Right in my wheelhouse...

Looking at the three stories I found today, the theme would only be apparent to me. Yes, all three are good news, and yes, I did find them all the same way. But a theory of communication I learned in college that is coming back to me now quite randomly and only vaguely holds that stories in the news grab people's attention more quickly and for longer when people have a tie to or stake in them. 

Last night I was at a meeting at the MSPCA about a certain breed of dogs which I have mentioned a lot on here, so I won't do it again. : ) I want a dog terribly, so this story in the LA Times about the two dogs which stopped traffic on a NY expressway yesterday caught my attention almost immediately. It seems the mama got hit by a car, and her son made sure to stay between her as she lay on the ground with a broken leg and anything that came nearby - human or car. Mama is recovering nicely, and the son has been taken home.

The inspirational story I found in Florence, Ala.'s Times Daily about a cancer center nurse who contracted breast cancer and proceeded to beat it grabbed my attention since my father and uncle are both recovering from cancer, and I just found out a friend's boyfriend's mother has been diagnosed with it. Jamie White started her career as an ER nurse but moved to oncology after having a baby. Her grandfather went through his cancer treatments at her center and recovered before she herself was diagnosed. White went through her treatment at her own center and became an inspiration to the other patients by encouraging the nurses to share her story with them. 

My last homegrown tale comes from msnbc.com. President Obama has made a firmer commitment to rescuing the Chesapeake Bay with his latest executive order. Citing the Clean Water Act, he put the Environmental Protection Agency in charge of restoration efforts. The Bay is in very poor health and is in danger of becoming unable to support not only the wildlife who call it home, but the watermen who make their living off the estuary. Obama's order will send funding and oversight to the cleanup efforts at the watershed and hopefully will put pressure on the surrounding states to do more.

(Photo credit: www.usc.edu)