July 4, 2026

Petition to stop ketchup packets and napkins

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories in a July 4th message: two German shepherds, Maya and Liv, sniff out two kittens hidden by a shed, and the kittens are taken to a local caregiver and cleared healthy by a vet; in Argentina’s Iberá National Park, a wild jaguar named Ombú is spotted for the first time in 70 years as conservation work grows the population from zero to 50; Colorado sophomores Erica and Dominic draft a “Skip the Stuff” sustainability bill to stop automatic inclusion of single-use items with food orders; Danville, California fourth and fifth graders campaign to raise $10 million by July 31 to protect Big Bear Valley bald eagles Jackie and Shadow’s hunting area from development; and in British Columbia, volunteers help reunite crash victims with their missing Australian shepherd, Daisy, found unharmed in a pickup truck four days later.

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WEBVTT

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Caalaroga Shark Media. Hey, they're happy fourth of July. America's

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two hundred and fifty years old. I hope you and

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your family have an awesome Fourth of July and a

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great weekend. Hello, I'm Johnny Mack with five good news stories.

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All right, how about two German shepherds. They started acting

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strangely near the side of the shed. The dogs, Maya

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and Live, were sniffing and scratching. The owners couldn't see

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what was going on. They went to investigate, and they

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found two tiny kittens tucked away inside. The owner's posted

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the video online with the caption the girls made quite

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the discovery this weekend. Good nostrils save lives. Many people

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on the internet invoked what the Internet calls the cat

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distribution system. If you're not familiar with this, it is

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a theory that cats find their way to you when

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you've been chosen, whether you ask for a cat or not.

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The owners reported the kittens were quickly taken to a

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local woman equipped to take care of them. They've been

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checked by a vent and are healthy and safe. Meanwhile,

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in Argentina, the Jaguars are back. No, not the football team,

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the actual Jaguars in early May, tour guides were leading

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visitors through Ibera National Park when they spot out a jaguar.

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His name is Ambu, a young male born in the park.

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He was the first wild jaguar seen in that region

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in seventy years. Seven decades ago, jaguars were pushed out

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because of logging. What happened since is the result of

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decades of slow conservation work. Rewilding Argentina has brought the

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jaguar population from zero to fifty. Park ranger Victor was

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there when Ambu was spotted. He described the moments, saying,

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after more than seventy years about of the presidence of

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the jaguar here in the wetlands, seeing it again and

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its natural habitat is truly historic. The arrival of the

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jaguar to this place is very important, especially this stage

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of conservation, because it's a predator that we were missing

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here in the wetlands. We've been seeing many kapabaras, caymans

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and different animals that complete the ecosystem, but we were

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missing him, the top predator. Two high schoolers started with

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a snapchat message and they wound up in front of

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the Colorado State Senate oh No what's going on here? No,

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it's pretty cool. Erica and Dominic sophomores at Cherry Creek

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High School in Aurora. They overheard classmates talking about try

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and pass a bill, and they had reached out to

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Erica to find out what kind of change they wanted

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to see in Colorado. They landed on sustainability, specifically a

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policy called skip the Stuff, a simple idea that restaurants

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and delivery apps would stop automatically including single use items

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like plastic utensils, napkins, straws, and Connoment packets with every

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order unless you ask for them. You know, I really

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like this idea. I always feel bad when I order

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stuff and I have like seven things to catch up

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and I don't know what to do with them, and

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they put them in the fridge till my wife throws

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them at it's just waste. So good job by these

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two students, Dominic said, we drafted the bill entirely on

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our own, at least to the best of two high

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schoolers' abilities. In Red Bank, New Jersey, they have a

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similar ordinance and saw a ninety four percent reduction in

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single use cutlery. Restaurants save money by not handing out

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items that could thrown away customersp accumulating that famous juncture

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of random plastic spoons and ketchup packets unless plastic ends

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up in the landfill. Yep, yep, yep, Dominic said. The

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businesses win they don't have to give out products it

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won't be used. The consumers win because they don't have

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to throw away clutter in their house. Love it kids,

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All right, Let's check in on Jackie and Shadow. They

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are bald eagles living in Big Bear Valley in California,

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San Bernardino National Forest. The eagles of a twenty four

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hour live stream that's turned them into Internet celebrities. They've

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hatched eggs, raised eaglets, and built the following people all

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over the world. Now part of the valley where they

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hunt is slated to be developed into luxury homes. Some

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fourth and fifth graders in Danville, California, are like no, no, na,

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na na. Their teacher, Sarah told ABC News. I started

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sharing the information with them and they all felt passionate

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about it. They were like, what can we do? So

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they did everything. They wrote letters to community members, celebrities

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and lawmakers. They posted flyers, they picked up leaves, washed cars,

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held big sales, set up lemonade stands. It eventually became

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a school wide campaign. The nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley,

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which runs the Eagle Live stream, says the land is

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being threatened by development unless ten million dollars can be

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raised by the San Bernardino Mountain Land Trust by July

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thirty first. They describe it as the last undisturbed shoreline

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on the lake and they've only raised like two and

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a half million dollars, So I don't know rooting for you,

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guys if you want to help. Friends of Big Bear

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Valley as the fundraiser running through July thirty first. In

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British Columbia, the community rallied together to help a family

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find their missing dog after a highway crash left everyone

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fearing the worst. Deira and Sharon were traveling when a

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pickup truck forced their vehicle off the road. The car

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rolled over and then when everything settled, they were Australian

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shepherd Daisy was gone. They started looking for Daisy, couldn't

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find Daisy. First responders convinced them to go to the hospital.

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Doctors determined the injuries weren't serious. They were discharged and

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they went back to looking for Daisy the dog, No

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Daisy the dog. Volunteers searched on foot. Others provided thermal

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imaging drone. Four days after the crash, one of the volunteers, Tracy,

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felt compelled to search one more time. Return into the

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crash site. She focused on the immediate area. The pickup

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truck was still there. Inside the truck Daisy. They called

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the owner. Daisy immediately recognized the owner and began whimpering excitedly.

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The dog appeared unharmed. Glad everyone is doing okay, and

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those are your fine the good news stories for today.

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Take it easy with the fireworks, folks. Leave it to

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the professionals. See you tomorrow.