Extra! Extra! 5/5 🎈🎈🎈

Flowers seen on my afternoon walk.

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

It was an especially tough week; it therefore brings me more pleasure than usual to bring you this week’s list of good news. There was, perhaps surprisingly, a lot of it. So take a few moments away from doom-scrolling and let yourself discover, enjoy and celebrate the victories.

After all, what we focus on tends to grow! Plus, why bother working so hard if we don’t stop and celebrate the progress?

Let’s do that now, and please remember to share this list widely, so that more Americans receive a much-needed jolt of hope and optimism.

I have, as usual, popped an 🪓 next to every item folks like you helped make happen, or that got done by lawmakers you helped elect.

Let’s gooooo!

Celebrate This! 🎉

Williams-Sonoma will be required to pay a record civil penalty of $3.175 million for violating a 2020 Federal Trade Commission order requiring the retailer to tell the truth about whether the products it sells are made in the USA. 🪓

The United Auto Workers union announced it had struck a favorable new contract deal for 7,300 Daimler Truck North America workers. The union had threatened a strike starting at midnight when their last contract expired. 🪓

The Treasury Department announced that the IRS pilot program that enabled taxpayers to file their tax returns directly for free had more users than the program’s stated goal, got positive ratings, and saved users an estimated $5.6 million in fees for tax preparation. 🪓

All charges were dropped against the 57 young people arrested in connection to a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas.

The Biden-Harris Administration hosted an inaugural White House Summit for Sustainable and Healthy Schools as part of President Biden's Investing in America Agenda, which allocates unprecedented resources to enhance the sustainability and health of K-12 school facilities. 🪓

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly rejected funding for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, saying it would be “inappropriate to provide taxpayer funding for unregulated pregnancy crisis centers that have no medical credentials.” 🪓

Gov. Jared Polis signed a new law to explicitly make it illegal to serve as a fake elector in future presidential elections in Colorado. 🪓

The Biden-Harris Administration took crucial first steps towards curbing the use of U.S.-made firearms in crimes and human rights abuses abroad and bolstering national security interests. 🪓

A federal appellate court in Richmond ruled that state health-care plans must pay for gender-affirming surgeries, a major win for transgender rights amid a nationwide wave of anti-trans activism and legislation.

The Supreme Court for a second time shot down a request from former Trump adviser Peter Navarro to avoid further prison time over his contempt of Congress conviction.

The Wall Street Journal called the strong, resilient American economy the “envy of the world.” 🪓

The federal government is planning to restore grizzly bears to their native range in the North Cascades, where the last confirmed grizzly sighting was in 1996. 🪓

In a little-noticed court filing earlier this month, federal prosecutors described Steve Bannon as a ‘co-conspirator’ in a massive criminal fraud and racketeering case against a flamboyant, far-right Chinese fugitive.

The EPA just passed a regulation that would force coal plants to nearly eliminate pollution or shut down entirely. Coal plants will now have until 2039 to reduce 90% of their greenhouse pollution. 🪓

Major strike activity increased 280% in 2023. 🪓

New federal safety standards will require new cars to have automatic emergency brakes that can bring them to a complete stop without crashing or hitting pedestrians even at high speeds, saving hundreds of lives a year. 🪓

The right-wing push to restrict LGBTQ+ rights is losing momentum. 🪓

Georgia has gained 13,500 more Dem-registered voters than Republicans since the 2020 election. 

Judge Merchan ruled that Trump was in contempt of his gag order and fined him $9,000.

The DEA plans to reclassify marijuana as a lower-risk drug, officials say — a major move that would ease access nationwide. 🪓

In Kansas two Republicans unexpectedly broke ranks and voted to sustain Laura Kelly’s veto of an anti-trans bill, preventing it from being signed into law. 🪓

Immunization has saved 154 million lives globally in the last 50 years, according to a new estimate, equivalent to six lives every minute of every year for five decades. 

Carbon emissions in the European Union have fallen to their lowest level in 60 years!

The union representing many Disney workers is seeking to unionize five restaurants owned by a different company at Disney Springs. 🪓

North Dakota has released a five-point climate plan that includes planting trees, better light bulbs and changes in farming. It’s not enough, but hey—it’s NORTH DAKOTA! Anything is progress! 🪓

The U.S. HHS finalized a policy that strengthens protections for LGBTQ+ youth in foster care. 🪓

The union of Southwest Airlines flight attendants has ratified a new contract that includes a 22.3% raise and $364 million in back pay. They're now the highest paid attendants in the industry. 🪓

State Sen. Tim Kennedy (D) won the special election for New York’s 26th Congressional District by 36 points in a D+9 district. 🪓

Researchers have developed a biodegradable form of plastic that includes bacterial spores which will break it down when it is discarded.

Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban has been repealed. 🪓

A judge gave North Carolina abortion rights advocates a partial victory, ruling against one of the state’s restrictions on abortion medication. 🪓

The EPA has finalized a ban on consumer uses of methylene chloride, a chemical that is widely used as a paint stripper but is known to cause liver cancer and other health problems. 🪓

The Biden Administration announced another $6.1 billion in student debt relief, this time for more than 315,000 attendees of Art Institutes schools that scammed students with false promises of post-study employment.  🪓

The United Methodist Church, one of the largest protestant denominations in America, overwhelmingly voted to end its bans on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage. 

The Durham, North Carolina-based company Wolfspeed is set to make a groundbreaking $5 billion investment in a new facility, promising a significant economic boost for the region. The project is supported in part by funding from the CHIPS and Science Act. 🪓

The DNC announced a series of billboard ad buys across Florida as the six-week ban takes effect. They hit Trump in major metros with messages like: “THANKS TO TRUMP’S FL ABORTION BAN, CARE IN A STATE WITHOUT A BAN IS 858 MILES AWAY.”

California now has one electric vehicle fast-charging station for every five gas stations, solidifying the state as a leader in the EV movement. 🪓

​The EU just voted to ban the destruction of unsold clothes under new “ecodesign” legislation. 

A newly enacted Kentucky bill allows more residents to vote in advance of Election Day with a valid excuse and ensures eligible incarcerated voters are able to request and cast mail ballots. 🪓

The G7 countries reached an early agreement to phase out all coal plants by 2035. 

Six months after the deadliest mass shooting in Maine's history in Lewiston, state lawmakers passed life-saving gun safety bills into law. These bills require background checks on advertised sales and gun show sales, increase funding for mental health resources, and require a 72-hour waiting period between the purchase and transfer of a firearm. 🪓

President Biden signed two proclamations enlarging the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, using his executive authority to protect vast swaths of land of cultural significance to tribes and nearby communities. 🪓

President Biden announced that his administration will be doling out $3 billion in funds to replace lead pipes, which can pose a health hazard. 🪓

On May Day, nine Starbucks across the country announced they were filing for a union. 🪓

John Eastman, an architect of the plot to steal the 2020 election, lost a bid to reactivate his law license in California. 

Local election officials have taken critical steps since 2020 to improve physical safety and security for both staff and election processes.

Dana Nessel, the Michigan AG, executed a search warrant on Google and X in her ongoing 2020 fake electors probe. 🪓

Supporters of a South Dakota abortion rights initiative submitted far more signatures than required to make the ballot this fall. 🪓

Under new federal rules, LGBTQ+ employees can’t be misgendered or denied bathrooms at work. The new guidance strengthens protections for trans and nonbinary employees for the first time in 25 years. 🪓

Joe Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people who truly deserved it, including Nancy Pelosi! 🪓

Plan C Pills put billboards up in 4 states with abortion bans. The billboards advertise their website, which helps pregnant people access abortion pills.

The Biden Administration announced a rule to extend ACA access to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.  🪓

Sadiq Khan was easily re-elected as mayor of London for a third term, adding to a string of excellent results for Labour in the UK’s local elections—they trounced Tory candidates in hundreds of local elections across the country.

The auditing firm for Trump Media and the auditor’s owner were charged with “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Biden-Harris Administration launched initiatives to enhance the teaching profession, including increasing teacher salaries, revamping the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and exceeding pre-pandemic staffing levels by adding more social workers and nurses. 🪓

The IRS announced plans to significantly ramp up audit rates of wealthy taxpayers and large corporations, using funds provided by the Democrat-backed Inflation Reduction Act. 🪓

For a brief period in late April, battery storage became for the first time the largest source of supply in the California grid, which delivers electricity to the world’s fifth biggest economy and is one of the world’s biggest grids. It was a landmark event!

A growing number of video game developers and designers are introducing climate change elements into games to teach users about climate solutions.

The unemployment rate has now been under 4% for 27 straight months. 🪓

University of California Irvine is building what may be the first all-electric, zero-emission hospital in the nation in Irvine.

In North Dakota, the National Park Service reversed an unpopular decision to remove about 200 wild horses from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 🪓

The President’s agenda has driven the first, second and third strongest years of new business application rates on record—and is on pace for the fourth—with Americans filing a record 17.2 million new business applications. 🪓

The Biden campaign ramped up spending this month as part of a new advertising push aimed partly at convincing Latino men that abortion rights are a vital issue that affects them.

The United States has told Qatar that it should expel Hamas if the group continues to reject a cease-fire with Israel.

Violent crime declined across every category in the first quarter of 2024 and murders are down 17%.  🪓

Pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. were significantly lower in 2023 compared to the previous two years.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the average amount spent on public elementary and secondary school students rose 8.9 percent in 2022 — the largest year-to-year increase in two decades. 

The Department of Agriculture announced that it has finalized its policy to declare salmonella an adulterant in raw breaded stuffed chicken, such as some frozen chicken cordon bleu and chicken Kiev products. (How was this not already a thing??) 🪓

The NBA wants to be part of the climate solution, and have committed to cutting their carbon emissions by half within the next six years.

Organizers in Missouri submitted over 380,000 signatures for a measure to restore abortion rights—twice as many as were required—overcoming legal challenges, delays and vigorous “decline to sign” efforts led by anti-abortion groups. 🪓

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s signature proposal for a statewide school voucher program—one that would’ve been catastrophic for public schools—is dead for the year after a massive grassroots effort to stop it. 🪓

A cat that climbed into an Amazon return box was found alive 630 miles away and returned to its owner.

Watch This! 👀

Oh, Kristi. The dogs see all.