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Cities are Making Left Turns Safer with ‘Wedges'

Angie Schmitt

November 09, 2018 |

Streetsblog USA |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

In 2016 and 2017, New York City installed infrastructure designed to slow down drivers making left-hand turns in more than 200 locations and banned left turns at high-risk spots as a way to curb pedestrian crashes. Since then, median left-turn speeds have dropped 19 percent at those intersections and the number of vehicles cutting turns so closely they cross the double yellow lines declined by 79 percent. Now cities like San Jose and Los Angeles are looking to follow New York’s lead.

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Landlords Are Powerful. Here's A Way Renters Are Regaining Some Control.

Oliver Balch

November 09, 2018 |

The Huffington Post |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

A growing number of tenant-focused websites are trying to level the power dynamic between shoddy landlords and tenants by giving tenants a voice. “There is a big power mismatch in today’s rental market, but it doesn’t have to be that way.” Amongst those is Rentlogic, which grades 1.1 million apartment buildings, but rather than relying on subjective comments the website provides a grade based on an algorithm.

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This new Florida neighborhood has zero emissions, tons of smart tech, and is hurricane-proof

Adele Peters

November 08, 2018 |

FastCompany |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Cortez, Florida

In a small fishing village outside of Tampa, Florida, Google Home is joining forces with Florida Solar Energy Center, a solar battery storage technology company and a housing developer in order to create a collection of homes that will form a smart neighborhood. With the technologies working together, homeowners will be able to lower their emissions and decrease their carbon footprint by maximizing energy efficiency.

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How Yemeni Immigrant Activists in NYC Are Changing a Whole Community's Mindset

Michael Nigro

November 08, 2018 |

Law at the Margins |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

To assert their voice, community activists must move from behind the scenes to the front lines. Mobilizing the ethnic and immigrant community against Trump’s executive order of 2017 has led to the creation of the Yemeni American Merchant’s Association (YAMA). YAMA behaves like an umbrella organization, working to connect visa winners with humanitarian organizations, hosting legal training programs, becoming a plaintiff on behalf of Yemenis, and partnering with community leaders in cities across the United States.

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Make Voting Easy

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

November 07, 2018 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oregon

Voter turnout is higher where voting is made easy. Consider one innovation: vote-by mail. States that allowed mail-in ballots had an average of 10 percent more voting in the 2016 election than other states. More innovations include pre-registering young voters, automatically updating a voter’s address when they move, automatically registering citizens unless they opt out, and same-day voter registration.

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These ChatBots Help Zimbabweans Find Fuel During a Shortage

Christine Ro

November 07, 2018 |

New York Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Zimbabwe

Hashtags and chat apps can notify users when items of vital necessity become available during times of severe shortage. Despite the Zimbabwean government’s pushback against social media, Zimbabweans are turning to platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp to share information about gas availability amid a severe nationwide shortage. Automated chat bots and hashtags used on Facebook and Twitter deliver real-time information to people across the country about fuel deliveries and queue lengths, helping to circumvent group size restriction in chat apps.

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From German trains to South Korean buses, hydrogen fuel is back in the energy picture

Bianca Nogrady

November 06, 2018 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Hamburg

Hydrogen fuel has made promising strides from Germany to Japan, thanks to shifting markets for renewables, improved storage technologies, and emissions-reduction goals. Electrolysis that uses renewables to make the fuel could transform transportation and energy infrastructure, but a few concerns about the unintended effects persist.

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Undocumented Black Migrants Build an Informal Organizing Network

Carla Pineda

November 06, 2018 |

Law at the Margins |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Grassroots organizers use mobile technology to spread information and resources to underserved immigrant communities. Groups like the Haitian Bridge Alliance and UndocuBlack mobilize legal and social resources for immigrants who belong to groups often characterized as “invisible” in the public discourse, because they represent such a small percentage of the migrant population. Mobile tech enables these nonprofits to publicize individual cases and quickly connect immigrants to appropriate social networks.

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An evidence-based way to help fix our broken politics

Jeff Grabmeier

November 05, 2018 |

Ohio State News |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

If elected representatives have a few hours to speak with their constituents, where’s what they should do: discuss policy issues online with a small group of randomly selected constituents. Participants appreciate the opportunity to speak with their representatives, rate them more highly, and are more likely to vote for them – even months later. The evidence supporting this method of engaging constituents is so compelling that researchers will present their work to all new members of Congress this year.

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A shocking number of U.S. women still die of childbirth. California is doing something about that.

Michael Ollove

November 04, 2018 |

The Washington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

While maternal mortality rates climbed in the United States, California decreased its incidence of maternal death in childbirth. A collaborative group formed to study the issue and started the Maternal Data Center to keep track of how and why women died. Other states are trying to replicate their success with a collaborative called Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health.

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