Patriot Day, Fat Bears, and a Homerun Hijinks | The Ten News, News For Curious Kids

Um, hello?

Psst, Pam, over here.

Ryan, why is it pitch black in here?

Shh, I'm waiting for my glow-in-the-dark plant to sprout while also eating chili dogs.

Glow plants and chili dogs?

Yeah, it's a thing now.

I think we need to start the show.

I'm Pamela Kirkland.

And I'm Ryan Willard.

This is 10 Things You Need to Know.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All right, putting them all my chili dogs aside, today is an important day.

Yes, it is.

Today is known as Patriot Day, a day that we remember and honor the lives lost during the events of September 11th 2001.

Four planes were hijacked that day.

Two hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

One hit the Pentagon Building in Washington DC and the last crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against the hijackers.

In 2002, President George W. Bush proclaimed the first Patriot Day, one year following the attack.

On this day, U.S. flags are flown at half staff and at 8.46 a.m.

Eastern Time, marking the moment the first plane struck the World Trade Center.

There's a nationwide moment of silence to reflect, honor and remember the lives lost, as well as recognize the bravery of the first responders that day.

All right, for 10 points, what animal is this?

If you guessed a bear, you are almost correct.

It's not just any bear.

It's a fat bear because Fat Bear Week is back.

The National Park Service announced that the single elimination tournament will take place from September 23rd to September 30th.

There's also going to be a junior competition for bear cubs, called Fat Bear Junior, from September 18th to the 19th.

Fans can watch live bear cams from Brooks River in Katmai National Park, located in Alaska on exploreorg.

Viewers can submit their votes for their favorite fat bear daily, and you can thank naturalist Mike Fitz for creating this incredible spectacle that began in 2014 and has since grown into a celebration of conservation and environmental education for more than a million viewers worldwide.

Does this mean you're going to be eating chili dogs for the rest of the month?

That's the plan, though I apologize in advance for my fat bear farts.

I am still hungry like the wolf.

Speaking of wolves, up near the California-Oregon border some wolves have been rocking out to some ACDC.

Yep, ranchers have a new trick to keep wolves away from their cows.

Drones.

These flying machines use thermal cameras to spot the wolves, then blast sounds like rock music, movie clips or even human voices to scare them off.

Evacuate the area immediately.

Hmm.

A loud Ryan could work.

It might sound silly, but it works.

Scientists say the drones have already stopped wolf hunts and given ranchers a safer, more humane way to protect their animals.

There are still some challenges, like the drones being super expensive, costing about 20000, and not being great in forests.

But for now... proving to be successful in improving how ranchers and wolves coexist.

Nature is awesome, but science is awesome!

Scientists have created a plant that glows like nightlights.

Researchers in China say they've created the first multicolored and brightest ever luminescent plants.

Inspired by the movie Avatar.

Biologist and researcher at South China Agricultural University, Xu Tinglu, and her team made the plants glow by injecting the leaves of a succulent called Echeveria maybine with strontium aluminate, a material often used in glow-in-the-dark toys.

And they made it glow.

I would definitely camp out in that kind of garden.

Now for some big health news out of Florida, the state surgeon general.

Joseph Latipo has announced that Florida plans to end vaccine requirements or mandates in the state.

The Surgeon General is the top doctor in the state and helps make decisions about health to guide the state's policies.

This doesn't mean that vaccines are banned.

Families can still choose them.

But it does mean that vaccine for things like chickenpox, hepatitis B or meningitis will no longer be required for students attending public schools.

The plan to drop the vaccine mandates most likely won't take effect for 90 days and all other vaccinations required under Florida state law, like measles polio diphtheria pertussis, mumps and tetanus, will stay in effect for now.

These changes would make Florida the first state to make vaccinations voluntary.

Some doctors and health experts have spoken out that this change will put children in Florida schools at higher risk of getting sick, causing ripple effects across their community.

That's a lot of health news to digest, almost as much as my chili dogs.

Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.

Hello, hello.

Tracy Leeds Kaplan again with a few more thank yous for our amazing donors.

This week, it's 10 new snaps for... Sebastian and Spencer.

Thanks for listening every week.

The Dillon family and Sarah Shulkoff.

Thank you all.

And it's not too late to help us get to our goal.

I'd love to have more families to thank next week.

Check out the link in our show notes for how you can help.

And as always, a big thank you.

I know pumpkin spice season just started, but I'm already hyped for the holidays.

And Lego just launched its new Advent calendars.

Yay!

An Advent calendar is a special way to count down to Christmas.

Each day, you open a little window or a box that has a surprise inside.

This year's Lego Advent calendars are packed with festive versions of minifigures and holiday-themed builds, including a Star Wars set Minecraft, Disney's Frozen, Lego Friends and the Classic City holiday set.

The 2025 calendars have already hit store shelves and historically, they've sold out way before the holiday countdown actually begins.

So if you celebrate Christmas, or if you just want the calendar and love building Legos, grab yours today.

I'm actually going to go get mine right now.

Beer beat!

Hmm, should I wait for him to return?

Nah, I'll catch him up later.

I've got some not so great news.

Roblox, the super popular gaming platform, is facing several lawsuits saying the company hasn't done enough to keep kids safe on the platform.

One of the cases involves a 10-year-old girl in Michigan who was tricked by an adult pretending to be a kid on Roblox.

Roblox denies the claim and says it's already using safety tools like filters, limits on sharing personal info and even AI to spot dangerous messages faster.

Critics say that the company can do more, and the lawsuits are raising big questions about how kids can stay safe while gaming.

Okay, I'm back.

Tenors.

You know I love Roblox, like many of you, and this is just a reminder to review your privacy settings with your grownups and to always follow your house rules for who you game with online.

Speaking of rules, this one is kind of an unwritten one, but when you're at a baseball game and a home run lands in the stands, the nearest kid should probably get the ball.

But that wasn't the case at Lone Depot Park, where the Miami Marlins took on the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Philly center, Harrison Bader, launched a solo home run into the stands, sending fans scrambling for the ball.

One lucky guy, Drew Feltwell, ran to where the ball landed, grabbed it and handed it to his son Lincoln, who was celebrating his 10th birthday.

What an awesome gift.

Until it wasn't.

A lady now known as Philly's Karen felt that she should have the ball because it landed closer to her.

She confronted Feltwell, grabbing his arm and shouting at him until Drew took the ball from his son and gave it to her.

The video of the exchange went viral and the Marlins gifted the boy a prize pack and another baseball, and he even got to meet Harrison Bader after the game and received a signed bat from him.

But it didn't stop there.

Camping World CEO

Marcus Limonis shared on X that he would cover the cost for Lincoln and his family to go to the World Series and that they get a free RV.

So despite Philly's caring, I'd say Lincoln had a pretty great 10th birthday.

Note to self, never steal a baseball from a 10-year-old at a game.

Pope Leo XIV made history after declaring the Catholic Church's first millennial saint last Sunday.

The proper term for this is canonization, which is officially declaring a deceased member of the church to be a saint.

His name is Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old who passed away in 2006, just shortly after being diagnosed with acute leukemia.

Carlo was known for his love of computer science and was nicknamed God's Influencer after developing his tech legacy, which includes a multilingual website documenting so-called Eucharistic miracles recognized by the church.

With Carlo's canonization, his story serves as a bridge between faith and technology for young Catholics navigating this new digital age.

Do you think I could become a saint one day?

Um...

I think you gotta do a lot more good deeds, Rye.

Well, if I ever catch a home run ball, I'll give it to the nearest kid.

How's that?

That's a good start.

And for our last thing you need to know, let's go to our trivia master, Owen.

What is going on here?

Trivia of the 10.

Thanks, Pam.

Okay, Tenors, today's trivia is about a real-life genius.

Meet four-year-old Zorian Royce from Illinois.

At just two years old, what was Zorian already doing?

A, count forwards and backwards to 100.

B, spell the word hippopotamus.

C, read books all on his own.

Or D, all of the above.

The answer is D, all of the above.

Zorian's parents noticed his talents early, and he's now one of the youngest members ever accepted into Mensa, a society for highly intelligent people.

Zorian already reads at a second grade level, loves solving puzzles, building Lego sets, says he wants to be a NASA scientist one day.

Pretty amazing for someone who just turned four.

And I'm over here still working on how to spell hippopotamus.

That was 10 things you need to know.

I'm okay.

Thanks for asking.

Can we turn the lights back on now, Rye?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't think my glow-in-the-dark plants are going to grow in the dark anytime soon.

Should we give 10 new snaps to some of our listeners?

Absolutely.

But before that, here's a quick note for the grown-ups.

It's time for 10 News Snaps.

A tenor named Taco Seal left us a review on Apple Podcasts that said love it and gave us five stars.

And then they said one thing, don't make fun of Girl Scouts because I am one.

But I love them.

Do an episode on politics.

I have a cat named Space.

Does your cat like... First of all, I would never make fun of Girl Scouts because they are awesome.

Second...

I'm sure we will do an episode on politics sometime soon.

Third, that's cool that your cat is named Space.

And lastly no, my cat, Rigby the cinnamon roll, does not like butterflies, because I live in a butterfly house.

Thank you very much.

And a tenor named Halbrand is.

Saran said I think it would be super awesome if you did video game, book TV shows and space news, especially the books, because I would love to hear about it.

Thank you and love this podcast.

Thank you, Halbrand is Saran.

I think we could do all of those things.

Those are awesome episode ideas.

And two extra notes for the grownups.

You can now get ad-free versions of our episodes when you join the Tenors Club on our website.

And if you want to help support The 10 News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes.

The whole team thanks you for your support.

The 10 News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.

The 10 News creative team is eating like normal humans, not like Ryan and the fat bears, and includes Tracy, not a crooks, Adam the great Bambino Bernard, Brian not Ryan.

Douglas and Carson, not so Harry Potter.

Big thanks to Owen, not slowing down for anybody.

Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald.

All right, all right, all right.

And our show creator is Tracy Takes the Leads Kaplan.

I'm Ryan Willard.

And I'm Pamela Kirkland.

Thanks for listening to The 10 News.

[10 Things You Need to Know: Patriot Day, Fat Bear Week, and Digital Saints]-[Patriot Day, Fat Bears, and a Homerun Hijinks]

📋 Summary

10 Things You Need to Know: A Comprehensive Weekly Roundup

Remembering September 11th

Wildlife and Environmental Conservation

Scientific and Medical Updates

Technology, Gaming, and Culture

Trivia and Fun

🎯Key Sentences

📝Key Phrases

📖 Transcript