90 year-old saved by strangers

Happy Wednesday! Hope the week is treating you well.

Today's lead is one of those stories that makes you feel genuinely good about people. A 90-year-old woman lost control of her car in a rainstorm in Illinois, plunged into a flooded retention pond and within seconds, strangers were in the water after her. No hesitation. Just people doing the right thing because it needed to be done.

We've also got an NFL quarterback on a surprising mission, a law that just gave thousands of Virginians a fresh start, and California finally doing right by the people who fight its wildfires

—Stephanie S

In August 2026, a 90-year-old driver lost control of her car during a rainstorm in Champaign, Illinois, and plunged into a flooded retention pond on North Prospect Avenue. The car sank to its roof. Three community members immediately entered the water, and four Champaign Police Department officers joined them, pulling the woman to safety in the middle of the downpour.

On September 29, the rescuers were formally honored at a commendation ceremony. The three community members received Community Lifesaving Awards, and the four officers earned the Chief's Challenge Coin for extraordinary and selfless action. The woman's son, a U.S. Coast Guard officer, addressed the group directly.

"I know full well how dangerous rescues can be," he told them, "and I commend you for your quick and heroic actions." Seven people went into that moment as strangers. They came out of it as something else entirely.

Find out what the rescuers said when asked why they jumped in, and what the ceremony looked like when the family finally met them face to face.

Roughly half of all California firefighters are incarcerated individuals. The pay is better than other prison jobs and it's a genuine skill, but until now, a certificate earned behind bars was more liability than asset when reentering society. That changes with AB 2483, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, which creates standardized certification and gives formerly incarcerated firefighters priority for entry-level positions at Cal Fire.

The bill was championed by Royal Ramey, CEO of the nonprofit Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program and a formerly incarcerated firefighter himself. Because his prison certificate carried a stigma, he put himself through a full firefighting academy rather than use it. His goal was to make sure no one else has to make that choice.

By 2028, returning firefighters will have a clear pathway to a fulfilling career, potential six-figure income, and a state pension. See what nearly derailed this bill and how Ramey finally got Cal Fire's union to say yes at GNN.

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Virginia's new Clean Slate law came into effect last week, automatically sealing criminal records for residents convicted of certain misdemeanors, including petit larceny, trespassing, and underage alcohol or cannabis use. Records are sealed seven years after conviction, provided no subsequent offense has occurred. Virginia joins 14 states plus DC that have now passed clean slate legislation, including Oklahoma, California, and Utah.

The law is designed to ensure that youthful mistakes don't permanently block career or financial opportunities. When records are sealed, background checking firms can still access them under certain circumstances, but it is illegal to share that information with employers or lenders. Record-sealing attorney Lauren Young called it a matter of dignity, noting that the offenses eligible for sealing are not the scary or dangerous ones people worry about.

Beyond misdemeanors, the law also covers acquittals and dismissed cases, and opens two new petitioning pathways for those whose records don't qualify for automatic sealing. Discover exactly which offenses are covered and how to petition if yours isn't at GNN.

Fernando Mendoza is the starting quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner, and number one overall NFL Draft pick. He also holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Now he has partnered with US Bank to launch Finance with Fernando, a video series aimed at helping Gen Z navigate money in today's economy.

Mendoza's philosophy is rooted in something deeper than budgeting tips. At his postgame press conference after Indiana's 56-22 CFP semifinal win over Oregon, when asked how the team avoided chasing instant gratification, he cited the Stoics. Delayed gratification, he said, is one of the greatest attributes a person can have.

He's already backed that up with action. Before the series launched, Mendoza donated half a million dollars to the National MS Society through his family fund, building on years of fundraising he and his brother did in honor of their mother, who lives with the disease. Learn what drove this 23-year-old to take on financial literacy, and what he said that stopped everyone in the room at GNN.

⚖️ Pakistan: Lawyer Jalila Haider, the first female attorney from her Hazara community, has won the 2026 Right Livelihood Award for spending more than a decade challenging ethnic and patriarchal persecution despite repeated detention and death threats.

🏝️ Global: World leaders at the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed that low-lying island nations will retain their sovereignty and maritime borders even if rising seas swallow their land entirely, the first declaration of its kind in history.

🌊 Norway: Norway has created its largest ever marine reserve in the Andfjorden, an area equivalent to 260,000 football pitches protecting cold water coral reefs, kelp forests, sperm whales and countless fish species.

🦍 DRC: Lulingu, a gorilla rescued from illegal wildlife traders as an infant and returned to the wild in 2024, has given birth in Virunga National Park, a historic first for eastern lowland gorilla conservation.

🚗 England: A study of 47.4 million road safety tests found that high-mileage electric vehicles are significantly more reliable than petrol cars of the same age and mileage, directly challenging one of the most persistent myths about EV ownership.

On this day in 1920, the University of Oxford passed a new statute allowing women to become full members and study for full degrees for the first time in its 800-year history. The first 40 women were admitted that day. It was a long time coming: women had been attending Oxford lectures and sitting exams for years, but had been barred from actually graduating with the degrees they earned.

What makes it especially moving is what the university did next. Women who had already attended classes and earned honors on their exams were allowed to be formally admitted and receive the degrees they had already earned based on their past performance. In other words, Oxford went back and gave credit to the women who had done the work all along.

Other notable October 7 events:

1885: Danish physicist Niels Bohr was born. He made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922, and founded what is now the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen.

1931: Archbishop Desmond Tutu was born. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his work ending apartheid in South Africa and later led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that helped heal the country.

1955: Yo-Yo Ma was born in France. The Chinese-American cellist was a child prodigy who went on to win 18 Grammy Awards and founded the Silk Road Project, connecting musicians and cultures across the world.

1963: President Kennedy signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union, prohibiting all nuclear weapons test detonations except underground.

— Aesop

Every day brings amazing advances and uplifting moments that remind us just how wonderful the world can be. Here are five reasons why today is the best time ever to be alive:

🦟 Malaria Vaccine: For the first time in history, 25 countries are rolling out malaria vaccines protecting 10 million children a year, with the WHO certifying two nations malaria-free in 2025 alone.

📚 Literacy: When your great-grandparents were born, the majority of humans on Earth could not read. Today global adult literacy stands at 88% and rises by more than 12 million people every year.

👶 Child Survival: Fewer children died before the age of five in 2025 than in any year in recorded history, with child mortality dropping by more than half since the year 2000.

🦾 Regenerative Medicine: Scientists studying how salamanders regrow lost limbs are now applying those discoveries to human tissue regeneration, with clinical trials underway for nerve, cartilage, and muscle repair.

☀️ Clean Energy: Solar is now the cheapest source of electricity in history, and in 2025, renewables met all new global electricity demand for the first time, with no additional fossil fuel generation needed to power global growth.

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