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After April's election difficulties, would a vote-at-home system make more sense for Wisconsin?

Patricia McKnight

May 20, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

States that use universal voting by mail can be models for all states to protect voters amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Voting by mail can also increase voter turnout. After sending 2020 primary ballots to all registered voters, two Wisconsin districts had voter turnout about twice that of the statewide turnout. States also report that, after high startup costs, voting by mail is cheaper over the long term. Colorado successfully uses intelligent bar codes to track ballots and avoid fraud. Setting up the system before the November 2020 election would be difficult, as is reaching those without a permanent address.

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Need a Quran teacher? There's an AI for that

Aysha Khan

May 20, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

An AI app is potentially eliminating the need for Quran teachers by offering precise feedback to those who are learning to recite or memorize the holy book of Islam. Tarteel uses machine learning technology to enable speech recognition, allowing it to test users' knowledge of the Quran and to receive feedback on recitation without a teacher. The tool can identify mistakes and has a memorization mode, only revealing words as they are recited. Building such an accurate tool "requires a vast data set to train a deep neural network" so users who opt in are crowdsourcing the data set needed to power Tarteel.

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As Europe comes out of lockdown, what lessons can be learned from Sweden?

Catherine Edwards

May 20, 2020 |

The Local |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden

Sweden’s refusal to enact strict lockdown rules turned out to be far from an unqualified success, but in both its failures and modest benefits it offers lessons on managing through a pandemic while minimizing economic harm. The country’s responses were more nuanced and detailed than a simple hands-off approach. Its economy has not been spared a severe downturn, nor is its death toll anything to brag about. But, in numerous ways, Sweden’s softer approach lives up to its billing as more sustainable than many other countries’.

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Beyond the checkpoints: How a Native American tribe is protecting its people from COVID-19

Bart Pfankuch

May 20, 2020 |

South Dakota News Watch |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Cheyenne River Reservation, United States, Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, South Dakota

While many Native American reservations are dealing with the spread of coronavirus, the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe in South Dakota has managed to prevent the virus from taking hold in their community. Tribal leaders researched successful methods being implemented elsewhere and preemptively executed a plan that included several approaches to contain and prevent the spread of the virus. The plan was put into place prior to President Trump declaring a national emergency and was done without any guidance or assistance from local and state officials despite multiple requests for aid.

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Just a click away: Apps bring doctors to your home

Faustine Ngila

May 20, 2020 |

Nation Africa |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kyambeke

Since 2015, telemedicine has been helping connect doctors with people in rural parts of Kenya, which has proven to be crucial during the coronavirus pandemic. Although not all insurance companies have made the process easy and some residents don't trust the use of technology to keep their data safe, the practice has seen a significant increase in people with chronic diseases utilizing the system as a means of limiting their exposure to situations where they could be exposed to the virus.

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New York City Pilots Mobile Methadone Program to Help Treat Addiction

Roshan Abraham

May 20, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City is piloting a methadone distribution system for residents struggling with opioid addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially intended to avoid unnecessary visits to medical centers, the model is now championed by policy experts as a permanent solution for reaching more patients. “It’s amazing, unprecedented, ground-breaking, and will be something that we’ll continue to fight to make sure that it stays in place after COVID has passed,” one proponent said.

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How Detroit Gets People Around During a Pandemic

Emily Nonko

May 20, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

The city of Detroit’s government spearheaded new partnerships at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to provide transit options for people living in city shelters and residents who don’t have cars to access COVID-19 testing. These partnerships among government departments allowed for transporting those experiencing homelessness to designated emergency shelters and hospitals to prevent the spread of the virus among shelter residents. Government officials anticipated as many as 450 shelter residents would contract the virus, but so far, only 154 people have tested positive with no deaths reported.

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Helping Tenants and Landlords Resolve Issues — Before Going to Court

Jared Brey

May 19, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The city of Philadelphia piloted a mediation program that showed how landlord-tenant disputes could be resolved short of an eviction lawsuit. Though the program only lasted two months and heard just a handful of cases, it demonstrated that landlords will participate voluntarily in a system that can equalize a power imbalance and resolve disputes in ways that prove less damaging to both parties. Demand for the mediation program could ramp up if an expected wave of evictions hits because of the pandemic's effects on the economy.

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Why This New Jersey Forager Thinks Weeds Are the Future of Food

Brianna Baker

May 19, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

Meadows + More is a farm in New Jersey that specializes in edible wild plants and its owner, Tama Matsuoka Wong, seeks to educate people about the important role wild plants could play in future food systems if disasters and climate change were to eradicate plant species. She tends over 200 varieties of wild plants that she sells to top chefs and restaurants and to home cooks. While the community of wild plant enthusiasts is small, her business has received renewed interest during the COVID-19 pandemic as people looked for alternatives to grocery stores.

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In the forests of New Zealand, indigenous Maori and Western scientists work through past injustices to save a threatened species together

Per Liljas

May 19, 2020 |

Ensia |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: New Zealand

A native tree species known as the kauri is being threatened by a deadly pathogen in New Zealand, so Western scientists, the government, and the Māori people are working together to stop it. Early tests suggest that chemical signals from other plants might be able to distract the pathogen and slow down the spread of it. However, collaboration between scientists and indigenous people was not easy, but they were able to build trust between each other.

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