Green grins and groans, bears, buckets n' Buffett

Our current green press picks for June, which are either Green Grins, some good news to bring a smile to your day or Green Groans, I can't believe they did that! Here are some of the best items sent in by our readers.

Grin


• Floodwood, MN June 17:: DNR Conservation officer Randy Hanzel stumbled upon a yearling bear in the woods recently, the bear's head was firmly stuck in a plastic bucket. After approaching the exhausted 100 lb cub cautiously, Hanzel attempted to wrench the bucket off the hapless youngster's head - to no avail.

Not willing to abandon the bear to its fate, Hanzel followed the animal for four hours until it collapsed exhausted and in obvious distress. The officer was then able to lasso the bear and tie it to a tree so that he might safely cut the plastic bucket and free the animal. When he cut the ropes, Hanzel said, the bear sat up dazed, took a drink from a water filled ditch then, "took off like a herd of horses."

Hanzel who, as a conservation officer who has often had to dispatch injured animals said, "it was nice to save one." We agree :-)

From Cheryl P, Minneapolis



Grin and Groan, it's a tie


• Sunday, June 25 marked a milestone in philanthropy as the world's second wealthiest person, financier Warren Buffett made a surprise announcement that he would gift most of his considerable wealth, $38.8 billion dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates charitable foundation. Buffett's contribution swells the fund assets to nearly $60 billion making it by far the worlds largest endowment for charitable work.

  The endowment will be administered by Bill and Linda Gates as part of their foundation, which gives $1.5 Billion annually to battle world hunger and such diseases as AIDs, Polio and malaria. With this most recent, gift the fund's annual giving is, at one stroke, doubled to nearly $3 billion. :-)

  Buffett, who has perhaps not been treated so fairly in the past for his outspoken attitude, remarked that he had always intended that his vast wealth should be gifted in order to help society. Then in true Buffett style he went on to say, that the money would be spent wisely. "If your interest was taking care of stray cats and you tripled the fund, you might not accomplish too much," he said. "But millions of people around the world are facing health problems. That's not something $3 billion a year is too much for." :-(

  We hope Buffett was not implying that someone donating funds sufficient to triple the amount available to help any cause from cats to the homeless or to simply save a tree is somehow less generous, insignificant when compared to his charity, but that is how it sounds.