Local

A library card is becoming an unexpected money-saving tool in US; one Chicago-area library partnered with local businesses for discounts, while Brooklyn added 150,018 cardholders through August, up 16% from 2 years earlier

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A library card is becoming an unexpected money-saving tool in US; one Chicago-area library partnered with local businesses for discounts, while Brooklyn added 150,018 cardholders through August, up 16% from 2 years earlier

A library card is becoming an unexpected money-saving tool for Americans, as public libraries expand beyond books and offer access to free entertainment, technology help, community services and, in some places, discounts at local businesses.In Glenview, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, the local library partnered with businesses during September’s Library Card Sign-Up Month to offer special … Read more

In 2014, a small group in Goulburn began pursuing a community-owned solar farm; 12 years later, 300 mostly local investors had raised $3.3 million and the 1.4MW plant with a 4MWh battery opened

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In 2014, a small group in Goulburn began pursuing a community-owned solar farm; 12 years later, 300 mostly local investors had raised $3.3 million and the 1.4MW plant with a 4MWh battery opened

A small group of Goulburn residents gathered around kitchen tables in late 2014 to discuss a simple idea: making their own clean electricity. Twelve years later, that discussion became Australia’s first community-owned solar farm paired with a large-scale battery. The 1.4-megawatt facility, backed by a four-megawatt-hour battery, officially opened on an old industrial site on … Read more

An Illinois thrift store has collected more than 100,000 donated items and runs with 200 regular volunteers, using every resale purchase to support local families in crisis

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An Illinois thrift store has collected more than 100,000 donated items and runs with 200 regular volunteers, using every resale purchase to support local families in crisis

An Illinois thrift shop run by a team of 200 regular volunteers has processed more than 100,000 donated items, putting every dollar earned from second-hand sales toward helping local families going through financial hardship. House of Hope Resale, located in Barrington, Illinois, turns unwanted household goods, clothing, and furniture into direct emergency help. Run under … Read more

Trump’s Green Card rule challenged by a coalition of states and local governments who call new policy ‘catastrophic’

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Trump's Green Card rule challenged by a coalition of states and local governments who call new policy 'catastrophic'

Trump’s new Green Card rule, scheduled to come into effect from September 18, has been legally challenged by a coalition of states and local governments. A new Green Card rule is scheduled to come into effect on September 18, in which an officer can deny a Green Card to an applicant if they can potentially … Read more

30 Kansas inmates donate $4,267 from their own funds to pay down local children’s lunch debt

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30 Kansas inmates donate $4,267 from their own funds to pay down local children's lunch debt

Nearly 30 incarcerated men in northwest Kansas have donated $4,267 to help pay down unpaid school meal debt at Norton Community Schools, turning money raised inside a correctional facility into support for children in their local community. Members of Reaching Out From Within, a rehabilitation programme at Norton Correctional Facility, raised $3,810 from their personal … Read more

Six people buried in a rare Viking Age grave in Latvia show signs of violence and family ties, with DNA pointing to local Baltic ancestry

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Six people buried in a rare Viking Age grave in Latvia show signs of violence and family ties, with DNA pointing to local Baltic ancestry

A rare ninth-century grave in Latvia has revealed clues about violence, family ties and life during the Viking Age. Six people were buried at the Čunkāni-Dreņģeri cemetery in the Zemgale region, an unusual arrangement for a Semigallian burial ground where people were generally laid to rest alone. Sharp-force injuries found on the remains of three … Read more

In Japan, local authorities have installed signs warning drivers that cats may suddenly dash into the road, using playful illustrations to make the danger memorable

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In Japan, local authorities have installed signs warning drivers that cats may suddenly dash into the road, using playful illustrations to make the danger memorable

An unusual road-safety idea in Japan is turning an everyday danger into something drivers are unlikely to forget. In parts of the country, signs featuring cats warn motorists that an animal could suddenly run into the road. Some of the designs are deliberately playful, using striking cat illustrations rather than conventional wildlife-warning imagery. The idea … Read more

Benton Heights residents began asking for a playground in 2012; $1 million later, the community has opened its first park, and local children helped design it

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Benton Heights residents began asking for a playground in 2012; $1 million later, the community has opened its first park, and local children helped design it

Benton Heights Celebrates First Developed ParkPhoto credit: New Heights CCDA/ Facebook For more than a decade, families in the Benton Heights neighbourhood of Benton Township, Michigan, watched children play in yards, on street corners and in schoolyards, but had no local park of their own. Residents first began formally asking for a playground in 2012, … Read more

Sea Otters were successfully reintroduced in Canada after their extinction due to fur trade, protecting the kelp populations; but now they are threatening a ‘local delicacy’

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Sea Otters were successfully reintroduced in Canada after their extinction due to fur trade, protecting the kelp populations; but now they are threatening a 'local delicacy'

The reintroduction and success of sea otters in British Columbia was a story that initially satisfied everyone including conservationists and the natives. The adorable creatures once occupied much of Canada’s Pacific coast, before the fur trade for their exceptionally dense coats turned into a mass death sentence. But now, their population is threatening the availability … Read more

Brazil’s polluted Rio mangroves were disappearing under waste; then local fishers restored 18.2 hectares and more than 60 animal species returned

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Brazil’s polluted Rio mangroves were disappearing under waste; then local fishers restored 18.2 hectares and more than 60 animal species returned

Local fishers collect waste from Guanabara Bay as part of a mangrove restoration and cleanup effort in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Decades of pollution, untreated sewage, industrial activity and waste have placed heavy pressure on the mangroves around Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay in Brazil. Yet in one of the bay’s remaining protected mangrove areas, … Read more