Osagenation efforts to clean abandoned oil wells
Osage Nation is making extensive efforts to identify and block orphaned and abandoned oil wells across Oklahoma reservations, addressing the environmental hazards left behind after decades of oil production. With more than $19 million in federal grant funding, the country’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has begun to examine thousands of well records and seal […]
Knoxville ranked among the best cities in the United States for people with disabilities
An analysis by Trajector Medical highlights the most accessible US cities for people with disabilities, with Knoxville, Tennessee taking the top spot. According to the rankings, the best performing cities offer exceptional access to wheelchair-friendly rentals, accessible buildings, special education teachers, employment opportunities, public transport and Medicare services. According to the category, Atlanta is ranked […]
Vision for the Future: LA County Releases Draft Sustainability Plan
The Chief Sustainability Office (CSO) of Los Angeles County has released its upcoming draft sustainability plan for 2025. Building on the original 2019 plan, the update reflects the voices of thousands of residents and other stakeholders who participated through community workshops, individual meetings and county-wide surveys. The draft plan advances ambitious goals on climate resilience, […]
Honoring the Elders: California tribes break the ground with affordable housing
Mission Indian Fernan de Gnotatavium Band has launched its first senior housing project in Los Angeles County, creating 26 affordable units for native elders on fee land in the county’s northern part of the county. The initiative was developed in collaboration with Pukúu Cultural Community Services and Aszkenazy Development Inc., and marks a tribal milestone. […]
Which San Diego County cities are building new homes?
Written in the voice of San Diego, Will Huntsbury outlines the most housing and shortages in San Diego County cities. “Our analysis looked at the number of new homes, from apartments and accessory residences to single-family homes permitted across San Diego County between 2018 and the end of 2024,” explains Huntsbury. The largest city of […]
Caltrans is planning a $2 billion tunnel to save a collapsed coastal highway
The $2.1 billion tunnel project aims to save Highway 101 in Northern California. Here, there is a risk that part of the road connecting the Eureka and the crescent moon will fall into the sea. As Rachel Swann explains in the San Francisco Chronicle, the “Last Chance Grade” three-mile “Last Chance Grade” is a troubling […]
Opinion: Minnesota “Button Hook” Project A “Highway Engineer’s Heat Dream”
In a strong town post, Charles Malone questioned the purpose of the $58 million project planned by the Minnesota Department of Transport (MNDOT), including six new roundabouts designed to raise the highway above Baxter’s major interchanges and drive traffic to surrounding strip malls and large box stores. According to Malone, “Even the visual rendering of […]
Report: Proposed DC Rental Act will hurt black people and low-income residents
A report from Washington, DC Council’s Racial Equity (CORE) warns that proposed legislation moving forward through district councils will have a negative impact on black and low-income residents. As Susie Amanuel explains in the Washington city newspaper, rebalancing expectations of the neighbours, tenants and landlords (rentals) law could speed up evictions, remove tenant protections, and […]
Data centers threaten western water supply and power grids
The emerging data center industry is robbing the West of its power and water resources, Jonathan Thompson wrote in High Country News. Large server banks that operate almost every aspect of our digital world are unleashed in warehouses in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Washington and Wyoming, each gobbling as much electricity as small cities to handle […]
LA’s “mobility wallet” helps with bridge transport gaps
A pilot program that provides Los Angeles residents with money to cover transportation costs has resulted in positive early results, according to a study by the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Study. Mobility wallets are part of a broader effort to build universal basic mobility. Mobility Wallet provided funding for participating Angelenos for $1,000 […]