Extra! Extra! 12/8 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
In spite of, well, everything, it’s actually been a good week. Yes, the incoming administration continues to act horrifically, but this newsletter is here to celebrate the positive. And it just so happens that there was also a lot of that, across the country and the world!
So let’s enjoy, savor, and share the list below. Remember, what we focus on grows. So let’s focus on what went right one more time, and remember that we—or people just like us—played a role in a lot of its happening.
Let’s keep going, so that tomorrow’s lists can be even more inspiring.
As usual, I’ve popped an 🪓 next to every item that everyday activists like you helped make happen, and a 🪣 next to every one that got done by lawmakers or administrations that we helped elect. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s fun.
Enjoy!
Read This 📖
The words of a man free finally of the fascist Assad regime (there’s video, too):
Now we can sleep, and think of tomorrow. Now we can sleep while we know that justice has been achieved. Now I can understand that my children will not be raised under oppression, Now, only now, I can say that we, we are free! Syria, we are free people!
Amazing.
Celebrate This! 🎉
Democrat Adam Gray defeated Republican Incumbent Congressman John Duarte in California’s 13th District by 187 votes!! YOU GUYS HELPED DO THIS!! BRAVOOOO! 🪓
Arizona State University is getting a $100 million federal grant for a program to drive innovation in domestic microchip packaging capabilities. 🪣
Intel in Rio Rancho, NM is receiving half a billion dollars from the federal government for a massive expansion, bringing advanced technology, upgraded facilities, and more jobs to the metro area. 🪣
The Department of Labor is proposing to phase out a controversial Depression-era program that lets some employers pay disabled workers less than the federal minimum wage. 🪣
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jumped into the race to be the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. 🪓
Connecticut launched a free abortion legal hotline in response to Trump’s election. Go Blue states!
The White House announced new actions by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to increase access to federal lending and contracting opportunities for small businesses. 🪣
(Stuff I missed from the November 5 election:) In Kentucky, sixty-five percent of voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed lawmakers to spend public funds to provide financial support for students in private, religious, and charter schools. 🪓
(More from the November 5 election:) Voters in Nebraska repealed a state-funded program that provides $10 million annually for private school scholarships. 🪓
(More from the November 5 election:) In Colorado, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have added language to the state constitution giving students “the right to school choice,” guaranteeing constitutional protections for charters, private schools, home schools, and “future innovations in education.” 1 🪓
Maryland has reduced its carbon emissions by 36% since 2005, more than any other state.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, the longtime New York lawmaker who has been the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee since 2017, is not running for another term as ranking member. He is backing Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) for the position! Woot! 🪓
Journalist Harry Litman resigned his position at the LA Times, saying “I don’t want to continue to work for a paper that is appeasing Trump and facilitating his assault on democratic rule for craven reasons.” Bravo! 🪓
The Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Second Chance Act, a time-tested law that extends opportunity and support to formerly incarcerated people. 🪣
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker signed a law making civil rights trailblazer Caroline LeCount the first Black woman to have a city street named after her. Better yet, the street had previously been named after Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, the author of the Dred Scott decision in 1857. The city is currently renaming all of the streets named after him. Good. 🪓 🪣
Romania's top court annulled an ongoing presidential election after accusations of Russian meddling and ruled that the entire process, which had been due to conclude this weekend, would have to be re-run.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, several cabinet ministers, military commanders and police officials now face criminal investigations over his botched attempt on Tuesday to impose martial law.
Democracy is also having a moment in Georgia. (As in, the country.)
Following years of activism from students and staff, more than three-quarters of universities in the UK have now publicly committed to divesting from fossil fuels. 🪓
Saplings from the felled Sycamore Gap tree are to be planted across the UK, including next to one of London’s most famous roads, at a rural category C prison and at a motor neuron disease center.
Thanks to an amazing rewilding project, Scotland’s bumblebee population grew by 116 times what it was two years ago. 🪓
Run For Something alum Bryce Berry will be the youngest state lawmaker in GA and the first active teacher in office. He’s in it for his students. 🪓
A Wisconsin judge restored collective bargaining powers to public employees today — a major win for the public workers and teachers unions. 🪓
The Biden administration awarded $1.2 billion in grants to states to accelerate the use of cleaner asphalt, concrete, glass, and steel in transportation infrastructure. 🪣
A citizens’ revolt in a small Florida city ousted an entire slate of councilors who were pushing for a new sewage plant to be built close to one of the state’s most pristine and treasured rivers. LOVE THIS! 🪓
Ballot initiatives on transit won big this November, with measures passing in 19 communities across the country! This brings the total amount of funding raised by transit initiatives in 2024 to $25 billion. These wins not only reflect ubiquitous support for better public transit, but are important steps toward decarbonizing the transportation sector, meeting U.S. climate goals, and shaping thriving communities. [H/T
] 🪓Minnesotans donated more than $37 million to nonprofits during last week’s Give to the Max Day, a record high in the event’s 16-year history. 🪓
The Boulder Valley School District in Colorado is encouraging seniors to apply for a new state Seal of Climate Literacy. Bravo! {Thanks to subscriber Eric D. for sending this my way!] 🪓 🪣
Mega-utility Duke Energy is about to knock down a coal plant that has run west of Charlotte, North Carolina, since 1957. Soon the company will build its largest grid battery on that spot, part of an unprecedented energy-storage construction spree.
Baltimore, MD is on track to have the lowest murder rate in well over a decade with a 24% decline; shootings are down 33% year over year.
Pro Publica has created an online tool that will format a letter to your US health insurance company demanding the records behind a claim denial, which the insurance is then legally required to provide in most cases. YES!
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation says that an additional 12,000 public charging ports have come online in the US in the last three months. 🪣
Anthony Brindisi, a former Democratic congressman who lost his race by 109 votes in 2020 was confirmed to lifetime judicial seat this week. Senate Dems confirmed seven other judges this week as well. 🪓 🪣
After years of scrutiny from conservationists and community advocates, the formerly-endangered tule elk of Point Reyes National Seashore in California will soon be free to roam, as the park removes an enclosure fence from the Tomales Point area that’s been there for nearly 50 years. 🪓
The Inflation Reduction Act has caused solar panel manufacturing capacity to quintuple, revived domestic cell production, and sparked a surge in deployments. In fact, 2024 was an absolutely MASSIVE year for solar production. Woot! 🪣
The Biden administration took a step toward preventing dangerous “forever chemicals” from being released onto the market after a less rigorous review process. 🪣
A small North Carolina town called Carrboro has launched the nation’s first-ever climate accountability lawsuit against an electric utility. 🪓
A majority of the NY City Council voted to approve the most sweeping reform of NYC's zoning rules in a generation. "City of Yes" will unleash the creation of 80k units of desperately needed housing in all 5 boroughs. 🪣
Miracle: Justice Neil Gorsuch has recused himself from a case that is set to be argued in days after ethics watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers urged him to step aside because the outcome will likely affect the financial interests of a billionaire to whom he has longstanding ties. 🪓 🪣
Several Montana Republicans joined Democrats to block a measure that would have barred transgender lawmakers from using the state Capitol bathrooms that aligned with their gender identities. The proposed measure would have banned Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a transgender Democratic lawmaker, from using the women’s bathroom outside Montana’s House and Senate chambers. 🪓 🪣
The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing 42,000 Social Security Administration workers, reached an agreement with the agency that will protect telework until 2029 in an updated contract signed by Biden. 🪓 🪣
Los Angeles County is bringing Flex Voting Centers to shelters and service centers for people experiencing homelessness. 🪓 🪣
The heat in six new apartment buildings planned for downtown San Jose, California will come from nearby data centers. Cool!
Brittany Martin, the South Carolina woman who spent nearly four years in prison after being arrested at a George Floyd protest in June 2020, has FINALLY been released. 🪓
Senate Democrats have created a new leadership position and placed Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) in charge of strategic messaging. 🪣
Trump's pick to run the DEA withdrew his name from consideration two days after Trump announced his selection.
Brown University has transferred ownership of a portion of its land in Bristol, Rhode Island, to a preservation trust established by the Pokanoket Indian Tribe. 🪓
The Syrian government appears to have fallen in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the murderous, awful Assad family.
Penn Medicine has announced a partnership with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs. This will allow them to secure the top 100 most frequently dispensed generic drugs for the health system’s vast retail pharmacy network, which fills over 1.5 million prescriptions annually across 16 locations. It will save hospitals a lot of money!
NYC’s iconic Fifth Avenue is getting a pedestrian-friendly redesign.
Hey Jane, a United States-based virtual clinic that provides reproductive and sexual healthcare — including abortion care — announced that it is now accepting Illinois Medicaid for medication abortion services.
London Fashion Week announced it will ban exotic animal skins from shows. It’s the first of the “Big Four” to do so. 🪓
A record 2,451 women will take seats in American state legislatures next year. That represents about a third of all available seats. 🪓
The world’s first “flying” electric ferry is coming to Lake Tahoe in 2025!
Two senators, including Joe Manchin, have introduced a constitutional amendment that would establish term limits for Supreme Court justices. 🪓 🪣
Watch This! 👀
This is super sentimental but I think we all need a bit of that right now. No politics. Just…beautiful, sweet, happy love. (Thanks to reader Susan Morgan for posting it on her Bluesky account!)
Wonderful to see! and also the link to Dick VanDyke! thank you for all you do, Jess!!! have a good evening!
Love this good news report Jess. Thank you! More please! Progressives need to celebrate our ambitions and achievements on kitchen table issues that have broad appeal to mainstream Americans.