How a legacy of organizing among domestic workers helped turn Georgia blue

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/02/georgia-democrat-blue-abrams-domestic-worker

Becca Andrews

Mother Jones

March-April 2021 Issue

Text / 800-1500 Words

The domestic worker advocacy group, Care in Action, fell short in their goal to elect Stacey Abrams in 2018, which motivated them to mobilize an effective GOTV campaign in 2020. Over 250 of their members canvassed local neighborhoods each day, knocking on over 1 million doors. Overall, the group contacted 5.85 million voters by phone, mail, or in person. The group prioritized making connections with people historically overlooked in the political process and the member organizers make meaningful connections as canvassers because they share similar challenges and concerns as the people whose homes they visit.

43 Cases, No Convictions: Prosecuting the Police Falters in New York

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/nyregion/new-york-police-accountability.html

Jonah Engel Bromwich

Sarah Maslin Nir

Benjamin Weiser

The New York Times

26 February 2021

Text / 800-1500 Words

In the more than five years since New York's governor ordered the attorney general to take charge of investigations and prosecutions when police kill unarmed people, only three police officers have been charged with crimes and none has been convicted. By taking control of such cases away from local prosecutors, officials hoped to instill greater trust in outcomes, because of the close ties local prosecutors have with local police. But the narrow scope of the rule establishing the special prosecutions unit, plus a host of other systemic and legal barriers, have meant that the outcomes have not changed.

Singapore Turns To Cultured Meat To Boost Its Food Security

https://lifeandthyme.com/food/singapore-turns-to-cultured-meat-to-boost-its-food-security

Claire Turrell

Life & Thyme

26 February 2021

Multi-Media / 1500-3000 Words

Singapore recently became the first country in the world to allow cultured meat to be sold to the public, a move that scientists and environmentalists say is the future of meat production. U.S.-based company Eat Just takes stem cells from live tissue, mixes it with a broth, and puts it into a bioreactor to allow the cells to multiply and form connective tissue. While cultured meat can be expensive to produce, they sold its chicken — a maple waffle chicken dish and crispy chicken bao — to diners for $17.

The EV tax credit can save you thousands — if you're rich enough

https://grist.org/energy/the-ev-tax-credit-can-save-you-thousands-if-youre-rich-enough

Shannon Osaka

Grist

26 February 2021

Text / 800-1500 Words

A tax credit was supposed to incentive Americans to buy electric vehicles, but testimony from car buyers and research has shown that only people who can afford the full purchase are getting access to the tax benefit. The tax credit gives electric car purchasers a credit on their taxes the following year, but only as much as they owe the government. The purchase could end up costing more than buyers expected, which can be a barrier for middle-class people who want to switch to electric.

Baking Homemade Bread Becomes a Public Good

https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2021/02/25/bread-baking-mutual-aid

Lynn Freehill-Maye

Yes! Magazine

25 February 2021

Text / 1500-3000 Words

A community effort to help provide food to those who are food insecure during the pandemic has brought together local bakers to bake bread for food banks. The initiative, known as Community Loaves, has amassed 700 volunteers and donated 15,000 loaves to 11 food pantries across the Seattle area, and is now also gaining momentum in Oregon.

How NYC Is Stopping Textile Waste With Low-Tech Donation Bins

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-nyc-is-stopping-textile-waste-with-low-tech-donation-bins

Hannah Chinn

Next City

24 February 2021

Text / 800-1500 Words

RefashionNYC provides bins for commercial and residential buildings with more than 10 units, though the Department of Sanitation, to recycle clothes and textiles. When full, the contents are sorted by Housing Works, who either sells donations in their thrift shops, sends them to other nonprofit second-hand stores, or exports them to overseas markets. Clothing that is too damaged to be donated is sold to companies that reprocess them as rags or seat padding. 1,300 bins have been installed and over 12,200 tons of clothing and textiles have been diverted from landfills.

Agroforestry and land reform give Brazil cacao farmers sweet taste of success

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/agroforestry-and-land-reform-give-brazil-cacao-farmers-sweet-taste-of-success

Patricia Moll

Mongabay

24 February 2021

Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words

After there was a fungal disease outbreak in the 1990s that affected cacao crops in Brazil, a group of 150 community members got together to collectively manage a farm to grow back cacao trees using agroforestry techniques. Because of their efforts, they sell their cacao to major chocolate brands and have seen their monthly income more than double.

How does Portland's Street Response Team compare with a similar program in Denver?

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/the-story/portland-street-response-denver-star-non-police-response-homeless-livability-mental-health-cahoots/283-266a9070-3fd9-4c29-9902-15b81cea5136

Dan Haggerty

KGW

24 February 2021

Broadcast TV News / 3-5 Minutes

Although Eugene, Oregon's long-running, successful CAHOOTS program serves as one model for the new Portland Street Response, a more relevant model can be found in Denver's STAR program. Like CAHOOTS, STAR responds to mental-health and other crisis calls with medics and counselors rather than police officers. But Denver's size, demographics, and homelessness make it much more analogous to Portland. STAR's first six months provide encouraging news. Nearly 750 calls handled without a single arrest. Both STAR and PSR are starting small, so more resources are needed if the pilot projects succeed.

Tackling sport's concussion problem

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p097qjs0

Ben Wyatt

BBC

23 February 2021

Podcast / Over 15 Minutes

To prevent concussions during sports, some conferences are changing rules, while others are turning to technology to create new kinds of helmets and mouth guards that do a better job at protecting the brain. The innovations thus far have shown success at protecting the wearer from injury, but they do have to be fitted precisely to work the best.

How Vermont's Energy Efficiency Utility Is Helping Businesses Sweat the Small Stuff

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-vermonts-energy-efficiency-utility-helping-businesses-sweat-small-stuff

Chad Small

Next City

23 February 2021

Text / 800-1500 Words

To make their restaurant more energy efficient and to cut its carbon footprint, The Publyk House utilized the services of Efficiency Vermont, a publicly funded energy efficiency utility. As part of their Deep Energy Retrofit program, the utility helped install insulation, LED lighting, and high-efficiency appliances at the restaurant, allowing them to save 50 percent on energy in two years. Since the start of the program, 10 businesses have been able to cut their energy consumption in half.