Extra! Extra! 7/14 🥰
Balm during a rough weekend.
Hey, everyone. Happy Sunday.
I know this newsletter is really late today. Sorry. The weekend has been overwhelming and deeply painful, I think, for all of us; yesterday I had to get off of my computer because it all became too much.
But I’ve finally finished pulling this list together, and boy don’t we need it? This is a really hard moment; it feels like a new low. I find political violence horrifying—I’m assuming we all do. It’s scary, and depleting, and heartbreaking. I think it’s safe to say that we’re all feeling sort of knocked out at the knees. It’s OK. That’s a very human response.
But it’s also important that we give ourselves some breaks. So I’m sending this good news out, because it’s critical to take a few minutes away from all the grimness to ingest some positive information. Consider it self-care.
The news cycle will be there when you get back. It doesn’t minimize the tragedy of yesterday to ALSO take in some good news. So please, take a few deep, cleansing breaths, and then cleanse your soul with some positivity.
And share this list around, OK? EVERYONE needs a lift right now.
I’ve popped an 🪓 next to every item that everyday activists like you helped make happen, and a 🪣 next to every one that got done by lawmakers or administrations that we helped elect.
P.S. — No audio version tonight, sorry. Too late to ask Mike to work!
Read This 📖
Go Lucian!
Celebrate This! 🎉
A Massachusetts-based developer of products essential in the building of semiconductor chips has announced a preliminary agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $75 million in funding from the federal CHIPS and Science Act. 🪣
Infrastructure projects on three of South Dakota’s Native American reservations will be the beneficiaries of a Biden Administration program intended to help boost historically disadvantaged areas. 🪣
Voters in France delivered a stunning rebuke to the ascendant, anti-immigrant, far-right party of Marine Le Pen. 🪓
ACLU Michigan announced that it’s filing a suit to challenge the state’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion.
An appeals court reinstated a $10 billion lawsuit against big banks after it was revealed that the judge ruling in the case owned bank shares.
Arkansas activists have turned in enough signatures to get an abortion rights ballot amendment on the ballot in November. 🪓
A $1 billion gift will make Johns Hopkins medical school free for most students.
In the days since the debate, nearly 1,500 people signed up to tell Run For Something they want to run for office. 🪓
California's Right to Repair Act went into effect Monday, July 1. The new law gives Californians expanded access to the parts, tools and information they need to keep devices working longer. 🪓
Copenhagen’s tourism office is launching a pilot program that rewards visitors for going green.
In the UK, the de facto ban on new offshore windfarms has been dropped by the Labour government, to the delight of environmentalists and energy experts. 🪣
A team of researchers at the University of Chicago has made a significant breakthrough in the realm of advanced battery technology in the world’s first anode-free sodium solid-state battery. The innovation can potentially create high-capacity, low-cost, quickly charging batteries for power grid storage and electric vehicles.
The Black-led 40-Acre Conservation League, with $3 million in funding from the California Wildlife Conservation Board and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, purchased 650 acres bordering the Tahoe National Forest.
Thanks to successful re-wilding efforts, Brazil’s most trafficked, endangered bird is making a comeback.
[From last week] Thanks to the new liberal majority on the Supreme Court, ballot boxes are back in Wisconsin! 🪓 🪣
Vice President Kamala Harris announced the creation of new national health and safety standards for maternal care in a new effort to save the lives of women giving birth and those in post-partum. 🪣
Pinellas County, FL announced it is getting millions from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to buy electric buses. 🪣
The IRS announced Thursday that it has collected $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats. 🪣
The Biden administration is awarding nearly $2 billion in grants to General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and other carmakers to help restart or expand electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly sites in eight states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. 🪣
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) introduced articles of impeachment against U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. 🪣🪓
The Biden Administration made the largest-ever set of investments in Registered Apprenticeships. 🪣
U.S. inflation is cooling faster than expected. June’s numbers were especially good. Wages are also up! 🪣
A new NOAA initiative will provide $60 million in funding to train workers for green jobs. 🪣
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is transitioning to safer, PFAS-free firefighting foam. 🪓
President Biden announced an agreement with Mexico to protect American steel and aluminum workers by closing a loophole left in place by his predecessor that let China evade our tariffs. 🪣
In the first half of 2024, automakers delivered 599,372 EVs to customers in the United States, an increase of 7.3 percent from the first half of 2023, according to Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book.
A new report finds that global solar and wind capacity will more than triple to 8 TW by 2033. Wow!
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed bills into law to prohibit election recounts from being conducted for races with a wide-margin victory where a recount will not affect the results or due to allegations of voter fraud. 🪣
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed a bill into law to require accessible voting machines for voters with disabilities during local elections, expanding a state law mandating accessible voting systems for state and federal elections.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced notices of $27.5 million worth of funding opportunities aimed at improving women’s behavioral health across the United States. 🪣
Minnesota lawmakers just passed legislation creating a new ombudsperson role to help connect solar faster in the state. 🪣
The US Department of Labor announced it will be offering online webinars all through August about workplace rights for expectant and new mothers to mark Breastfeeding Awareness Month. 🪣
A federal judge in New York threw out Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case and paved the way for a litany of creditors, including two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation claim against him, to pursue and potentially seize his assets.
More people googled Project 2025 this past week than Taylor Swift or the NFL. 🪓
A Wisconsin appeals court affirmed a major victory that is expected to prevent thousands of mail-in ballots from being unfairly rejected in the 2024 election due to witness certificates with an incomplete address.
A federal court rejected Alabama Republicans' attempt to drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act. A lawsuit seeking a fair congressional map in the state, beyond the 2024 election, will continue.
An attempt by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to use an archaic, dormant Congressional power known as Inherent Contempt to levy a personal fine on Attorney General Merrick Garland was defeated, after the House narrowly voted against her plan.
President Biden announced an agreement in principle with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to modernize the Columbia River Treaty, originally signed 60 years ago. Modernization is needed to address the impacts of climate change and the evolving needs of communities relying on the Columbia River and its tributaries. 🪣
Hawaii just banned deep-sea mining. 🪣
The Postal Regulatory Commission issued a recommendation calling for a pause on DeJoy’s 10-year plan–a first for the PRC.
The New York Times finally ran an editorial saying Trump is dangerous and should drop out of the race. 🪓
In the city of Petaluma, California, just north of San Francisco, more than 30 chain restaurants and locally owned coffeehouses and eateries have banded together on a first-of-its-kind effort to reduce single-use plastic. 🪓
The U.S. battery market is on track for its best year yet.
The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly probing the dialysis duopoly of DaVita and and Fresenius and their use of non-compete agreements. 🪣
The Third Circuit ruled that college athletes can be legally considered employees with legal protections, and slammed the term ‘student-athlete.’
The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced new tenant protection standards for “multifamily properties financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” which is the first time the FHFA has used its leverage on behalf of renters. 🪣 1
Denmark is enacting the world’s first government-led plan to consume less meat.
President Biden launched the Ukraine Compact at an event with 32 allies and partners as part of his commitment to Ukraine’s long term security. 🪣
An Oregon anti-abortion group lost a long-running lawsuit, with a judge ruling against their claim that their free speech rights were violated by police.
Stocks hit a record high on Friday. 🪣
Our States Project Giving Circle hit 60K this week!! And subscribers to this newsletter have offered new matching challenges for both Run For Something (10K!) and Movement Voter Project (50K!) WOW!
Watch This! 👀
This is BONKERS, but it’s real. Far-right internet figure Laura Loomer interrupted the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s hearing on alleged anti-conservative bias this week, and a Congressman shut her down by…auctioneering? 🤣
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Your Extra! Extra! was a particularly welcome sight in my in-box, Jessica.
Did you see where Jay Kuo wrote in his newsletter, "...we should be renewing calls for banning AR-15 style semiautomatic rifles, requiring background checks and waiting periods, and imposing an age limit of 21 on all purchases. Perhaps Democrats should reintroduce legislation to do all that, call it the “Trump Assault Ban,” and force the GOP to vote against or filibuster it." Perhaps his idea would gain traction to strengthen our war against guns? Wouldn't that be something!
You are truly a balm Jessica; Keep up the awesome work you do.