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US National Park Service To Receive Largest Grant In History: $100M (Maria)
The author writes, “The official nonprofit organization of the US National Park Service is set to receive the largest grant in its history, a $100M gift the fundraising group described as transformative for the country’s national parks. The National Park Foundation, which Congress created in the 1960s to support national parks, will receive the donation from the Indianapolis-based foundation Lilly Endowment Inc. The park foundation described the gift on Monday as the largest grant in history benefiting US national parks.”
Ready or Not, Election Season in the US Starts Soon. The First Ballots Will Go out in Just Two Weeks (Reader Steve)
From the Associated Press: “It might feel like the presidential election is still a long way off. It’s not. There are just over 70 days until Election Day on Nov. 5, but major dates, events and political developments will make it fly by. … In just two weeks, Sept. 6, the first mail ballots get sent to voters. The first presidential debate is set for Sept. 10. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is scheduled to be sentenced in his New York hush money case on Sept. 18. And early in-person voting will start as soon as Sept. 20 in some states. Here’s a look at why the calendar will move quickly now that the Democratic and Republican conventions are wrapped.”
Harris Goes Light on Climate Policy. Green Leaders Are OK With That. (Laura)
From The New York Times: “In the 2020 presidential election, climate activists demanded that Democratic candidates explain, in detail, how they planned to tackle the planet’s greatest environmental threat. But in the weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris ascended the 2024 Democratic ticket, she has mentioned climate change only in passing, and offered no specifics on how she would curb dangerous levels of warming. Climate leaders say they are fine with that.”
Colorado, US Department of Justice Sue RealPage Over Alleged Price-Fixing Scheme To Drive up Rent (DonkeyHotey)
From The Colorado Sun: “Colorado and seven other states on Friday filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice accusing property management firm RealPage of coordinating with landlords to drive up rent in a vast price-fixing scheme. The federal lawsuit says RealPage, a tech firm based in a Dallas suburb, controls as much as 80% of the national market for landlord revenue management software, giving it outsize power to ‘subvert competition’ and distort the multifamily rental market to the benefit of landlords — and to the detriment of renters as housing costs reach record levels of unaffordability.”
NJ Attorney General Mandate Changes How Rape Kits Are Processed Following News 12 Investigation (Dana)
From News 12 New Jersey: “New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin says he hopes his decision to test all rape kits released to law enforcement will give survivors a ‘sense of justice.’ Platkin’s comments come one day after he issued a directive mandating that all Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) kits released to law enforcement must now be tested. ‘This has been a long time coming,’ Platkin told [News 12’s] Kane In Your Corner. … Platkin’s directive comes after a three-year Kane In Your Corner investigation, ‘Victims of the System,’ which exposed that despite its longtime claim that it had ‘no backlog’ of SAFE kits, New Jersey actually had tens of thousands of untested kits.”
Toad Extinction Highlights Deadly Fungus Spreading Through Africa (Sean)
The author writes, “Since it erupted out of Asia decades ago, the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has become the most devastating disease for wildlife ever known. A ‘global pandemic’ strain of the so-called chytrid fungus has led to the extinction of about 90 species of amphibians, mostly tropical frogs, and nearly wiped out 500 more. But the pandemic strain of Bd isn’t the only troublemaker. In a new study, researchers blame the extinction of a rare Tanzanian toad on a different strain endemic to Africa, called BdCAPE, which had been thought to be less virulent than the global lineage.”
Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Patti Smith Join Fight To Save NYC Elizabeth Street Garden (Russ)
The author writes, “High octane celebrities Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Patti Smith waded into a fight to keep the Elizabeth Street Garden, a whimsical greenspace near Little Italy, from being turned into affordable housing on Thursday, penning letters to Mayor Adams and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The stars join a group of New Yorkers, including area seniors and elementary school children, in a last-ditch campaign to prevent the garden from being turned into a high-rise. … The tussle over the garden comes amid a housing crisis and record homelessness in New York City. Attempts to meet the dire need for more affordable housing usually meet fierce community pushback.”
