Extra! Extra! 3/17 🍀
Hi, all, and happy Saint Paddy’s Day!
Time for a list of all the good stuff that happened this week. It was a crazy one, as always, but the wins were also everywhere!
Take a few minutes to savor them, please—remember, what we focus on grows! And once your mood has been lifted, share this list with a friend.
(I have, as usual, popped an 🪓 next to every item folks like you helped make happen, or that got done by lawmakers we helped elect.)
Enjoy!
Read This 📖
“I have little time left. I hope my goodbye inspires you.” It did. [Gift link]
Celebrate This! 🎉
Ford has started shipping the adapters to allow drivers of their EVs to gain access to the Tesla Fast charging network.
The meat giant Oscar Mayer is launching a range of plant-based hot dogs and sausages.
Republican FTC commissioners Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak were just confirmed, meaning that the FTC now has a full slate of commissioners.
Virginia will end legacy admissions at public universities. 🪓
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted climate reporting standards that will require some of the nation's largest companies to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks. 🪓
More than 20 anti-LGBTQ+ bills died in West Virginia after the legislature adjourned sine die. 🪓
Florida Senate Republicans refused to confirm the Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich to serve on an ethics commission. 🪓
A northern New Mexico school district became the first in the state to add e-buses, thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 🪓
Cleveland is using some of its last remaining money from the American Rescue Plan Act to bring new and renovated housing to parts of the city that have long suffered from disinvestment. 🪓
Former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro has been ordered to report to a Miami prison on March 19 to begin serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional investigation into January 6.
Marine researchers on a mission to record life hidden in the world’s oceans have reported they found about 100 potential new species — including one mystery starlike creature, off the coast of New Zealand.
Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras inside rentals.
The ALS Association received a $58 million gift, the largest single donation in the organization’s history.
Miami is now home to the 400th unionized Starbucks in the country with Starbucks Workers United! 🪓
Researchers have discovered a way to utilize a unique defense protein found in the strawberry anemone to create an artificial protein that can eat away at microplastics.
A new study reported in the journal Current Biology reports that efforts to restore coral reefs not only increase coral cover, but they can also bring back important ecosystem functions, and surprisingly fast.
The Judicial Conference of the United States announced a new policy addressing the practice of “judge shopping,” which has enabled right-wing MAGA activists to put their case on friendly dockets and advance an extreme agenda through the lower courts. Good!
Ken Buck is leaving Congress immediately, and boy does this complicate things for Mike Johnson and Lauren Boebert!
The newly liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court will reconsider a decision banning ballot drop boxes in the state made by the court's previous conservative majority. This ruling could have big implications for the 2024 election. 🪓
Fewer children died before the age of five in 2022 than in any other year on record.
Farmers are reducing pesticide use by more than half in field tests using new spray nozzle designs; the technology may help cut agricultural costs while lowering the impact of pesticide runoff.
The U.S. is sending a $300 million weapons package to Ukraine. 🪓
A Romanian court approved a British arrest warrant for the self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate.
More than 30 vocalists, including Brittany Howard, Emmylou Harris, and Katie Pruitt recorded an anthem, “Tennessee Rise,” to support Gloria Johnson's campaign against Republican U.S. senator Marsha Blackburn. 🪓
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel, becoming the highest-ranking American politician to publicly call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dismissal. 🪓
Floridians can “say gay” in school again (mostly)!
A ship organized by a celebrity chef’s nonprofit delivered nearly 200 tons of food and water to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Friday
Thanks to a win in court for the environmental group Earthjustice, a neonicotinoid linked to a nation-wide honey bee die-off will remain banned in California.
The transcript of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Biden revealed Hur to be a huge liar.
For the first time in recorded history, a pair of bald eagles have made Toronto, Ontario, their home.
Thirty-three percent of Americans say the economy is in recovery in the latest USA Today/Suffolk poll, the highest percentage since August 2021. 🪓
The Florida golden aster, a “daisy-like perennial herb,” has been taken off the endangered species list.
Thanks to a court-ordered agreement following two lawsuits by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just protected more than 1.1 million acres of critical habitat for Florida bonneted bats.
The League of Women Voters sued the parties behind a robocall scheme that used AI to impersonate President Biden and urged Democrats not to vote in New Hampshire's presidential primary.
Vice President Kamala Harris toured a Minnesota reproductive health services clinic that provides abortions on Thursday. This is believed to be the first official Executive Branch visit to such a clinic in American history. 🪓
The Biden administration’s Department of the Interior announced on Thursday that it will fund 146 tribal climate resilience projects worth $120 million. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said that the funds are the largest single award of annual climate funding to tribes in the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.1 🪓
Major snowmobile makers are now selling electric versions that are far less polluting and quieter.
We now have proof that homosexuality exists all over nature.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced over $1.3 billion in apportionments to support states in their efforts to fund conservation and connect people with nature. The funding is supported through taxes paid on ammunition, firearms, archery and angling equipment by manufacturers. 🪓
About 45 seedlings have sprouted from the rescued seeds and cuttings of the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree which was cut down by a vandal last year.
In a win for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a court struck down a Republican-crafted law that would have stripped the governor of his appointments to elections boards. 2
Voters in the city of Orange have ousted two conservative school board members who had spearheaded policies widely opposed by advocates for LGBTQ+ youth in a recall election. 🪓
A new report finds that for every dollar the U.S. government has contributed to the clean energy transition in the 18 months since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the private sector has invested another $5.47, resulting in nearly a quarter-trillion dollars injected into the green economy. 🪓
The National Association of Realtors has agreed to settle litigation that accused the real estate group of artificially inflating real estate commissions, a move that could dramatically change (and lower) how much consumers pay during real estate transactions. 🪓
Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Fanni Willis can stay on the Georgia case.
Thanks to an enterprising pediatrician, every new mom in Flint, MI is now getting $7500 in cash aid for a year. 🪓
Long Beach voters approved Measure RW, guaranteeing hotel workers in the city the highest minimum wage in the nation.
The Port of San Diego’s first fully-electric tugboat just arrived.
Oregon’s legislature passed a right-to-repair bill that would require Apple to make their products more easily repairable. 🪓
Mike Pence announced he will not endorse Trump.
President Biden traveled to Milwaukee to announce over $3 billion to reconnect and rebuild communities across more than 40 states, including those that were divided by transportation infrastructure decades ago and have been long overlooked. 🪓
A unanimous Supreme Court ruled that public officials can sometimes be sued for blocking their critics on social media, an issue that first arose for the high court in a case involving then-President Donald Trump.
The Biden-Harris Administration announced the White House “Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose,” a nationwide call-to-action to stakeholders across all sectors to save lives by committing to increase training on and access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medications. 🪓
VP Harris announced the signing of an executive order directing federal agencies to explore which government jobs can be filled with trained apprentices, rather than those with four-year degrees. 🪓
The Portland, OR City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a gradual ban on gas leaf blowers that will eliminate the machines year-round within the next four years. 🪓
A federal court adopted new legislative districts in Washington state that fairly represent Latino voters after the previous map was struck down for violating the Voting Rights Act.
In Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court agreed to reconsider a decision that limited the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the state. 🪓
Jill Biden joined forces with Christina Aguilera to speak out about right-wing efforts to ban not just abortion but also IVF and contraception. 🪓
The Biden-Harris campaign just announced that it raised more than $53 million in February. 🪓
Ikea announced that, as part of an effort to roll back price hikes introduced in the wake of the pandemic, it will start marking down hundreds of products in stores globally.
Love This! 👀
Truly historic and amazing.
This item and the one above are from Crooked Media’s What a Day
Jessica
I always look forward to Extra Extra!
After every tumultuous week it keeps me hopeful.
The volunteer with a fox’s head filled my heart.
As always…thank you for ALL that you do.
Stephanie S.
Thank you so much for noting the $58M gift to the ALS Association - I hadn’t heard that and it totally made my day! My husband died of ALS just 6 days before the 2020 election. Caring for him in the midst of COVID was a huge challenge; one made better by the adaptive equipment and services provided to us by the Veteran’s Administration. Knowing that many more people (who aren’t Vets) will have access to equipment, respite care and experimental treatments is terrific news! Add in all the other good news and what a Happy St. Paddy’s Day it was. Thank you and Slainte!