged in value anywhere from $50,000 to $300,000.

Since the beginning of Joplin’s fiscal year, which started Nov. 1, 2014, 93 permits for new homes have been issued. The average value for the homes, not including the value of the land, is $101,000.

The small city was devastated and saw severe damage to apartment buildings, businesses, schools, and St. John’s Medical Center. But the new constructions indicate that the city and its residents are bouncing back — 21 of those homes will be built in Joplin’s tornado zone.

According to surveys, more than 45% of Americans indicate a preference to live within specific school district boundaries. Some of those in Joplin who are working with a home builder may be choosing to return to areas where their children had grown up or attended school before the tornado.

Other areas to the south have also had a long road ahead recovering from natural disasters.

In Jackson County, MS, the new constructions for housing have been on the upswing in recent month as the coastal area still continues to rebound from Hurricane Katrina a decade later.

As for Joplin, there have been an average of 17 permits for new homes filed each month for the past two years, with 18 per month on average so far this fiscal year.

That growth means good things for the area’s economy, as more people spend money on furniture, appliances, garden equipment, and other home goods.

The total value of all permits for the fiscal year so far, which will end on Halloween, is just over $42 million.

Ninety-three total new home construction permits have been issued since Nov. 1, according to city records.

The Dog That Bites Is More Likely to Be the Dog You Know, New Study Finds

Although approximately 60% of Americans think pet owners lead more satisfying lives than non-pet owners, a new study published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery found that 50% of dog bite injuries came from dogs belonging to an immediate family member.

In other words, having a family dog increases a person’s risk of being bitten by a dog.

The retrospective study was conducted by the Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with Phoenix Children’s Hospital, in the years 2007-2013; it involved 670 participants. The study found that pit bulls were the most likely breed to bite; that children, elderly, and postal carriers are the most frequent victims of dog bites; and that the most likely age to be bitten by a dog was five years old.

“More than 60% of the injuries we studied required an operation,” said Erin Garvey, MD, the lead author of the study, and a Mayo Clinic surgical resident. “While the majority of patients were able to go home the next day, the psychological effects of being bitten by a dog also need to be taken into account.”

Fortunately, there are several steps that pet owners can take to prevent their dogs from biting others.

First, it’s important not to leave children unsupervised around dogs, even well-behaved ones. Children haven’t yet learned that they need to respect a dog’s space, which makes it more likely that they may anger even a docile canine.

Second, pet owners have a responsibility to train and socialize their dogs. Leaving dogs alone for extended periods of time makes them more likely to develop behavioral issues, such as aggression. Playing with dogs, taking them for walks, and simply spending time with them can help prevent these problems.

Thirdly, understanding a pet’s body language, normal behavior, and temperament is vital. Dogs can’t talk, but they can communicate their feelings and intentions. If a pet owner understands that his or her dog isn’t happy, they can take steps to change the dog’s environment, thereby preventing bites and other behavioral issues.

New Line of Sneakers by D Lillard 1 Released To Commemorate PDX Carpet

It’s been a long time since one pair of sneakers has been anticipated as much as the newest design from D Lillard 1, but fans have already taken to social media to express their excitement with the design, which was modeled after the old carpet that once lined the floors of the Portland Airport.

Carpets might cover 70% of flooring in the U.S., but few carpets have been as recognizable as the purple and blue lines that decorated the airport’s sea green carpet.

When the Portland Airport ripped out its old carpeting last year, travelers around the globe shared their grief at the loss of the beloved design via social media.

The carpet has been on the floor of the airport for about 20 years, according to WDSU News, but in the past couple of years it became an iconic design, specific to Portland. As KGW News and Oregon Live have reported, travelers began taking pictures of their sneakers on the floor and posting the pictures to social media accounts with the hashtag #pdxcarpet as a way of announcing their arrival in the city.

As a way of commemorating the Portland “landmark,” Adidas joined forces with Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard to design a new sneaker with the color palette of the carpet.

On May 19, Lillard tweeted “I’ve got something special for my PDX fans coming real soon,” along with a photo of his own Adidas-brand sneakers standing on the carpet; a picture of the new carpet-themed sneakers was released shortly after.

Anyone unfamiliar with the iconic carpet of Portland may find the new sneakers a bit odd, but this is hardly the first time that the design has created a flurry of social media activity — there have already been several items, like socks and t-shirts, emblazoned with the PDX design.