( CNN ) -- Chesley `` Sully '' Sullenberger : On January 15 , 2009 , the airline captain , along with co-pilot Jeff Skiles , guided US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River , saving the lives of all 155 people on board . In his autobiography , `` Highest Duty , '' the celebrated flier wrote that the landing was not a miracle , but rather the result of decades of practice and training . On Wednesday , Sullenberger , 59 , announced his retirement . In the statement he released , he spoke of his passion for the profession , and he mentioned Skiles by name . He wrote , `` Each generation of pilots hopes that they will leave their profession better off than they found it . In spite of the best efforts of thousands of my colleagues , that is not the case today . '' Sullenberger wrote that he would remain an advocate for aviation safety and for piloting . `` I will work to remind the entire industry -- and those who manage and regulate it - that we have a sacred duty to our passengers to do the very best that we know how to do . '' Flight attendant Doreen Welsh , who served on Flight 1549 with Sullenberger , also announced her retirement from US Airways yesterday . Final flight for 'Sully ' 'Miracle on Hudson ' pilot retires . Whitney Thompson : California 's Arnold Schwarzenegger , like many governors across the nation , faces severe budget problems . Schwarzenegger has called for `` draconian '' spending cuts to deal with a shortfall of nearly $ 20 billion . The state 's public education system has been feeling the pain , and students and teachers are screaming loudly . Last fall , students held a series of protests on the UC Berkeley campus after the announcement last summer of a 32 percent tuition hike throughout the state 's university system . Those protests grew into a movement , and Thursday , rallies , marches , demonstrations and teach-ins are scheduled across the state under a `` Day of Action '' banner . There are also protests planned in more than 30 other states to fight further budget cuts , layoffs and furloughs . Whitney Thompson , 23 , from Yuma , Arizona , is a `` super-senior '' at Fresno State University . She plans to get her degree in history next fall . She is part of a statewide organization called Students for a Quality Education . Thompson will be speaking Thursday at a rally on the Fresno State campus . `` We 're being denied access to quality affordable , education , '' she told CNN on Wednesday . It keeps worsening every year . We 're paying more and getting less . They eliminated 1000 classes on my campus alone , including four I was enrolled in , and I had already paid for them . And then on top of that , I had to pay 32 percent more in tuition . '' Students across U.S. plan to protest education funding cuts . Protests of tuition increase continue on California campuses . Patricia Overy : The 40-year-old accounting technician and mother of four announced Monday at the City of Lathrop , California , council meeting that she was voluntarily giving up her job . The Manteca Bulletin reported that Overy made the decision in order to save the job of a 60-year-old coworker , Sharon Singleton . The city 's budget deficit is $ 648,000 , and Overy told CNN Wednesday that 11 city jobs needed to be eliminated . She had long discussions with her husband , Robert , about her seven years at work and how close she had become with her coworkers . `` There are a lot of mothers with kids , '' she said . `` You know what their favorite crayon colors are . You talk about what you ate for dinner . I thought that I could possibly cope with the loss of a job better than my coworkers . '' So her last day was Tuesday , and she 's looking forward to spending time with her kids -- ages 14 , 7 and 4-year-old twins -- before she looks for work again . `` I feel happy for what I did . I feel that I am so blessed , '' she said . `` I care about people , and that 's how I was raised , '' she said . `` Everyday I live my life and think about what positive influence I could have . I 'm not perfect , but I try to do my best . '' Singleton 's last day on her job would have been Thursday . The Manteca Bulletin : Worker 's unselfish act . Matthew McCabe : Reps. Dana Rohrabacher , R-California , and Dan Burton , R-Indiana , will be joined at a news conference Thursday by accused Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe , as well as more than a dozen retired Navy SEALs , to renew calls for the exoneration of the `` Navy SEAL 3 . '' In September 2009 , McCabe , Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe were part of the SEAL team that captured and allegedly mistreated al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Hashim Abed , considered one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq . Abed is the suspected planner behind the 2004 killing , burning and mutilation of four American contractors in Fallujah , Iraq . Abed complained to investigators that the SEALs punched him during his detention . There were arraigned in military court on charges of giving false statements to investigators and abusing Abed . In January , a judge ruled that Keefe and Huertas will have their cases heard in Iraq next month . Petty Officer 2nd Class McCabe , 24 , faces a special court martial on May 3 at the naval base in Norfolk , Virginia . The case against the Navy SEALs sparked outrage that the sailors are being tried at all for handling a suspect in the contractors ' murders , one of the most notorious incidents in the war . The killings got widespread news coverage when the burned bodies of two of the contractors were paraded through the streets of Fallujah and hanged from a bridge as their captors cheered . At today 's news conference , Burton and Rohrabacher will present signed petitions of support from more than 100,000 Americans calling for the SEALs ' exoneration . If found guilty , the SEALs face a maximum sentence of a year in a military prison , demotion to the lowest Navy rank , a cut in pay and a bad conduct discharge . Yesterday , McCabe 's attorney , Neal Puckett , told CNN that his client is pleading not guilty . `` He continues routine training where he works in the Norfolk area . He 's completely supported by the chain of command and all of the other SEALs . He 's hoping for a good outcome , '' Puckett said . `` He 's in good spirits and believes he 'll be acquitted . '' 2 Navy SEAL cases moved to Iraq . Jose Theodore : The goalie of the Washington Capitals hockey team talked for the first time this week to the Washington Post about the death of his 2-month-old son who died last August from respiratory complications . Chace Theodore was born five weeks early with a neuromuscular condition that has defied diagnosis . To breathe , he was put on a ventilator . Jose and his wife spent most of their son 's 54 days at Washington Children 's Hospital Center at a time when Jose was trying to win back his starting position with the Capitals . The newspaper reports that he had lost the position when he was replaced by a rookie last spring . Sports psychologist Joel Fish says that being a goalie requires `` the highest level of concentration and focus . '' Theodore , an intensely private athlete , said , `` I can remember sometimes , it could be a 2-2 game , and you start thinking about your son , or you start thinking about different stuff . '' After his son died , Theodore was named No . 1 goalie again , and he started a `` Saves for Kids '' campaign . He will donate $ 2 for each save , $ 100 for each win and $ 500 for each shutout during the regular season and more during playoffs to a children 's medical center . The Washington Post : Washington Capitals goalie Jose Theodore copes with the pain of his infant son 's death . What makes a person intriguing ? There are people who enter the news cycle every day because their actions or decisions are new , important or different . Others are in the news because they are the ones those decisions affect . And there are a number of people who are so famous or controversial that anything they say or do becomes news . Some of these people do what we expect of them : They run for office , pass legislation , start a business , get hired or fired , commit a crime , make an arrest , get in accidents , hit a home run , overthrow a government , fight wars , sue an opponent , put out fires , prepare for hurricanes and cavort with people other than their spouses . They do make news , but the action is usually more important than who is involved in the story . But every day , there are a number of people who become fascinating to us -- by virtue of their character , how they reached their decision , how they behaved under pressure or because of the remarkable circumstances surrounding the event they are involved in . They arouse our curiosity . We hear about them and want to know more . What they have done or said stimulates conversations across the country . At times , there is even a mystery about them . What they have done may be unique , heroic , cowardly or ghastly , but they capture our imaginations . We want to know what makes them tick , why they believe what they do , and why they did what they did . They intrigue us .
'Miracle on Chesley ' pilot Hudson `` Sully '' Sullenberger retires . Chesley rallies against education funding cuts . Virginia Capitals goalie Whitney Thompson honors his dead son .