Renewing Democracy

How grassroots partnerships are working toward long-term food security

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/state_news/how-grassroots-partnerships-are-working-toward-long-term-food-security/article_12f9654a-8d26-11e9-9e21-cb01002d8a71.html

Alexis Allison

Columbia Missourian

3 July 2019

Text / Over 3000 Words

Overcoming the causes of social isolation plays a crucial role in combating food insecurity. From faith-based community meals paired with job programs in Branson, to food recycling initiatives that tap into local markets in Kansas, multiple organizations across Missouri and the United States are developing solutions oriented toward local needs. In some cases, such as the work of Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard in Bloomington, IN, building community leads to political advocacy and civic engagement.

Preaching Faith in Democracy

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/opinion/preaching-faith-in-democracy.html

Courtney E. Martin

The New York Times

2 July 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

Shared expressions of community and fellowship are fostering a non-partisan approach to civic engagement. The nonprofit Citizen University, based in Seattle, Washington, provides small grants to trained community leaders who host Civic Saturdays. The meetings take place across the country in libraries, town centers, and at small businesses. Groups gather to share song, poetry, and to discuss political concepts as ideas on a spectrum, rather than in opposition to one another.

Evidence of a solution: Using data to report more than just bad news

https://datajournalism.com/read/longreads/evidence-of-a-solution

Brent Walth

DataJournalism.com

27 June 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Fact-based, data-driven, and solution-oriented journalism can shift the media paradigm from asking “what” to asking “how.” Solutions journalism, known also as constructive journalism in Europe, focuses on data and evidence to shift discourse from political advocacy and ideological debates to problem-solving and productive discussion. Using this approach, students in Eugene, Oregon, brought accountability to municipal administrators who had previously obfuscated the effectiveness of a program to reduce court caseloads.

Black People Are Charged at a Higher Rate Than Whites. What if Prosecutors Didn't Know Their Race?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/us/prosecutor-race-blind-charging.html

Timothy Williams

The New York Times

12 June 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

The San Francisco District Attorney’s office has been instituting “blind charging,” making it impossible to see someone’s name, race, and other demographics before deciding to charge them with a crime. This new practice comes as a response to accusations of racial bias and profiling when deciding whether to pursue a charge – citing that black people are disproportionately targeted within the criminal justice system.

Paving, rumble strip installation underway at site of fatal May 5 crash

https://www.richlandsource.com/news/paving-rumble-strip-installation-underway-at-site-of-fatal-may/article_0a407dce-8d2d-11e9-bc94-0b6ee8988539.html

Carl Hunnell

Richland Source

12 June 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

A rural intersection in Shelby, Ohio has received a safety makeover: new paving and rumble strips. The intersection was the site of a fatal car accident in May 2019 and Josh Boggs – a father who lost family members in the accident – took it upon himself to demand action. By contacting the county’s commissioner, engineer, and a state representative, he hopes this will be the first of many intersections receiving added safety measures.

The End of the Polling Booth

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/opinion/the-end-of-the-polling-booth.html

Tina Rosenberg

The New York Times

11 June 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

In Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, the traditional polling place has all but disappeared. In its place is the rise of the mail-in ballot, a convenient, inclusive method where states mail ballots to every registered voter--automatically. Evidence from all three of those states, as well as five California counties with a similar initiative, have showed an increase in voter turnout.

The Sights and Sounds of Collaboration in Newark

https://www.civicstory.org/civics-blog/2019/6/11/the-sights-and-sounds-of-collaboration-in-newark

Donna Liu

CivicStory

11 June 2019

Podcast / 5-15 Minutes

In Newark, New Jersey, an organization called Creative New Jersey brought together over 300 people to take part in over 50 different community improvement conversations during a convening called Call to Collaboration. Participants first brain storm questions, introduce themselves, and then decide which conversations to join. The question askers become conversation leaders, notes are recorded, and on the second day participants create an action plan.

Oregon is poised to set a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. That's a huge deal.

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/6/5/18650155/climate-change-oregon-carbon-cap-trade-california

David Roberts

Vox

5 June 2019

Text / Over 3000 Words

A bill in Oregon has the potential to transform the way greenhouse gases are treated in the Pacific Northwest and potentially across the country. The Clean Energy Jobs Bill is an extremely detailed attempt to build a cap and trade system that also makes thoughtful exceptions along a carefully-planned timeline, with the support of environmental justice advocates as well as construction and trade workers. Though still in the early stages, this bill could transform the scale at which states approach greenhouse gas reduction.

A Hub for Justice

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/the-citizen-updates-a-hub-for-justice

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

The Philadelphia Citizen

5 June 2019

Multi-Media / 5-15 Minutes

The city of Philadelphia has been experimenting and iterating on the development of a Juvenile Justice Hub – a program that would transform interactions between the city’s youth and the police. The Hub is in the testing phase, as it is part of a Bloomberg Philanthropies competition for $1 million in grant funding. If received, the city would be able to officially deploy the ideas it has been testing, like training police training in trauma and providing more social services for kids who are picked up by police.

Gun violence has sharply declined in California's Bay Area. What happened?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/jun/03/gun-violence-bay-area-drop-30-percent-why-investigation

Lois Beckett

Darwin BondGraham

Peter Andringa

Abene Clayton

The Guardian

4 June 2019

Multi-Media / 1500-3000 Words

California’s Bay Area has seen a 30% decrease in gun homicides, despite increasing economic inequality. The region has had many interventions to reach this decline, but the key to all of them is their community-driven nature. From collaborations between law enforcement and social services, to community mentorship programs, to investing in gun violence as a public health issue, each initiative is founded on neighborhood and individual empowerment instead of policing and incarceration.

Sweden Finds a Simple Way to Improve New Mothers' Health. It Involves Fathers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/upshot/sweden-finds-a-simple-way-to-improve-new-mothers-health-it-involves-fathers.html

Claire Cain Miller

The New York Times

4 June 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

New mothers are often overwhelmed once they leave the supports of a hospital and find themselves home alone with a newborn. In Sweden, a new law that allowed the other parent to take a month's worth of time off to help with infant care has shown promising results in reducing maternal stress and improving overall health.

How a new district attorney is shaking up the justice system in midcoast Maine

http://bangordailynews.com/2019/05/28/news/midcoast/how-a-new-district-attorney-is-shaking-up-the-justice-system-in-midcoast-maine

Beth Brogan

Bangor Daily News

28 May 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

The newly-elected district attorney in Maine, Natasha Irving, has started implementing restorative justice practices into the area’s criminal justice system. The use of restorative justice in this case includes offering mental health and substance abuse treatment, amongst other supportive services, and using prison as a last resort. There has been some pushback from law enforcement, but a willingness to try the new approach aimed at reducing recidivism in the region.

How New Yorkers Stood Up to Amazon and Won

https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/travel/amazon-new-york-headquarters-activist-victory-20190522

Yasmeen Wafai

Yes! Magazine

22 May 2019

Text / Under 800 Words

When Amazon came close to establishing its second headquarters in Long Island City, the Queens borough of New York, community organizing successfully halted the development. Community leaders credit their success to a diverse group of organizations teaming up (like Queens Neighborhoods United and New York Communities for Change), politicians teaming up with the communities they represent, and quick mobilization.

Ideas We Should Steal: Free Childcare at City Meetings

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/ideas-we-should-steal-free-childcare-at-city-meetings

Jessica Press

The Philadelphia Citizen

22 May 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

In Ithaca, New York, city meetings are now offering free childcare to parents who want to civically engage but are unable to do so because of childcare responsibilities. Recognizing that their meetings skewed older and whiter than their demographic reality, the city instituted the low cost, high reward policy.

Here's how Birmingham is battling its high homicide rate

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/05/heres-how-birmingham-is-battling-its-high-homicide-rate.html

Katherine Webb-Hehn

AL.com (Alabama Media Group)

8 May 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

From city-wide efforts to faith-based interventions to public health approaches, the city of Birmingham, Alabama is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to ending gun violence in the city. The city has been deeply affected by structural violence, racism, and disinvestment, and is applying multiple approaches, like deploying “peacemakers” that talk to residents to figure out why violence is happening in the first place. The city has also increased the number of detectives covering homicides and area nonprofits are developing counseling, rehabilitation, and job training programs for young men.

How stricter vaccine laws spared California from a major measles outbreak

https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-measles-us-california-outbreak-vaccine-new-york-disneyland

Soumya Karlamangla

Priya Krishnakumar

Los Angeles Times

6 May 2019

Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words

The only way to eliminate a communicable disease, such as measles, is to achieve herd immunity, but due to recent anti-vaccination campaigns, the vaccination rate fell so low that the measles resurfaced in the U.S. To combat the contagion from getting worse, California enacted laws that prohibited people from choosing not to be vaccinated.

This group wants to unite hikers and hunters on literal common ground: public lands

https://www.idahostatesman.com/outdoors/article229861774.html

Nicole Blanchard

Idaho Statesman

5 May 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

A group called Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, now 36,000 strong, is bringing together people from different political and ideological backgrounds over a common interest in the preservation and conservation of public lands and waters. Bucking stereotypes, the group spans the political spectrum, with 33% Independent, 23% Republican, 20% Democrat and 16% unaffiliated in a recent survey. The BHA's recent promotion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund shows that bipartisanship is possible.

'It changes the way you see everything': the shocking film about gerrymandering

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/may/01/slay-the-dragon-film-gerrymandering

Adrian Horton

The Guardian

1 May 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

In a time of extreme division in American politics, one documentary is highlighting an issue both sides agree is an issue--gerrymandering. As contorted districts have made elections pointless in many Michigan elections, the grassroots group Voters Not Politicians, featured in a recent documentary Slay the Dragon, worked to establish an independent, public citizen's commission for redistricting.

I Served My Prison Time. Why Do I Still Have to Pay?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/opinion/i-served-my-prison-time-why-do-i-still-have-to-pay.html

Courtney E. Martin

The New York Times

30 April 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

In 2018, San Francisco county forgave $32 million worth of criminal justice administrative fees. These fees are issued to formerly incarcerated individuals upon release from prison, most of which are not employed and without stable housing. The coalition pursuing this policy change cited economic justice for those that have already paid their societal debt and an overall state savings in collection costs as the primary reasons to end this practice.

Youth Voter Turnout Is Already Ridiculously High In Colorado. State House Democrats Want It Even Higher

https://www.cpr.org/news/story/youth-voter-turnout-is-already-ridiculously-high-in-colorado-state-house-democrats-want

Sam Brasch

Colorado Public Radio

24 April 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

In 2013, Colorado lawmakers passed a comprehensive voting reform bill which put a mail-in ballot in every voter's mailbox and allowed for same-day voter registration. Many credit the bill for boosting youth voting 13 percent in the past year, putting Colorado second behind Minnesota for highest youth voting turnout.

S.F. immigrants seek to expand civic footprint

http://www.localnewsmatters.org/2019/04/22/deepening-their-civic-footprint-immigrants-seek-to-expand-voting-rights

Nuria Marquez Martinez

Bay City News Foundation

22 April 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Elevating the voices of noncitizen community members takes building trust through outreach and education. After the passage of Proposition N, allowing local non-citizens in San Francisco to participate in school board elections, a number of immigrant advocacy groups have mobilized to educate residents about their right to civic participation. Groups like the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) and the Immigrant Parent Voting Collaborative (IPVC) are working to organize numerous grassroots efforts promoting the civic engagement of non-citizens.

A Nazi flag led this Western Mayberry to confront hate once again. Now Fruita aims to send a different message.

https://coloradosun.com/2019/04/18/fruita-swastika-inclusivity

Nancy Lofholm

The Colorado Sun

18 April 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

A small city in Colorado turned an act of bigotry — someone publicly flying a Nazi flag — into an opportunity for growth for the city. Fruita considers itself a welcoming, inclusive community, so they seized upon this opportunity to pass an Inclusivity Proclamation. The proclamation affirms their commitment to defeating prejudice and also added inclusivity as a part of their next city planning strategy.

“What Does the World Beyond Jails and Prisons Look Like?”

https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/jail-prison-criminal-justice-reform-20190418

Zenobia Jeffries

Yes! Magazine

18 April 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

The Detroit Justice Center is providing a comprehensive approach to breaking the cycle of poverty in the county. The nonprofit law firm provides immediate support, like paying back child support and posting the cash bail payments that keep those experiencing poverty trapped in a cycle of debt and imprisonment. The group also aims high in their larger efforts to disrupt the criminal justice system, like suing the county to prevent the building of a new jail complex, and provides their clients and the community the chance to reimagine what the city could look like with transformative and economic justice.

Tech for Turnout

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/ideas-we-should-steal-tech-for-turnout

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

The Philadelphia Citizen

17 April 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

High tech tools offer low cost ways to reach many voters and mobilize turnout, especially in mid term elections. From applications that allow campaigns to deliver personal text messages to hundreds of people at once, to new digital platforms for online polling and campaign management, many of the successful campaigns launched across the country during and after 2016 have leveraged these tech innovations to engage with voters.

The border guards you can't win over with a smile

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190416-the-ai-border-guards-you-cant-reason-with

Molly Kendrick

BBC

17 April 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Across the globe, governments are spending money on research that could allow artificial intelligence, or AI, to expedite and improve the screening and security processes at passport control. As international travel continues to increase, various companies are developing technology that will identify potentially dangerous passengers or those involved in criminal behavior through data collection and lie detection. The development of such technology has opponents voicing concerns over racial bias, human rights, and privacy.