Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Oklahoma County promised to fix its jail more than 10 year ago, but deaths and staffing issues continue

    February 22, 2021 |

    The Frontier |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    The U.S. Department of Justice documented dangerous conditions in the Oklahoma County Detention Center that led to a 2009 court settlement requiring the county to staff and fund its jail adequately. But the Justice Department failed to enforce the settlement. Staff shortages and poor conditions persist in the jail, leading to 84 deaths since 2009, seven in the past three months. The county knew it would need voter approval to raise taxes or borrowing to pay for the jail reforms, but it never followed through and was not held to account by the federal overseers.

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  • Can a Community Water Lab Restore Trust in Flint?

    February 18, 2021 |

    Belt Magazine |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Flint, Michigan

    A community-based water testing and lead-education pilot program aimed to rebuild confidence and trust among Flint residents, who are skeptical of state-affiliated testing. Trained students collected water samples that were tested by University of Michigan labs. Educational materials provided with results included how to install, maintain, and use filters. While most samples didn't show issues, households with dangerous lead levels were given bottled water, filters, and other services. Once the pilot ended, the Mckenzie Patrice-Croom Water Lab secured funding to continue free community-based water testing.

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  • How Newark Water Coalition Is Bringing the City Clean Water Without Plastic Waste

    February 18, 2021 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

    Since it was reported that Newark’s lead levels in the city’s drinking water were higher than federal standards, the Newark Water Coalition installed a Water Box. This is a portable filtration system that removes contaminants to provide 10 gallons of clean water each minute. The organization worked with another nonprofit that implemented a Water Box in Flint, Michigan, to secure funding to install three others in the city.

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  • A Tour of Unloved Fishes

    February 16, 2021 |

    Hakai Magazine |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: India, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

    Fishploration provides scientifically guided tours of fish markets to teach consumers how to select sustainable and non-threatened fish that are in season and caught using non-destructive fishing practices. Each month, the group produces a guide - based both on scientific information and knowledge from local fish sellers – highlight which species are in season and okay to eat. Participants walk through the market, learning to identify species and having a chance to interact with the fishing community. A second component of the tour is to visit the home of a local fisher family and share a meal.

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  • The Bakery That's Owned by an Idea

    February 16, 2021 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

    Firebrand Artisan Breads hires people with high barriers to employment, such as people experiencing homelessness or who were formerly incarcerated. The higher-than-minimum-wage starting salary, paid time off, and insurance benefits provide sustainable and secure employment to people whose life circumstances make it harder to get a job. In order to raise capital while maintaining their employment model, the owner worked with lawyers to become a perpetual purpose trust, an alternative ownership model that allows the company to sell shares to private investors while ensuring their principles remain in place.

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  • Boosting Voter Turnout: Seth Flaxman

    February 13, 2021 |

    How Do We Fix It? |

    Podcast |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States

    Democracy Works has a suite of programs that make it easier to vote. TurboVote helps its 7 million subscribers easily register to vote by taking them to their state's online registration site or by sending them the paperwork with envelopes pre-addressed to their county election office. The service also sends emails and texts to remind users to vote, as well as with other deadlines and their polling location. Their Voting Information Project provides data for all districts in the U.S. that groups, such as Google and Facebook, use to provide their users with their polling place location information.

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  • Wales's "One Planet" Policy Is Transforming Rural Life

    February 12, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Wales, Pembrokeshire

    Wales’ One Planet Development Policy allows people to live a more sustainable lifestyle by using only the resources on the land where they reside. For one family, they get their electricity from their own solar array, heat from firewood, and food from their gardens and livestock. Each year, they must prove that they are using only their “global fair share” of resources. So far, 46 farms have signed on to the program and the lessons learned from the experiment are helping to inform the government’s actions on other policies like housing.

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  • Treetop sensors help Indonesia eavesdrop on forests to cut logging

    February 11, 2021 |

    Thomson Reuters Foundation |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Indonesia, Solok, West Sumatra

    In Indonesia, there are 27 “Guardian” sensors eavesdropping on forests as a way to monitor them for cases of illegal logging. The organization Rainforest Connection uses artificial intelligence to analyze the audio from these sensors and if the system picks up the sound of a chainsaw, it sends a mobile alert to community patrols in the area. This technology can be scaled for other parts of the world and habitats. “We're basically building a nervous system for the natural world," says Topher White, founder of the nonprofit.

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  • American Democracy Is Only 55 Years Old—And Hanging by a Thread

    February 11, 2021 |

    The Atlantic |

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    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Mississippi

    The federal Voting Rights Act required states to ensure access to the polls for Black voters and created federal enforcement mechanisms. The law worked well in the Jim Crow South, but it wasn't built to deal with racial disenfranchisement more broadly. Congress and the courts have stripped important provisions from the bill over time, like those ensuring enforcement. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling dismissed the need for preemptive measures to protect Black voters, which created an opening for states to pass more restrictive voting laws that have created unfair burdens for Black, Latino, and Indigenous voters.

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  • No pew? No problem. Online church is revitalizing congregations.

    February 09, 2021 |

    The Christian Science Monitor |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Dallas, Texas

    Despite coronavirus restrictions shifting to allow churches to reopen, across the U.S. many religious institutions are continuing their digital video conferencing options as a means of reaching a wider audience. The use of video streaming church services has eliminated the geographical constraints for many, but it has also introduced "challenging questions about what it means to be a church where some people can’t take part in defining activities."

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