Extra! Extra! 5/21 🎉
Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
As always, the list of good things that happened this week is exponentially longer than you’d think it would be. Our country is certainly struggling, but everywhere you turn are also regular people doing extraordinary things, legislatures passing amazing laws, and Democrats fighting for Americans. It’s deeply heartening!
We need good news to propel us through these turbulent and often frightening times, so please, please share this newsletter. And remember, what we focus on grows, so let’s give as much focus—or maybe a bit more—to all of the wonderful things going on at this moment in history. You’ll feel better, I promise!
Then let’s get back to work tomorrow making more victories.
Jess
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In Florida students at New College launched a Go Fund Me to pay for an alternate commencement after DeSantis assigned Trumpist Scott Atlas to be their official speaker. They made and exceeded their original goal!
New York City just passed a bill outlawing discrimination based on weight.
Missouri Republicans unexpectedly failed to pass an amendment aimed at thwarting citizen-backed initiatives to roll back the state’s near-total ban on abortion ahead of a Friday deadline to conclude legislative business for the year.
Workers in Georgia at one of the nation’s largest school bus manufacturers have voted to unionize.
The Montana state Supreme Court ruled in favor of continuing to allow nurses with advanced degrees to perform abortions.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed legislation on Friday that would have given increased funding to anti-abortion centers.
Illinois passed a bill to ensure community college credits transfer to public universities. Some higher education institutions currently only count community college coursework as elective credits.
The Biden administration is launching workforce hubs in the coming months, part of an effort to meet the demands for labor driven by infrastructure and manufacturing investments. The hubs will begin in a number of states that are also key 2024 battlegrounds, including Arizona, Georgia and Ohio.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday it has approved a new kind of drug to treat moderate to severe hot flashes caused by menopause, which could offer relief to millions of women who do not want to take hormone therapy to treat their symptoms.
The Supreme Court left in place for now Illinois’s new ban on the purchase and sale of AR-15-style weapons and large ammunition magazines.
In the heart of GOP territory—Jacksonville, Florida—the Democratic mayoral candidate, Donna Deegan, defeated the Republican contender by four points—even though he had outspent her four to one.1
And in traditionally conservative Colorado Springs, Colorado, a political newcomer and immigrant from West Africa, Yemi Mobolade, who ran as an unaffiliated candidate, trounced the GOP challenger to become that city’s new mayor elect.2
With Heather Boyd’s win in HD 163 we held the PA Statehouse!
The U.S. Supreme Court used the correct name and pronouns for a transgender migrant in a recent court opinion. It feels like the bare minimum, but it really is a landmark decision by the court.
Deforestation in the Amazon is already down 40% so far this year. In April alone, it dropped by 68%, a significant achievement for the country’s new president who promised to decrease deforestation.
In the Kentucky SOS race on Tuesday night incumbent Republican Michael Adams turned back a challenge from Big Lie spreader Steve Knipper by a 64-26 margin.
State Rep. Sara Innamorato, who had the backing of prominent local and national progressives, defeated county Treasurer John Weinstein 38-30 to win the nomination for Allegheny County, PA Executive. Progressive Matt Dugan also won District Attorney of Allegheny County!
In Philadelphia, progressive Rue Landau won at-large city council!
Disney announced it was pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion office complex that was scheduled for construction in Orlando, Florida.
The publisher Penguin Random House, PEN America, five authors, and two parents have filed a 1st Amendment lawsuit against the Escambia County School Board after the school district removed books about race and LGBTQ people from shelves.
The Colorado legislature voted in favor of a new bill that removes bee-killing neonicotinoids from retail shelves this week. It will now head to the governor’s desk for his signature!
Russia’s energy revenues fell 50% as Western sanctions forced Moscow to sell at a discount.
Greece made nearly 200 beaches accessible with adaptive chairs.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation that prohibits companies from retaliating against employees who obtain abortions.
The Biden-Harris Administration announced a new initiative to tackle unsheltered homelessness.
The Education Department announced that $95 million from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was just awarded in grants across 35 states to increase access to school-based mental health services and strengthen the pipeline of mental health professionals in high-needs school districts.
On top of the above, the Biden-Harris Administration announced many other new initiatives to tackle the nation’s mental health crisis.
The U.S. Senate confirmed civil rights lawyer Nancy Abudu to serve on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the first Black woman to ever sit on this court. The 11th Circuit has jurisdiction over district courts in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.3
A new report has revealed that kids’ reading scores have soared in Deep South states—it’s being called the Mississippi Miracle!
Mexico became the 17th country to include a non-binary choice on its passports. Launched on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, the first passport was given to Ociel Baena, a non-binary electoral magistrate.
A group of TikTok users sued Montana, challenging the state’s ban on the app, which is set to start on Jan. 1.
The Biden administration is rolling out over 300 new sanctions on Russia and slapping export controls on 70 entities
Progressives introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2023 on Wednesday with more than 100 cosponsors, a record level of support.4
The Minnesota legislature passed a warehouse worker safety bill on Tuesday night that The Nation called the strongest protections for Amazon warehouse workers in the country.5
An LA teen is suing her school district — and the USDA — to promote nondairy milk.
A D.C. police lieutenant was arrested Friday on charges that he warned the leader of the far-right Proud Boys of his imminent arrest just days before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and then lied to investigators afterward about the scope of their interactions.
A judge who interrupted the certification of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election lost a primary for a seat on the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Brian Manookian, a Tennessee resident, filed suit to force the production of records proving who executed the cover-up of sexual abuse of teenage interns by the TN GOP at the very moment Speaker Sexton was expelling two Democratic black lawmakers for bogus decorum violations.
President Biden told U.S. allies on Friday that he would allow Ukrainian pilots to be trained on American-made F-16 fighter jets, moving toward letting other countries give the planes to Ukraine — a major upgrade of the Ukrainian military and a sharp reversal.
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing rules on coal ash landfills to prevent heavy metals from seeping into groundwater.
The United Nations published a report laying out a strategy for reducing plastic pollution 80 percent by 2040
The Washington state Legislature passed some of the country’s strongest legislation to protect residents from hazardous chemicals in cosmetic products.
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I just saw a story on a national news network regarding something they called "Sunday Scaries". About people having issues facing another work week. I would say to anyone suffering from this so-called syndrome, Subscribe to Jessica's Chop Wood, Carry Water, Jay Kuo's The Status Kuo, and George Takai's The Big Picture, and after reading all their Sunday good news, you'll enter Monday with not a care in the world!! Thank you, Jessica!!
Okay, I’ve read the whole list of good news. Thank you so much. And with that, although I really can’t afford to pay for another substack subscription I’m going to anyway. You are worth me dying another day earlier due to lack of money! 😄. Thank you!