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CSI Houston: How a Texas lab has remade the science of forensics

Henry Gass

April 23, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

One of the first crime-lab scandals gave birth to a better way of ensuring the integrity and accuracy of forensic evidence. The Houston Forensic Science Center operates independently of law enforcement agencies, with a large staff of scientists and a healthy budget to correct some of the resource-related flaws of its police-run predecessor. Perhaps its greatest innovation is a system of regularly running blind tests as a quality check, to make sure the staff stays vigilant. The goal is to avoid the kinds of bad science that often contribute to wrongful convictions and other injustices.

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"Get In Front of the Beef"

Jo Piazza

April 22, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia's Cure Violence program uses violence interrupters whose street credibility can mediate disputes before they turn deadly. This program and a related group violence intervention program, focused deterrence, have been successful in certain neighborhoods. But the city's support has been inconsistent as competing priorities or lack of focus undercut the programs' effectiveness. Oakland's Ceasefire program provides an example of a long-term success in a marriage of law enforcement, community-led interventions, and data showing whom to target and what is working.

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Why does the International Criminal Court not have more support?

The Economist

April 21, 2021 |

The Economist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The International Criminal Court fulfilled a nearly century-old dream for a global tribunal to hear war crimes cases. In its nearly 20 years of existence, it has heard 30 cases and convicted nine people. While 123 nations recognize the court's jurisdiction, including all of Western Europe and South America, many large nations resist the court's power as an infringement on their sovereignty, including the U.S., Israel, Russia, China, India, and Indonesia. The Biden administration's stance is somewhat less hostile than the Trump administration's, but only marginally so.

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A Fatal Police Shooting in Lents Was the Nightmare Portland Officials Tried to Prevent

Tess Riski

April 21, 2021 |

Willamette Week |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

After the U.S. Justice Department found that Portland police used excessive force too often when dealing with people in mental health crises, the city formed an unarmed mobile crisis team and a team of police officers with extra training in such cases. Neither team was used when a man with a history of mental illness, armed with what turned out to be a toy gun, was shot to death by a police officer. The Portland Street Response team was not called because the incident occurred outside its limited working hours during the team's pilot phase.

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How Scientists Are Pivoting In Their Quest To Save Hawaii's Crows

Brittany Lyte

April 16, 2021 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Hawaii

After a five-year effort to reintroduce the alala bird on Hawaii’s Big Island failed, conservationists are looking into releasing the nearly extinct Hawaiian crow on a different island. Of the 30 birds released in 2016, only five survived. Another predator known as the Hawaiian hawk killed off some of the birds. Releasing the crows on Maui is a temporary solution, but could allow them to learn skills to survive with other predators.

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Inside New York City's Biggest Financial Relief Effort for Undocumented Immigrants

Kevin Duggan

April 15, 2021 |

Documented |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City’s Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Affairs relied on help from 34 community groups to distribute a $20 million relief fund from the Open Society Foundation. The groups verified who needed the funds, and no personal information was required of the more than 24,000 people receiving aid. Membership in the organizations was not required, but limited resources made members more likely to receive aid. The limited transparency and private nature of the OSF fund served as a work around for a Trump-era executive order making it harder for immigrants receiving public assistance to get visas or green cards.

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A lot of moving parts: A rundown on affordable housing in Boulder County

Angela K. Evans

April 15, 2021 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder County, Colorado

Almost since housing costs shot up in Boulder County in recent decades, the city of Boulder and surrounding communities have used a variety of methods to protect working-class residents from being priced out of a luxury-dominated market. Some of the measures have bumped affordable-housing inventory up a few percentage points. But the numerous special taxes and incentives, plus coordination by a regional housing body, still fall far short of meeting the need thanks to two main factors: lack of funding and building-density restrictions. This story opens a series on what more can be done.

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A Portland Program Intended to Reduce Police Interactions With People in Crisis Is Off to a Slow Start

Tess Riski

April 14, 2021 |

Willamette Week |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

The Portland Street Response program sends a paramedic and social worker on non-emergency calls, often involving mental health crises, instead of sending police. The pilot project, operating during weekday hours in one neighborhood, was assigned 60 calls in its first 40 business days. That tiny percentage of 911 calls falls short of expectations, possibly because dispatchers' screening of calls is defined too narrowly, or because dispatchers are being protective of the police. Supporters say the program always was meant to start small and deliberately, but its call volume is averaging much less than planned.

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Cleveland Was Slow to Address Language and Culture Barriers to Reach Spanish-Speaking Residents During Pandemic

Rachel Dissell Claudia Longo

April 14, 2021 |

The Land |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland failed to provide Spanish translation services even though 11 percent of its residents identify as Hispanic. The oversight is a threat to public health, especially in the midst of a pandemic. The Spanish-speaking community did not have translated guidelines and health updates, putting them at an increased risk of danger despite directives from the CDC that recommend the employment of bilingual contact tracers and community health workers. Those resources are critical in stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

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In the wake of hate, the law is not always enough

Meg McIntyre

April 11, 2021 |

Concord Monitor |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Dover, New Hampshire

Hate crime laws apply to a narrow range of conduct, and often fail as a response to bias incidents that constitute hate speech but are not in themselves a crime. When high school students working on a history class project produced a video with a song treating the KKK and racist murders as a joke, the school and community responded not with prosecutions but with community dialogues to air differences of opinion about the incident. Students of color then formed a group, Project D.R.E.A.M., that expanded the conversations to the entire school, educating a mainly white community about the impact of racism.

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