Planned Parenthood of Indiana expects to start offering services to Medicaid patients again Saturday after a federal judge ruled the state is not allowed to cut off the organization’s public funding for general health services, thereby restricting Medicaid recipients’ freedom to choose their health care provider.
Judge Halts Indiana Cuts To Planned Parenthood
Huge $1.4 Billion Solar Project Using Existing Rooftops Will Almost Double 2010 U.S. Capacity
One obstacle for large standalone solar projects is the disruption of land that could be used for other purposes including nature conservation and farming.
This week, the U.S. Department of Energy launched a $1.4 billion loan guarantee project to build 733 megawatts worth of solar panels, which is nearly the equivalent of all the photovoltaic installations in the U.S. in 2010.
The program, called Project Amp, which will create more than 1,000 green jobs, is unique compared to other big solar programs because instead of focusing on one giant standalone tower or array, it involves the use of 750 existing rooftops.
Sustainability and Waste Reduction Win the Day in 23rd Annual Packaging Awards
Winners of the 23rd DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, represent breakthrough developments in sustainability from brand giants like Coca Cola, Intel and Heinz.
“Sustainability considerations are driving innovation” said Shanna Moore, a director of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. “The innovations stem from use of organic or renewably sourced materials to the relentless drive to reduce waste and weight.”
The independent jury panel, which evaluated more than 200 entries, said nearly all of the winning innovations related to reducing waste in the system.
Sustainability and Waste Reduction Win the Day at Packaging Awards
Winners of the 23rd DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, represent breakthrough developments in sustainability from brand giants like Coca Cola, Intel and Heinz.
“Sustainability considerations are driving innovation” said Shanna Moore, a director of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. “The innovations stem from use of organic or renewably sourced materials to the relentless drive to reduce waste and weight.”
The independent jury panel, which evaluated more than 200 entries, said nearly all of the winning innovations related to reducing waste in the system.
Trouble-making Teen Transformed by New Daughter’s Birth
A California teen had already been in and out of three high schools and arrested once before he learned his girlfriend was pregnant.
“I just thought school was a waste of time. All I would ever do is get in trouble.”
Then, toward the end of his sophomore year, after his girlfriend told him the news that would change his life — for the better, he dropped his trouble-making friends and started caring about school once again.
His own father wasn’t a part of his life growing up, he said, and he resolved not to let the same thing to happen to his daughter.
Republican Heavyweights Urge U.S. to Adopt Tougher Fuel-Mileage Standard
A group of Republican former Environmental Protection Agency administrators, governors and members of Congress are throwing their public support behind a fuel economy target of 60 miles per gallon.
In a letter sent to President Barack Obama, the 15 signatories – including recently retired Michigan Congressman Vernon Ehlers – say that to reduce dependence on foreign oil and maintain a clean environment, upcoming Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for 2017 to 2025 should be aggressive.
Birds Thought Extinct Return to Rain Forest After Deforestation
Many bird species in the Amazon rainforest previously isolated and thought to be extinct in the quarter-century following deforestation have reappeared in these same areas.
Lead author Philip Stouffer, an ornithologist at Louisiana State University and his co-authors measured bird populations over 25 years in 11 forest fragments of varying sizes as small as 2.5 acres in Brazil’s rainforest.
In the first decade of the long-term study, birds abandoned forest fragments and, ornithologists believed, went extinct. Then in the past 20 years, many bird species returned.
Birds Thought Extinct Return to Rain Forest After Deforestation
Many bird species in the Amazon rainforest previously isolated and thought to be extinct in the quarter-century following deforestation have reappeared in these same areas.
Lead author Philip Stouffer, an ornithologist at Louisiana State University and his co-authors measured bird populations over 25 years in 11 forest fragments of varying sizes as small as 2.5 acres in Brazil’s rainforest.
In the first decade of the long-term study, birds abandoned forest fragments and, ornithologists believed, went extinct. Then in the past 20 years, many bird species returned.
7 Leading US Airlines to Use BioMass Fuel Made From Waste in California
Seven of the leading U.S. airlines announced this week they’ve signed up to purchase jet fuel made from recycled urban and agricultural waste to be produced in northern California. Providing the fuel will be Solena Fuels and its biomass-to-liquids facility in Santa Clara County.
American Airlines led the way with its embrace of the groundbreaking alternative aviation fuels project. United Continental, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, FedEx, JetBlue, and US Airways also signed the letter of intent. Air Canada, Frontier Airlines and Lufthansa German Airlines also joined the big seven.
7 Leading US Airlines to Use BioMass Fuel Made From Waste in California
Seven of the leading U.S. airlines announced this week they’ve signed up to purchase jet fuel made from recycled urban and agricultural waste to be produced in northern California. Providing the fuel will be Solena Fuels and its biomass-to-liquids facility in Santa Clara County.
American Airlines led the way with its embrace of the groundbreaking alternative aviation fuels project. United Continental, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, FedEx, JetBlue, and US Airways also signed the letter of intent. Air Canada, Frontier Airlines and Lufthansa German Airlines also joined the big seven.
Cat Sanctuary Takes in Tabby Number 1,000
Tabby’s Place is celebrating the rescue of its 1,000th cat.
Since opening its doors to hard-luck cats in 2003, the sanctuary has made the same promise to each feline it saves: if she isn’t adopted, she can live out all her days in cage-free, love-filled comfort, regardless of age, personality or medical needs.
Indeed, about 30% of Tabby’s Place cats are “Special Needs cats,” with conditions requiring costly ongoing medical care.
New Bill in Congress Today Allows States to Legalize Pot
Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA) and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce a bill in the US Congress today that would allow each state to decide for itself whether to legalize marijuana — good news for patients suffering from pain and disease who look to medical marijuana for help.
The historic bill would limit the U.S. government role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling. Citizens would be able to legally grow, use or sell cannabis in states which have legalized the forbidden weed.
Remarkable Meeting for Michelle Obama With Nelson Mandela
The First Lady began her tour of South Africa meeting a parade of leaders from government, industry, non-profit and education, but it was her encounters with the very young and the very old that likely resonated most deeply with Michelle Obama and her family.
Her voice cracked and halted as she made an emotional speech in front of young women leaders in Soweto. She likened their nation’s journey to the American story, that began more than 200 years ago. At the close of her talk, in a crowded church, she reminded the group of a well known battle cry: “If anyone tells you, ‘you shouldn’t’ or ‘you can’t’, I want you to say with one voice — the voice of a generation, ‘Yes, we can’.”
Remarkable Meeting for Michelle Obama With Nelson Mandela
The First Lady began her tour of South Africa meeting a parade of leaders from government, industry, non-profit and education, but it was her encounters with the very young and the very old that likely resonated most deeply with Michelle Obama and her family.
Her voice cracked and halted as she made an emotional speech in front of young women leaders in Soweto. She likened their nation’s journey to the American story, that began more than 200 years ago. At the close of her talk, in a crowded church, she reminded the group of a well known battle cry: “If anyone tells you, ‘you shouldn’t’ or ‘you can’t’, I want you to say with one voice — the voice of a generation, ‘Yes, we can’.”
$16 Million Violin Sold For Charity
A Japanese music foundation has sold a renowned Stradivarius violin for $16 million at auction to raise money for tsunami disaster relief.
The nonprofit Nippon Foundation owned the 1721 violin, which was rarely played, and decided it could be put to better use.
“While this violin was very important to our collection, the needs of our fellow Japanese people after the March 11 tragedy have proven that we all need to help, in any way we can.
La Familia Drug Cartel Defeated, Leader is Arrested, says Mexico
La Familia leader, Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, has been arrested and Mexican authorities said on Tuesday, that the group’s reign in the state of Michoacán has come to an end.
Federal police escorted nearly 50 suspects of two major drug cartels to a news media presentation in Mexico City on Saturday, May 28. The suspects presented include 36 members of the La Familia cartel and 10 members of the Zetas drug gang.
Good News Network Story Inspires Million Dollar Donation to Duplicate Kids Health Program
Good news travels fast – and apparently, pretty far.
After a Good News Network story about the first rural diabetes center in the US, which educates and cares for children free of charge in Kansas, a West Virginia children’s hospital received a gift of one million dollars to replicate the project there.
Oil and gas businessman and former West Virginia legislator Mike Ross read about the Rector Diabetes Education and Resource Center in Kansas, and having been a keen supporter of diabetes research for many years, decided that he wanted to help start a similar program in his state.
What touched him about the original story is the similarity between himself (with a grandson who battles Type 1 diabetes) and the benefactor of the Kansas clinic, Kelly Rector, also a grandfather, who was motivated to fund the diabetes initiative because his grandson was born with the same disease, yet the family had difficulty in finding services in the rural part of that state.
The Rector Diabetes Center received a call from the WVU Children’s Hospital after development officers at West Virginia University, who are regular subscribers to the Good News Network, noticed some striking similarities between Mr. Ross and the Rector Family in Parsons, Kansas (photo, left). They secured the name and e-mail address of Rector, and administrators talked on the phone exchanging much information about how to repeat what they had done in the Midwest.
Mr. Ross agreed that this diabetes care model provided the perfect vehicle for him to give back his community in a substantial way. Thanks to the Ross family, WVU Children’s Hospital will be able to expand its services to provide more patient education and care for those who can’t afford it.
“His magnificent gift will mean more children will get diabetes treatment, more diabetes outreach and education programs will be provided in rural communities – and more research will be conducted,” said Mimi Wilson, development officer for the WVU School of Medicine.
It is interesting to note that Mike Ross, while a member of the WV State Legislature, helped establish The West Virginia Research Trust Fund, which is today resulting in a dollar-for-dollar match for the research portion (40 percent) of his gift, literally doubling its impact and the chance that one day – maybe in West Virginia – someone will find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
Mr. Ross exclaimed, “Wouldn’t it be great if West Virginia were known, not as a place with a lot of problems, but, as a place where problems are solved?“
“Because you took the time to publish the article on our diabetes project, we were able to have an impact in a state far away” said Rod Landrum, Executive Director of the Labette Health Foundation, which runs the Kansas project. “In doing so, you may well have helped to save the life of a child, because care for diabetes, which is reaching epidemic proportions, is being expanded in West Virginia.”
Good News Network Story Inspires Million Dollar Donation to Duplicate Kids Health Program
Good news travels fast – and apparently, pretty far.
After a Good News Network story about the first rural diabetes center in the US, which educates and cares for children free of charge in Kansas, a West Virginia children’s hospital received a gift of one million dollars to replicate the project there.
Oil and gas businessman and former West Virginia legislator Mike Ross read about the Rector Diabetes Education and Resource Center in Kansas, and having been a keen supporter of diabetes research for many years, decided that he wanted to help start a similar program in his state.
What touched him about the original story is the similarity between himself (with a grandson who battles Type 1 diabetes) and the benefactor of the Kansas clinic, Kelly Rector, also a grandfather, who was motivated to fund the diabetes initiative because his grandson was born with the same disease, yet the family had difficulty in finding services in the rural part of that state.
Thousands of “Hackers for Good” Build Applications for Humanity
Two years ago representatives from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Hewlett-Packard, NASA and the World Bank came together to form the Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) program, which steers technology developers toward doing good. RHoK brings together subject matter experts, volunteer software developers and designers to create free software solutions that address challenges facing humanity and assist in crisis response.
Earlier this month, thousands of “hackers for good” gathered in more than 19 different global locations—from Berlin to Nairobi, and Sydney to Sao Paulo—to participate in Random Hacks of Kindness #3. These teams are now off and running, working with NGO and government advisors to finish their applications for humanity.
RHoK #3 expanded the mandate to include climate change, and also announced they are broadening the scope in the future to tackle any development challenges.
Of the more than 75 solutions submitted for judging at this year’s global events, many are already on their way to making a difference around the world.
At the RHoK event on the Google campus, these two winners were picked:
• Hey Cycle makes it easier for people to reuse and recycle items by setting up email alerts when free items that they’re looking for are entered on freecycle.org
• FoodMovr connects people with excess food to others who need it through a simple live application
Visit www.rhokaustralia.org for more information, and to put your hacking skills to good use.
(READ more at Google Blog – WATCH the video from Philly session below)
Thousands of “Hackers for Good” Build Applications for Humanity
Two years ago representatives from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Hewlett-Packard, NASA and the World Bank came together to form the Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) program, which steers technology developers toward doing good. RHoK brings together subject matter experts, volunteer software developers and designers to create free software solutions that address challenges facing humanity and assist in crisis response.
Earlier this month, thousands of “hackers for good” gathered in more than 19 different global locations—from Berlin to Nairobi, and Sydney to Sao Paulo—to participate in Random Hacks of Kindness #3. These teams are now off and running, working with NGO and government advisors to finish their applications for humanity.