Free Republic

Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of Nickelodeon's animated megahit SpongeBob SquarePants, died Monday. He was 57. Hillenburg died from ALS; he was diagnosed with the disease in March 2017. Nickelodoen paid tribute to him in a tweet on Tuesday: "We are sad to share the news of the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants. Today, we are observing a moment of silence to honor his life and work."

LONG BEACH, N.Y., A New York state 12-year-old saved the life of a friend using the Heimlich maneuver, which she learned from watching "SpongeBob Square Pants." Miriam Starobin, 12, said she used the lesson she learned from the popular Nickelodeon cartoon when her friend Allyson Golden, 12, began choking on a piece of gum Tuesday during a music class at Long Beach Middle School, the New York Post reported Friday. "It was like a flash right in my eyes. I saw in my head Squidward with his clarinet lodged in his throat and then SpongeBob does the Heimlich maneuver and...