The Solutions Story Tracker® is a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. We collect and tag every story, providing you with the ability to find coverage of effective or promising ideas and approaches— by issue, location, journalist, and success factor (strategic insights that emerge as patterns).
https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-red-flag-extreme-risk-erpo-maryland-20201022-piawdaqnbffv7etagy2lhqaopq-story.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Ben Leonard
The Baltimore Sun
23 October 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Police and the public have invoked Maryland's law allowing for court orders denying gun access to people at high risk of harming themselves or others far more often than in most states with such laws. Though it is difficult to prove that domestic-violence assaults or suicides have been prevented, which is the goal of such laws, advocates and law enforcement officials believe anecdotally they have seen that. Research has documented that extreme-risk protection orders, as such laws are known, can prevent suicides. Credit for the law's use goes to police training and 24/7 court access for emergency hearings.
https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article246234620.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Robert Mittendorf
The Bellingham Herald
21 October 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Since Washington made voting by mail mandatory in 2011, nonpartisan election officials have refined ballot-security procedures to achieve a smoothly run system in which suspected cheating or interference represents a tiny fraction of the millions of votes cast in each election. Those procedures include signature verification, ballot-box integrity, securely blocking Internet access to vote tabulations and voter registration, and other safeguards against electronic or in-person tampering with votes or registrations.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education-lab/article246240850.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Ashleigh Panoo
The Fresno Bee
21 October 2020
Multi-Media / 1500-3000 Words
Project Rebound is a program aimed to help formerly incarcerated students navigate and succeed in pursuing their higher education goals. The program works by working with potential candidates, whether they are incarcerated or have completed their sentences, and provides aid in meeting basic needs like gas, food, shelter, as well as legal advice referrals and navigating technology. By 2021, 14 California State University campuses will have joined the list of institutions implementing the program. As of 2016, there were 180 students participating in the program and the number more than doubled by 2019.
https://montanafreepress.org/2020/10/21/broods-in-the-woods?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Amanda Eggert
Montana Free Press
21 October 2020
Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words
Nature-based preschools are gaining traction in Montana and are increasing in demand due to the pandemic. Fledglings, in Billings, and Foxtail Förskola, in Whitefish, are two preschools offering kids the opportunity to learn and play in an environment meant to foster "risky play," which means letting kids participate in activities where there is a physical risk, like climbing trees, in order to help strengthen their confidence and resiliency. Natural Start Alliance, an organization which supports outdoor education, reports that the number of these schools has rapidly increased to 585 over the last decade.
https://www.educationnext.org/ednext-podcast-teaching-the-declaration-of-independence-with-a-video-game?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Marty West
Education Next
21 October 2020
Podcast / Over 15 Minutes
Nationally, civic courses lack rigor, partly because few states require coursework in civics. A new video game called “Portrait of a Tiger,” based on the Declaration of Independence, could change that. “Let’s gamify a story,” said Danielle S. Allen, director of the Democratic Knowledge Project. In this episode, the creators of the video game share the challenges that exist for creating civics curriculum and the way this game can bridge that game between students and history.
https://thefulcrum.us/colorado-vote-by-mail?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Bill Theobald
The Fulcrum
20 October 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Colorado is a successful model for voting by mail. Anti-hacking security measures, results audits, and frequent updating of the voter database using multiple sources increases confidence in the system. Voting by mail increased turnout, making the state among the top in the country. It also decreased election-related costs by 40%. Ballot rejections remain low (less than 1%) because the state relies on voters’ honesty and does not require a witness’ signature. Voters can also track their ballot and resolve any issues over the phone. Voters can return ballots by mail or at one of the many official drop boxes.
https://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20201020/how-mit-harvard-are-managing-to-keep-covid-19-numbers-low?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Maya Jones
Wicked Local Cambridge
20 October 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
East Coast universities, MIT and Harvard mitigated the spread of COVID-19 on its campuses during the onset of the fall semester and have been able to maintain low transmission numbers. "Harvard, which invited just 40% of its undergraduates to campus this fall, had a .08% positivity rate." Meanwhile, MIT had students start the first two weeks of school entirely remote and keep quarantine until administrators could determine there were no sick students on campus.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/wacky-tube-men-could-keep-dingoes-away-livestock-australia?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Max G. Levy
Science Magazine
20 October 2020
Text / Under 800 Words
Those wacky waving inflatable tube men normally seen outside car dealerships may also have a dual purpose: stopping wild dingoes from killing livestock. Inspired by a similar attempt in Oregon, scientists tested the approach in Australia, where nine of the 12 dingoes ran away in fear after seeing the tube man compared with a control group. While some conservationists aren’t convinced that the tube men are a practical solution, it could be combined with other methods to protect livestock in the Outback.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/19/21522863/health-data-records-covid-coronavirus-model-nih-privacy-n3c?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Nicole Wetsman
The Verge
19 October 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and the health impacts it may have for different people prompted doctors from across the U.S. to create a national patient database to better study and understand how the virus interacts with other underlying conditions. Although the database itself is adaptable and researchers hope it can also be used in the face of future pandemics, they also say "five years from now, the greatest value of this data set won’t be the data. It’ll have been the methods that we learned trying to get it working."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/nyregion/schools-coronavirus.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
J. David Goodman
Dana Rubinstein
The New York Times
19 October 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Schools in New York City have, so far, been able to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic with suprisngly few cases reported and no sign yet of an outbreak. The model, which some are saying could be used at other schools across the U.S., includes random testing for students and staff, and introducing mobile testing units in neighborhoods where tests have come back positive.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3cszmkk?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Rebecca Kesby
BBC
19 October 2020
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
When Portugal became the first country to decriminalize personal possession and use of small amounts of drugs, choosing to shift from treating drug abuse as a health rather than a criminal matter, the feared downside of turning the country into a drug-users' paradise did not materialize. Instead, HIV cases and crime dropped. Law enforcement resources could focus on major trafficking, while the health and social problems associated with the country's serious heroin problem could be addressed in a way that could begin to solve the problem. Up till then, arrests and prison had failed to have such effects.
https://tribuneonlineng.com/hydroponics-farming-could-help-reduce-nigerias-spiraling-youth-unemployment-rate?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Justice Nwafor
Nigerian Tribune
19 October 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
By using an agricultural technique that doesn’t use soil to grow crops, a farmer is upending the traditional farming practices in Nigeria and offering job opportunities to those who might otherwise be unemployed. Hydroponics farming is a type of horticulture that grows plants without soil by using mineral nutrient solutions. BIC Farms utilizes the method, which can reduce crop water consumption, and has trained more than 12,000 people on the soilless farming technique. Hydroponics can also help farmers reduce food waste and post-harvest losses.
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