Extra! Extra! 5/28 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
I know it’s been a tough several days. Nevertheless, we have a lot to celebrate. Because as bad as it was, a lot of great things also happened last week.
Remember that focussing on our wins is one of the best antidotes we have to feelings of hopelessness and anxiety. This, in turn, makes us more ready to fight for positive change. So please, take some time to savor this list and then share it with a friend.
And remember, people just like you—and in many cases you yourself—made the below wins happen. Never forget how powerful you are!
Enjoy, have a great long weekend, and thanks for all you do.
Jess
Celebrate This! 🎉
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay in the case of Braidwood v. Becerra, which threatens no-cost coverage of recommended preventive services under the Affordable Care Act.
Oklahoma’s attorney general’s office has agreed to not enforce the state’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for young transgender people while opponents of the law seek a temporary court order blocking it.
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs and tobacco giant Altria will pay Minnesota $60.5 million in a settlement over deceptive marketing of nicotine products to minors.
E. Jean Carroll, who this month won $5 million in damages from former President Donald J. Trump, is now seeking a “very substantial” additional amount in response to his insults on a CNN program just a day after she won her sexual abuse and defamation case.
At an Omaha concert on Friday, Lizzo made a short speech about their new anti-trans, anti-abortion law, saying, “Anybody who comes to a Lizzo show should know that I am for people to have the right to healthcare, reproductive and gender-affirming.”
Eight more women have joined a lawsuit against Texas, arguing that their lives were put at risk by the state’s abortion ban.
The Illinois Senate passed a bill to protect people traveling to the state for abortion care. The legislation would prohibit law enforcement from sharing data like information collected by license plate readers to aid out-of-state abortion-related investigations.
The United States signed a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it competes with China for influence in the Pacific.
Applied Materials announced an investment of up to $4 billion in a new research and development facility in Sunnyvale, CA. They upscaled their investment after the CHIPS and Science Act passed.
Kari Lake lost another court battle Monday in her effort to overturn Democrat Katie Hobbs' victory. She’s now out of appeals.
Hedge fund media giants Standard General & TEGNA have abandoned their plans to merge. They were about to take ownership of 64 local TV networks! This victory for journalists and media workers was won by a coalition including Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America, civil rights groups, and consumer advocates fighting against the financialization of local news.
California, Arizona and Nevada agreed to use less water from the parched Colorado River, reducing the risk that it would run dry.
FDA advisers backed a first-of-its-kind RSV vaccine for pregnant women that protects their newborns against the virus.
Brazil’s environment agency blocked an offshore oil drilling project planned near the mouth of the Amazon River. Environmentalists had warned of the project’s impact on the area, which is home to swaths of mangroves and a coral reef.
In a win for voters, a federal court blocked Miami, Florida's city commission map from being used in the November 2023 elections. The judge found that the districts were racially gerrymandered in violation of the 14th Amendment.
A federal judge extended a temporary block on part of a Mississippi law, preventing the Mississippi Supreme Court chief justice from appointing judges to the Hinds County Circuit Court based in the state capital Jackson.
We now know definitively that in all five battleground races for Secretary of State, proponents of conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election underperformed by an average of 7 points.
A district court judge in Helena, MT has blocked a series of new state abortion restrictions from taking effect while lawsuits challenging their constitutionality move forward.
DeSantis’s attempt to launch his campaign on Twitter was a fiasco.
After inviting the legendary drag nun troupe The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to be honored at their 10th Annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night celebration, then disinviting them, the Los Angeles Dodgers have reversed their decision once again.
The Jan. 6 rioter who was photographed with his foot propped on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s offices and then tried to make money with the image was sentenced to 4½ years in prison Wednesday.
The White House released the first-ever U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action.
In Louisiana a bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors failed to pass in Senate committee and is officially dead for the year! The tie-breaking vote came from Chairman Fred Mills, a Republican from New Iberia, who sided with Democrats on the matter!!
The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives impeached Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for a range of abuses of his office that the committee said may have been crimes.
The FDA approved a new treatment for Crohn’s disease, the first oral medication for patients who have not had success with the typical drugs used to treat moderately to severely active forms of the illness.
A paralyzed man was able to walk naturally again using brain and spine implants.
The Biden administration is funding projects around the country aimed at reconnecting communities divided by highway design.
Battery startup Gotion High Tech, a supplier to Volkswagen, just announced a new lithium battery that can last up to 1,000 kilometers, or about 620 miles. Mass production is scheduled to begin in 2024.
Global solar investment will outstrip oil spending for the first time this year, the head of the International Energy Agency said, with nearly $400 billion to be spent on solar in 2023. The IEA’s annual report said that policies like the Inflation Reduction Act, and energy security concerns driven by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, have increased spending on clean energy.
President Biden vetoed a GOP-led bill that would have overturned police reforms in Washington, D.C.
Hyundai and LG will build a $4.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia.
The average price for regular gasoline in the United States is around $3.50 a gallon — more than a dollar cheaper than a year ago.
An Italian startup that manufacturers “fast” electric vehicle chargers will establish its U.S. headquarters in Charlotte and create hundreds of new jobs under an agreement signed with the state of North Carolina on Tuesday.
Texas lawmakers have failed to pass the Christian-nationalist bill requiring the Ten Commandments in public schools!
Scientists have used artificial intelligence to discover a new antibiotic that can kill a deadly species of superbug.
The Biden-Harris Administration announced $50 million in investments in states and Tribal nations to modernize America’s electric grid.
FEMA announced $160 million in additional funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for states, local communities, tribes, territories and the District of Columbia to build climate and disaster resiliency, including the selection of more than 400 resilience projects and activities.
The Department of the Interior announced a $62.5 million investment from the Inflation Reduction Act to help plan for endangered species recovery efforts that will be implemented over the next several years to benefit more than 300 species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced $187 million to ensure widespread and accelerated electrification of America’s transportation sector as part of President Biden’s Investing In America Agenda.
The Supreme Court will allow two more fossil fuel lawsuits to go forward in state courts, where rulings tend to be more favorable to the plaintiffs.
Singapore Airlines Ltd. will pay staff a bonus of around eight months salary after posting a record annual profit.
Minnesota is poised to expand its state-funded health insurance program, becoming the latest to add a public option for residents with incomes above 200% of the federal poverty level.
After two years of negotiations and a 24-hour strike, The New York Times’ union agreed to a new contract deal on Tuesday.
A federal judge ordered American Airlines and JetBlue Airways to end their Northeast partnership on the grounds that it stifles competition at the expense of accessible prices and customer service.
The Biden administration has put a pause on plans to erect a copper mine in Arizona on land known as Oak Flat, a site sacred to the San Carlos Apache and other Indigenous nations in the area.
The Texas Legislature passed a bill that would make voting easier for individuals with disabilities. Now that it has passed both chambers, it goes to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his signature.
Watch This! 👀
Actor Jon Hamm, a Missouri native, narrated an ad for Sen. Josh Hawley’s, R-Mo. Democratic challenger, Lucas Kunce and it is 🔥🔥🔥!
A wonderful and uplifting summary of current events and good progress made. We all must continue to elect and re-elect Democrats in National and Local offices. Try not to follow the naysayers in the media as their efforts are intended to derail our fruitful efforts! Let’s continue to work together along with Joe and Kamala to finish the job for America! Thank you Jessica Craven!
I wish to honor all those who lost their lives in defense of our great country. I also wish to remember all those who lost their lives to gun violence in this country. All the children who will not graduate from grade school, middle school, high school and college. All the parents who will not see their children graduate or walk down the aisle because of gun insanity. I pray their sacrifice will weigh heavily on all Republicans and fill their hearts with regret until they give us meaningful gun legislation. I pray this is the last Memorial day we have to live in fear. Ban all assult weapons.