Conservation groups, tribes and community organizers are praising President Joe Biden s decision Thursday to expand two national monuments in California. Together, the monuments will gain about 120,000 acres. The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is 90 minutes northwest of Sacramento and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument lies just east of Los Angeles. .
As part of an effort to restore the Mississippi River delta, an organization is collaborating with nature to address environmental challenges. The Big Muddy is the second-longest river in North America, flowing more than 2,300 miles. Simone Maloz, campaign director for the group Restore the Mississippi River Delta, said the coalition uses nature-based solutions to help tackle some of the river s environmental problems in Louisiana and Mississippi. .
By Annie Ropeik for Energy News Network.Broadcast version by Kathryn Carley for Maine News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration Overnight in early July last year, Vermont solar installer Bill Chidsey got a call that a grocery store he worked with in his village of Hardwick was flooded. He arrived to find feet of water in the Buffalo Mountain Market s utility room, spilling over from the rising Lamoille River in a record-breaking rainstorm. "The grocery store survived by an inch," Chidsey said. " .
Virginia advocates believe more can be done to make higher education accessible to incarcerated people. Only a handful of community colleges partner with less than half of the state s correctional facilities to help people obtain associate s degrees. In 2023, incarcerated people became eligible for federal Pell Grants, supporting tuition costs for low-income individuals. .
Michigan legislators are tackling predatory lending practices, aiming to set standards for payday loans and maximum interest rates. In Kent County alone, with a payday loan volume of $60 million, the House Insurance and Financial Services Committee discussed Senate Bill 632, sponsored by Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, which seeks to cap annual interest rates at 36% compared to current rates reaching nearly 400%. .