Today’s lead: Saratoga National Historical Park turned a September Saturday into a lovely three-part plan: arrive for sunset, visit a candlelit farmhouse, then look up. Its free Night Sky Over the Neilson Farm program on September 12 brought rangers, volunteers, families, and a Junior Ranger activity book to the park after dark.

Featured image: Editorial illustration of families and a park ranger looking at stars beside a candlelit historic farmhouse at dusk.

A patch, a chair, and a very large ceiling

The National Park Service scheduled the evening at Neilson Farm with the tour-road gate open from 5:45 to 7:30 p.m., an open house at the Neilson House from 6 to 8 p.m., and a ranger program from 8:15 to 9 p.m. Visitors could talk with park staff and volunteers, settle in for the presentation, and see the farmhouse by candlelight.

Junior Rangers had an especially tidy mission: complete a Night Sky Explorer book and earn a patch. That gives the evening the useful rhythm of a great family outing: a little history, a little sky-watching, a little official paperwork, and a souvenir earned under the stars.

Source details: The event was free at Neilson Farm, Stop 2 on the Battlefield Tour Road at Saratoga National Historical Park. The park’s official event listing provides the complete schedule and visitor information.

Quick smiles from around the network

• Hopewell Has Volunteers Chasing Monarchs, and Professor Hoot Has Read the Running-Shoe Note follows a butterfly-tagging volunteer event in Ohio.
• Smile Across America: Valles Caldera’s Fall Fiesta Invites a Weekend of Art, Music and Stargazing has a New Mexico weekend plan for people who like their art with a view of the sky.
• Why a Railway Mail Dog Came Home Wearing a Harness of Travel Tags looks back at a famously well-traveled postal dog.
• The Quiet Parade: A Sunday Comic is a fictional satire comic from FunnyNews.lol.

Source

National Park Service: Night Sky Over the Neilson Farm

Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter’s September 3–6 adoption-fee waiver has the kind of title that practically comes with a wag: Ronnie & Rico’s TAILgate for BARCS. BARCS says the waiver is sponsored by Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley and Rico, his BARCS pup, for all animals adopted during the four-day window.

Rico is a real BARCS rescue dog whose adoption history gives the pun its heart. The Ravens reported that Stanley adopted Rico after first adopting Lola from BARCS in 2016. That makes the name on the adoption drive a small, real rescue-history loop: a shelter dog who found a home is now lending that home’s name to an effort intended to help other animals find theirs.

The announcement keeps the football jokes light while making the practical part unusually simple: during the stated September 3–6 window, BARCS says adoption fees are waived for all animals. Prospective adopters should check the shelter’s current adoption information before visiting.

Source check

• BARCS adoption-events listing — September 3–6 waiver and the Ronnie & Rico TAILgate name.
• Baltimore Ravens — Stanley’s BARCS connection and Rico’s adoption history.

Tonight around the network

• Hilarious News: Steamtown’s railroad costume contest
• Smile News: Ocmulgee’s September homecoming
• Weird News: Long Island’s Big Duck building
• FunnyNews.lol: “The Library Door With a Minor Theater Degree” — satire

TODAY’S LEAD · AUGUST 31, 2026

Niagara’s Most Polite Suspect Was a Peacock

A backyard visitor in Wisconsin was escorted to shelter custody after making the rare decision to cooperate with police.

Niagara, Wisconsin, had an unusually well-mannered call for service Monday morning: a peacock was wandering through a backyard in the Niagara Heights neighborhood.

Niagara Police Chief Michael Chapman told Upper Michigan’s Source/WLUC that the bird let officers approach within a few feet. An officer wrapped it in a blanket, and the peacock did not try to flee or peck anyone. In other words, the suspect was already demonstrating excellent community-policing instincts.

The bird was taken to Almost Home Animal Shelter in Quinnesec, Michigan, where it can be reunited with its owner if someone comes forward. The department’s low-drama capture is a reminder that not every unusual police call needs a chase scene; sometimes the best plan is a blanket, a calm approach and a bird with surprisingly good manners.

Today’s lead: Sioux Falls is giving kitten season a cowboy hat.

A hoedown where the tiny guests have whiskers

On Saturday, August 29, the Sioux Empire TNR Coalition is bringing an End of Summer Kitten Hootenanny and Hoedown to Remedy Brewing Company in downtown Sioux Falls. The free event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and invites the public to meet kittens and cats available for adoption.

The coalition’s listing says the afternoon will also include food and drinks, vendors, a DJ, and a raffle supporting its feline-welfare programs. The Sioux Falls Area Humane Society is listed alongside Sioux Empire TNR as a source of adoptable cats. In other words, the schedule has all the usual hoedown ingredients, plus several small mammals who may decline to square-dance on principle.

The event is a preview, not a report of a completed rescue or adoption. The organizer lists the date, hours, location, and free admission on its event page; Downtown Sioux Falls carries the same details, and Dakota News Now also listed the hootenanny in its August 28 community coverage.

Verified details

• When: Saturday, August 29, 2026, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
• Where: Remedy Brewing Company, 401 E. 8th St., Suite 120, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Admission: Free
• Purpose: Meet adoptable cats and raise funds for Sioux Empire TNR’s feline-welfare work

Sources: Sioux Empire TNR Coalition event listing (primary), Downtown Sioux Falls calendar, and Dakota News Now’s August 28 listing.

More from tonight’s network

Hilarious News: “Cool-umbia’s Firefly Mascot Had a Museum Day, a Firetruck and One Very Serious Water Buffalo” — factual network brief.

Smile News: “At Great Meadows, Ivy’s Turtle Family Opens a Bright New Chapter” — factual network brief.

Weird News: “The Rocks That Take a Walk Across Death Valley” — factual network brief.

Satire: FunnyNews.lol: “The Automatic Apology” — a fictional comic item, clearly labeled as satire.

Tonight’s most formally named bird appointment is in Denali National Park & Preserve. At 7 p.m., Alaska Geographic’s summer speaker series is scheduled to welcome Ginamaria Smith and Archimedes, a great horned owl, for Whoooo’s there? Owls of Alaska at the Murie Science and Learning Center.

The program is free and open to the public. The National Park Service says Smith and Archimedes will cover owl habits, where owls can be found in Alaska, and local owl calls. Alaska Geographic lists the same August 25 event and speaker pairing. That makes the headline’s tiny bit of owl-wordplay officially supported by a very large owl, at least in spirit.

The practical detail is wonderfully straightforward: one hour, 7 p.m., and a chance to learn about the neighborhood night shift from a guest with excellent hearing and a name that sounds prepared to settle a philosophical dispute. The event listing does not promise a particular call, a particular pose, or a particular amount of audience applause—so we will not either.

Elsewhere in the network

• Hilarious News is watching a Point Reyes beach contest where sand, shells and driftwood are part of the assignment.
• Smile News has the details on an upcoming virtual conversation with young park stewards.
• Weird News explains the real conditions behind Death Valley’s famous rock trails.
• FunnyNews.lol offers today’s clearly labeled fictional comic about an unnecessarily official commute.

Sources

• National Park Service: Alaska Geographic Summer Speaker Series event listing
• Alaska Geographic: Summer Evening Speaker Series

FunnyNews.today daily edition · Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Editorial illustration generated for this briefing; it does not depict PAWmicon, its attendees, or a particular location.

Today’s lead: PAWmicon is putting pet cosplay on Balboa Park’s lawn

San Diego’s pets have a place on the Comic-Con-week calendar today: Helen Woodward Animal Center’s PAWmicon is scheduled for 4:30–7 p.m. on Presidents Way Lawn in Balboa Park. The free event pairs pop-culture dress-up with a pet costume contest, so the most important question is not whether the cape fits—it is whether the wearer will tolerate the cape.

The organizer lists three PawsPlay contest divisions: Flying Solo, Dynamic Duos & Trios & More, and Fantastic Floats. Its event page says attendance is free, while contest entrants need to sign up. The online-registration window listed by the organizer closed at midnight July 20, so latecomers should check directly with the event team rather than assume a walk-up spot.

KPBS’s event listing independently confirms the July 21 date, the Balboa Park setting, and the cosplay-and-contest setup. It also lists vendors and activities for people and pets. That gives this a rare kind of public-service value: a genuinely useful reason to carry treats, water, and a tiny superhero cape.

Quick, credible funny things to read next

• History with an arrow: Why 70-Foot Concrete Arrows Still Point Across the American West explains the odd old airmail-route markers that remain in the landscape. WeirdNews.org
• Dog-adjacent history: Fort Clatsop’s Guest Newfoundlands Reported for Seaman’s Day follows a canine-friendly National Park Service story. Hilarious.news
• Tonight’s people-first program: Glacier’s Native America Speaks Returns Tonight previews the opening of Glacier’s Indigenous speaker series. Smile.news
• Satire, clearly labeled: The Suggestion Box Answers Back is an original fictional comic, not a factual news brief. FunnyNews.lol

Sources

• Helen Woodward Animal Center: PAWmicon 2026 (primary event organizer)
• KPBS: PAWmicon 2026 event listing (independent confirmation)