Uplifting News
- apnews.com Treasury recovers $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from high-wealth tax dodgers
The IRS has collected $1.3 billion from high-wealth tax dodgers since last fall, the agency says, crediting spending that has ramped up collection enforcement through President Joe Biden's signature climate, health care and tax package signed into law in 2022.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/28466921
> The IRS has collected $1.3 billion from high-wealth tax dodgers since last fall, the agency announced Friday, crediting spending that has ramped up collection enforcement through President Joe Biden’s signature climate, health care and tax package signed into law in 2022. > > Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel traveled to Austin, Texas, to tour an IRS campus and announce the latest milestone in tax collections as Republicans warn of big future budget cuts for the tax agency if they take over the White House and Congress. > > Yellen said in a speech in Austin that in 2019, the top one percent of wealthy Americans owed more than one-fifth of all unpaid taxes, “leaving ordinary Americans to shoulder the burden.”
- • 97%arstechnica.com Internet picks “werewolf clawing off its own shirt” as new Michigan “I Voted” sticker
"It was just so hot in that voting booth!"
- www.theguardian.com Lego plans to make half the plastic in bricks from renewable materials by 2026
Toymaker hopes to bring down oil-based plastic it uses by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin to encourage production
- apnews.com Michigan judge loses docket after she's recorded insulting gays and Black people
A suburban Detroit judge is no longer handling cases after a court official turned over recordings of her making anti-gay insults and referring to Black people as lazy.
A suburban Detroit judge is no longer handling cases after a court official turned over recordings of her making anti-gay insults and referring to Black people as lazy.
- www.ktvu.com Gray wolves making historic comeback in California
After being on the verge of extinction in California, the gray wolf is making an historic comeback to the state.The last gray wolf in California was killed in 1924.
- www.eenews.net EPA locks in its flagship climate grants
The move makes it all but impossible for a new administration to claw back $27 billion intended for carbon-cutting projects.
“The move makes it all but impossible for a new administration to claw back $27 billion intended for carbon-cutting projects.”
- www.commondreams.org United Flight Attendants Vote 99.99% to Authorize Strike | Common Dreams
"We have flight attendants who are struggling to make ends meet while our CEOs are on private jets," said one union leader. "We want some respect shown in the contract."
- • 99%www.nbcnews.com Salmon will soon swim freely in the Klamath River for first time in a century once dams are removed
The largest dam removal project in U.S. history is nearing completion.
- • 92%finance.yahoo.com Peloton’s former billionaire CEO says he’s lost all his money and had to sell his possessions
“At one point I had a lot of money on paper,” says Peloton’s ex-CEO John Foley.
- www.bigcountrynewsconnection.com Sanctuary Saves 120 Birds in Western Washington’s Largest Cockfighting Rescue
Heartwood Haven, an animal sanctuary in Roy, Washington, rescued 120 roosters on Aug. 1 from a cockfighting operation in Buckley in Pierce County.
- www.bbc.com Record labels forgot these songs existed. One man rescued them
Thousands of songs are still unavailable on streaming services. Rob Johnson wants to change that.
- www.scientificamerican.com How Food Banks Prevented 1.8 Million Metric Tons of Carbon Emissions Last Year
Redistributing food to food banks before it’s tossed or wasted doesn’t just fight hunger—such efforts also fight climate change
- mesowatch.com The End of Asbestos: EPA's Historic Ban and Its Implications
Learn why the EPA's full ban on asbestos is a pivotal moment in public health protection. Understand the impact on industries and the future of asbestos use.
- www.cbsnews.com More than 100 rabbits rescued from Tennessee home
Animal welfare organization partnered with a local shelter in Chattanooga to rescue more than 100 rabbits from the home of an overwhelmed caregiver.
- www.nzherald.co.nz Uber loses appeal - court rules drivers are employees, not contractors
Government reviews law defining 'employees' and 'contractors'.
- apnews.com US national parks are receiving record-high gift of $100M
The official nonprofit organization of the National Park Service is set to receive the largest grant in its history.
- • 45%whoischic.com Oasis’ £50 Million Reunion: Clues Point to Possible Comeback
Turning to, In a development that has set the music world abuzz, iconic British rock band Oasis may be on the brink […]
These are older stories, but I just found out about this place. Here is a 2nd article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/theme-parks/2024/05/12/morgans-wonderland-theme-park-accessibility/73660563007/
I also just read that they're planning a hotel geared towards families with disabilities
A one-of-a-kind theme park that’s fully accessible to people with disabilities is back to life complete with new rides and attractions after undergoing a multi-million dollar expansion.
Morgan’s Wonderland, an inclusive theme park in San Antonio, recently reopened after four months of improvements and upgrades.
Following the $6.5 million overhaul, the park now offers a first-of-its-kind 4-seat zip line that can accommodate riders in wheelchairs as well as those who need extra restraints, respiratory equipment or other special gear. Another new offering is the wheelchair-accessible Jette’s Wonder Bikes which features glider-style cars that riders can make go up and down using pedals or hand cranks. There is also a lake cruise and a 4D cinema that offers riders in wheelchairs a roller-coaster experience using a video screen with motion effects.
Link to their website: https://morganswonderland.org/
- www.newsweek.com Ron DeSantis suffers string of defeats in Florida school board races
Opponents of DeSantis say the losses are a rejection of his education agenda.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18900805
> Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suffered a string of defeats in school board races in several counties on Tuesday. > > The Republican governor, who has sought to reshape his state's education system by regulating how schools deal with subjects such as race, sexual orientation and gender, threw his support behind 23 school board candidates last month. > > A majority of those candidates lost their races on Tuesday. > > … > > "People want sanity. People want common sense. And people believe we should educate everyone," Long told The Associated Press. "The people have spoken."
Baby beavers have been born in urban London for the first time in more than 400 years, a conservation project said.
The family of Eurasian beavers were introduced to a nature reserve in Ealing, west London, in October as part of a project that aims to get the public to engage with nature, to study biodiversity improvements and to monitor flood mitigation effects.
Project leaders said the fact that at least two babies, or kits as they are called, had been born on the Paradise Fields site in Greenford showed the beavers were "happy" with the habitat.
Dr Sean McCormack, one of the volunteers behind the project, said he and the other volunteers were "totally over the moon, thrilled, excited".
- www.canarymedia.com Chart: US clean energy investment is soaring thanks to climate law
Private and public investment in clean energy rose to a total of $147B in the first half of this year — a record-setting figure.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18786196
> Private and public investment in clean energy rose to a total of $147B in the first half of this year — a record-setting figure. > > Exactly two years ago today, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, establishing a wide array of clean energy programs meant to supercharge spending on climate solutions. > > Investment in clean energy projects — from solar manufacturing facilities to home batteries to hydrogen hubs — has taken off ever since, rising to record heights in the first half of this year. > > Across the first six months of 2024, U.S. cleantech investment hit $147 billion, per new data from the Clean Investment Monitor, a joint project from Rhodium Group and the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. That’s a more than 30 percent jump from the first half of 2023. The report measures actual investment — not announcements or plans — from both public and private sources.
The largest solar grazing project in the U.S. will reduce mowing costs and emissions — and make for some happy sheep.
- • 97%www.nytimes.com A Rescue Dog Went Blind. Now She’s Helping Other Pups Avoid Her Fate.
Shola, who assisted with search-and-rescue operations in the U.K., has moved to her second act: saving other English Shepherds from blindness.
Shola's DNA samples helped researchers decipher a new variant of progressive retinal atrophy. Now, other dogs can be checked for the gene that causes the blindness condition before being used for breeding. She's also really cute.
- • 98%www.nbcnews.com Statue of John Lewis replaces more than 100-year-old Confederate monument
The statue of Lewis will be officially unveiled Aug. 24.
- www.rnz.co.nz The dog, the game of fetch and a tragedy averted
Stuck in waist-high water in a freezing stream with night falling, Lydia Frere desperately churned through her options. Then she asked her dog to fetch.
- • 87%www.nbcnews.com Teacher says contract wasn't renewed because he wouldn't use trans students' preferred names
The Wisconsin English teacher, Jordan Cernek, argues in the suit that the district violated his freedom of religion and free speech in mandating the use of the students' preferred names and pronouns.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18749281
> The Wisconsin English teacher, Jordan Cernek, argues in the suit that the district violated his freedom of religion and free speech in mandating the use of the students' preferred names and pronouns. > > A high school English teacher is suing a Wisconsin school district, alleging it did not renew his contract last year because he refused to use the preferred names of two transgender students. > > Jordan Cernek's federal lawsuit alleges the Argyle School District violated his constitutional and civil rights to be free of religious discrimination and to be able to express himself according to his religious beliefs when it did not renew his contract because he refused to abide by a requirement that teachers use the names or pronouns requested by students.
- variety.com ‘Demure’ Content Creator Can Pay for Gender Transition After the Trend Goes Viral: ‘TikTok Has Changed My Life’
Influencer Jools Lebron, who has popularized the term "demure" across social media platforms, shared that she can now finance a gender transition.
- www.lgbtqnation.com These moms' sperm donor sued them to get parental rights. They just won a court victory. - LGBTQ Nation
"I feel like we can breathe for the first time in a year and a half," one of the women said. The Star Tribune article noted Edrington "seemed to not fully appreciate how a married couple would be devastated by the prospect of redefining their family and being ordered by a court to share custody of t...
The musicians of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra have sensationally passed a vote of no confidence in their senior management, after an acclaimed pianist was removed from a performance because he spoke in support of journalists who died in Gaza.
“We believe it is the duty of senior management to lead and manage in accordance with the MSO’s Values and Behaviours, however it has become apparent that these values no longer appear to be aligned with those of the Orchestra and staff,” the letter read.
At a concert on Sunday, Jayson Gillham dedicated a solo to journalists in Gaza — then had his following concert on Thursday cancelled.
- • 96%www.advocate.com A Colorado man threatened to 'shoot up' a drag show. Artists are responding with a bigger show
Drag artists in a Colorado city are hosting their biggest show yet after a man allegedly threatened to carry out a mass shooting during one of their performances
- kathmandupost.com It’s official: Chinese drones will fly trash out of Everest slopes
In a flight test, the DJI FlyCart 30 could ferry 234 kg an hour, a task carried out by some 14 porters in six hours.
- abcnews.go.com Large desert tortoise rescued from Arizona highway after escaping from ostrich ranch 3 miles away
State Department of Public Safety troopers recently helped rescue an escaped sulcata tortoise that was attempting to cross Interstate 10 near Picacho
- www.theguardian.com Scientists hail ‘smart’ insulin that responds to changing blood sugar levels in real time
Exclusive: People with type 1 diabetes may in future only need to give themselves insulin once a week, say experts
- www.scmp.com Hong Kong’s Ying Ying gives birth to twins, becoming oldest first-time panda mum
Ocean Park, which houses the pandas, had kept the pregnancy quiet, with the cubs conceived naturally.
- www.yahoo.com White House says deals struck to cut prices of popular Medicare drugs that cost $50 billion yearly
The Biden administration said Thursday that drug price negotiations will knock hundreds of dollars — in some cases thousands — off the list prices of 10 of Medicare’s most popular and costliest drugs. The discounts, agreed to after months of negotiations with drug manufacturers, range between 38% a...
