How a project is training incarcerated people to become journalists

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/how-a-project-is-training-incarcerated-people-to-become-journalists

Julia Métraux

Poynter

26 January 2021

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In its first year, the Prison Journalism Project published hundreds of articles by more than 140 incarcerated writers in 28 states. The project provides journalism-skills training and then a platform for the work of incarcerated journalists. This delivers news and viewpoints that otherwise would not be heard by outsiders, spreading awareness of prison conditions and empowering often-ignored people to tell their stories.

Inmates are learning to be their own bosses after they leave jail behind

https://mashable.com/article/how-to-start-a-business-formally-incarcerated

Chase DiBenedetto

Mashable

24 January 2021

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Inmates to Entrepreneurs has graduated 1 million people from its eight-week program that teaches incarcerated people how to start their own low-capital businesses. An extension of a free online entrepreneurship course, Starter U, the program offered in-person workshops until COVID forced it to go virtual. One study shows the unemployment rate in December 2020 for formerly incarcerated people was more than 27%, more than four times higher than the general public. Inmates to Entrepreneurs was started 28 years ago in North Carolina's prison system.

2 Years After Legalizing Cannabis, Has Canada Kept Its Promises?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/world/canada/marijuana-legalization-promises-made.html

Ian Austen

The New York Times

23 January 2021

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Since Canada legalized recreational use of marijuana two years ago, prosecutions for possession of small amounts of the drug have all but disappeared, erasing a major racial disparity in Canadian law enforcement. But other aspects of the country's plan for racial equity to flow from legalization have yet to be realized. Few of the estimated 500,000 people with possessions convictions on their record have managed the daunting process of getting their records cleared. Illegal sales still flourish, and Black and indigenous people have not found much success in the growing legal side of the business.

Is There a Better Way to Collect Data on Homelessness?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-22/covid-is-making-cities-rethink-homelessness-data

Kriston Capps

Max Reyes

Bloomberg

22 January 2021

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A campaign to end housing instability is counting on frequent data collection to provide a clearer insight into the reality and needs of those living on the streets. “Built for Zero” aims to replace the current federal HUD model which consists of a single annual physical count of the unhoused. The data are used to create a command center which streamline the response from various groups and agencies that can address the issue of homelessness. The city of Bakersfield, California, was able to functionally end homelessness even with the onset of the pandemic after implementing the data-driven strategy.

The Free Hotline That's Saving Women's Lives by Disarming Dangerous Men

https://level.medium.com/the-free-hotline-thats-saving-women-s-lives-by-disarming-dangerous-men-f8da49f3b31f?gi=sd

Christina Noriega

Medium

22 January 2021

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The Calm Hotline takes calls from men in Bogotá, Colombia, in an effort to address the root causes of domestic violence: a culture of machismo. Four psychologists take emergency calls – about 700 calls came in the service's first month – and works to refer the callers to an eight-week "gender transformation program" that will attempt to change men's toxic attitudes that can lead to violence. The program is patterned on a counseling hotline in the Colombian city of Barrancabermeja that was associated with a steep decline in domestic violence.

Planting crops — and carbon, too

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/climate-solutions/climate-regenerative-agriculture/?itid=sf_climate-solutions

Gabriel Popkin

Gabriella Demczuk

The Washington Post

22 January 2021

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Maryland farmer Trey Hill became the first seller in a tech startup’s carbon marketplace, paying him $115,000 for initiating regenerative farming practices. By introducing cover crops, he has been able to sequester about 8,000 tons of carbon in the soil, which then buyers can purchase the credits to offset the carbon they produce. If more farmers get on board, supporters say it can be a tangible solution to curbing climate change.

French Polynesia's pearl farmers combat climate change with sustainable practices

https://www.pri.org/stories/2021-01-22/french-polynesia-s-pearl-farmers-combat-climate-change-sustainable-practices

Ashley Westerman

Public Radio International (PRI)

22 January 2021

Multi-Media / 5-15 Minutes

A rapidly changing climate is shaking up how French Polynesian pearl farmers are doing business. Kamoka Pearl Farm is incorporating more sustainable practices like using its own oysters to create the nuclei that form pearls and using fish to organically clean the oysters instead of power washing them.

A Florida Study Showed How to Save Energy at Home. Why Aren't More Cities and States Following Suit?

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/florida-study-save-energy-home-why-arent-more-cities-states-following-suit

Chad Small

Next City

21 January 2021

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A pilot energy retrofit project in Florida has shown that these upgrades for homeowners ultimately saves them money and energy, and can be made accessible to people from all types of socioeconomic backgrounds. This private-public partnership retrofitted 56 single-family homes, some with “shallow” retrofits like LED lightbulbs and smart plugs and some with “phased deep” retrofits like energy-efficient windows and air conditioners. The program showed that all participants saved energy and could be scaled to other states.

One peninsula tribe's journey through a year of coronavirus

https://crosscut.com/news/2021/01/olympic-peninsula-quinault-indian-nation-beats-back-pandemic

Manola Secaira

Crosscut

21 January 2021

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In Washington state, the Quinault Indian Nation has taken an aggressive and proactive approach to control the spread of COVID-19 amongst their community, and these efforts are showing success. Using a combination of tactics including contact tracing, closing the borders to their reservation, isolation procedures, and partnering with the local county, the tribal region has seen fewer cases compared to other areas.

L.A. Unified experiments with new tutoring program during pandemic

https://edsource.org/2021/l-a-unified-experiments-with-new-tutoring-program-during-pandemic/647345

Betty Márquez Rosales

EdSource

21 January 2021

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Step Up is a pilot tutoring program that was launched to help students in the Los Angeles Unified School District navigate virtual learning during the pandemic. The program is only open to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, and pairs them up with tutors if their teachers opt into the program. So far, nine schools are part of the program, representing 402 students.