Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Technology Works Behind the Scenes to Keep US Mail-in Voting Secure

    With many more people are voting by mail in the 2020 presidential election, technology is helping to make sure ballots are counted and that voters are informed. Although the system is not perfect, it does allow for voters to follow the progress of their ballot to see if there may have been a problem at some point during the process.

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  • As Prisons Cancel Visitation, The Phone Line Becomes A Life Line

    To alleviate the isolating effects of COVID-19 restrictions in prisons barring outside visitors, some prisons have encouraged phone and video contact with family by waiving the fees normally charged for such services. In Utah, the first 10 calls per week are free. Federal prisons have waived the charges entirely. Maintaining healthy family relationships has been shown to relieve prisoners' loneliness and anxiety, which equates to better behavior. And it reduces future lawbreaking by strengthening bonds that help in finding housing and jobs once the prisoners are released.

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  • How 'the most violent' special education school ended restraint and seclusion

    Centennial School in Pennsylvania has dramatically reduced its need for student restraint over the last 20 year, challenging the notion that seclusion or restraint is an option when dealing with students with disabilities. Its approach replaces previous drastic measures and instead relies on teaching what good behavior looks like rather than punishment, placing two teachers in the classroom rather than one, and increase emphasis on weekly professional development.

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  • Baltimore's Violence Interrupters Confront Shootings, the Coronavirus, and Corrupt Cops

    Baltimore’s Safe Streets program, which uses a public-health approach to stopping the spread of community gun violence, mediated more than 1,800 conflicts in 2019 and is credited with preventing homicides altogether in one neighborhood, despite the city’s overall violent year. Since the program’s launch in 2007, studies have shown it to be effective in its use of “credible messengers” whose street savvy can be deployed to “interrupt” retaliatory violence. But the Baltimore program also illustrates tensions between such community-based programs and the police, especially when the police are corrupt.

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  • Black Lives Matter Protests Rarely End in Violence – Especially in Appalachia

    Thirty-six people protesting police violence and racism held the first civil rights march in Terra Alta. Met by counter-protesters with guns who were expecting out-of-town agitators, the groups engaged in peaceful and respectful dialogue rather than conflict. Each side expressed their viewpoints and shared the personal experiences that helped form those views. While they did not agree on many topics, they both felt that social media and mainstream media portrayals of the two groups fueled misinformation and ill will. Instead, both sides saw each other as human beings rather than stereotypes and caricatures.

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  • How A Healer, An Artist And A Chef Are Fighting For Black Food Sovereignty In South LA

    To ensure that Black communities have access to healthy food, three people in Los Angeles are taking different approaches to promote food security and food sovereignty. As part of Feed Black Futures, Ali Anderson packs nearly 100 boxes a week of fruits and vegetables to deliver to Black women and caregivers who have been impacted by incarceration. Artist Lauren Halsey and her Summaeverythang Community Center deliver up to 1,000 boxes a week of free organic produce. Chef Kat Williams is also making sure Black people of the LGBT community have access to healthy meals.

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  • This tech is bringing water to Navajo Nation by pulling it out of the air Audio icon

    Zero Mass Water partnered with the Navajo Nation to bring water into the homes of rural residents who may not have easy access to a water source. Hydropanels that connect to a tap inside the home use sunlight to absorb enough water vapor to make at least 10 liters of water per day. While people at first were skeptical about the idea during a pilot test, the company and Navajo officials are hoping to scale the solution.

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  • Waiting for water: On the Navajo Nation, long lines, scarce resources, a cry for solutions

    As the coronavirus spreads throughout the Navajo Nation, many people don’t have access to water to even wash their hands. For generations, the Navajo people have suffered with this lack of water infrastructure, but some solutions have been implemented. For example, the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health has built about 100 hand-washing stations and delivered them to homes in need. Many people are hopeful they will receive more funding to build a more robust water system, but the scale of the problem and the cost of building it are big challenges to overcome.

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  • 30 Years Later: How The ADA Changed Life For People With Disabilities

    The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) mandated public places, businesses, facilities, and schools make accommodations for people with disabilities, including ramps, accessible entrances and bathrooms, and designated parking spaces. The ADA also makes discrimination against people with disabilities illegal, establishes a nationwide communication system for people with speech or hearing impairments, and encourages community-based services over institutionalization. While accessibility and discrimination can still be problems, the ADA has allowed people with disabilities to live independently.

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  • Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16

    Research shows that voting at a young age leads to lifelong civic engagement and several cities and countries have lowered their voting ages. In the handful of democracies that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, they also show that they turnout in large numbers. Austria was the first EU country to allow 16-year-olds to vote and in 2014 their turnout was 64%, compared to 56% for voters 18-20. Takoma Park, Maryland allows 16-year-olds to vote, and in 2015 45% of them turned out compared to 21% overall. The national movement is slow, and not gaining a lot of traction, but changes can happen at the local level.

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