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A tale of two cities: What Baltimore can teach Arizona about fighting fentanyl overdoses

Austen Bundy

April 16, 2019 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

In 2018, Baltimore passed a harm-reduction bill that allowed the distribution of fentanyl testing strips to assess if fentanyl has been laced into drugs. The decriminalization of these follow similar harm reduction trends that allow for the distribution of safe syringes and naloxone. While proving effective in reducing drug overdoses, because such stigma is attached to addiction, states like Arizona are hesitant to implement such measures, even as advocates and experts call for it.

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Restoring Prisoners' Access to Education Reduces Recidivism

James McWilliams

April 16, 2019 |

Pacific Standard |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Hawaii

A piece of bipartisan legislation was introduced to the United States’ Senate in February 2018 that would give individuals in incarceration access to Pell Grants, thus increasing their college education opportunities. While the bill was not enacted, it is part of an ongoing process of reinstating access to Pell Grants for prisoners from the Obama administration, who gave limited access in its Second Chance program. This bill speaks to the largely bipartisan cultural shift that embraces the need to invest in correctional education in order to prevent recidivism.

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Denver Builds Out Pioneering Gun Crime Investigation Unit

Ann Givens

April 12, 2019 |

The Trace |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Denver has formed a law enforcement collaborative, called the Regional Anti Violence Enforcement Network (RAVEN), to bring together eleven agencies to solve gun crimes in the surrounding cities and counties. RAVEN was borne out of Denver’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center – an earlier collaboration – and uses the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network to share information, technology and resources, and identify regional patterns of crimes rather than local, isolated events.

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Is there a beautiful, briny solution to the world's clean water crisis?

Fiona Harvey

April 10, 2019 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Cape Town

As demand soars and climate change routinely throws cities into shortage crises, the availability of clean water is one of the most pressing challenges of the present and near future. Desalination has long been lambasted for being too expensive and polluting, but a new solar-powered prototype is putting forth a more sustainable, small-scale solution. Solar collectors boil water and then condense it separately from the brine and dirt so that it is drinkable.

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Illinois Lawmakers Want to Fingerprint Gun Buyers

Brian Freskos

April 09, 2019 |

The Trace |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Illinois

Following a mass shooting in Aurora, IL, lawmakers are introducing legislation that could make it harder for guns to be obtained by those who shouldn’t have them. The legislation proposes requiring fingerprints prior to obtaining a concealed carry license – allowing agencies to conduct more accurate and thorough background checks.

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Millions of dollars' worth of food ends up in school trash cans every day. What can we do?

Lela Nargi

April 09, 2019 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Across the United States, schools, government agencies, and individuals are taking steps to reduce food waste in our schools’ cafeterias. There are collaborations that are trying to change the systemic processes by creating guides on how to conduct food waste audits, providing research frameworks for innovative change, and providing policy guidance. A large effort is underway to change how children think about food, which means bringing them to farms and into kitchens to bring them closer to the process.

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In the Aftermath of Civil War, a Writing Workshop Aims for Peace

Sarah Hoenicke

April 09, 2019 |

Literary Hub |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Sri Lanka, Jaffna

The Sri Lankan Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2009 and bitterly divided the country into two sides between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Years later in 2012, a literary program called Write to Reconcile was created by Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist Shyam Selvadurai to use creative writing as a tool to open up dialogue between the two sides that still have misconceptions and prejudices against each other. Many participants in the workshop, which ended in 2017, testify to how much the program changed their perspectives.

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Yankees Suck Slightly Less After Joining the Paris Climate Agreement

Yessenia Funes

April 05, 2019 |

Gizmodo |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The New York Yankees are the first and only baseball team to sign onto the United Nation’s Sports for Climate Action Framework. In doing so they hope to lead their fanbase into committing to five principles: making systemic changes to improve environmental responsibility; reducing overall climate impact; education; promoting sustainable consumption; and advocating. The team has recently hired their first environmental science advisor, but they still have a long way to go to achieve the goal of “net-zero emission economy of 2050”.

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How a Bipartisan Caucus Aimed to Change U.S. House Rules

Tina Kelley

April 04, 2019 |

CivicStory |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Shortly following the 2018 Midterm elections in the U.S. House of Representatives, a group of legislators known as the Problem Solvers Caucus used their numbers to change House rules easing the passage of bipartisan legislation. After working to build consensus on issues like health care, infrastructure, gun control, and immigration since 2013, the congressional membership organization noticed that their bipartisan bills often did not receive a fair chance due to the significant power that Speaker and committee chairs held in deciding which bills advanced. Their "Break the Gridlock" reforms changed that.

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Energy Equity: Bringing Solar Power to Low-Income Communities

Maria Gallucci

April 04, 2019 |

Yale Environment 360 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

Dozens of states across the US are adopting programs that offer solar power for low-income communities in order to cut down on their utility costs and provide renewable energy that they previously would not have had access to. Some of these programs also incorporate other social goals into their programs, such as offering job training or developing sites of backup energy should there an outage. Solar development is currently one of the fastest growing industries in the US, and analysts predict that the nation will be able to hold over 2,000 megawatts of solar capacity this year alone.

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