Has one of the Valley's poorest districts figured out how to keep kids in school?

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article239683693.html

Manuel Tobias

Fresno Bee

19 February 2020

Text / 1500-3000 Words

A school attendance campaign in a rural California district relies on buy-in from a variety of community partners. For instance, administrators supported the construction of a new health clinic next to the school, concentrating multiple key resources on one block and making it easier for parents to access health care for their children.

Finding patients where they live: Street medicine grows, along with homeless population

https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2020-02-16/street-medicine-usc-homeless

Soumya Karlamangla

Los Angeles Times

16 February 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

Doctors from USC have formed a small street team that travels to homeless communities to treat medical concerns and help provide assistance. Part of a growing trend around the United States, these teams are playing a vital role for the homeless by eliminating barriers such as the need to "schedule an appointment, find transportation to the clinic, pick up prescriptions, or pay for their treatment"

Solving crimes, acing tests, building bridges. What this Fresno school program does right

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education-lab/article239696228.html

Monica Velez

Fresno Bee

13 February 2020

Multi-Media / 1500-3000 Words

A career technical education program in California exposes children to work in fields including biotechnology, business, marketing, and psychology, and has been shown to improve test scores. The twist? The program is run and funded jointly by two districts with widely varying socioeconomic demographics.

The fight to save CHamoru, a language the US military tried to destroy

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/13/the-fight-to-save-chamoru-a-language-the-us-military-tried-to-destroy

Anita Hofschneider

The Guardian

12 February 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

CHamoru, the indigenous language of the Mariana Islands, is endangered. In an urgent move to save the language, Chief Hurao Academy was founded, a nonprofit that offers a CHamoru summer immersion program, an after-school immersion program, and a CHamoru-language preschool. There are barriers to its success, particularly funding, but the response has been overwhelming and already the children can chat casually in CHamoru.

Beer Waste Helps Montana Town Save Money On Water Treatment

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/12/804586191/beer-waste-saves-montana-town-1-million-on-water-treatment

Rachel Cramer

NPR

12 February 2020

Radio / 3-5 Minutes

Finding ways to reuse brewery waste can save water treatment plants money. In Havre, Montana, Triple Dog Brewing has entered into a partnership with the town’s wastewater treatment plant, supplying discarded barley to feed the plant’s microbes. The barley replaces commercial bacteria feed, which would have cost the plant thousands of dollars. The town was also able to avoid having to do costly upgrades to its water treatment plant. Other towns are looking to this process for inspiration.

Preventable Cancer Death Rate Falls In Litchfield And Windham Counties; Comprehensive, Accessible Care Cited

http://c-hit.org/2020/02/12/preventable-cancer-death-rate-falls-in-litchfield-and-windham-counties-comprehensive-accessible-care-cited

Carol Dannhauser

Connecticut Health Investigative Team

12 February 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute in Connecticut has expanded its reach to specifically target rural communities, which has played a role in the declining rates of “potentially preventable” cancer deaths. Both employing foreign-born doctors who have specific specialities and who better align with the demographics of the counties and creating clinics that are inclusive of all necessary testing and treatment have helped bridge a gap in care for those living outside of major cities.

Newsrooms Rethink a Crime Reporting Staple: The Mugshot

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/02/11/newsrooms-rethink-a-crime-reporting-staple-the-mugshot

Keri Blakinger

The Marshall Project

11 February 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

Around the United States, news organizations are taking a new approach to the use of mugshots in their crime reporting. While still the norm in many places, newsrooms like the Houston Chronicle have stopped publishing the common “mugshot slideshow,” and some, including Connecticut’s New Haven Independent, have stopped publishing them altogether. The practice, often used to generate page views, depict people at their worst, doing more harm than anything else.

Gotta catch 'em all: Pokemon-style app aims to save Indonesia's forests

https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2020/02/10/gotta-catch-em-all-pokemon-style-app-aims-to-save-indonesias-forests.html

Michael Taylor

The Jakarta Post

10 February 2020

Text / Under 800 Words

Inspired by Pokemon Go, a new app is encouraging residents to get out into Indonesia's vast forests and help map land uses, a process that can take researchers much longer when done alone. The gameified approach is helping authorities better understand the landscape and fight deforestation.

Return of indigenous crops helps reduce farm distress and restore ecosystems

https://india.mongabay.com/2020/02/return-of-indigenous-crops-helps-reduce-farm-distress-and-restore-ecosystems

Basudev Mahapatra

Mongabay

10 February 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

By returning to indigenous varieties of crops, farmers can increase ecological diversity and reliance to climate change. In India, hundreds of farmers in the state of Odisha have been returning to indigenous crops, like millet, vegetables, and tubers. In contrast to the high yield varieties of seeds provided by the government, heritage crops prove more resilient to changes in climate, water shortages, and local pests. Using heritage crops also reduces the need for pesticides, helping to restore ecological balance in the region.

Meet the Latinos Trying to Get Latinos to the Polls

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/us/politics/2020-campaign-latino-outreach-workers.html

Isabella Grullón Paz

The New York Times

10 February 2020

Text / 1500-3000 Words

The Democratic Party consistently struggles to turn out the Latinx vote, which is projected to be 32 million people. Instead of trying to find a cohesive message for this incredibly diverse group of people like in the past, Democratic candidates this year are letting Latinx people lead engagement in their own communities.