Good news, for a change

Sick of the debt ceiling? Tired of fed bashing? Ready for a break? Well, we’ve dug through the news and picked some stories aimed at lowering your blood pressure. Read on…

Effective Feds Dept.

• The Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a 20-month investigation that resulted in the largest strike against La Familia Michoacana drug cartel in the United States: 1,985 arrests and seizure of $62 million in U.S. currency, approximately 2,773 pounds of methamphetamine, 2,722 kilograms of cocaine, 1,005 pounds of heroin, 14,818 pounds of marijuana and $3.8 million in other assets.
• Tucson (Ariz.) Sector Border Patrol agents recently seized more than 2,400 pounds of marijuana with an estimated value of $1.2 million in six separate incidents over a 24-hour period.

Do-Good Feds Dept.

• The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, an education nonprofit that represents 350 colleges and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico, has bestowed the Outstanding HACU Public Partner Award on the Veterans Affairs Department in recognition of the department’s efforts to bring Hispanics into its workforce.
• Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation will partner with other organizations to provide children with disabilities with the opportunity to enjoy a day of fishing Aug. 6 at the Potholes Reservoir near Moses Lake, Wash.

Strarry-Eyed Feds Dept.

• The American Forces News Service reports from the Naval Air Station Fourth Joint Reserve Base that the 301st Fighter Wing’s main hangar “was turned into something akin to a Hollywood movie set” as contestants from last season’s “American Idol” TV show filmed a public-service announcement for Air Force Reserve Command Recruiting Service. The 'American Idol' contestants "are just as interested in what we do in the military as we are in them,” reported one soldier involved in the activity.

Warm and Fuzzy Dept.

• The U.S. Postal Service announced that Owney, “the scruffy mutt who became the unofficial mascot of the Railway Mail Service in the late 19th Century,” will appear on 60 million Owney the Postal Dog Forever stamps.
• The Smithsonian’s National Zoo facility in Front Royal, Va., reported a summer baby boom, with the birth of red pandas, white-naped cranes, scimitar-horned oryxes, tufted deer, and clouded leopards.

There. We hope that helped.