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A Houston man spent hours calling 911 before responders found his family members dead
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/inside-chaotic-response-911-call-texas-half-family-just-disappeared-n1277076
Perla Trevizo
Suzy Khimm
Mike Hixenbaugh
Lexi Churchill
NBC News
19 September 2021
Multi-Media / Over 3000 Words
First responders usually have wide discretion over whether to force their way into a private home to respond to an emergency. One family's tragic carbon monoxide poisoning during Texas' severe winter weather in 2021 illustrates how the lack of a clear policy for firefighters, combined with miscommunication from 911 operators, led to a lengthy delay in providing medical help. Two family members died and two others suffered serious injuries when exhaust from their car filled their house and they could not respond to knocks at their door. Help was delayed for several hours.
‘Every man was drinking': how much do bans on alcohol help women in India?
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/sep/14/every-man-was-drinking-how-much-do-bans-on-alcohol-help-women-in-india
Preeti Jha
The Guardian
14 September 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
The Bihar, India, state government banned drinking and selling of alcohol in 2016 after women in the mostly rural state mounted protests blaming men's alcohol abuse for rampant violence against women. Hundreds of thousands of arrests, carrying severe penalties, resulted from the ban. Previous bans in Bihar and other states failed because of unpopularity and loopholes. This one has some evidence to suggest it cut drinking by a lot but violence by only a little, while bootlegging and other crimes have increased. The prohibition protests have spread to other states.
Eagle County problem-solving courts offer new hope to repeat offenders battling substance abuse
https://www.vaildaily.com/news/eagle-county-problem-solving-courts-offer-new-hope-to-repeat-offenders-battling-substance-abuse
Kelli Duncan
Vail Daily
9 September 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Eagle County's two problem-solving courts put treatment ahead of punishment when addressing crimes committed by people with substance abuse problems. Originally set up as one court, they now function separately to address drunken driving and drugs and serve people "teetering on the edge of serious prison time" for repeat offenses. More than 90 percent of participants in 2020 maintained sobriety and more than 80 percent avoided new legal troubles. While the threat of punishment is used to win compliance with rules, prosecutors say they're more interested in permanently curing the underlying disease.
Improving maternal healthcare in rural Nigeria with free drugs and birthing kits
https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/improving-maternal-healthcare-in-rural-nigeria-with-free-drugs-and-birthing-kits/zx1dz5x
bayo wahab
Pulse Nigeria
9 September 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Hacey Health Initiative and Alabiyamo Maternal and Child Healthcare Foundation are improving maternal and newborn health in rural communities. The groups have provided more than 50,000 birthing kits containing sterilized tools and other essentials and handed out over 100,000 long-lasting treated nets to prevent malaria. Women and infants can get medications and important vaccinations, along with clothes and baby food. The care is free and the groups work with community gatekeepers, like leaders in local markets, midwives, and other traditional birthing assistants, whose buy in is important to build trust.
The lost generation of ancient trees
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210908-the-lost-generation-of-ancient-trees
Katherine Latham
BBC
8 September 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Ancient trees like the Big Belly Oak, which grows to be hundreds of years old, provide substance to thousands of invertebrate species, and hundreds of species of lichen and fungi. However, due to changes in forest management and agriculture, many of the ancient trees are not surviving long enough to age. It's crucial for them to age because that's when many species of fungi and insects begin to move into their core. In order to speed up the aging process scientists are trying two methods, veteranisation and inserting fungi into trees.
Why a Swedish city with a violent crime problem looked to US for solutions
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2021/0908/Why-a-Swedish-city-with-a-violent-crime-problem-looked-to-US-for-solutions
Erika Page
Christian Science Monitor
8 September 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Malmö's Sluta Skjut (Stop Shooting) program adopts a group violence intervention approach that has been used widely in the U.S. Gang members and others believed to be involved in street violence are summoned to "call-ins" to hear messages from law enforcement officials, community members, and social services providers. The overarching message: stop the violence, or go to prison; if you do stop, help is available to change your life. About 300 men have been called in, 49 of whom have accepted the offered help. Violence in the city has dropped since the program started.
University degree awarded to student behind bars: his thesis on autoethnography is a survival story
https://news48.it/university-degree-awarded-to-student-behind-bars-his-thesis-on-autoethnography-is-a-survival-story
Francesco Ciampa
News48
7 September 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Magna Graecia University partnered with prison administrators in Catanzaro, Italy, to help two incarcerated men find a form of rehabilitation by writing their own lives' stories. In a process called autoethnography, the men, who are serving life sentences, focus on describing without moral judgment "the psychological and creative resources they used for survival before prison and during their time behind bars." This helps them see the traits that led them into crime might also lead them out of it. Both men tell of extraordinary personal growth through the experience, which others now seek to duplicate.
As homicides surged, Oakland's premier anti-violence program went quiet
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/As-homicides-surged-Oakland-s-premier-16431412.php
Rachel Swan
San Francisco Chronicle
7 September 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Oakland Ceasefire's "delicate architecture" balancing law enforcement and community-based responses to gun violence, which seemed to have helped lower the city's gun violence by half since 2012, came crashing down during the pandemic. While arrests continued, the alternative offered to people at high risk of violence – an array of services to turn their lives around – withered with a virtual ban on in-person meetings. Violence in the city surged as years of progress unraveled. The program is working to rebuild, while questioning if it should distance itself more from the police.
How a Small Town Silenced a Neo-Nazi Hate Campaign
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/us/politics/nazi-whitefish-charlottesville.html
Elizabeth Williamson
The New York Times
5 September 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
When a white nationalist leader sparked an antisemitic hate campaign in his vacation community to settle a personal grievance, the community rose up in unison to confront the hate and render it toothless. Everyone from neighbors to the governor joined in the effort to counter disinformation and intimidation with alternative messages that telegraphed communal disapproval. A planned march by neo-Nazis was a flop and the leader of the planned attacks is now shunned. Other communities have contacted the leaders of the counteroffensive to get tips on protecting themselves from similar attacks.
#EndSARS: Impact Of Judicial Panels In Facilitating Justice For Victims Of Police Brutalities
https://humanglemedia.com/endsars-impact-of-judicial-panels-in-facilitating-justice-for-victims-of-police-brutalities
Kehinde Ogunyale
HumAngle
4 September 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Protests against alleged brutality and extrajudicial killings by Nigeria's Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) led to demands for judicial panels of inquiry to investigate the abuses and provide justice to victims. Of Nigeria's 36 states, 29 set up panels of inquiry, and seven of those submitted reports and recommendations. Some victims have been compensated for illegal arrests and beatings. While critics say these measures don't go far enough, they concede the reports and payments have provided at least some accountability.
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