South Carolina Teen Shoots Students, Teachers Before Fireman Subdues Him
A teen started shooting at teachers and students at a school playground in South Carolina on Wednesday, injuring three. The teen was taken down, however, not by snipers but by a volunteer fireman who used “enough force” to subdue him. [ABC]
Addicted Parents Get Their Fix Within Eyeshot of Their Young Kids
Viral videos and photos of children crying as they try to wake up their parents or sitting silently until someone to finds them, put out by police departments in recent months have put a grim face on the country’s opioid epidemic. A New York Times reporter spoke with a mother who survived an overdose that was captured on video and a network of grandparents who are working to find drug treatment for their addicted children. [New York Times]
Obama Says Congress Veto Override of 9/11 Lawsuit Bill ‘A Mistake’
Congress voted overwhelmingly against President Obama’s veto of the 9/11 victims’ bill, which allows families of the victims of the attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for their role in the plot. Saudi Arabia officials have long-held they were never involved in the attacks. Obama said the bill will set a bad precedent, and even put the U.S. Government at risk of lawsuits in the future. [BBC]
World’s First Baby Born With DNA From Three Parents
The world’s first baby created using a new procedure that combines the DNA of three parents was born on 6 April to Jordanian parents in Mexico. The mother carries genes for rare genetic disorder — Leigh syndrome — which degenerates the central nervous system. The couple’s first two children died because of it. The process involves adding some genes from a donor woman to the mother's egg, which is then fertilized with the father's sperm to create an embryo. [New York Times and TIME]
The Dangerous Lives of Sandhogs
Read about the dangers faced by sandhogs, the workers toiling deep underneath the city to dig the tunnels that deliver your water and let you commute to work. [New York Post]
'The Hillary Shimmy Song'
Inspired by Hillary Clinton’s shimmy during the presidential debate this week, songwriter Jonathan Mann has created a tribute anthem. The lyrics express what Clinton must have been thinking as she reacted to Trump, beginning with “this dude is coming at me.” [Quartz]
Trump and Clinton: The Victorian Novel
The Trump and Clinton rivalry dates back far beyond the 2016 election. An obscure novel called “The Odd Trump,” published in 1875 tells the tale of friends — and sometimes rivals — Clinton and Trump. It’s another oddity for this election year. [New Yorker]
Restaurateur Danny Meyer Bucks Industry Trends with New Parental Leave Policy
Meyer’s restaurant group Union Square Hospitality Group will offer full time employees their entire base salary for the first four weeks after a child is born or adopted beginning next year. For the next four weeks, the employees will be offered 60 percent of those wages. The company includes restaurants like Gramercy Tavern and The Modern. [Eater]
Londoners Hate Talking to Strangers on Public Transportation As Much as New Yorkers Do
New Yorkers aren’t the only ones who like to avoid social interaction on the subway. A campaign in London aimed to get riders on the Underground to talk to each other — giving out badges that say “Tube Chat?” to encourage conversations between strangers — has been met with swift and hilarious criticism. Turns out commuters in London just want to stare at their iPhones in silence, like the rest of us. [Mashable]
The People Who Collect Strangers' Memories
Even in the age of Instagram, there’s a seemingly growing world of collectors of vintage snapshots, real photos and strangers' memories. The photos, collectors say, have lost their original meanings, so now, the pictures have taken a new life. [The Atlantic]
Step Into a Real New York City Secret Garden
The New York Times’ Fashion & Style section gives readers a peek into a secret garden in Greenwich Village, with adjacent inhabitants that include Anna Wintour and, at one time, Bob Dylan. [New York Times]
This column was compiled by DNAinfo reporters Irene Plagianos, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Nikhita Venugopal, Gwynne Hogan, Shaye Weaver, Jeanmarie Evelly, Noah Hurowitz, Carolina Pichardo, Dartunorro Clark, Danielle Tcholakian and Emily Frost.
