Extra! Extra! 5/29
Hi, all, and happy Memorial Day.
Although this “Extra! Extra!” newsletter usually goes out to only paid subscribers, I decided I would make an exception and send it to everyone this time. It’s been a brutal seven days, and I think we all need all the brightness we can get right now.
So here is it, your end of the week digest of inspiring reads, good news, and uplifting content. Hope it helps ease the ache a bit.
(If you like it, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription so you can get an “Extra! Extra!” every Sunday! You should be able to do so at the bottom of your email if you’re a free subscriber.)
OK, all. Sending hugs. Hang in there. This too shall pass.
Jess
Read This 📖
Hymn For the Hurting by Amanda Gorman
Everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed and strange,
Minds made muddied and mute.
We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.
And yet none of it is new;
We knew it as home,
As horror,
As heritage.
Even our children
Cannot be children,
Cannot be.
Everything hurts.
It’s a hard time to be alive,
And even harder to stay that way.
We’re burdened to live out these days,
While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.
This alarm is how we know
We must be altered —
That we must differ or die,
That we must triumph or try.
Thus while hate cannot be terminated,
It can be transformed
Into a love that lets us live.
May we not just grieve, but give:
May we not just ache, but act;
May our signed right to bear arms
Never blind our sight from shared harm;
May we choose our children over chaos.
May another innocent never be lost.
Maybe everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed & strange.
But only when everything hurts
May everything change.
Celebrate This! 🎉
Long Island's school board elections last Tuesday marked widespread victories for candidates endorsed by local teacher unions, and numerous losses for those groups that backed candidates critical of the ways race, gender, and history are taught.
IKEA will start selling home solar panels at stores in California this fall.
Monarch butterflies had a resurgence in Mexico this winter, proof that the species is adapting to changing weather conditions.
Good voting news: Legislation improving access for voters with disabilities was enacted in Oklahoma and Illinois. Arizona enacted legislation that would expand voter registration services and improve the ability of mail voters to track their ballot. The Missouri legislation Governor Parson plans to sign would also create in-person early voting in the state for the first time.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from Donald Trump that sought to block New York Attorney General Letitia James’s civil investigation into his business practices, a day after a New York appeals court ruled that Trump must testify in that investigation.
A federal judge just nixed a plan that would have allowed fracking across 35,000 acres of Colorado’s Western Slope. The fracking would’ve damaged national forest habitat for elk, black bear and imperiled Canada lynx, along with drinking water for downstream communities — all while creating some 52 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution.
New York Magazine’s cover this week reads This Magazine Can Help You Get An Abortion.” The issue is packed with guidance on how to access a medication abortion, how to avoid anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers,” and how to protect yourself legally when seeking an abortion.
The US military airlifted a massive shipment of hypoallergenic baby formula to Indianapolis, with more shipments arriving soon for immediate nationwide distribution by Nestlé. Distribution of the formula will prioritize hospitals and health facilities to ensure children with severe allergies have first access.
Australia's national election was a "greenslide"! From securing a new majority for the center-left Labor Party, to electing Green Party candidates and pro-climate independents, to ousting a climate-denying prime minister in favor of one who vows to turn Australia into a "renewable energy superpower", this election was a gigantic win for the planet!
Georgia’s primaries saw record-breaking early voter turnout: Nearly 800,000 Georgians had cast ballots by the end of Friday, more than three times the number in 2018, and higher than in 2020.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and California Democrats have pledged to expedite more than two dozen bills aimed at reducing gun violence in the state.
Gunner DeLay, a right-wing, anti-abortion candidate for Arkansas Supreme Court, lost big-time against the moderate incumbent justice he sought to replace.
A new cancer vaccine that recruits the immune system to attack cancer cells could be the first step towards a universal cancer vaccine.
Solar-powered schools are on the rise in Pennsylvania! Since 2020, schools in the Keystone State have doubled their solar capacity, saving pollution equivalent to 5,000 gas-powered cars—and demonstrating the power of solar to more than 88,000 students.
Progressive Jamie McLeod-Skinner officially won her race against Blue Dog Democrat Kurt Schraeder.
This is all wonderfully welcome and at least a little relief from the brutal events of the last 2 weeks. Thank you so much!