Work to save PH eagles won't stop for pandemic

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1318842/work-to-save-ph-eagles-wont-stop-for-pandemic

Jhesset Enano

Philippine Daily Inquirer

9 August 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

Despite restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine Eagle Foundation are turning to digital tools and the internet to continue their work of saving the critically endangered species. Since March, the organization rescued four eagles and used telemedicine via the Messenger app to share proper information about how to care for the birds. However, weak Wi-Fi signals sometimes get in the way of treatment.

Arizona was a Covid-19 hot spot a month ago. Here's how it's turning things around

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/06/us/arizona-covid-19-cases-decline/index.html

Dakin Andone

CNN

6 August 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

In May, Arizona began removing coronavirus restrictions after seemingly containing the spread of the virus, but by June, the state's caseload was in a drastic incline. Learning from the mistake of reopening too soon, officials paused the reopening and reimposed measures such as mask wearing and business closures. Since then, the caseload has decreased significantly and earned praise from White House officials.

Searching with the Mothers of Mexico's Disappeared

https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/searching-with-the-mothers-of-mexicos-disappeared

Ana Karina Zatarain

The New Yorker

5 August 2020

Text / Over 3000 Words

Las Rastreadoras de El Fuerte is a group of about 200 members, mostly mothers whose children are among the more than 73,000 people who have disappeared and presumably were murdered in Mexico's long drug war. Las Rastreadoras search the countryside for the unmarked graves of the missing, hoping to find their own children, often finding others'. In six years, they have found 198 bodies, 120 of whom were identified. What began spontaneously as one woman's search, then a group effort, has become a way to heal from the pain of what a psychologist calls "ambiguous loss" as well as an act of political activism.

Locals, who know Sunnydale's housing projects well, flattened a COVID-19 outbreak

https://missionlocal.org/2020/08/locals-who-know-sunnydales-housing-projects-well-flattened-a-covid-19-outbreak

Lydia Chavez

Mission Local

5 August 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

Community leaders in Sunnydale, CA contained a coronavirus scare through swift responses, appeals to the community, contact tracing and establishing neighborhood test sites. An emphasis on public education in the neighborhood was also essential to the efforts. The hyperlocal response, which was unique to the community and catered to its needs, was lauded by health workers.

The co-ops that electrified Depression-era farms are now building rural internet

https://qz.com/1888605/co-ops-are-connecting-rural-america-to-high-speed-internet

Nicolás Rivero

Quartz

5 August 2020

Text / Under 800 Words

Co-ops that have historically brought electricity and telephone services to rural America are now providing internet service. Broadband companies don't make a profit when covering a large area with limited households per mile so co-ops have filled the need under the "Smart Grid" program funded by the USDA. Thousands of households have been connected to fiber-optic internet as a result.

Dartmouth Is the Blueprint for NFL Success in 2020. Yes, Dartmouth.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/dartmouth-is-the-blueprint-for-nfl-success-in-2020-yes-dartmouth-11596628811

Andrew Beaton

Wall Street Journal

5 August 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

Dartmouth College's football team reduced injuries and began winning more games after the coaching staff implemented non-contact tactics into practices, such as using robotic tackling dummies in place of the players themselves. The practice was already gaining recognition from other schools, but amid the coronavirus, the NFL is now trying out similar protocols too.

Surveillance Planes Watch Over Baltimore, But Catch Few Criminals

https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/community/surveillance-planes-watch-over-baltimore-but-catch-few-criminals

J. Cavanaugh Simpson

Baltimore Magazine

5 August 2020

Text / Over 3000 Words

In the first half of a six-month experiment, Baltimore's use of "wide-area surveillance" using video cameras flying above city streets to aid in crime investigations has led to only one arrest. The city's police commissioner doubts the city will agree to pay for the surveillance once private funding for the pilot project runs out, but he says he'll know more once after the six-month experiment. The experiment is aimed at Baltimore's high rates of gun violence. Besides its effectiveness, critics worry about its privacy implications and that it targets mostly Black neighborhoods.

Alleviating anxiety via internet

https://montanafreepress.org/2020/08/03/alleviating-anxiety-via-internet

Johnathan Hettinger

Montana Free Press

3 August 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

A partnership between Montana State University and Seattle-based Waypoint Health Innovations is helping bring virtual mental health services to rural communities in Montana. Although the program has only been in research stages thus far, the positive effects already documented has led the program to be ushered into "widespread implementation" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

How a packed slum in Mumbai beat back the coronavirus, as India's cases continue to soar

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/how-a-packed-slum-in-mumbai-beat-back-the-coronavirus-as-indias-cases-continue-to-soar/2020/07/30/da859532-d039-11ea-826b-cc394d824e35_story.html

Niha Masih

The Washington Post

31 July 2020

Text / 800-1500 Words

The population of Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, made the region a hotspot for coronavirus transmission, but local officials' aggressive action plan – which included testing, contact tracing, quarantine, and increased sanitation efforts – helped quell the spread of the virus. Although the process was challenging for local doctors and the shutdown of normal day-to-day routines had a negative impact on the region's economy, Dharavi has already been able to begin the process of reopening.

How A COVID-19 ‘Rapid Response Team' In Chicago Is Working To Fix Decades Of Neglect In Black, Latinx Communities

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/how-a-rapid-response-team-in-chicago-is-working-to-fix-decades-of-neglect-in-black-latinx-communities

Dorothy Tucker

Samah Assad

Carol Thompson

WBBM-TV

31 July 2020

Broadcast TV News / 5-15 Minutes

Spurred by the high concentration of COVID-19 deaths in Black and Latinx neighborhoods on Chicago's South and West sides, city government teamed with multiple community groups to form a Racial Equity Rapid Response Team to distribute protective gear, food, financial aid, and other help in the hard-hit neighborhoods. The help included more than 1 million masks, 6,000 boxes of food, 250,000 information flyers, laptops and free internet access, and $380,000 to help pay rent and utilities. The deaths and desperate need for help stem directly from decades of racial disparities in food and health care access.