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Courts rule

Emma Athena

August 20, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

Almost half of U.S. states guarantee citizens’ rights to petition for ballot measures, but the coronavirus made gathering signatures in person infeasible. Massachusetts courts allowed electronic signatures, but other states have not approved virtual citizen initiative campaigns. Ballot initiatives allow citizens to advance solutions and enact structural changes without relying on support from elected officials. MA groups used DocuSign to gather 30,000 signatures to get a proposal for ranked choice voting on the ballot. Not all MA groups were able to quickly or successfully pivot to the e-signature process.

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The old-school organizers who got it done on Zoom

Nick Bowlin

August 06, 2020 |

High Country News |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, California

The Industrial Areas Foundation, the country’s oldest community organizing group, adapted to coronavirus restrictions by using technology to win relief for immigrants without legal documentation in California. Organizing a diverse coalition over zoom had many challenges, but they successfully won the expansion of the California Earned Income Tax Credit to include people who file taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, rather than a Social Security number. This applies to about one-tenth of California’s workforce who mainly work in hard-hit service and agriculture industries.

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19th Amendment: The six-week 'brawl' that won women the vote

Elaine Weiss

August 03, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tennessee

Three generations of activists marched, protested, lobbied, and campaigned for more than seven decades to win the right to vote for American women. In 1920, national and local activists worked to convince Tennessee legislators to support the 19th amendment and become the 36th and final state needed to ratify it. Local suffragists were the most visible forces, lobbying their representatives to support the amendment, while national activists built alliances, identified legislators known to take bribes, and exerted political pressure at all levels of government, including among presidential candidates.

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How Urban Planning Keeps Cities Segregated—and Maintains White Supremacy

Julian Agyeman

July 31, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Urban planning policies can lead to greater racial segregation, sometimes intentionally. While older policies could be explicitly racist, today policies such as zoning, which designates land for residential or industrial use, effectively excludes communities of color, immigrants, and households with lower incomes. Residential segregation leads to education, income, and health disparities. Minneapolis ended single-family zoning so lots can be converted to more affordable duplexes and triplexes and is working towards requiring new apartment projects to reserve units for low- to moderate-income households.

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From Rustbelt to Brainbelt

The Economist

July 23, 2020 |

The Economist |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Universities are a source of innovative economic activity for neighboring towns and cities. The entrepreneurial activity spurred by academic programs and the effect a large student body has on a college town's main street is significant. Cities become incubators for high-tech ideas that turn into money-making and employee-hiring companies and cities that retain college graduates can even refocus a city's failing economy like in the case of Pittsburg. Universities successfully make the case for investing in high-tech and innovative research centers to "jumpstart America."

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Democracy isn't working: five ideas that are already helping to fix the problem

Patrick Chalmers

June 10, 2020 |

The Correspondent |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya

Communities around the world are increasing citizen participation in political decision-making in innovative ways. Participatory budgets allow locals to decide how cities spend money and in some Kenyan cities this has successfully engaged marginalized communities. Citizens’ Initiative Reviews in Oregon and Representative Population Samples in Brazil have allowed the public to weigh in on important policies. In Taiwan, citizen-led digital participation platforms helped to control the coronavirus and avoid major shutdowns. These alternatives require funding and public trust, both of which can be hard to get.

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Where Do We Grow From Here?

Emily Stifler Wolfe

June 02, 2020 |

Montana Free Press |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Bozeman, Montana

In Montana, a group of professionals were brought together to collaborate on the pandemic recovery effort underway in Bozeman, with the economic development director at the helm. Known as the Bozeman Economic Recovery and Resiliency Team, the group is comprised of 25 members including business leaders, local and state government officials, education leadership, and representatives from tourism and childcare industries, among others. The group was formed at the outset of the pandemic to efficiently communicate constantly-shifting information, ascertain needs, and manage local recovery efforts.

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Japan's care sector protects quality of life for the country's elderly population

Carmen Grau

May 25, 2020 |

Equal Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Japan, Matsudo

Japan's model of prioritizing societal care for their elderly has helped the country achieve the highest life expectancy and be named the healthiest population in the world. Now amid the coronavirus pandemic, the country's senior citizen-focused policies and health care system are showing success in keeping the number of cases and deaths low in aging populations.

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In an Attempt to Help Struggling Restaurants, Cities Regulate Food Delivery Apps

Emma Coleman

May 15, 2020 |

Route Fifty |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

To provide financial relief to restaurants during Covid-19 related closures, officials in several cities have capped the commission food delivery apps can take from restaurants. Some apps normally take as much as 40% from restaurants but in order to remain viable while in-store dinning is shut down some cities have capped commissions between 10-15%. Although the apps claim that mandated caps are damaging their business and will force them to alter operations, local restaurants have expressed enthusiasm that the caps will allow them to use third-party delivery apps and stay open.

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Coronavirus: How South Korea 'crushed' the curve

Laura Bicker

May 10, 2020 |

BBC |

Broadcast TV Programs |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: South Korea

South Korea has effectively crushed the curve in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by using extensive tracking and tracing on its citizens. Using a combination of GPS tracking, monitoring CCTV footage, and even checking bank accounts to see where people visited, the government released that information publicly to track those who tested positive and warn those who might be at risk. Acknowledged as an invasion of privacy, it has also kept the country out of lockdown.

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