Day by day the Good Good Good group collects the perfect excellent news on this planet and shares it with our neighborhood. Listed below are the highlights for this week!
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The Greatest Constructive Information We’re Celebrating This Week —
Researchers made a “enormous breakthrough” in treating superior breast most cancers, doubling survival time
Utilizing a brand new three-drug mixture, researchers hailed a “enormous breakthrough” in treating aggressive, superior breast most cancers that might doubtlessly double the period of time sufferers dwell with out the illness progressing.
In a examine that included 325 sufferers from throughout 28 nations, the sufferers who acquired the brand new remedy noticed delayed development by 15 months, versus 7.3 months.
Moreover, almost half of those that acquired the three-drug remedy continued to point out no indicators of development after 18 months of therapy.
Why is that this excellent news? Whereas the survival price when it’s caught early on continues to enhance, higher, life-saving therapy choices are nonetheless wanted for many who get a breast most cancers prognosis afterward (for any variety of causes, together with lack of entry to routine, preventative well being care) and uncover extra superior breast most cancers.
A South Florida man is rescuing homeless canines in “Useless Canine Alley”
Day by day, Eddy Alvarez drives a 30-mile loop by farmlands in South Miami-Dade County in search of hungry, deserted canines to feed.
Heartbreakingly, the realm is well-known for folks abandoning their canines there — it’s additionally, tragically, the place a lot of them are killed after they’re struck by automobiles.
Not solely does Alvarez attempt to get as many of those canines as he can one thing to eat — he feeds about 20-25 per day, seven days per week — he additionally helps make them extra snug by deworming them, giving them their pictures, boosters, and eliminating their fleas.
He helps them get assist from a veterinarian if wanted, too.
Finally, Alvarez does all this for a single function: to assist them discover a house. His nonprofit, Eddy’s Canine, is “dedicated to the rescue and placement of undesirable or deserted animals.”
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Serving to take away a significant barrier to voting, Lyft and Uber are providing 50% off rides to polling areas on Election Day
Many issues can impression voter turnout in an election — issues like disillusionment are tricker to beat, however limitations like lack of transportation are extra simply addressed.
That’s what rideshare apps Lyft and Uber are attempting to do — providing riders a 50% low cost of as much as $10 on Election Day as a part of their respective voting entry applications. Lyft even added confetti to its app expertise when code VOTE24 is utilized — as a result of collaborating in democracy is certainly a celebration.
Earlier this 12 months, Lyft additionally introduced a partnership with the NAACP to assist enhance entry to transportation for Black voters, who’ve a protracted historical past of their voting rights being restricted.
Why is that this excellent news? A one-mile improve in distance to a polling location can scale back turnout by as much as 20%. Locations like Texas and Georgia have a number of the longest distances to voting websites (5.8 and 5.6 miles), whereas Rhode Island and New Hampshire have the shortest (2.8 and three miles) — lack of transportation is an pointless barrier to voting, and this initiative will assist positively impression voter turnout.
A brand new artwork exhibit invitations folks to speak politics on the dinner desk: ‘If we will’t communicate to one another, I don’t know the way we’ve got a democracy’
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Now supplied in almost all states, early voting choices have expanded considerably within the final 24 years
In 2000, simply 24 states supplied choices to vote earlier than Election Day — quick ahead to 2024, and 47 states and Washington D.C. now have early voting choices accessible.
That growth equates to just about 97% of all voting-age residents now residing in a state that gives a minimum of one choice to vote earlier than Election Day, like early in-person voting or mail-in ballots.
Notably, a exceptional 36 states and Washington D.C. additionally provide voters the choice to vote by mail while not having to supply a purpose.
Extra choices to vote early in additional states means shorter strains on Election Day, flexibility to vote round childcare and work schedules, election integrity is bolstered, and extra — which all contributes to larger voter turnout and confidence.
Sarah McBride turned the primary overtly transgender individual elected to U.S. Congress
Successful the state’s solely Home seat, Sarah McBride made historical past as the primary overtly transgender individual to be elected to U.S. Congress. McBride’s marketing campaign targeted on increasing entry to inexpensive well being care, defending reproductive rights, and elevating the minimal wage.
McBride served two phrases as a state senator in Delaware, serving to go common paid household and medical go away. In Congress, she says she needs to work with colleagues to interrupt by the partisan gridlock and really go laws.
In a victory speech, McBride stated it was a testomony to voters judging candidates “primarily based on their concepts and never their identities.”
She additionally stated, “Hope as an emotion, hope as a phenomenon, solely is smart within the face of hardship. Whereas at this second in America’s historical past, hope typically feels exhausting to come back by, we should always remember that we’re the beneficiaries of seemingly unattainable change.”
Why is that this excellent news? Till now, law-making round trans rights has been performed largely with out illustration from the trans neighborhood on the desk. Sarah’s perspective and dedication to representing her neighborhood is a vital win for democracy.
In a historic conservation victory, a cloned black-footed ferret gave start for the primary time
As soon as considered extinct, the extremely endangered black-footed ferrets are the one ferret native to North America, they usually’re making a comeback, because of the tireless efforts of conservationists.
A type of efforts has been genetic cloning, a tactic to protect the well being of species since all residing black-footed ferrets come from simply seven wild-caught descendants.
And so they simply had a breakthrough: a black-footed ferret cloned from the DNA of a ferret that lived within the Eighties has efficiently birthed two wholesome kits of her personal, the primary profitable dwell births from a cloned endangered species.
What’s the nuance? Whereas we stated we’d avoid politics for this one, it’s vital to notice that initiatives to guard and preserve endangered species are impacted by native, state, and federal insurance policies — we have to guarantee conservation initiatives to guard nature, animals (and finally, all of us) can proceed.
Voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii handed measures to safe protections for same-sex marriage
On Election Day, California voters handed Proposition 3, which ensures the best for same-sex and interracial {couples} to get married by eradicating language within the state structure that defines marriage as between a person and girl.
Equally, Colorado voters handed Modification J, which repealed a ban on same-sex unions.
And in Hawaii, voters handed a measure to amend the state structure and repeal the legislature’s authority to “reserve marriage to opposite-sex {couples}.”
Why is that this excellent news? Whereas same-sex marriages turned authorized on the federal stage in 2015 with the Supreme Court docket’s Obergefell v. Hodges resolution, there are rising considerations that an effort much like the one which overturned Roe v. Wade might occur to the legality of same-sex marriage.
Voters in these three states proactively acquired state legal guidelines defending it on the books.
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After 54 years, the Texas woodpecker is now not endangered
Following a decades-long conservation effort (which we all know are sometimes extremely profitable), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has formally reclassified the red-cockaded woodpecker as a “threatened” species.
Bringing it again from the brink of extinction, “a long time of collaborative efforts from a coalition of companions” are to thank for the woodpecker now not being endangered.
The one woodpecker in North America that constructs cavities in residing pine timber, the forest service stated lots of the woodpecker populations are both secure or growing.
It was first categorized as endangered in 1970, when its inhabitants shrank to fewer than 10,000 people in 1,470 household teams.
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Following a community-led initiative, a metropolis in Montana voted to ban single-use plastic luggage
On Election Day, greater than 14,000 residents of Bozeman, Montana voted to ban using single-use plastic luggage and Styrofoam packaging within the metropolis.
Although the initiative confronted difficulties getting on the poll, it ended up seeing widespread bipartisan help, with 63% of voters in favor of the measure. It’s set to enter impact in Could 2025.
In contrast to comparable measures which are put forth by native governments, Bozeman’s was fully community-led and avoids loopholes like the power to buy plastic luggage at checkout or distribute “reusable” thicker plastic luggage.
Why is that this excellent news? Bozeman units an instance for different cities in Montana which have thought-about comparable bans, in addition to cities across the nation. It’s additionally an instance of how grassroots, community-led organizing could make a very massive distinction!
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Extra excellent news of the week —
New U.S. guidelines now require airways to robotically refund passengers when their flights are canceled. Applied simply forward of a busy vacation journey season, the DOT requires refunds, not vouchers when a passenger’s flight is canceled or “considerably delayed” — even when it’s not explicitly requested.
After it was discovered stranded 5,000 miles away, one of many world’s most endangered turtles was returned house. The younger Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was discovered entangled in a internet off the coast of the Netherlands — was handled for minor accidents at a zoo, and has now absolutely recovered.
Since Eire launched its first bottle return program in February, 630 million empty cans and plastic bottles have been returned. This system, the most important behavioral shift for the reason that nation applied its plastic bag tax in 2001, is a part of a bid to satisfy EU 90% recycling targets.
A North Carolina state senate candidate is operating a race she’s assured to lose to lift consciousness about gerrymandering. Kate Barr was “gerrymandered out of an opportunity” — so she’s operating her marketing campaign on the promise that she gained’t win to assist folks find out about the impacts of gerrymandering.
Launching in 2017, Minnesota’s “Civility Caucus” is bridging partisan divides and bringing members of the state legislature collectively. By attending to know members of the “different aspect” as folks, somewhat than as presumed adversaries, simpler, bipartisan laws will get performed.
After its 18-day early voting interval, a record-breaking 55.3% of Georgia voters had already solid their poll. It was the “most profitable” early vote in state historical past, with greater than 4 million ballots solid “as a result of voters belief the method.”
Because of Olympian Allyson Felix, dad and mom throughout the U.S. can get free youngster care to vote on Election Day. Lack of entry to childcare, particularly for Black dad and mom in underresourced communities, is a significant barrier to voting for many individuals.
After her late husband advised her girls shouldn’t vote, an 81-year-old Georgia widow voted for the primary time ever. After he handed away in 2023, Betty Cartledge realized that it wasn’t too late to train her proper to vote.
TikTok customers went “undercover” in swing states to persuade their relationship app matches to vote. Two content material creators hosted an occasion in Los Angeles referred to as “Make Relationship Apps Helpful Once more,” the place they skilled different volunteers to begin conversations about voting.
A Native elections employee in Arizona helps clear voting obstacles for distant and Indigenous communities. Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly is the primary Indigenous individual to carry a countywide seat.
Utilizing lunch drives and free doughnuts, highschool college students are ensuring extra of their classmates vote. With 8 million teenagers eligible to vote this 12 months, New Voters helps excessive schoolers host voter registration drives to verify extra of them do.
Jane Goodall joined a viral TikTok account to encourage younger folks to prioritize nature with their vote. “Subway Takes” is a TikTok collection, hosted by artist and comic Kareem Rahma, through which he asks fellow New Yorkers what their “scorching takes” are whereas using on the subway.
Successful his race in New Jersey, Andy Kim turned the primary Korean American elected to the U.S. Senate. You could acknowledge Kim’s title from the images of him with a trash bag in hand, cleansing up after the pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol constructing on Jan. 6, 2021.
Missouri voters handed a poll measure to guard reproductive rights within the state structure. The modification establishes “a elementary proper to reproductive freedom,” outlined as the best “to make and perform selections about all issues referring to reproductive well being care.”
For the primary time in historical past, two Black girls will serve within the U.S. Senate. Two years in the past, the U.S. Senate didn’t have a single Black girl, and earlier than that, solely two Black girls had ever served within the higher chamber of Congress — a key demographic lacking from illustration in law-making selections.
Dubbed the state’s “Equal Rights Modification,” New York voters handed Proposition 1. The state’s structure will now additionally defend in opposition to unequal therapy primarily based on “ethnicity, nationwide origin, age, incapacity, intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identification, gender expression, being pregnant, and being pregnant outcomes, in addition to reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
Texas voters rejected a proposal that may have made it unlawful to make use of streets and highways to journey out of state for an abortion. Amarillo turned the primary Texas metropolis to reject an anti-abortion ordinance positioned on a citywide poll.
California voters permitted a $10 billion bond to fund local weather resilience, clear water, and forestall wildfires. At the very least 40% of the bond cash have to be spent in deprived communities, which regularly have the fewest acres of parks, probably the most air air pollution, and the biggest numbers of individuals in danger from excessive warmth and different climate occasions.
Capturing 84% of the vote, Bryce Berry would be the youngest member of the Georgia Normal Meeting in trendy historical past. A former public college instructor, a cornerstone of Berry’s marketing campaign was advocating for public college training, particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
In Texas, Julie Johnson made historical past as the primary out LGBTQ+ individual ever elected to Congress from the South. In her position as a state consultant, Johnson helped cease anti-LGBTQ+ laws and advocated for reproductive rights.
A major step given town’s historical past, Monroe Nichols was elected the primary Black mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1921, Tulsa was the positioning of some of the extreme incidents of racial violence in U.S. historical past, the Tulsa Race Bloodbath, which left between 30 and 300 folks lifeless, principally Black residents.
Minnesota voters overwhelmingly permitted the continued use of lottery funds to pay for conservation efforts for an additional 25 years. The unique 1988 modification established the state’s Atmosphere and Pure Sources Belief Fund and has funded greater than 1,600 tasks for greater than $1 billion.
After being the primary overtly transgender elected official in state historical past, Aime Wichtendahl made historical past once more as the primary trans girl elected to the Iowa Home. Her election is critical, coming after years of assaults within the Iowa legislature on the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, particularly trans folks.
Keturah Herron made historical past as the primary overtly LGBTQ+ girl elected to the Kentucky State Senate. In her marketing campaign, Herron was “a champion for racial justice, gun security, and LGBTQ+ equality.”
Lengthy Island voters overwhelmingly permitted spending $6 billion to guard clear water and revitalize coastlines. This non-partisan resolution marks a turning level within the decades-long effort to revive Lengthy Island’s seashores, bays, and harbors.
Gabby Salinas turned the primary overtly LGBTQ+ girl ever elected to the Tennessee state legislature. Salinas is an immigrant, three-time most cancers survivor, and scientist who got here to Memphis as a 7-year-old to obtain most cancers care at St. Jude Youngsters’s Analysis Hospital.
Rashaun Kemp turned the primary out homosexual Black man elected to the Georgia State legislature. Kemp acknowledged the “profound historic weight” of his seat which was “as soon as held by the primary Black man to serve in our state senate… Each barrier damaged paves the way in which for extra progress.”
Montana voters supported a poll initiative to guard reproductive rights within the state. The measure enshrines a 1999 courtroom ruling that acknowledges a constitutional proper to privateness, which incorporates entry to abortion earlier than fetal viability and after viability to guard the life or well being of the mom.
Because of an uncommon partnership, 300 properties in New York acquired free batteries to assist unlock extra localized clear power. Serving to advance the state’s clear power objectives, the biggest rooftop photo voltaic installer and a utility firm gave households that signed up for photo voltaic a free battery pack or discounted Tesla Powerwall.
The DOT, FAA, and Delta Air Traces are engaged on plans to permit wheelchair customers to fly in their very own wheelchairs. It’s a long-sought purpose of disabled vacationers, who typically expertise mishandling and injury to their wheelchairs after they’re positioned in cargo.
Scientists created a tool that may inexpensively purify a gallon of water a day. The acquainted “photo voltaic nonetheless” system is product of available outdated tires, also can generate small quantities of electrical energy, and will assist folks meet their fundamental water wants.
