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

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  • Waiting for a New Deal job program? These US parks are already hiring

    With many people out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some cities and nonprofits are creating outdoorsy job programs to relieve unemployment. Inspired by the conservation corps programs created during the Great Depression, North Carolina, Alaska, and Texas have these initiatives. The reliance on fundraising to pay workers can be a challenge, but these programs are providing jobs for nearly 250 people and are making some conservation progress. For example, the Carolina Climbers Coalition crew has already completed projects at state parks in the Southeast.

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  • This AI startup is tackling the coronavirus disinformation deluge

    Logically is a fact-checking app that combines AI technology and human research to assess and label the truthfulness of news articles. The app has about 20,000 users after a soft launch in the UK, with a full launch planned for late 2020. The AI technology, a feature that makes the app unique, tries to match news claims to other sources and then human researchers take over to make a final judgment. The app has been busy fact-checking the extensive Covid-19 related misinformation. Some aspects, like technology glitches and slow fact-checking responses from researchers, still need to be worked out.

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  • From life in prison to out on parole: One group easing the transition

    California, home to an unprecedented number of prison "lifers" who served decades since their teens and then were released under revised parole policies, created the Peer Reentry Navigation Network (PRNN) to have fellow former lifers coach and hold accountable the newly released. Now in 28 communities, PRNN has formed a community of peer mentors helping the formerly incarcerated remake their lives on the outside after lives of violence and trauma. The mentors' 24/7 help covers behavioral advice, job leads, and rebuilding family relationships. Despite some missteps, most mentees have stayed out of trouble.

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  • Can an Army of Feral Cats Solve New York City's Rat Problem?

    New York's Hard Hat Cats turns feral cats into working animals, deploying teams in outdoor spaces and indoor workplaces with rat infestations. Breweries, a prison, and other buildings have seen their rat populations plummet once cats are welcomed and cared for. The feral cats come from colonies of rehabilitated animals who have been trapped and neutered. The colonies prove less annoying to people once they are fed. Despite a lack of help from city officials, the working cats have earned their keep by addressing a problem that New Yorkers often complain about.

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  • How the World's Largest Garbage Dump Evolved Into a Green Oasis

    The former Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island is turning into a public park that will accept visitors in 2021. By capping the trash site with plastic, covering it with soil, and planting native grasses, city officials are restoring the area’s former tidal wetlands and scrublands; nearly 314 plant and animal species have already been sighted. While the successful closing of the dump nearly 20 years ago means that the trash is being sent to other neighborhoods in the United States where people dealing with economic hardship live, the project could be a model for sustainability and urban renewal.

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  • In Prison, Learning Magic by Mail

    A community of incarcerated magic enthusiasts formed spontaneously around a column published by a magic magazine, thanks to their own initiative and the willingness of Joshua Jay, the magician/columnist, to respond to fan mail. The incarcerated people formed an underground exchange of tips on magic tricks and how to make props from the limited availability of materials in prisons. By perfecting their skills, this community used magic as performative art therapy, easing their sense of isolation and increasing their sense of power and personal worth. One even went pro after his release.

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  • Can Military Academies Serve As A Road Map For Reopening Colleges?

    As colleges and universities around the U.S. figure out the best course of action to start a new semester amid an ongoing pandemic, military academies around the country may have some invaluable lessons to offer. The Army's West Point campus in New York state, the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, and U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland used methods like pool testing, where individual swabs are grouped and tested instead of taking a one-by-one approach. The schools also staggered and quarantined waves of students returning to campus, and assigned different spaces to specific groups of people.

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  • Don't Call The Cops — Call CAHOOTS

    In Eugene and Springfield, highly trained, unarmed mobile crisis response teams get dispatched by their cities' public-safety 911 systems to behavioral-health crises that do not require a police response. The 24/7 service, now in its 32nd year in Eugene, saves tens of millions of dollars per year by diverting cases from the criminal justice system and emergency-room care while defusing potentially violent interactions and getting people the care they need rather than the care imposed on them.

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  • Metro Detroit's environmental organizations are largely white. Some are working to change that.

    Several environmental groups in the Detroit area are coming to terms with the lack of racial diversity in their organizations. Huron-Clinton Metroparks released a plan to make their parks more welcoming and accessible to everyone, regardless of race and ethnicity. The Friends of the Rouge watershed organization has partnered with other nonprofits to explore race and organizational culture within their own groups. While many of these initiatives have just launched, many groups are taking crucial steps to address environmental injustice within their ranks and how it trickles down to the people they serve.

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  • Beating the coronavirus with knives, forks, and moving tables

    Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island are "repurposing parking lots, waterfronts, and any adjacent land where an al fresco meal can be savored, public health preserved, and restaurant profits protected" during the coronavirus pandemic. Collaborative efforts by various elected officials, health officials, and emergency responders are making the idea to repurpose outdoor areas feasible, and some restaurants have already projected a significant success in profits.

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