(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Check Out Good News from States plus Top 22 for 2022 - August 24 Good News Roundup [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-08-24
GOOD DAY, Gnusies!
First thing’s first. I cannot believe that in my haste to make sure I got the GNR posted last week while on the road, I forgot to say thank you to chloris creator for subbing for me on August 10!
THANK YOU CHLORIS CREATOR! I so appreciate you!
Not feeling the best on Saturday
(Sunday night) Believe it or not, I am traveling again but at long last, I will be en route home to Chicago and my curlygirly. I was meant to drive home on Tuesday, but CG is under the weather (it’s going to be OK — her amazing sitter got her to my vet and she is on antibiotics — but I want to be there!), so now I am going to leave as soon as the movers and haulers leave my relative’s house on Monday — I don’t care if I have to drive all night, I am going home ASAP!
So, I am actually putting this GNR together a little earlier than I usually do. If I can, I will add some later breaking news on Tuesday night if I am still awake (haha!).
The best news is that Joe and the Dems have done so much good work that there is plenty of amazing stuff to recap and remind ourselves of just how great it is to have competent, compassionate government who are working FOR THE PEOPLE.
Tuesday Update: I am home in Chicago safe and sound after a very long but thankfully smooth day yesterday. I was so excited to pick up CG that I woke up at dawn even though I only got home and to bed at 2 AM HAHA! SO, if this GNR is a bit untidy, just blame sleep deprivation! 😅
Big shout out to T Maysle who posted links to several great stories in NNNE’s GNR comments yesterday — I’ve used them today in another state of the states roundup. Thanks, T Maysle!
ALL RIGHT, LET’S GET THIS SHOW STARTED! MUSIC FIRST!
🎶 Music for Modern US Hero Joe Biden 🎶
(Sure, it’s over the top, but the guy has pulled off some pretty unbelievable stuff!!)
😎💙🐴 Joe and the Democrats Deliver 🐴💙😎
top 22 accomplishments by August 2022:
Here is a list of just some of the many accomplishments of President Joe Biden and the Democrats so far:
1. American Rescue Plan (1.3t for families and businesses reeling from the pandemic recession; cut child poverty in half). March 2021
2. SAVES LIVES Act (Covid vaccination access expansion for veterans and families), April 2021
3. TRANSPLANT Act (re-authorization of the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005)
4. Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, June 2021.
5. Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act of 2021 (expanded access to mental health care in rural areas), June 2021.
6. At least 18 other bills to improve care and benefits for veterans in 2021 alone (Dems are the party that truly thanks veterans for their service) and even more in 2022.
7. K-12 Cybersecurity Act of 2021 (Dems are tackling the need to regulate the internet and website intrusions on children’s privacy — something that was long overdue). October 2021
9. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, (the roads and bridges bill), November 2021.
10. Capitol Police Emergency Assistance Act (again, it was Dems who backed the blue, not the Rs), December 2021
11. Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, (Dems are pro-women, too), March 2022.
12. Emmett Till Antilynching Act, (yes, it took too long, but Democrats got it done), March 2022.
13. Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, (Dems saved the USPS!), April 2022.
14. National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act of 2021, (this is important and too long overlooked, but the Dem-controlled congress is on it!), May 2022.
15. Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act, (a biggy! Requires federal judges to report stock, bond and commodities purchases — another bipartisan victory for Dems). May 2022.
16. Access to Baby Formula Act of 2022, (remember how Joe Biden solved the baby formula crisis? Yeah, he did that, too), May 2022.
17. Homeland Security for Children Act, (proving Dems actually make children a priority — this law makes sure that Homeland security planning takes the needs of CHILDREN into consideration!), June 2022.
18. Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022, (Dems again protect children with school lunch programs, SNAP protections etc), June 2022.
19. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, (Joe and the Dems ushered in the most significant gun safety legislation in decades), June 2022.
20. CHIPS and Science Act, (Dems get the most science-friendly bill in years passed; also funds manufacturing of semi-conductor chips in USA), August 2022.
21. Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, (the “burn pit” legislation, long overdue. Dems are the ones who support our troops/veterans), August 2022.
22. Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, (the big kahuna — our climate, healthcare and deficit reduction blockbuster bill), August 2022.
🇺🇸 State of the States 🇺🇸
Let’s check in with states around the country and see what good news they can send to us!
arizona
The people (and the free press) are fighting back against authoritarianism and suppression of first amendment rights. Good for us!!
The Republic joins news organizations challenging Arizona law banning close-range recordings of police, Chelsea Curtis, Arizona Republic (AZcentral), August 23, 2022.
Several news organizations, including The Arizona Republic, are joining the ACLU of Arizona to challenge a new state law banning close-range recordings of Arizona police. House Bill 2319 was signed by Gov. Doug Ducey on July 6, making it illegal for Arizonans to record within 8 feet of law enforcement activity. Violators could face a misdemeanor charge, but only after being verbally warned and continuing to record anyway. ✂️ They noted the importance of journalist and bystander recordings of police interactions to provide accurate depictions of events. Videos were instrumental in proving George Floyd's murder at the hands of police in 2020 as well as providing a better understanding and accurate depictions of the attacks on officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the request for the preliminary injunction stated. "The First Amendment protects both the act of recording the public actions of public officials as well as the dissemination of those recordings, by the news media and members of the public," it continued. "Otherwise, an informed debate about the role of police in our society and how best to protect officers and the public they serve is more vulnerable to distortion and misinformation."
Arkansas
Arkansas can’t get away with taking away assistance for voters with disabilities or other special needs. Good!:
It is not only Marc Elias and his democracy docket who is fighting to protect voting rights. Activists all around the country are working hard, staying alert, and filing suits to protect people from being disenfranchised by Republican voter suppression laws. Here, Marc Elias highlights a case brought by Mireya Reith and Arkansas United. (🎩 T Maysle).
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, Aug. 19, a federal court in Arkansas struck down state laws that limited the amount of times a person could assist voters in an election. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by Arkansas United and its founder Mireya Reith against Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston (R), the Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners and three county election commissions challenging Arkansas election statutes that made it a crime to help more than six voters in one election. The plaintiffs argued that the laws restricting voter assistance disproportionately harmed voters with limited English proficiency who rely on assistance to cast their ballots in violation of Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which ensures that voters with disabilities or voters who have limited English proficiency and need help reading and writing English can access the ballot box. The plaintiffs also asserted that Section 208 establishes the right “of a limited English proficient voter to bring a person of his or her choice to assist him or her in voting even if that assistor has assisted more than 6 voters.” Friday’s ruling struck down the challenged laws that limited voter assistance, preventing the criminal prosecution of people who assist more than six voters in an election.
Link: Court Strikes Down Arkansas Voter Assistance Limitations, Democracy Docket, August 22, 2022.
California
Please see below in CG’s picks for an excellent story from California (CG insisted on having the story in her section. She said it’s an animal story so she gets first dibs. I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules. 🤪)
Colorado
Uh, where’s the story? What happened here? Beats me. I’m sure there’s a good news story I had for Colorado somewhere…
(3 Hours later...) Ah! Here it is!
Colorado GOP Sen. Kevin Priola switches party affiliation to Democrat, citing election conspiracies and climate denialism, Saja Hindi, Denver Post, August 22, 2022.
Colorado Sen. Kevin Priola of Henderson announced Monday morning that he has changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. Considered a more moderate Republican in the statehouse, Priola said he believed the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol would make the GOP distance itself from Donald Trump and “the political environment he created.” But it did not, and he wrote that he watched “brave and honorable Republicans” who did get threatened and ridiculed.✂️ He wrote in a letter that he could no longer support a party that accepted “a violent attempt to overturn a free and fair election and continues to peddle claims that the 2020 election was stolen” and one where his GOP colleagues “would rather deny the existence of human-caused climate change than take action.”
🎶 Musical Interlude 🎶
Georgia
Populations of newly naturalized citizens may or may not vote Democratic — but that the 2016-2022 cohort skews younger and more female is undeniable. That may have an effect on the upcoming election:
New report shows impact naturalized voters in Georgia could have in upcoming elections, Paola Suro, WXIA 11ALive, August 23, 2022.
The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) released a report Tuesday revealing Georgia is now home to nearly 97,000 naturalized citizens since 2016, many of who say they are ready to vote this year. ✂️ More than 54% of Georgia’s newly naturalized citizens are women and approximately 61% are younger than 45 years old.✂️ "We're knocking on doors, we're having conversations with community members, we are registering people at festivals, we are making sure that we call voters, we text voters to make sure if they do have problems that they can reach out to us," he said. "We’re also providing voters with a way to build their ballots in both English and Spanish with information about the candidates in English and Spanish to make sure that they can make informed decisions on their voting processes.” For perspective, the 2018 governor’s race was the closest in nearly 60 years. Gov. Brian Kemp won by a little more than 51,000 votes.
idaho
Some people in Idaho have had enough of his nonsense:
Boise cancels Ammon Bundy park rally, says event was ‘intentionally misrepresented’, Sally Krutzig and Ian Max Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, August 23, 2022.
Mayor Lauren McLean released a statement Tuesday morning announcing that the city of Boise had canceled a reservation made for an Ammon Bundy campaign rally, saying a park on the Bench was reserved under false pretenses. Bundy, who is running for Idaho governor as an independent, advertised on social media that he was holding a campaign rally Saturday in Cassia Park. The city said the reservation for that West Camas Street space was made by someone other than Bundy and did not disclose the nature of the event.✂️ “Bundy and his associates have made a habit of harassing city employees, personally targeting doctors, and threatening judges and so many others in our community, and consistently disregard established ways of ensuring public safety,” McLean said. “The people of Boise have had enough of his threats and intimidation, and do not wish to welcome someone with Mr. Bundy’s track record into the heart of our community.”
Illinois
Utterly out of touch, insular Illinois R gubernatorial candidate...gives Chicagoans an invitation to show off our city! I’m including this both to point and laugh at the R moran (imagine a candidate for governor dissing his own state’s capitol city — and home to 1/5 of the state’s population!) and to highlight Chicago’s spirit!
So Bailey insists on calling Chicago a ‘hellhole?’ Well, Lightfoot slams his campaign as a ‘dumpster fire.’ Satchel Price, Chicago Sun✶Times, August 19, 2022.
“Chicago is no hellhole, but the Bailey campaign sure is a dumpster fire,” the mayor tweeted. Bailey, who is running against incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the general election, appeared Thursday at a GOP rally during the Illinois State Fair, where he again attacked Chicago and its Democratic leadership for failing to address crime and other issues. The “hellhole” jab is a line he introduced in a debate in Chicago nearly three months ago — and it’s become part of his campaign patter since then. When asked by a reporter Thursday whether he thought most Chicagoans, who account for more than 20% of Illinois’ general population, actually view their home as a “hellhole,” Bailey stood by his comments, saying, “Actually, I believe they do. ... Because it’s unsafe.” ( ...says the wrong-wing ignoramus from downstate (ahem — subsidized by Chicago) who has no idea about anything Chicago. Newsflash for Darren: Nah, we do NOT believe our beautiful, vibrant diverse city is what you say, but your words sure reveal a lot about you!) Look at this city — just L😍😍K at it! If that’s a hellhole then I’ll gladly jump in the hand basket!
Check out how regular Chicagoans responded — but be warned! When you look at these photos and remarks, you will want to visit Chicago! And you’ll be warmly welcomed! ✶✶✶✶
Chicagoans show off their city after Darren Bailey calls it a ‘hellhole’, Katelyn Haas, Chicago Sun✶Times, August 22, 2022.
iowa
Meet two Iowa teachers working to make students passionate about science, Iowa public radio, August 23, 2022.
--Listen at the link-- Students are back on campuses across Iowa. The Gazette's higher education reporter Vanessa Miller joins the program to go over several issues related to higher education in Iowa. Before that, IPR’s Natalie Krebs discusses health reminders for parents of K-12 kids returning to school. Then we meet two Iowa teachers who have been awarded funding from the Society for Science. It’s all about helping students, especially those from underserved and low-income communities, pursue a passion in science. Guests: Natalie Krebs | IPR health reporter
| IPR health reporter Vanessa Miller | The Gazette higher education Reporter
| The Gazette higher education Reporter Ann Jackson | talented and gifted (TAG) teacher Miller Middle School
| talented and gifted (TAG) teacher Miller Middle School Dede Henderson | TAG teacher, South Hamilton CSD
Kentucky
Good news out of a deeply sad and maddening story: The police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor and covered it up will be brought to justice. The first officer to take a plea deal will assist prosecutors in the cases against the other defendants (who pleaded not guilty):
Ex-LMPD officer pleads guilty to federal charge related to Breonna Taylor’s killing, Roberto Roldan, WFPL, August 23, 2022.
Former Louisville Metro Police Department Detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge in federal court Tuesday, becoming the first officer who will be convicted for their role in the deadly 2020 raid on Breonna Taylor’s home. Goodlett, 35, resigned from the police department on Aug. 5, the day after the U.S. Department of Justice announced federal chargesagainst her and three other Louisville police officers. The felony conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Goodlett’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 21, but attorneys indicated in court that hearing may be pushed back. ✂️ Although prosecutors have not confirmed it, there’s reason to believe that Goodlett took a plea deal in exchange for providing information to federal prosecutors.
Massachusetts
New Massachusetts statue honors once-enslaved woman who won freedom in court, NBC via AP, August 21, 2022.
The enslaved woman, known as Bett, could not read or write, but she listened. And what she heard did not make sense. While she toiled in bondage in the household of Col. John Ashley, he and other prominent citizens of Sheffield met to discuss their grievances about British tyranny. In 1773, they wrote in what are known as the Sheffield Resolves that “Mankind in a state of nature are equal, free, and independent of each other.” ✂️ It is believed that Bett, after hearing a public reading of the constitution, walked roughly 5 miles from the Ashley household to the home of attorney Theodore Sedgwick, one of the citizens who drafted the Sheffield Resolves, and asked him to represent her in her legal quest for freedom, said Paul O’Brien, president of the Sheffield Historical Society. Sedgwick and another attorney, Tapping Reeve, took the case. Women had limited legal rights in Massachusetts courts at the time, so a male slave in the Ashley household named Brom was added to the case. The jury agreed with the attorneys, freeing Bett and Brom on Aug. 21, 1781.
🎶 Musical Interlude 🎶
Michigan
Ok, this next story is not about good news per se — it’s about the despicable plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — but it is very good news that these two have been brought to justice. You can point to this story (among many) next time a Gloom&Doomer starts moaning 😫 the extremists are getting awaaaaay with evvvvvvverything 😩 (they’re not — as you and I know!):
2 men convicted in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer, Joey Cappelletti and Ed White, AP, August 23, 2022.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A jury on Tuesday convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, delivering swift verdicts in a plot that was broken up by the FBI and described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists. The result was a big victory for the U.S. Justice Department. A different jury just four months ago couldn’t reach unanimous decisions on Adam Fox or Barry Croft Jr. but acquitted two other men, a stunning conclusion that led to a second trial. ✂️ Fox and Croft were convicted Tuesday of two counts of conspiracy related to the kidnapping scheme and attempts to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors said they wanted to blow up a bridge to disrupt police if the abduction could be pulled off at Whitmer’s vacation home. ✂️ “Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. They will not succeed,” said Whitmer, a Democrat, who turned 51 years old on Tuesday.
New York
Black women are helping other women. Doulas are restoring dignity and even joy to childbirth and helping to mitigate the gross inequities in maternal healthcare to improve outcomes for black mothers.
Through community-based care, doula SeQuoia Kemp advocates for radical change, Martha Swann-Quinn, NPR, August 21, 2022.
.. in a time where maternal mortality rates in the United States are staggeringly disproportionate, with Black women dying in childbirth at three times the rate of white women, doula care and maternal advocacy have become more important than ever. Now, with the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Kemp sees the need for doula care rising.✂️ In 2014, Kemp founded Doula 4 a Queen, a community-based doula practice that offers everything from prenatal support for expectant mothers to doula care for those experiencing miscarriage and pregnancy loss. The organization specializes in caring for Black women and their families and serves a diverse client base. Committed to a mission of service when doula support is so crucial to the outcomes of laboring mothers in her community, Kemp has never turned away anyone for financial reasons, and she always makes sure that those who come to her are connected with another doula if her organization is unable to take them on. ✂️ "A lot of officials, when they talk about safety and when they talk about harm reduction, a lot of that focuses on 'Does mom survive? Does baby survive?' and what we focus on is we should not be merely surviving childbirth, we should be thriving, we should be feeling empowered — like we were honored and like we were an active participant in the laboring experience," Kemp says. "But the way our medical industrial complex works, that's not the focus. It's not 'How does she feel, emotionally? How does she feel, mentally? How does she feel, physically?' ... The focus, in maternity care in the United States, is on physical comfort and did you survive, and that's not ok."✂️ "We want to see people's human rights be honored," she says. "An ideal birth is one that's not centered around violence and is not centered around the preferences and policies [of a hospital] but, rather, what is best for this birthing person and their families — and trusting that the birthing person, when they're given the proper information, will make the decision that's ultimately the best one."
North Dakota
EV charging stations in ND’s highway planning? Yes! In North Dakota! (and bonus mention of Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin!)
North Dakota plan calls for electric vehicle charging stations every 50 miles along I-94, I-29, Patrick Springer, The Forum, August 21, 2022.
“A lot of it comes back to having the infrastructure in place to support the growing number of vehicles,” LaDoucer said. The plan to install charging stations at regular intervals on North Dakota interstates, he added, will “jumpstart” expanded charging infrastructure. ✂️ The establishment of a network of fast-charging stations along interstate highways is supported by bipartisan infrastructure legislation passed by Congress last year, which will provide $25.9 million in federal support. With a state match of $6.4 million, total funding for the initiative will be $32.4 million. ✂️ Once the plan is approved, the state will be seeking firms that can design, build, maintain and operate the charging stations. Construction likely will be during 2024 and 2025, she said. In another development, Xcel Energy has set a goal of 1.3 million electric vehicles in its eight-state service area, including North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, by 2030.
Pennsylvania
Another great story from T Maysle. According to the article, newly registered voters cite the striking down of RoevWade as one of the top reasons they have registered now. Also motivating the new registrations is anger over racial injustice and mass shootings. Pennsylvania is probably not the only state seeing this kind of voter mobilization, but it is great news in a swing state!:
Women are registering to vote in Pa. in numbers far exceeding men since the Supreme Court abortion decision, Julia Terruson and Jonathan Lai, The Philadelphia Inquirier, August 22, 2022.
Coyle, an 18-year-old from Willow Grove, had been interested in voting but just hadn’t gotten around to it, busy preparing to leave for college, babysitting for a local family, and making trips to the Jersey Shore. After hearing abortion could become illegal in some states, she dug the form out, registered as a Democrat, and sent it in. ✂️ Pennsylvania has had one of the nation’s biggest gender gaps in new registrations, according to Democratic voter data firm Target Smart, which said women have outpaced men by about 12 percentage points in new registrations since June 24. That gap is three times larger than their estimate of a 4-point difference in total registrations. (Gender is an optional field when registering to vote in Pennsylvania, so the state’s voter rolls don’t provide a complete picture of the gender split in registrations.)
Tennessee
This next story falls under the “bad news as good news” heading. I am not usually a fan of this type of “good news” because it almost always means someone has to suffer (sometimes a lot) to bring about an eventually better outcome — maybe. (see the fallout of the Dobbs decision, which has already devastated the lives of countless women). Still, when the news around a topic has been bad for years — decades even — and it isn’t going to get better on its own anyway, then maybe “bad news as good news” offers a little bright spot. I think this is one example:
Tennessee showdown: Governor's big plan for right-wing charter schools sparks fierce backlash, Kathryn Joyce, Salon, August 22, 2022.
Background: This is a long article which gives a really good history of the outsized influence of Hillsdale College and its role in the decades-long Republican agenda to destroy public education and replace it with religious-based schools in which future generations of American children can be thoroughly indoctrinated with the ideology (and authoritarianism) of a far right-wing Christian sect. The article relates some surprising resistance to defunding public schools from rural red communities in addition to the usual Democratic stalwarts:
Democratic politicians, of course, promptly condemned Arnn's remarks. State Sen. Heidi Campbell tweeted, "There is not a single community in Tennessee that would willingly defund their own public schools in exchange for a charter affiliated with Gov. Bill Lee's offensive friend or Hillsdale College." Jason Martin, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee running against Lee this fall, launched a petition arguing that "our public school teachers who sacrifice so much daily should not fall victim to a governor who wants to radicalize our children through far-right, cherrypicked, 'pseudo-education' using *illegal* voucher based schooling." But even in deep-red Tennessee, Republicans joined in as well. House Speaker Cameron Sexton declared that Arnn had "insulted generations of teachers." Rep. Mark White, chair of Tennessee's House education committee, wrote on Facebook, "When the General Assembly convenes again next January any hope that Hillsdale will operate in Tennessee has been shattered." Lt. Gov. Randy McNally warned that Arnn's comments would "feature prominently in the vetting process" for any proposed Hillsdale charter schools." Last week, in one of many school board resolutions supporting teachers or condemning Arnn, Williamson County school board member Eric Welch — a Republican who presides over the district where Gov. Lee grew up — decried Arnn's "very asinine" insults and Lee's "deafening" silence. Part of the explanation for the backlash may be the expansion of the "school choice" movement beyond its customary targets in urban communities, where privatization efforts have long been wrapped in gauzy rhetoric about helping minority students, but where the fallout from their implementation remains safely distant from suburban and rural schools. "The campaign to blow up the school system starts to run into the reality that a lot of places that are really red see the schools as an extension of their own communities," said Berkshire. Many of the tactics currently used to foster demand for school privatization — like panics about CRT or "grooming" — "are a harder sell" when the teachers are family or friends.
Fair use prevents me from posting any more than this excerpt, and this article is really packed with information — go read it! It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment for public education. And there is some hope and some common ground between rank and file Dems and Rs!
Texas!
One of my adult kids lived in Lubbock, Texas for several years (spanning TFG administration) and they phone-banked for Beto with the owners of this coffee shop. My kid said that Destiny (and partner Cole) place the kits in all bathrooms, so that trans people can also access the products without embarrassment. They’ve weathered a fair bit of blowback from the forced birthers in the area, but this is yet another reminder that no state is totally “red” or “blue” — and that there is hope for progressive goals everywhere:
Coffee shop giving out free Plan B triggers flood of calls to Texas town’s police, Mitchell Willetts, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 18, 2022.
“Just when I had given up hope on west Texas,” wrote another. “Kudos to you for creating this safe space.” Each kit comes packed with two Plan B pills, pregnancy tests and condoms, plus an instruction pamphlet. Anyone who needs a kit is welcome to come inside and take one, or ask at the drive-thru. ✂️ As of Aug. 18, they’ve given away at least 75 kits, many to young women and mothers, Adams told McClatchy News. ✂️ Adams is able to provide the kits through a partnership with Jane’s Due Process, she told McClatchy News, a Texas-based nonprofit focused on providing young people access to abortion and birth control. ✂️ And soon after Adams announced the free contraceptives on social media, the Wolfforth Police Department was inundated with calls and emails “questioning the legality” of what the coffee shop is doing. Adams said she isn’t worried about her program being shut down by the police, at least not under current state law. “We have done our research and know that we aren’t breaking any laws,” she said. “We will keep it that way so that we can continue to provide things for our community.”
Washington, DC
Yes, I know Washington DC is not yet a state — but it should be! And this pilot program should be a national policy!
DC’s pioneering ‘Baby Bonds’ plan aims to narrow wealth gap, Ashraf Khalil, AP, August 21, 2022.
She sees a brighter future for that baby, thanks to a landmark social program being pioneered in Washington. Called “Baby Bonds,” the program will provide children of the city’s poorest families with up to $25,000 when they reach adulthood. The money is to be used for a handful of purposes, including education. “It would be such a different opportunity for him, a lot different than what I had,” Manning said of her soon-to-arrive baby. In just over a decade, the Baby Bonds idea has moved from a fringe leftist concept to actual policy, with the District of Columbia as the first laboratory. Lawmakers from coast to coast are monitoring the experiment, one that proponents say could reshape America’s growing wealth gap in a single generation if instituted on a federal level. ✂️ Despite the name, the bonds are more accurately trust funds, designed to provide a boost of capital at a critical time in the lives of the country’s poorest children. At age 18, each enrolled child would receive a large lump sum payment that can be used to pay for higher education, invest in a business or make a down payment on a home.
Washington state
Thanks to T Maysle for this lovely story, too! I found a short video about the project when it was in its earlier stages and the scope and hope of it is astounding! Not just overpasses, but bridges which preserve passages underneath for wildlife — including rock formations to offer smaller animals to cross safely too (with hiding places to escape predators also crossing). It’s ingenious and it’s something I hope we see being worked into highway plans all over the country!
New WSDOT video shows benefits of wildlife crossings, with more coming to Washington, Julie Calhoun, K5News, August 13, 2022.
Conservation Northwest has been working with WSDOT for years on wildlife connectivity, and said I-90 is a huge barrier. “So much work goes in at the front end and then you see those videos that WSDOT just showed and it shows how important it is to invest in these projects,” said Wolf-Buck. Even more will soon be coming as part of WSDOT’s nearly $1 billion, 15-mile improvement project on I-90 between Hyak and Easton. A second overcrossing is planned near Easton, plus an undercrossing along Hudson Creek. “These wildlife crossings have been strategically placed in areas where we know there are natural migration patterns,” said Lott. Those are expected to be done in the next two years, plus 15 more wildlife structures.✂️ The state recently invested more money into a similar project along Highway 97, that Wolf-Buck said has reduced collisions by 91% since August 2020. x x YouTube Video
🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩
Hello everybody! It’s me, CurlyGirl! I am SO HAPPY to have Mama back home and I am feeling better, too.
I want to start my section today by adding an item to the list up at the top of all the things President Joe Cool and the Democrats have accomplished. Mama left out the MOST IMPORTANT ONE!!!
CG’s item #1: Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act, passed almost exactly one year ago on August 25, 2021! Here’s what it will do:
More veterans with PTSD will soon get help from service dogs. Thank the 'PAWS' Act, Stephanie O’Neill, NPR, November 26, 2021.
"Having her now, it's like I can go anywhere," A growing body of research into PTSD and service animals paved the way for President Joe Biden to sign into law the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act. The legislation, enacted in August, requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to open its service dog referral program to veterans with PTSD, and to launch a five-year pilot program in which veterans with PTSD help train service dogs for other veterans. ✂️ PTSD service dogs are often confused with emotional support dogs, Diamond says. The latter provide companionship and are not trained in a specific task to support a disability. PTSD service dogs, by contrast, cost about $25,000 to adopt and train a dog to understand dozens of general commands to assist veterans with PTSD and then to further train it for the needs of the particular veteran, he says. ✂️ "We teach in the military to have a battle buddy. Your battle buddy is that person you can call on any time of the day or night to get you out of every sticky situation," Crenshaw says. "And these service animals act as a battle buddy." Just how much that's true became evident to Crenshaw a few months ago. Because of persistent hypervigilance that's part of his combat-caused PTSD, Crenshaw always avoided large gatherings. But this summer, Doc helped him successfully navigate big crowds at Disney World – a significant first for Crenshaw, who has three daughters. "I was not agitated. I was not anxious. I was not upset," Crenshaw, 39, says. "It was truly, truly amazing and so much so that I didn't even have to even stop to think about it in the moment. It just happened naturally." Crenshaw says because of Doc, he no longer takes any of his PTSD medications and he no longer uses alcohol to self-medicate. Clark-Gutierrez says Lisa, too, has helped her to quit using alcohol she long-relied upon and to stop taking VA-prescribed medications for panic attacks, nightmares and periods of disassociation.
CG’s item #2: Here is great news about a slightly scary animal in San Diego! (Nifty note:CG wanted this state story for her section so here you go, California!😃)
Look, Everybody! I’m doing a STATE story! I told Mama I wanted this story because it is about a non-human animal and that is my area of expertise! It is the good news story from California!
🦏 Male white rhino born at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, AP. August 23, 2022.🦏
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Zoo Safari Park on Monday announced the arrival of a male white rhino born to a first-time mother. ✂️ The unnamed calf conceived through natural breeding with father J Gregory was born on Aug. 6. “Wildlife care specialists report the calf is healthy, confident and full of energy, and that Livia is an excellent mother, very attentive and protective of her offspring,” the park said in a statement. Here is the calf — he rolled in the mud to stay cool and keep the flies from bothering him.
I think rhinos are pretty smart! 🐩
🚨 BUT WAIT! There’s more! The story from AP doesn’t talk about the extra special importance of this news! So we went to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance website for the rest of the story!
All rhino births are significant, and this calf’s birth represents an essential step in San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Northern White Rhino Initiative, showing Livia can carry a calf to term and care for her offspring. This is vitally important, as Livia is now among the female rhinos at the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center who could potentially serve in the future as a surrogate mother to a northern white embryo. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Northern White Rhino Initiative is dedicated to saving the northern white rhino through innovative reproductive technologies, including artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. At the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center, an interdisciplinary team—including wildlife care and health teams, reproductive physiologists and geneticists—are working with southern white rhinos as a model for developing these advanced reproductive technologies, with the ultimate goal to establish a sustainable population of northern white rhinos using banked genetic material from the Frozen Zoo®, a critical component of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Wildlife Biodiversity Banking efforts. Only two northern white rhinos remain on earth, residing at a wildlife conservancy in Kenya. Both are females and unable to reproduce naturally. The work being done to conserve the northern white rhino may also be applied to other rhino species, including critically endangered Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
CG’s item #3: Here is a story that starts sad but ends happily! A mother horse lost her baby and a baby horse lost its mother — and then they found each other!
That’s all for now. See you next week! luv, CG 🐾💙
🎶 Wolf Story from Beau 🎶
👀 Here’s your reminder that the J6 Committee plans more hearings for September and it’s….ummmm….almost the end of August already! 🕰
💗 How Can You Help Build Our Democracy Back Better? 💗
x Here's the plan to win the House:
https://t.co/Vo1TA2IwSj — Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) July 18, 2022
Here’s a visual to help us keep our eyes on the prize:
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Yes, Americans Are Better Off Under Biden, Robert J Shapiro, Washington Monthly, August 22, 2022.
⚡️ Sobering, necessary and ultimately helpful read about mothering in the pandemic: The Help That Never Came, Anya Kamenetz, the Atlantic, August 19, 2022.
⚡️ Weirdly related to above: Honesty Is Love, Arthur C Brooks, the Atlantic, August 18, 2022.
(Maybe this ⬇️ is the missing Colorado story! CO is a vote by mail state with high turnout!)
⚡️ This is why Rs oppose vote by mail (when lots of people vote, Rs lose): Debate Over: Vote by Mail Boosts Turnout, Paul Glastris, Washington Monthly, August 23, 2022.
⚡️ Georgia’s big Trump election investigation, explained, Ben Jacobs, Vox, August 22, 2022.
⚡️ Sounds like a lot: OF COURSE TRUMP WAS HOARDING A METRIC FUCK-TON OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS AT MAR-A-LAGO, Bess Levin, Vanity Fair, August 23, 2022.
⚡️ The Spookiest Sound in Astronomy, Marina Koren, the Atlantic, August 23, 2022.
💙 RoundUp WIndDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday. We are going to rest up for the remainder of the day.
I hope you all will take good care of yourselves. We are entering the home stretch of the last 60-70 days before the election. There’s a lot to do and there will no doubt be many challenging days between now and November.
So, remember to eat nutritious food, get some rest and pace yourself. You can’t do everything, but you can do some thing. So can the other people you know. Encourage your friends and family to do just one thing toward making a Democratic House and Senate reality for the next Congress.
If you can do it at all, get outdoors every day for at least a little while. If you can’t take long walks or runs out in nature, a few minutes sitting on the doorstep or even by a window will be still helpful. If you’re surrounded by buildings, look straight up at the sky. Observe the clouds and the blueness beyond. Let your perspective be adjusted and your spirit calmed.
Time for some rest and nature for CG and me.
Happy Wednesday, Gnusies!
CG walking at a park near the lake. We ❤️ Chicago!
🎶 Music for your Wednesday 🎶
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/24/2117530/-Check-Out-Good-News-from-States-plus-Top-22-for-2022-August-24-Good-News-Roundup
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
