Reader’s Digest has released its list of the Nicest Places in America, with Provo, Utah, earning the top honor for its Hope Squad, an evidence-based peer-to-peer suicide prevention program.
Silver Spring was named a finalist in the magazine’s annual list for ‘The Bike Dude’ Manuel Vera of Manuel’s Bike Shed, who Rep. Jamie Raskin previously recognized for fixing and donating bikes to his neighbors and refugees.
Vera started repairing bikes as a retirement hobby and donated them to community members, including Afghans who recently immigrated to the area. During the lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Vera was inspired to repair bicycles for families in his neighborhood. In 2021, the Taliban took over control of Kabul, and he was tasked with fixing bikes for incoming Afghan children and their parents…