The city is working with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that buys medical debt in bulk from hospitals and debt collectors for pennies on the dollar. The group targets the debt of people with low incomes or financial hardships and then forgives the amounts. Under the program, the city will spend $18 million over three years.
A long-awaited suicide prevention barrier at the Golden Gate Bridge has been completed, marking the culmination of a tireless campaign by families who lost loved ones at the famous structure. Crews had been working to finish installing stainless steel nets on both sides of the bridge before a promised 2024 deadline.
With the opening of a new micro-community in northeast Denver, Mayor Mike Johnston estimated over 1,100 hundred people will have been housed before the end of 2023. “As of yesterday, this city succeeded, in under six months, in moving more than 1,000 people off of the streets and into housing,” he said.
The new Bus Rapid Transit system is one of the key components of an ambitious strategy for sustainable urban mobility. It will help improve air quality in Dakar and reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, with around 59,000 tonnes of CO2 avoided per year.
Initially, a Ford E-Transit fitted with a receiver will be used to gather data as part of a five-year pilot to perfect the technology in real-world settings and study potential public transport applications – though there are plans to open the electric road system to the public within the next few years.
According to the new policy, police will not be able to use a statement an officer knows is not true over any mass media or in any way that will “shock the conscience.” The policy also requires officers to get permission before using any ruses, along with other use guidelines.
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeals ruled in favor of two same-sex couples in separate cases involving their rights to own and rent public housing. While same-sex marriage is not legal in the city, the rulings follow other decisions that have firmly established same-sex couples’ rights to equal treatment under the law.
Ruter, the public transportation operator for Oslo, announced this week that it expects to take delivery of 137 more electric buses before the end of December 2023. That will make its bus fleet almost 100% electric 4 years ahead of the company’s initial schedule.
The city’s Common Council unanimously approved a bill to emphasize existing anti-discrimination laws and protect access to gender-affirming care.
It also said the city would not work with out-of-state law enforcement officials looking to punish those who traveled to New York to receive legal healthcare.
Every student in the city will engage in two to five minutes of daily mindfulness, a tactic that has shown positive effects in schools around the world.
