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Young People Are Digitally Rebuilding Tulsa's Black Wall Street

Kristi Eaton

May 26, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Urban Coders Guild provides STEM education opportunities to underrepresented communities and is working with local students to build websites for the businesses destroyed during the Tulsa Race Massacre. While none of the businesses operate today, the program builds awareness of the massacre while also teaching students coding skills to build websites. The course is also considered a “prep” course for the future because it teaches students how to interact with others as well as listen to and accept feedback from others. The group partnered with Tulsa Community College students to create the content and logos.

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The Pandemic Modernized School Board Meetings — Will the Changes Last?

Darcy Sprague

May 13, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

School districts across the country from Miami, FL, to Richmond, VA, had to modernize their school meetings to follow safety precautions of the pandemic. To do this, school districts moved their school board meetings to online platforms, or allowed participants to leave comments through voicemail messages. While these solutions were not perfect, it made it easier and convenient for parents to participate.

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Meet the Activist Archivists Saving the Internet From the Digital Dustbin

Mark Hill

May 12, 2021 |

Discover Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The Internet Archive is a digital library of around 544 billion archived web pages, most of which are found using a bot that crawls the web and saves snapshots. However, a self-described loose collective of volunteer activist archivists, known as the Archive Team,' individually monitors and preserves websites at risk of being abruptly taken down. Using donated bandwidth and hard drive space on the archiving application “Warrior,” they systematically download sites they fear will be deleted. The downloads are saved within the Internet Archive database, which is available to the public.

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Digital Startup Fills News Niche in Wheeling, West Virginia

John Miller

April 19, 2021 |

The Daily Yonder |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Wheeling, West Virginia

Ledenews.com is one of the more than 80 online-only news sites started in 2019 to fill the void in news deserts. The site covers sports, politics, traffic, and local stories about local people in the Wheeling, WV area. The site cost $5,000 to start and now brings in about $60,000 a year in advertising, with 1,500 to 2,000 readers a day, a rate of growth that suggests profitability within a few years. The site publishes around 10 stories a week, including three major features, and all of the news is geared towards local issues not covered by other publications, including holding local officials accountable.

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Here's how a Texas border city is closing its digital divide

Molly Smith

April 13, 2021 |

El Paso Matters |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, El Paso, Texas

Texan cities, like McAllen and El Paso, are bridging the digital divide for students and building infrastructure to connect whole communities. In El Paso, the city used $150,000 of the $84 million it received in federal funds to purchase hotspots, which are now available for check-out from public libraries. In McAllen, the city has taken on the $1 million annual cost to provide Wi-Fi to the entire city.

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KC court's pandemic program dismisses 5,000 warrants

Miranda Davis

April 07, 2021 |

The Kansas City Beacon |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

A virtual opportunity to have warrants dismissed and fines reduced resulted in thousands of dismissals for residents of Kansas City. The virtual nature of the program encouraged many people to take advantage of interacting with the court system without the threat of being arrested.

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Airbnb-like Miami company helps parents explore childcare centers without the driving

Yadira Lopez

March 28, 2021 |

Miami Herald |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Miami, Florida

Parents in Miami-Dade county can now access an online directory of preschools and childcare options through prek.com. Research shows most parents find child care through word of mouth, which leaves those who are new in town, as well as immigrant parents, at a disadvantage. The website provides one-on-one services to help walk parents explore their options and offers a digital presence to many smaller facilities that lacked the time and resources to market online.

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Schools Look To Algorithms To Flag Students Who May Harm Themselves

Alisa Roth

March 03, 2021 |

NPR |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Mason City, Iowa

Companies like Gaggle are typically used by school districts to track student online behavior, but now they are tracking something else—self-harm. Machine learning flags words that might indicate a student is thinking of hurting themselves. “It gives us insight into what the student's thinking.” Gaggle identified 64,000 student references to suicide and self-harm. The company claims to have saved 927 student lives. In Mason City, districts receive alerts when a student’s search is flagged. “Nicole Pfirman says there have been a few times where she believes an alert saved a kid's life.”

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City governments in Kansas didn't launch the tech revolution. But they're embracing it

Stan Finger

February 23, 2021 |

The Kansas Leadership Center Journal (KLC Journal) |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas

City websites have embraced technology, allowing residents to pay bills, request permits, and attend council or commission meetings online. The shift, which was accelerated by the pandemic, also made the websites crucial information hubs, informing residents about everything from tax increases to street closings. The shift increased efficiency, for example decreasing in-person visits to City Hall, reporting problems like potholes any time, and officials are fielding fewer calls because information is readily accessible. Conducting business online also led to greater transparency into city business.

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N.Y.'s Vaccine Websites Weren't Working. He Built a New One for $50.

Sharon Otterman

February 09, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Online volunteer assistance efforts in New York have played a crucial role in the dissemination of the COVID-19 vaccine, while city and state appointment systems have caused confusion or created barriers for many. Although these efforts can't address all barriers, such as lack of computer access or literacy, they have been used by thousands of people each day to find available appointment times.

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