“When did being a compassionate human being become something exceptional?
“It didn’t cost me anything to respond. People get hung up on trying to say the right thing in these types of situations but sometimes people just need to be able to vent or say what they need and move on.” Somebody answered my dead brother’s number.

+ “The pizzas and notes came from Hakki Akdeniz, a 39-year-old immigrant who has built a small chain of pizza shops in the city and, with it, something of an unofficial, but solid, support network for the homeless in Manhattan. His visits to the memorials this week, each time lugging a stack of pizzas that reached his chin, follow a remarkable journey even in a city built on rags-to-riches tales.” NYT: Why a Pizza Mogul Left Pies at Memorials to 4 Homeless Men.

+ Superhero bus driver helps save a life for the third time in her career.

+ Post office employee finds two missing children in two weeks.

+ Holocaust survivor left in tears after Arab plumbers refuse to charge her for their work: ‘Her life story touched my heart.’

+ Students from families making less than $50K a year will get free tuition at UConn starting next year.

+ Despite 14 stitches and a black eye, Jimmy Carter is back building homes.

+ Dick’s Sporting Goods destroyed over $5 million in military-style, semiautomatic rifles.

+ Changing your diet can help tamp down depression, boost mood.

+ HBO to add mental health disclaimers in front of select shows.

+ Steven Reed makes history as Montgomery’s first black mayor.

+ And there was a bad link on this story in yesterday’s edition: The Last True Sticker Factory in America.