Saturday, October 31, 2026
America's Good News: Saturday, October 31, 2026
From American history
Alan Shepard was the first American in space, but by February 1971, as commander of Apollo 14, he had a new goal: the first golf shot on another world. A Houston club pro fitted a Wilson six-iron head onto the handle of a tool built for scooping up moon dirt, and Shepard stowed it aboard in a sock, along with two golf balls. At the end of his last moonwalk, on live TV, he swung one-handed because his stiff spacesuit allowed nothing better. His first tries took more dirt than ball, and one shot landed in a crater. The second, he announced, went "miles and miles and miles." Image experts measured it 50 years later at about 40 yards. Close enough. America is still the only nation to tee off on the Moon.
1. A first for American medicine: FDA clears a DNA-based treatment for a rare disease that grows tumors in the throat
The FDA granted accelerated approval to Inovio's Voceryq, the first plasmid DNA-based immunotherapy, for adults with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a rare HPV-driven disease that causes airway growths and often repeated surgeries.
Original title: “US FDA approves Inovio's treatment for rare throat disease; shares surge”
Source: Read the full story: US FDA approves Inovio's treatment for rare throat disease; shares surge →
2. Spacewalk No. 100: astronauts mark an American milestone by unrolling a new solar wing on the space station
On Oct. 29, NASA's Anil Menon and Canada's Joshua Kutryk spent 7 hours, 11 minutes outside the International Space Station, installing and unrolling the seventh of eight new solar arrays. It was the 100th U.S. spacewalk at the station.
Original title: “100 US spacewalks from the ISS! Astronauts deploy new solar array on landmark EVA”
3. Grit and gold: Northeast High's all-female Lady Vikings JROTC team wins a national championship
The Lady Vikings, an all-female Army JROTC Raider team from Northeast High in St. Petersburg, Fla., won a national title at Fort Knox, Ky., taking first in the Rope Bridge and Physical Strength Test and placing top three in every event.
Original title: “St. Pete all-female JROTC team wins national championship”
Source: Read the full story: St. Pete all-female JROTC team wins national championship →
4. A $25,000 surprise in Appalachia: Harlan High's English teacher wins Kentucky's Milken Educator Award
At a surprise school assembly on Oct. 28, Dr. Tyler Saylor, who teaches 11th and 12th grade English at Harlan High School, was named Kentucky's 2026 Milken Educator, with $25,000 to use as he likes. He's his district's first winner.
Original title: “Harlan teacher surprised with $25,000 award”
Source: Read the full story: Harlan teacher surprised with $25,000 award →
Sources
- 1. A first for American medicine: FDA clears a DNA-based treatment for a rare disease that grows tumors in the throat: srnnews.com (original) · bizjournals.com
- 2. Spacewalk No. 100: astronauts mark an American milestone by unrolling a new solar wing on the space station: space.com (original) · spaceflightnow.com
- 3. Grit and gold: Northeast High's all-female Lady Vikings JROTC team wins a national championship: wfla.com (original) · wtsp.com
- 4. A $25,000 surprise in Appalachia: Harlan High's English teacher wins Kentucky's Milken Educator Award: wymt.com (original) · kentuckyteacher.org