Extra! Extra! 8/28 🎉
Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
After your wonderful, generous, and almost unanimous comments in support of the idea, I am opening the “Extra! Extra!” newsletter up to everyone on the list. Enjoy! And it’s good timing, too, because we haven’t had this much good news in a single week since…I don’t know when.
Remember, what we focus on grows, so please join me in focussing on the absolutely wonderful week we’ve had. Some of these victories are partially attributable to work you’ve done, so BRAVO!
Thanks for your support and participation. It means the world to me.
Jess
Read This 📖
How to Inspire People with the Rule of One. Love this.
Celebrate This! 🎉
POTUS cancelled $10,000 in student debt (and more for Pell Grant recipients) with a brilliant policy that’s focussed on racial justice! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Biden’s approval ratings are rising.
The White House twitter account is under new management, and it’s a whole new ballgame.
California announced a plan to ban the sale of new gasoline cars by 2035!
The NLRB has ruled that Starbucks illegally withheld pay/benefits from workers at hundreds of unionizing stores. It's now moving to force Starbucks to: pay back 100% of the denied benefits and require Howard Schultz to record a video admitting the illegal action.
Jared Smith, the Florida judge in Hillsbourgh County, FL who tried to block a teenager from accessing abortion because her grades were too low was ousted in Tuesday’s election.
REI workers have successfully unionized for a second time, triumphing over executives' union-busting attempts.
Germany introduced zero-emission hydrogen-powered trains this week. The trains release steam and water as exhaust, and one tank of hydrogen can power a train for over 600 miles.
The debut episode of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex podcast “Archetypes,” featuring tennis icon Serena Williams and Dr. Laura Dray, talking about gender double-standards unseated “The Joe Rogan Experience” in the spot for #1 podcast.
A hummingbird that was believed to be extinct was just spotted in Colombia.
Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged $100,000 to Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist’s campaign to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The EPA will finally begin to apply Hazardous Substance labels to “forever chemicals” — toxic chemical compounds that can persist in the environment for years.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission reactivated 30,554 voters’ registrations in accordance with a stipulation filed by the League of Women Voters last month.
A federal judge in Arizona dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop the use of electronic ballot-counting machines for the November midterm election and would have required a hand count of all ballots.
In a victory for the White House, a judge ruled that Idaho doctors can't be punished for abortions if a pregnant patient's health is at risk
The first-ever member of Gen Z just won a primary for Congress. 25-year-old Maxwell Frost won the Democratic primary in Florida’s 10th District and is expected to win the general election in November.
In a major step toward zeroing out a big source of harmful emissions, LA Metro buses are going fully electric - and the federal government is helping them get there! Last week the Federal Transit Administration announced that it has awarded Metro a huge grant – $104 million – to purchase and deploy 160 electric buses and charging stations. (Thanks, Democrats!)
Democrat Pat Ryan scored a huge special election upset for his party by defeating Republican Marc Molinaro 52-48 in New York’s 19th District, a swing seat in the Hudson Valley that Molinaro appeared poised to flip until polls closed on Tuesday.
In a federal court in Louisville, Kentucky, former detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.
In Tennessee a federal grand jury has indicted Republican former house speaker Glen Casada and his aide Cade Cothren on 20 counts of federal bribery, kickback, theft, wire fraud, and money laundering for a scheme that began in 2019.
A federal jury found Barry Croft and Adam Fox guilty of several crimes in the summer 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Hyundai will accelerate the construction of its electric car plant in Georgia – instead of 2023, the first excavators are to roll this year. This is a direct result of provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that offer subsidies for purchases of American made EVS.
The USDA announced an investment of up to $300 million in the Organic Transition Initiative, a move to boost revenue streams for farmers and producers who transition their crops to organic production.
Environmentalists who took legal action to prevent a toxic waste dump in an ancient pocket of Tasmania’s Tarkine rainforest are celebrating a HUGE federal court win.
Efforts to clean up New York City’s harbors are working: Earlier this month, one tour group spotted a whopping nine whales in a single day. See the photos.
Iowa’s Secretary of State announced grants to improve accessibility in and around polling places.
Taking another large step to reach its climate goals, India just passed an energy conservation bill that makes it easier to put a price on carbon and encourages the use of non-fossil fuel sources to generate power.
After 50 years in captivity, Tokitae the orca will hopefully be returned to the ocean to reunite with her 93-year-old mother, who roams the waters of the Pacific Northwest.
Scientists at Northwestern found that a combination of two common chemicals, lye and a solvent called dimethyl sulfoxide, can dissolve most PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” into harmless compounds.
Voter registration-wise, there is evidence that what happened in Kansas isn’t an outlier. In states like Wisconsin and Michigan where reproductive rights are at stake this year, we’re seeing a meaningful gender gap in registration, whereby women are out-registering men by significant margins.
Watch This!
I don’t usually promote my own TikToks, but this is great news you all should hear!
Thank you! Tons of great stories but my favorite was probably the blockhead judge in Florida being ousted. Hopefully this is a sign that voters are excited for down-ballot elections.
Thank you, Jessica. This was a much needed note that we can all make a difference, a little at a time. We sure needed to hear it!!!