On Sunday, June 7, the Minneapolis City Council voted to dismantle the city’s police department. The council members pledged to replace the department with a community built public safety system, citing an inability to reform the force – which has long been accused of racism. A total of nine council members voted in favor of […]
Wisconsin Teachers Union Demands Police Be Removed from Public Schools
The Madison, Wisconsin teacher’s union, Madison Teachers Inc. (MTI), has changed its stance on school-based police officers and is now advocating for police to be taken out of the city’s main high schools and replaced with thirty-three additional support staff. This is the first time that Madison Teachers Inc. has demanded the removal of police […]
COVID-19 Cases Increase at Women’s Prison in Florida
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 at a Florida women’s prison totaled 73 on Monday, a jump from the previous day’s total of two. Seventy percent of tests administered at Homestead Correctional Institution so far have come back positive and 616 tests are pending results. The spike in confirmed cases comes after weeks of the facility’s shuffling […]
COVID-19 Compounds The Struggle of Addiction During Pandemic
The novel coronavirus is creating many complications and hardships to current daily life. One often overlooked challenge faced by families and individuals is struggling with substance abuse and addiction issues. Covid-19 is putting more stress on families and people already dealing with addiction as the taxing physical and emotional burdens of unemployment, isolation, boredom, loneliness, […]
Anti-Vaccine Groups Join Anti-Lockdown Protesters in Government Criticism
Across the United States, anti-vaccine protesters are leveraging anti-government sentiment sparked by the COVID-19 response to advance their cause. The right wing of the anti-vaccine movement is a natural ally for anti-lockdown protesters due to their shared distrust of government authority. These anti-vaccine activists applaud President Trump’s suggestion that COVID-19 is not dangerous enough to […]
Mass Incarceration, Mandatory Prison Labor Could Lead to Huge Coronavirus Death Toll
United States prisons and jails could become major sites of coronavirus outbreaks, warn public health experts, correctional staff, and prison reform advocates. According to a study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), unless prison and jail populations are “dramatically and immediately reduced,” 100,000 more people than currently projected could die of COVID-19. The […]
Nurses Protest Unsafe Working Conditions and Demand More PPE
Nurses across the country are protesting dangerous working conditions, a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), and limited access to testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses have reported being sent home for refusing to treat COVID-19 patients without sufficient PPE, being denied tests despite having COVID-19 symptoms, and being fired for publicly criticizing PPE shortages. […]
Dr. Ruth B. Mandel: A Life of Extraordinary Service
Dr. Ruth B. Mandel, a tireless advocate for women’s rights, died on April 11 at the age of 81 due to ovarian cancer. Mandel was born in Vienna, Austria, to Mechel and Lea Blumenstock. Her parents fled with her when she was nine months old from Nazi Germany, setting sail on the SS St. Louis […]
COVID-19 Affecting Decisions About Having Children
The current COVID-19 pandemic has provoked a shift in the decision making processes of those considering having children. Originally when the pandemic began, many suggested that there would be a “baby boom” in nine months, especially as research suggests a spike in births after certain forms of disasters, especially in cases in which individuals are […]
Women Are The Majority of America’s Essential Workforce
Nearly one in three jobs held by women are officially considered essential work, meaning women are the majority of those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a new report by The New York Times, nearly 52 percent of all essential workers are women. This includes 77 percent of the health care worker, […]
Seven Midwest States Announce Their Plan to Partner on Reopening
On Thursday, governors from seven Midwestern states announced that they will coordinate on reopening the Midwest regional economy. The Midwest pact joins the Northeast and West Coast in an effort to coordinate amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Midwest bipartisan effort includes Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kentucky. In the governors’ collaboration, they announced […]
The Afghan Girls Robotics Team Makes Ventilator Out of Toyota Parts
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, five girls from Afghanistan who are a part of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team have designed a cheap ventilator powered by a Toyota Corolla. In a report by Ashleigh Stewart at The National, Roya Mahboob, tech entrepreneur and one of the first female chief executives in Afghanistan, started the […]
San Francisco Supervisors Order Mayor to House Homeless in Hotels
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a pandemic-driven emergency ordinance giving the Mayor 12 days to secure 7,000 hotel rooms to house the city’s homeless population and an additional 1,250 rooms to house the city’s frontline workers. During a Tuesday video conference, the Board rebuked Mayor London Breed’s more moderate strategy to place only […]
Trump Administration Asks for Census Delay
The Trump administration has moved to delay deadlines for the 2020 United States Census due to concerns over COVID-19. The changes, requested by Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, would delay the deadline for delivering state population counts for apportionment from December 2020 to April 2021 and for giving states […]
Muslim Woman Files Lawsuit After Being Forced to Remove Her Hijab Upon Arrest
Ahmed Mohamed, a litigation director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations of New York (CAIR NY) is filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of individuals who have been forced to remove their religious head coverings upon arrest. At the center of the lawsuit is Ihsan Malkawi, a Muslim woman alleging that police in New York […]
Coronavirus Hampers Access to Menstrual Products for Low-Income People and Shelters
Low-income individuals and social service organizations are struggling to find menstrual products amid the coronavirus outbreak. Along with other essentials like toilet paper, menstrual products have become difficult to find in stores or online due to consumers stocking up at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Panic shopping in March left many grocery stores, pharmacies, […]
How Ordinary Afghans are Helping to Combat COVID-19
Waiving rents, making masks, distributing food supplies, and raising awareness about the deadly virus are some of the things that ordinary Afghans have been contributing to flatten the curve of this virus in Afghanistan. Afghans have been fighting for their lives daily and this health crisis is yet another test of survival in Afghanistan. However, […]
Diabetes Patients Struggle To Find Essential Supplies During Pandemic
As many Americans have scoured the shelves at local stores for disinfectant supplies and toilet paper, people with diabetes have been desperately searching for rubbing alcohol or alcohol swaps which are commonly used to manage diabetes care. These necessary diabetic care supplies have been among cleaning supplies which have been mass-purchased by members of the public who […]
California Special Needs Students Left Behind Amidst COVID-19 Education Changes
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guarantees disabled students access to equal, high-quality, and free public education. However, as California nears its third week of physical school closures amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, special needs students are being left behind in the struggle to navigate the uncharted territory of distance learning. Approximately 800,000 California students receive […]
Education Department Sanctions Penn State Again for Sexual Misconduct Procedures
On Thursday, the Department of Education announced that after a recent investigation, it is ordering Pennsylvania State University to implement significant changes to the way the school handles complaints of sexual misconduct. The released investigation finds that the university persistently mishandled cases after the Sandusky scandal. A federal investigation released Thursday identified “serious deficiencies” in […]
