A taste of honey: how bees mend fences between farmers and elephants

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/12/a-taste-of-honey-how-bees-mend-fences-between-farmers-and-elephants-aoe

Anne Pinto-Rodrigues

The Guardian

12 August 2020

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As the habitats of wild elephants shrink, conservationists in India are developing safer ways to reduce the number of conflicts between humans the animal. The Wildlife Research and Conservation Society uses chili smoke and beehive fences as natural methods to divert elephants away from farmers’ crops. Since they started their work, there have been no casualties related to human-elephant conflict. The nonprofit Wildlife SOS uses radio collars to track the herd’s movement and alerts local villagers via WhatsApp of any potential conflicts. However, the success of some methods vary depending on the time of year.

How a quarantine matchmaking project for Muslims found itself navigating anti-Blackness

https://religionnews.com/2020/08/10/how-a-quarantine-matchmaking-project-for-muslims-found-itself-navigating-anti-blackness

Aysha Khan

Religion News Service

10 August 2020

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Covid-19 has closed the places young Muslims go to meet potential spouses so two Muslim women created Eye Meets Soul, a virtual matchmaking service for US Muslim millennials where pairs first chat online without seeing each other. Initially, 10 potential couples led to 3 matches, with one continuing to thrive. However racial biases quickly surfaced, with many participants unwilling to date outside of their ethnic background. Muslims of African heritage report this as a common occurrence with Muslim dating services. Moving forward the co-founders will prescreen people for openness to all racial backgrounds.

In New Zealand, Life Was Ordinary Again With No Virus Spread, But It Didn't Last

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/08/10/900882499/in-new-zealand-life-is-ordinary-again-after-101-days-with-no-community-spread

Laurel Wamsley

NPR

10 August 2020

Text / Under 800 Words

New Zealand has been able to nearly eradicate Covid-19 due to rapid intervention strategies taken by the government that were predicated on quickly identifying clusters of cases and implementing rigorous contact tracing. Although the country went 101 days without a single case reported, a few cases have once again surfaced. However, because residents had already been using a contact tracing smartphone app and were "encouraged to add masks to their emergency kits," many were prepared for the onset of any new cases.

How New Zealand went 100 days with no community coronavirus transmission

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/10/asia/new-zealand-coronavirus-milestone-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

Julia Hollingsworth

CNN

10 August 2020

Multi-Media / Under 3 Minutes

New Zealand went 100 days without a single new case of Covid-19 after implementing strict restrictions which included "no takeaways, no beaches, and no driving outside of your neighborhood." Because of the government's quick action, the county remained in lockdown for only seven weeks. The government is now keeping focus on elimination rather than eradication as it is expected that the virus could resurface.

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

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Despite restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine Eagle Foundation is 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.

‘It's your baby, and it's, like, wow': 3-D images from ultrasounds allow blind parents to feel their infant's face

http://www.washingtonpost.com/health/its-your-baby-and-its-like-wow-3-d-images-from-ultrasounds-allow-blind-parents-to-feel-their-infants-face/2020/08/07/05241892-a4d7-11ea-8681-7d471bf20207_story.html

Debra Bruno

The Washington Post

9 August 2020

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3D ultrasound print outs help doctors perform non-invasive surgery in utero and provide blind parents with images during pregnancy. Doctors at Johns Hopkins hospital first used 3D models to improve surgery for spina bifida in utero. By placing one inside a soccer ball doctors can practice ahead of time for a less invasive procedure. A sonographer at the hospital expanded the approach to create 3D ultrasound models for patients who are blind. Some caution that ultrasounds are just diagnostic tools, but providing a picture of their ultrasound to someone who cannot see it in the traditional sense is powerful.

A West Philly grandmother decided to save summer with a PlayStreet. Then, tragedy struck.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-gun-violence-summer-2020-play-streets-20200808.html

Samantha Melamed

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network)

8 August 2020

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Philadelphia's PlayStreets program is a nearly 60-year-old program that began as a meal service during the summer "hungry season," when school lunches are not served, but has evolved into a summer camp on 300 city blocks. Fifty blocks are designated "super streets," where high levels of poverty and violence are met with extra resources. On top of the usual meals and games, the city provides play equipment, DJ dance parties, and mural making. In a summer of extreme violence, neighbors say it also provides a sense of security and normalcy, which police credit as a violence-preventive measure.

Scotland's 'Navigators' Transform Lives in the Emergency Room

https://reasonstobecheerful.world/scotland-violence-prevention-navigators-emergency-room

Alasdair Lane

Reasons to be Cheerful

7 August 2020

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In Scotland, the Navigators program performs violence interruption work in seven hospitals, at the bedside of victims of violence, with counseling and connections to social services to nudge people into safer lifestyles. Because Navigators act independently of the police and other authority figures, and because their service follows clients into the community, they are able to win the cooperation of 65-90% of those they approach. A survey of 100 clients showed 23% fewer emergency room visits in the year after cooperating with the program. Navigators started after violence in Scotland raged in 2005.

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

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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.

ASU study: 'Team Kids' may improve perception of police through cop-kid activities

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2020/08/06/asu-study-team-kids-may-improve-perception-of-police-through-cop-kid-activities

Anthony Wallace

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS

6 August 2020

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About 170,000 schoolchildren in four states have participated in the Team Kids Challenge, which promotes healthier relations between youth and police by pairing them in charity work to solicit and distribute donations. Based on research showing Black and Latinx youth distrust police much more than white children do, the program was found in a new study to significantly improve kids' perceptions of police. The study did not measure how long this effect lasts or why it fails, when it does. A researcher also cautions that real trust in police must be earned through good policing.