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✏️ Your new Goodnewspaper is almost here...

Sharpen your pencils and crack open your notebooks, the newest Goodnewspaper launches on Monday … it’s The Education Edition!

This installment of The Education Edition features stories like:

• Courageous teachers fighting for the future of education,
• How a movement of “free-range kids” is preparing young people for the real world inside and out of school,
• Dolly Parton’s influence on early childhood literacy,
• And so much more!

Print subscribers, your issue is making its way to your mailbox, and the digital version will hit your inbox on September 1.

Thank you for your continued support in filling mailboxes, inboxes, social media feeds, and the whole world with more good news!

Some anniversaries...

✉️ On the 20th anniversary of the week Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the U.S., killing more than 1,800 people, FEMA staff published an open letter opposing the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency, and demanding change so the country is prepared in the event of another catastrophic disaster.

❤️‍🩹 On the 70th anniversary of Emmett Till’s death, the U.S. government released thousands of pages of the investigation into his lynching. It’s a step toward justice in helping researchers “connect the dots” with more documentation, but we can take our best lessons about what justice looks like from Till’s mother and family members.

LGBTQ+

Two local businesses in Orlando honor the painted-over Pulse crosswalk with new memorials

Last week, the Florida Department of Transportation painted over the rainbow crosswalk near Pulse, a gay nightclub that was the site of a 2016 mass shooting that took the lives of 49 people.

In the days since, community members have shown up with sidewalk chalk to fill it back in, but with the rain continuing to wash it away, two small businesses in the community are making a more permanent solution, ensuring the symbol of love and resilience lives on.

Trina Gregory owns the popular brunch spot Se7en Bites and is hosting an event to transform her restaurant’s private parking lot into a community art space. And at MojoMan Swimwear, owner Lane Blackwell painted a large Progress Pride flag over the pavement in its parking lot.

Why is this good news? A rainbow-painted crosswalk might seem like a small gesture, but for the Orlando community, it was a cornerstone, preserving the memory of those it lost in the Pulse shooting. The state of Florida’s efforts to, quite literally, erase this memory is heartbreaking — but helpers in the community stepping up to keep that memory alive brings some hope, too.

→ Read more​

More Good News

​Adaptation efforts like early warning and preparedness plans have reduced flood deaths in Europe by more than 50% since 1950. Non-structural adaptation measures have also cut economic losses from flooding by 63%, despite the number of people affected by flooding in Europe increasing by 8% due to climate change over the same period.

​Only the second of its kind in the world, Japan just opened the country's first osmotic power plant. It is expected to generate about 880,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, enough to help power a desalination plant that supplies fresh water to the city and neighbouring areas.

​Shops and chefs in Los Angeles have come together to provide meals for people forced to stay home amid immigration raids. Immigrants make up a sizable share of the workforce in the restaurant industry: 20% nationwide, and in California, restaurants are staffed overwhelmingly by Latinos and immigrants – 79% and 66% respectively.

​Researchers found that no-strings-attached cash payments cut infant mortality rates in Kenya by nearly half. Infants born to people who received $1,000, no-strings-attached, were nearly half as likely to die as infants born to people who got no cash. Cash also cut mortality in children under 5 by about 45%, the study researchers found, on par with interventions like vaccines and anti-malarials.

Animals

Conservationists ‘moving on turtle time’ might not know the impact of their work for decades. Still, they press on

→ Read more​

Sports

The first openly gay men’s tennis player is advocating for a more welcoming sport

With the U.S. Open underway, United States Tennis Association President Brian Vahaly is opening up about his own coming out journey — while working to make the sport more welcoming. Tennis has a reputation of being largely white, straight, and conservative, so Vahaly spent most of his career hesitant to come out.

In 2017, Vahaly became the first current or former ATP Tour player to come out as gay. He received some support … and a lot of hate. While there is now greater cultural acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community in tennis, Vahaly knows that many factors are still preventing players from wanting to come out.

Especially since President Trump’s return to office, Vahaly has been using his power and position to use the U.S. Open to amplify the work of LGBTQ organizations such as The Trevor Project, Athlete Ally, You Can Play, and the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance.

Why is this good news? Representation in sports is important — and that includes men’s sports. Traditionally rewarding a single, narrow view of masculinity, when queer athletes are visible, welcomed, and supported in men’s sports, it allows both current and future athletes to feel safe to be who they are, and to know that there’s a place for them, too.

→ Read more​

Good Quote

Today is Mother Teresa’s birthday! We collected some of her most iconic, inspiring quotes to help you celebrate her life and legacy.

More Good bits

💡 A new (gorgeous) species after a simple case of mistaken identity.

💉 A breakthrough HIV treatment is now approved in Europe!

🍑 Atlanta is home to the largest solar rooftop installation.

🦅 Jalen Hurts is a true member of the Philly community. (Instagram)

🌳 Hear that? That’s the sound of trees cooling the neighborhood.

What’s good?

I’ve never been a big tennis watcher, but I’m feeling inspired to watch some of the greats this year!

Will you be tuning in? Who are you excited to watch?

Reply and tell me who to add to my viewing schedule!

— Megan