Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

I’m glad to be able to get this out to you from home, on a working computer, and in plenty of time for you to read it today! It’s important to me that I set you up for your week right.

Here’s the TLDR: Lots of good stuff happened this week, and much of it can be directly traced back to the work of people like you, so please enjoy this list of our recent wins, share it widely, and give yourself a pat on the back for being part it.

Remember, none of us has to do everything to save democracy, but if each of us just does something, wins like these will keep happening.

Enjoy! And thanks for your support!

Celebrate This! 🎉

6-year-old Martina is out of ICE detention — YOUR CALLS MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE! I got this text from one of my sources: “It’s kind of a big deal to have a GOP member of congress work to get a kid out. He absolutely wouldn’t have if he wasn’t so badgered by everyone. All the calls and tags worked.” AMAZING! 🙌🏼

A federal judge ruled Idaho must allow abortions when necessary to protect a woman’s health - not only when her life is at risk.

In a win for Michigan voters, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump DOJ's request to reconsider a ruling from a three-judge panel in June that denied its demand for the state's unredacted voter data.

A federal court in Nevada became the latest district court to reject the Trump administration’s floundering campaign to force states to turn over their unredacted voter rolls. For those keeping count, that makes their record 0-22.

Home battery installations are growing despite the Trump administration’s eliminating the tax credits for them.

Amanda Janoo won the Democratic Primary for Governor of Vermont! She came out of nowhere to win the hearts and minds of Vermonters.

Two Republican-backed amendments were roundly defeated in Missouri. One would have toughened the rules for approving citizen-led changes to the state constitution, and the other would have phased out Missouri’s personal income tax and raised other sales taxes to offset the lost revenue.

Kansas voters have rejected a plan to fundamentally remake the Kansas Supreme Court — a longtime priority for Republican lawmakers who placed the constitutional amendment proposal on the ballot and framed the urgency of its passage in dire terms.

Seattle Public Schools will begin free meals at all of its schools this fall.

Federal prosecutors said Andrew and Tristan Tate should remain in jail while their extradition proceedings play out, citing the brothers’ own social media posts as evidence they are flight risks and a danger to the community.

A Nebraska court rejected the RNC’s lawsuit seeking to block certain U.S. citizens abroad from voting in the state, handing the national GOP another major loss in its escalating legal campaign against overseas voters.

SpaceX’s earnings show that Elon Musk wiped out two-thirds of Twitter’s ad business.

Florence Pugh hosted a "Together for Palestine" concert in London. It sold out and raised $2 million in relief money for Palestine.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced the state has successfully met or surpassed nearly all of its pollution reduction targets set under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

Flock contract cancellations or rejections have now hit 28 states.

A federal judge threw out the Trump administration’s antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard University, a blow to the government’s efforts to force the university into a settlement.

The Trump administration abandoned its effort to obtain sensitive medical records from transgender young people who received gender-affirming care at a Pennsylvania hospital.

A federal judge again blocked ⁠the USPS from implementing part of Trump’s executive order that aims ⁠to tighten rules for mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections.

Anthropic says it will put an invisible watermark on Claude-generated text and images in an effort to comply with European rules for AI transparency.

After years of decline, Mexico’s overwintering monarch numbers were 64% higher this past winter.

Arizona erased more than $1 billion in medical debt for nearly 671,000 residents through Undue Medical Debt.

For the first time, solar power was Portugal’s main source of electricity in July.

Over 30 students occupied the lobby of OpenAI’s new office near Capitol Hill for two hours, unfurling banners reading "Stop Stealing Our Future" and "OpenAI bought my Senator."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is getting transparent about freezing her eggs, documenting the process on social media to normalize the experience and give other women a behind-the-scenes look at her decision. It’s actually amazing.

The Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters, which leans red, endorsed Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate.

Trump’s net approval rating has fallen to -27, a new record low in the Economist/YouGov tracking poll.

Following an overwhelming turnout of passionate residents at Tuesday’s city council meeting, officials in Panama City Beach, FL voted to keep physical books on their library’s shelves rather than clearing them out to make room for other municipal projects.

Russia released Robert Gilman, an American who had been held in prison for more than four years.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has permanently halted Shell and Impact Africa’s controversial oil and gas exploration off the pristine Wild Coast. HUGE!

The DNC reversed course on its decision to eliminate Ranked Choice Voting in Democratic primaries!

California’s electric grid is cleaner today than it has ever been, thanks to renewable energy sources like solar power.

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (72%) say they are "very likely" or "absolutely certain" to vote in the November 2026 general election for congressional and state offices, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll.

Minnesota made history when its voters chose to advance all women candidates for the first time in each of the major party primaries for governor and U.S. senator.

New research finds that companies that resisted the pressure and kept their DEI practices after Trump threatened to target them, including Costco, Apple, and Delta Air Lines, performed just as well as their competitors who pulled back.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation announced that the state will begin phasing out paraquat, a powerful weedkiller associated with birth defects, thyroid issues, and other serious health problems.

A judge ordered the Kennedy Center to pay a musician more than $250,000 in legal fees after dismissing a lawsuit the center had filed against him for backing out of a concert late last year, in protest of Trump’s name being added to the institution.

A 41,000-person Facebook group is leading the fight against data center proposals in Pennsylvania.

Karoline Leavitt is leaving. Good riddance.

Canada ended sperm donor restrictions for gay and bisexual men, a “precedent-setting” move toward “ending decades-long discrimination.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a plan to give 2,000 free Broadway tickets to high school students in the city.

New Jersey passed a new “big tech” law to regulate kids’ social media use. The law will limit social media platforms’ use of children’s data, restrict algorithmic content recommendations to minors, block notifications during school hours, and more.

In a victory for voters, a Michigan judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the RNC that sought to make it easier for partisan poll challengers to dispute voter eligibility and interrupt the state’s ballot-counting process.

A new study shows that across the globe, solar energy is projected to supply about 61% of the world’s electricity by 2050. Also, the world just passed a huge solar milestone: three trillion watts of power.

Democrats overwhelmingly outvoted Republicans in several key primaries on Tuesday: Wisconsin governor by +301k, Minnesota U.S. Senate by +291k, and Minnesota governor by +272k.

Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy, lost his primary in Minnesota.

Candidates from local to statewide races who took stances against data centers prevailed in Michigan’s primary elections!

A new fund called the Phoenix Species Project will pump $200 million into efforts to pull 100 animals and plants back from the brink of extinction.

Sarah George, a progressive prosecutor in Vermont, secured another term.

New Mexico’s clean-energy transition is emerging as a success story in a state long associated with fossil-fuel production. In just five years, solar, wind, and batteries overtook fossil fuels. And electricity prices remained cheaper than average.

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million for an abatement fund to address the harms it has done to the state’s youth.

An appeals court in San Francisco found that Meta, along with Google, TikTok, and Snapchat, had to face more than 3,000 lawsuits against the social media platforms charging them with being addictive to young users.

Ford says it has hired back some human engineers after AI failed to match their skills and experience. (This one is from June but I missed it back then and think it’s worth sharing.)

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill lifting the restriction on abortion at or after 24 weeks, making the state’s abortion law one of the broadest in the country.

New research from the Civics Center shows that many more 18-year-old Americans are registered to vote in this year’s midterm elections than at this point in 2022.

Main activists held the second stop on the “Retire Susan” recess tour, this time at Senator Collins’ office in Portland, where they highlighted her failure to protect Mainers’ reproductive rights.

4 years ago, Ken Paxton stole someone's $1,000 pen. This week, Ken Paxton’s pen victim endorsed James Talarico in a new ad.

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Hope you had a good week and enjoyed a bit of time off from the newsletter. I’ve been on vacation with 18 family members in beautiful Nova Scotia, and it’s been wonderful. Since I haven’t worked in days, and since my laptop also just died and I am now tapping away uncertainly on my teenager’s MacBook with a broken spacebar, this list may be a tiny bit shorter than usual. I promise it’ll be back to full length next week after I’ve gotten home and secured a new computer.

In the meantime I hope you’ll enjoy this brief foray into the world of good news. Savor it! Re-read it! Share it!

And remember that lists like this are only possible because of people like you. Thanks for all the hard work you do making the world—and our country—a better place!

Celebrate This! 🎉

Democrats flipped 4 seats and won a majority in Tennessee’s Montgomery County Commission race. The 21-member Commission has gone from being evenly split to having an 11-member Democratic majority.

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport launched a civil rights investigation into Delaney Hall, issuing investigative subpoenas to the Newark facility run by the GEO Group.

Associate Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the felony vandalism case against Olympian David Hearn.

A U.S. District Court Judge ruled the Shenandoah County School Board violated federal civil rights laws by reinstating Confederate names to two schools, ordering the board to promptly remove the monikers.

The CLARITY Act will not be voted on before the recess! We know Republicans never give up so we still have to do calls again later, but the awful crypto bill’s odds of passing just plummeted. A big WIN!!

A federal judge issued yet another blow to Trump’s war on wind, ruling that the Defense Department must resume its review of onshore wind permit applications.

Joanna Whaley, a former megachurch pastor who endured 15 years of conversion practices, is set to become the first transgender member of Michigan’s state legislature after winning her Democratic primary election on Tuesday.

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million and make changes to the way young people can use its platforms, in its ongoing legal battles over social media harm and addiction. The ruling was in addition to $375 million that Meta was ordered to pay in the same case in March, when a jury found that the company misled users about the safety of its platforms and enabled the sexual exploitation of young people.

The DOJ took its latest blow in a failing voter roll crusade as a federal judge dismissed its case targeting Washington, D.C. This marks a 0-21 record for them.

A federal appeals court panel ruled that Trump cannot continue building the ballroom without explicit approval from Congress. The ruling does not immediately halt construction, but it is a blow to the president and all but guarantees that the Supreme Court will decide the fate of the ballroom.

Two Republican mayors from the reddest parts of Georgia are breaking ranks to back Jon Ossoff’s reelection bid, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Democrat’s work for their communities outweighs partisan differences.

Maryland lawmakers approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would clear a major legal obstacle to redrawing the state’s congressional map before 2028, giving voters the final say on whether Maryland can fight back against Trump’s expanding wave of GOP gerrymanders.

Embattled North Carolina Republican congressman Chuck Edwards withdrew from his reelection campaign, two days after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured for unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his office.

Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan's Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in a massive victory for the party's progressive wing in a battleground state.

William Lawrence (whom I interviewed on a Live recently) won his primary election for Congress in Michigan, too!

Donavan McKinney, (whom we also had here on a Live) won his Detroit area primary election as well! Another progressive unseats a moderate, corporate Dem and heads to Congress!

All 8 of Winona, MN’s Flock cameras were stolen this week.

A Kansas state court just permanently struck down a long list of abortion restrictions, ruling that they violated the fundamental right to abortion, and health care providers’ right to free speech under the state constitution.

Baltimore had its first July with single-digit homicides in a quarter of a century.

Missouri voters blocked a GOP-led effort to raise the bar to pass constitutional amendments. The push came after progressives in the solidly Republican state found success with ballot measures related to abortion, health care and the minimum wage.

A divided federal appeals court said the Trump administration improperly terminated billions of dollars in funds to boost clean energy projects, handing a win to a coalition of nonprofits picked to run the Biden-era effort.

Minnesota’s ban on AI ‘nudification’ technology is officially the law! A judge denied Elon Musk’s attempt to prevent the law from going into effect.

The federal government dropped charges against three more individuals in connection with damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, further weakening Trump's argument that it was the work of vandals.

The Education Department will erase roughly $11 billion in federal student loan debt owed by more than 170,000 borrowers after a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to delay relief for students who claimed they were defrauded by their schools.

More than 1,000 employees at the biggest AI companies wrote an open letter urging the U.S. government to slow the pace of AI development.

Amid growing public backlash, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a moratorium on data center approvals until audits are completed by state regulatory agencies.

The first 2,000 children were officially enrolled in New York City’s inaugural free 2-K class.

The F.D.A. approved Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine. The agency had initially refused to even review the application but reversed course after a public outcry.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger restored voting rights to 66,000 people with past felony convictions. The announcement comes ahead of the November referendum that would automatically restore the right to vote after release from incarceration.

New Jersey announced that it has effectively eliminated veteran homelessness through rapid rehousing, street outreach, and emergency sheltering.

Exactly eight months after NYC Mayor Mamdani signed an executive order for housing development, the city has broken ground on a large-scale affordable housing project, utilizing more than 100 city-owned sites to build an estimated 50,000 new affordable homes for New Yorkers.

Food delivery workers in New York City earned an additional $104 million in tips after the city started enforcing a law to crack down on “deceptive” tipping practices from delivery apps.

After Howard University unenrolled hundreds of students for missed tuition payments, New York offered college admission at two universities for residents who were impacted.

Awful Tennessee Republican Congressmember Andy Ogles lost his primary! He’s out as of January 1, 2027!

Chandler, AZ just pulled the plug on their 40+ Flock cameras after a police officer got caught using the system for personal reasons.

The Senate has adjourned until September 14 without passing the SAVE Act!

Speaking of Tennessee, Democratic turnout for House primaries in a majority-Black county there surged to the highest level in a decade! And Justin Pearson won his primary!

And Democrats flipped the Knox County School Board in TN as well.

In Augusta Township, MI voters resoundingly rejected rezoning more than 500 acres of farmland for a hyperscale data center.

The Amsterdam Pride parade this weekend prominently featured this Trump-kissing-Putin float. It was a crowd favorite!

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

It’s been, as usual, a chaotic, frustrating, and occasionally painful week. Fortunately we’ve also seen Americans fighting back, courts holding MAGA to account, and other signs of progress brought about by determined fighters everywhere who are refusing to back down. So take a pause from doomscrolling and check out this long list of what went right this week. It’ll shore you up, I promise!

My one ask? Share this list with someone you know who’s in despair. It’s so important to remind our friends and family that wins are still happening—they just require tenacity and elbow grease to bring about! The more of us who join this work, the longer these weekly lists will be!

And thanks to all of you for supporting me. It never ceases to amaze me that you do. I’m so grateful for it.

Support my work. Subscribe here.

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Celebrate This! 🎉

In both May and June, solar was the top source of electricity in the European Union, providing a record-high 25% of its power in June alone.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is abandoning his divisive plan to sell World Cup profits to private equity after receiving pushback from all corners of the soccer world.

A district court dismissed, with prejudice, the DOJ’s lawsuit against the executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections, who refused to turn over Illinois’ complete, unredacted statewide voter registration list.

Federal prosecutors dropped the high-profile criminal case against former U.S. Olympian David Hearn over supposed damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. They also publicly acknowledged that the pool liner’s damage resulted from a “botched installation” rather than deliberate acts of criminal destruction.

Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Graham Nash and singer/songwriter Jesse Welles both canceled concerts scheduled this week at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Virginia, citing an ongoing labor dispute at the garden.

Harrisonburg, VA ended its contract with Flock.

Gov. Tina Kotek has ordered Oregon to withdraw its land sale for a controversial data center near Salem.

New York sued Kalshi — alleging it’s an illegal gambling operation.

Over the last few months, people have cut down surveillance cameras owned by the company Flock Safety with an electric saw in upstate New York, thrown paint on them in Oakland, California, and rammed a truck into them in Idaho.

A new analysis of Black voters in the south indicates that Republican attempts to dilute their political power is driving them to the polls in larger numbers and shifting their counties further left.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Trump administration cannot detain illegal immigrants inside the U.S. without bond hearings, rejecting its expansion of mandatory detention rules.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz banned state workers from betting with private government info on prediction markets.

California's Scholarshare College Savings Fund Board decided to change a low performing mutual fund in their college savings investment options with a higher preforming fund that excludes fossil fuel companies.

California just became the first major grid system on the planet to generate more than 50% of its electricity from solar across an entire month.

A federal judge has tossed Kash Patel's $10 million lawsuit against a blogger who called him a "googly-eyed Kremlin bitch" and a "blatantly incompetent chud."

A ghost gun company was ordered to pay $100M in the death of a Kentucky teen in a historic verdict.

An 11-year-old in Florida was recognized for reading over 100 hours to animals in shelters.

A group of women called the “Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage” are cleaning up ponds in Cape Cod, one by one. Amazing.

The Senate unanimously agreed that Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and collaborator of Jeffrey Epstein, should not be allowed a presidential pardon or clemency of any kind.

86 senators voted to move forward with a Russia and Iran sanctions bill.

A new Fox News poll in North Carolina finds Roy Cooper (D) leads Michael Whatley (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 53% to 44%.

Barack Obama will hold a fund-raiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a fresh sign that Democrats intend to continue their aggressive push to gerrymander congressional districts ahead of the 2028 election.

Trump’s net approval rating has fallen to a record-low 25 points underwater, with just 35% approving of his job performance and 60% disapproving.

New data from the World Health Organization shows the global rate of road traffic deaths fell by 21% between 2011 and 2025. That decrease happened even with the addition of more than one billion motor vehicles to roadways globally.

So far in 2026, seven states have restricted the use of AI in health insurance companies’ medical authorization decisions.

After more than 21 years without local access, a Planned Parenthood clinic in southwest Missouri began providing abortion care, along with expanding pain management for IUD placements and biopsies.

GOP fundraising groups have as of yet refused to spend any money on Ken Paxton’s senate campaign. Meanwhile, James Talarico entered July holding about nine times as much cash in his principal campaign account as Paxton has in his.

Iowa Democrat Josh Turek got an assist from Barack Obama, who endorsed his bid to flip a Republican-held U.S. Senate seat in a video of the two shooting hoops.

The teleprompter operator accused of unlawfully gambling on Trump’s speeches via a prediction marketplace is no longer employed by the White House.

Nearly 80,000 acres of land and water will now be protected in western Maine, thanks to one of the largest collaborative conservation projects in Maine history.

Johnson & Johnson will pay $5.5B in settlement money over talc cancer lawsuits.

The DOJ has moved to dismiss charges against David Huerta, a prominent California union leader who was arrested while protesting against an ICE raid in Los Angeles last year.

A Canadian Solar subsidiary opened its $1 billion flagship solar cell manufacturing facility in southern Indiana, which is expected to create 1,200 jobs.

Electric vehicle sales and charging stations are booming in states you might not expect, like Florida and Texas. Last month in Georgia, there were 29% more charging ports than a year earlier.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that new city-owned grocery stores will cut prices by 30% on basic items.

California has just switched on its first canal solar project. Supporters of this pilot program believe this approach could one day help California save more than 60 billion gallons of water every year.

About 71% of the clean electricity generation and 67% of the power sector emissions reductions projected to arrive thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are still on track to be realized as of mid-2026.

Electric heat pumps have outsold gas furnaces in the United States since 2022, and they’re now on track to overtake conventional ACs this year as well after a near-tie in 2025!¹

For the third year in a row, global hunger has fallen.

Michigan passed a law that requires the state to preserve 50% of foster children’s federal benefits so that they have financial support when they age out.

ICE has informed the Shapiro administration that it will not use two warehouses it purchased in Pennsylvania as detention centers.

Thirteen protesters ranging in age from 20 to 74 blocked the entrances to ICE's National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center, a response to fatal ICE shootings in Maine and Texas earlier this month.

The DOJ lost yet another voter roll lawsuit in New Jersey. For those counting at home, that makes them 0-18. Yikes.

Daniel Boone Regional Library went ahead with its first "rainbow story time" for toddlers after Missouri's secretary of state threatened in writing to strip its state and federal funding. More than 100 residents showed up to support the library, chalking "love is love" messages on the sidewalk outside.

NJ Governor Mikie Sherrill signed a bill banning New Jersey businesses from using personal data to charge shoppers different prices for identical products.

After massive backlash, a school district in New York has paused its plan to deploy an AI-powered teaching assistant in classrooms.

Big cat conservationists in Zambia say leopard numbers are rebounding thanks in part to local communities swapping real furs for synthetic in traditional ceremonies.

Texas surpassed its annual Kemp’s ridley sea turtle nesting record.

Dozens of attorneys, social workers and staff at the Bronx Defenders walked off the job, forgoing pay to demand a fair contract after months of stalled talks.

SpaceX has lost $1 trillion in value since June’s all-time high.

The Michigan Supreme Court halted the Line 5 tunnel project, ordering more review. This will likely delay it for years! Woot!

A collection of former Biden administration officials, academics and policy experts released what they described as a counterweight to the conservative Project 2025, the policy handbook written by many Trump administration officials. Its top focus? Climate action.

Nearly one-quarter of those who voted for Trump in 2024 now say they regret their vote (23%). This is up four points from 19% in late June.

Walmart stores are rapidly building EV chargers even in states where charger construction has otherwise been slow.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill to make Illinois the first state to officially recognize gambling disorder as an addiction.

The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Proposition 211, a ballot measure to require special interests that buy advertisements for state and local elections to disclose their donors.

Watch This! 👀

Ohio’s Burning River Brigade really knocked it out of the park this week! Watch!

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Sorry this is out a bit later than usual—I spoke at an event in Northern CA today with the great Robert B. Hubbell, and the time spent there, plus a few hours in the car and now the flight home, have delayed my work on this newsletter. It was worth it, though! If you could have been at this Commit to Democracy meetup you wouldn’t have even needed the good news listed below! It was incredible! Suffice it to say that the resistance is alive and well, and preparing for the midterms in ways that truly inspire.

For those of you I met today thanks again for a wonderful event. And for all of you, here’s your belated but still terrific rundown of all of this week’s good news.

Enjoy!

Celebrate This! 🎉

Paramount agreed to halt its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until next June at the latest while a judge considers a lawsuit from state attorneys general who sued to block the deal. HUGE!

China plans to increase wind and solar power generation by 53% over the next five years, under a new renewable energy plan that for the first time makes its green power target binding.

A federal judge ordered the EPA to administer a $2.8 billion climate grant program that the Trump administration had rescinded.

The Justice Department withdrew the subpoenas that sought phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times journalists who had reported on the security liabilities of Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One jet.

France passed a landmark law restricting access to social media for anyone under 15, the first European country to do so, and the latest in a wave of countries acting against what they view as malign effects of such services on minors.

Nineteen state attorneys general have now moved to join a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to freeze routine reviews of land-based wind projects across the country.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ordered the DHS to halt the deportation of Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, a witness to the fatal July 7 shooting of Lorenzo Araujo Salgado in Houston.

A new analysis from marketing consulting firm Emarketer found that OpenAI is on pace to undershoot its own five-year ad revenue projections by a whopping 90 percent.

Mayor Mamdani sent notification letters to property owners with second homes worth more than $5 million letting them know the pied-a-terre tax is coming soon.

Katy Perry slammed Donald Trump for using her song ‘Firework’ to accompany footage of US strikes on Iran. The singer shared that she is "deeply appalled and angry.” Good!

Swimming classes have started again in Gaza after three years of war, with hundreds of children learning to float, doggy paddle and take their first strokes in five makeshift sea pools built from sandbags and rubble.

A new Emerson College survey of likely 2026 voters finds the Democrats with an 11-point advantage over the Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, leading 53% to 42%.

Amish Shah, an emergency room physician who backs Medicare for All, won the Democratic primary in his swing Arizona House district.

Environmental groups and tribes are suing the Trump administration over a new rule eliminating the majority of habitat protections for imperiled wildlife protected by the Endangered Species Act.

A new American Research Group poll finds just 30% of Americans say they approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president and 67% say they disapprove.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new initiative aimed at bolstering the journalism ecosystem with a focus on local, community, and underserved news outlets.

Butterfly experts are planting 15,000 milkweed plants along Florida roadsides to help monarch butterflies.

A U.S. appeals court rejected the Justice Department’s request to let federal officials fully move ahead with Trump’s overhaul of mail voting ahead of the November midterm elections, leaving in place a Boston judge’s order that declared the president’s policies unlawful.

Vigils honoring Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastian Guerrero, both killed by ICE agents this month, happened in communities across the country this weekend. One is pictured at the top of this newsletter!

After floating the idea of keeping Democrat Cindy Burbank on Nebraska’s ballot for U.S. Senate after she asked to be removed, Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced he will allow her to be deleted because the state law doesn’t give him the authority to refuse. (This will help Dan Osborne!)

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to approve a $16.9 billion budget deal, closing a deficit of more than $640 million while avoiding many of the most painful cuts labor groups and nonprofits had feared.

A Trump-appointed judge threw out the DOJ’s lawsuit seeking Kentucky’s unredacted voter rolls, bringing the department to a staggering 17 straight losses.

A judge declined to pause her earlier ruling that blocked New Hampshire’s restrictive proof-of-citizenship voting law while the state appeals.

The official account for Spain’s national football league shared an altered image of the country’s celebration in New Jersey Sunday, snipping Trump out of photos after he refused to leave the dais. The FIFA World Cup account also cropped him out of the shot, leaving only the president’s shoulder in view.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) said she has no plans to supply the DOJ with data on thousands of noncitizens who were erroneously registered to vote due to a software malfunction. She says, rightly, that the DOJ would “weaponize” it.

Republican Governor Mike Kehoe of MO signed a GOP-sponsored omnibus elections law that, among other things, restores voting rights to an estimated 40,000 Missourians currently on probation or parole.

The city of Newport, KY is ending its Flock pilot program. It will remove the cameras from the city and not move forward in purchasing the technology.

Seattle-area Sheriff Patty Cole-Tindall announced that her deputies will not assist ICE on routine immigration matters.

Donald Trump is historically unpopular — nearly 45 points underwater with independents — which is worse than Nixon just before he resigned over Watergate.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation raising the compensation to wrongfully convicted people in the state who receive certificates of innocence.

State officials representing 25 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration over its threat to withhold federal funding unless the states adopt its desired election policies.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, is pushing the federal government to provide all of its records on Jeffrey Epstein’s contacts with foreign governments, pursuant to an inquiry he launched into whether the convicted sex offender had acted as an unregistered foreign agent.

Russel Vought is leaving the CFPB. His replacement will be no better, but at least it won’t be him!

A new law in California will create a $3,500 discount for first-time EV buyers, so long as the car retails for less than $50,000.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that Lina Khan, the Biden administration’s AMAZING Federal Trade Commission chair, would serve as the chair of the NYC’s Economic Development Corporation.

A new WaPo article reports that Republicans are seeing a “‘scary’ lack of enthusiasm among core voters ahead of midterms.”

The Maine Democratic Party formally selected Troy Jackson as its new Senate nominee, and the whole process seems to have gone quite smoothly.

Democratic Senator Andy Kim unveiled the MediKids Act to expand Medicaid to all U.S. children. It would automatically enroll every child at birth until the age of 26.

Across the country, more state legislatures are passing laws to streamline renewable development than are enacting policies to prevent clean energy from being built.

A Massachusetts doctor who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 has had her medical license revoked.

Democrat Matt Orlando defeated Republican Jeff Weninger in the Chandler, Arizona, mayoral election. This seat flipped blue for the first time in 36 years!

The last patient being treated for Ebola in Uganda has been discharged from hospital, leaving the country with no active confirmed cases of the deadly disease.

Syracuse, New York has officially ended its partnership with Flock Safety.

Three teachers who were sanctioned for helping to facilitate a student-led drag show won a settlement of $150,000 from Iowa’s Ankeny school district.

A new law two years in the making has finally taken effect across the European Union. Under the ruling, major fashion retailers, wholesalers, and apparel manufacturers are now banned from trashing unsold clothing, accessories, and footwear.

The European Commission fined Google 890 million euros for breaking digital antitrust regulations by steering consumers toward its own services and apps to the detriment of competitors.

Illinois and Cook County, in partnership with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, erased more than $2 billion in medical debt combined for over a million residents.

In Monticello, Georgia, a 25-year-old reporter has purchased his home town paper to save it from corporate ownership.

For the second time, four House Republicans joined with Democrats to approve a war powers resolution to hem in Trump’s authority and end the war.

The man who killed Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark was sentenced to life in prison.

Rooftop solar saved New England residents over $130M in electricity costs during a recent heat wave.

Two critically endangered black-and-white ruffed lemurs were just born at the Central Park Zoo. The twins, Maso and Tonga, join six other lemurs born through the zoo’s Species Survival Plan since 2008.

Sierra County, New Mexico passed its first moratorium on data centers, citing concerns over potential water and environmental impacts.

Christian and Jewish leaders gathered at the Texas Capitol to condemn recent ICE-related deaths in Texas, Maine and Florida, telling agents who believe their orders are immoral to "resign and find other work."

67% of voters believe that heat waves are being worsened by climate change [Data for Progress]

Former Seattle U.S. Attorney Roger Rogoff is suing after Trump fired him less than an hour after he was sworn into office.

A new Massachusetts program will let EV owners leverage their cars’ batteries as a grid resource and be compensated for power they feed to the grid during times of high demand.

Watch This! 👀

Reader Marie L. sent this delightful video, which pays homage to the Trash Wheel, which collects 500 tons of waste annually before that waste goes into the harbor and the Chesapeake Bay. Single use plastic is the top source of micro and nanoplastics in our waterway, synthetic turf is number two. Very feel good indeed!

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Sorry this is coming out a bit late—I got delayed by that very exciting World Cup game today! I am thrilled that Spain won, but even if you were rooting for Argentina I think you’ll agree it was a very fun and well-played game, and that the entire World Cup experience has been terrific and uplifting.

But that wasn’t the only high point this week; in fact, there were many others! So, with no further ado, here’s your week’s worth of great news from across the country—and the world. Enjoy! Because people like you made it all happen!

Please share, too. The world needs a lift. Thanks, all!

Help keep the good news coming!

Celebrate This! 🎉

US District Judge Kathleen Williams shut down the so-called “settlement” behind Trump and Blanche’s weaponization fund AND Trump’s so-called IRS immunity in a blistering 52-page ruling. She also referred several of the lawyers involved to their state Bar Associations.

CNN, ABC and NBC all declined to air Trump’s lie-filled speech.

Right wing influencers (and disgusting misogynists) Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Miami as British authorities sought their extradition on rape and sex trafficking charges.

New York City launched its first-ever Parents’ Night Out program, offering free childcare for 500 families.

New FEC filings show that Democratic House candidates raked in gargantuan amounts of money last quarter in key battleground districts—way more than their Republican counterparts. It’s true for Dem Senate candidates as well.

Pennsylvania’s new budget nearly doubled the amount going to the state's 47 rape crisis centers, from $12.1 million to $24.1 million.

The Trump administration is walking back its most aggressive attempt to end gender-affirming care for youth nationally.

Citing concerns around AI use, the University of Chicago has declared a new policy of absolutely no technology in classrooms, no phones and no computers for first-year law students.

Content creators and organizers are planning a 1000 mile march over 30 days from Nashville to Memphis across the Deep South to register 100,000 voters and raise money for voting rights organizations!

A bipartisan panel found that Elon Musk likely broke Wisconsin law when he promised to hand out $1 million checks to voters in the 2025 state Supreme Court election,

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s lawsuit to access the voter rolls in Connecticut. This is the 16th straight loss for them on these efforts. They’ve had no wins.

There’s more! With the DOJ’s defeat in Connecticut, GOP appointees now make up two-thirds of the judges handing the department losses in its voter roll crusade. To date, 10 of the 16 rulings against the DOJ have come from Republican appointees — and seven of those judges were appointed by Trump. [Source: Democracy Docket]

The Food and Drug Administration approved a daily cholesterol-lowering pill that appears to be significantly more effective than statins alone.

Four litters of red wolf pups, the most endangered wolf species in the world, have been born in North Carolina so far this year, and between 12 and 16 pups survived their first few months of life.

A Kansas court blocked a GOP-backed law that would have thrown out mail ballots arriving after Election Day, even if voters mailed them on time.

Senator Thom Tillis said he would stall all progress in the Senate if the House sends over any legislation with the SAVE Act in it.

As the result of an incredible grassroots pressure campaign, Citizens Bank announced it will exit its current lending relationships with private prison giants CoreCivic and The GEO Group! HUGE!

The Senate unanimously passed a resolution declaring that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should not receive a pardon

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a $67.5M investment in public school special education programs amid federal budget cuts.

A federal judge struck down several Arkansas laws that made it harder for voters to place measures on the ballot.

The Idaho initiative to restore access to abortion, protect contraception, and protect access to IVF has officially qualified for the ballot in November.

The Jackson City Council voted to approve a citywide data center moratorium— the first city in Mississippi to do so.

The USPS says it is not implementing Trump’s anti-mail voting order (for now), according to documents obtained by Democracy Docket.

In a first for a U.S. city, NYC will enact a “click-to-cancel” policy to make it easier to end subscriptions.

New polling shows that voters are continuing to turn sharply against data centers and increasingly blame them for rising utility costs.

The new bipartisan housing bill, which became law last week, contains a provision that will shore up a crucial grant program for long-term disaster recovery.

A federal court refused to block key Arizona election rules challenged by Republicans, leaving in place provisions that prohibit aggressive behavior and frivolous voter challenges at polling places.

Electric RVs are starting to hit the market in the U.S., offering the potential to transform the way millions of Americans vacation each year.

The Montclair, NJ city council voted unanimously to begin the process of removing their $64 million from Citizens Bank! (This happened right before their announcement, and probably contributed to it coming about!)

Governor Hobbs barred Arizona state employees from using government info to bet on prediction markets.

After Hurricane Helene, many Appalachian communities have begun looking to small-scale solar microgrids to boost energy security in the event of future disasters. Some installations will begin this summer — in other places, portable systems known as “beehives” will be deployed next year.

The state of New York installed a record 1.28 gigawatts of solar energy in 2025, and has now installed a total of 8 gigawatts statewide, putting it ahead of schedule to reach its 10-gigawatt goal by 2030.

After Idaho banned trans people from bathrooms, a nonprofit made a statewide map of where they can go instead. Trans Affirm crowdsources an online map of inclusive bathrooms across Idaho that are safe for people who are trans or gender diverse to use.

England’s largest-ever investment in its wildlife is expected to benefit more than 350 threatened species. The swallowtail butterfly and white-clawed crayfish are just two of the species set to benefit from the $80 million initiative.

Shakira and FIFA are donating $500k for Venezuela earthquake relief efforts. Back in May, Shakira announced that she’d be donating 100% of profits from ‘Dai Dai’, the World Cup’s official anthem, to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.

Eight East Coast states plan to take legal action to challenge the Trump administration’s deals paying energy developers to abandon their offshore wind leases.

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott donated $20 million to support America’s youth mental health, as a fifth of teens struggle with suicidal thoughts.

A new fleet of satellites will help detect wildfires and inform response efforts before blazes get out of hand. Good news, indeed!

A dozen states led by California filed a lawsuit which seeks to delay and prevent Paramount’s blockbuster merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia grad student, is suing the federal government and private organizations for allegedly conspiring to suppress Israel critics.

According to Stand Up for Science, the terrible OMB grantmaking rule received almost a half a million comments! NICE JOB, ALL!

New York just became the first state in the country to implement a moratorium on data centers! Gov. Hochul signed an executive order pausing permits for large data centers for up to a year to give state officials time to establish new rules.

The conservative backlash against Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey failed to stop it from being a box office smash. It took in over $200M globally its opening weekend!

Minnesota prosecutors finally obtained long-withheld evidence on the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

A Democrat-supported candidate won the Abbeville, SC Mayoral Special Election in a landslide. This is a Trump +3 district.

In Florida, House District 47 flipped blue after a judge denied the Republican candidate’s lawsuit to get on the ballot.

Vaughn Hillyard, an intrepid reporter, got Trump’s top election conspiracy theorist (and a member of his election commission), to admit on camera that no votes were changed in the 2020, 2022 or 2024 elections.

Ben & Jerry’s released a voting rights-oriented flavor ahead of midterm elections to encourage people to fight back against authoritarianism.

A Republican-led effort to end the Delaware River Basin’s ban on fracking fell short after an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act was not brought before a congressional committee, allowing the longstanding restriction to stand for now.

Washington, D.C. passed a bill that will cap the resale of live entertainment tickets at 10% of their original price and ban so-called surveillance pricing.

Latinos from Texas who voted for Trump in 2024 are swinging towards Talarico by 7 points.

A federal judge in South Dakota stopped the state from enforcing a new anti-abortion law against Mayday Health, a provider of abortion information.

E. Jean Carroll finally got paid more than three years after a federal civil jury held Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. She got 5.6M!

The nation’s top scientific advisory body issued a report backing a growing field of science that could help governments hold oil, gas and coal companies responsible for the damage caused by extreme weather.

55 constituents in Tom Tiffany's WI CD07 district showed up in tiny, very rural, very red Medford, Wisconsin to let him know how they felt about his vote for the OBBA. He wasn’t happy about it at all, but they persisted and even got local press coverage! Some of them are subscribers. Bravo! [H/T Cynthia G.]

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

It’s been another challenging week—that’s why it’s all the more important that we stop, take a few deep breaths, and really savor the below long list of wins for the week. There were so many! The bad news can be overwhelming, yes, but the good news can be wildly restorative. So please make sure you read and share it. We need more people to know that all is not lost.

Thanks again for all you do, folks. It’s people like you who are going to get us through this terrible time.

Enjoy!

Celebrate This! 🎉

The planning board of Jersey City, New Jersey banned the development of standalone data centers and “cyber hotels.”

Mayor Mamdani announced New York City’s first ever city-funded pet food pantry.

Mike Johnson presided over the ninth failed rule vote of his less-than-three-year-long speakership last week, this one tanked by 13 of his members. Republicans in disarray, anyone?

Democrats are growing increasingly bullish they can seize control of the Senate. (I agree.)

Companies that derive a significant portion of profits from environmental solutions make up what’s known as the “green economy,” and a new report found that they just topped $10 trillion in market value.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage quit as a Member of Parliament.

Utah, Virginia, Idaho, and Oregon all just passed legislation that bolsters state transportation budgets to build more wildlife crossings.

bell hooks is back on the best-seller list, rivaling J.D. Vance’s latest book by the same name.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Canada and Detroit is now expected to open on July 27 after Trump dropped his objections to the project.

A new update to Portland, Oregon’s electricity rates will increase bills for data centers and lower bills for residents.

A federal judge ruled that Trump’s expansive pardon of January 6 rioters does not apply to a Virginia man accused of planting two pipe bombs in Washington, DC, the night before the 2021 US Capitol insurrection.

Indianapolis International Airport is installing solar-covered parking lot canopies to power terminal operations, further expanding the airport’s solar capacity.

136 news organizations across Japan are working together to remind people, through TV announcements and daily social media posts, that 89% of Japanese people support stronger climate action. Studies show that the more people talk about climate change, the more support for action on it grows.

The Supreme Court allowed Texas to require age verification for mobile apps.

Illinois will be the first state to require independent audits of large artificial intelligence developers’ safety practices under a new law signed by Gov. JB Pritzker.

A second federal judge blocked the U.S. Postal Service from changing its election policies to follow Trump’s March executive order.

Hungary’s government unveiled plans for a new investigative authority with the power to prosecute suspects and recover misappropriated public assets, fulfilling one of Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s key anti-corruption pledges.

James Talarico raised $30 million from April through June, more than triple the amount raised by his Republican opponent Ken Paxton, setting a record for a U.S. Senate candidate in the second quarter of an election year.

In a win for underrepresented voters in Florida, a court dismissed an anti-voting lawsuit challenging the methodology used in the 2020 Census — which plaintiffs argued disadvantaged Republicans in the state.

A federal judge denied the DHS’s request to pause an order shutting down use of its modified Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system to certify registered voters’ citizenship status.

Under Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore just saw the fewest homicides in the first half of a year in 50 years.

Governor Greg Abbott called for banning new data center development in rural Texas neighborhoods, marking a significant policy shift for the Republican governor.

A federal judge blocked a Trump administration attempt to obtain the identities of 2020 election workers in Georgia’s Fulton County.

A new Yale Climate Communications poll found that Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it isn’t by a ratio of more than 4 to 1 (68% versus 16%).

Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the release of more than $5 million to E. Jean Carroll, rejecting Trump's attempt to delay paying the columnist after a jury found he sexually abused and defamed her.

ActBlue raised $586 million for Democratic candidates and causes in the second quarter, a record amount. The total is the biggest for any quarter in a midterm cycle.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Florida’s Stop WOKE Act provisions restricting race and gender instruction at public colleges, ruling the law unconstitutionally suppresses political viewpoints in academic settings.

A Tampa-Based U.S. district judge dismissed Trump Media and Technology Group's $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post, finding the company failed to present evidence of actual malice.

Yessenia Ruano, a teacher’s aide and mom to twin girls, returned to the U.S. after ICE forced her to leave last year.

The global market for EVs is growing much faster than expected. In just six years, sales have increased tenfold, with around 21 million electric cars sold worldwide in 2025.

Church members are coming together to wipe out medical debt for their neighbors in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The EU is drawing up plans to push its economy even further toward electrification as fossil fuel market instability persists.

The new NYC budget includes $1,000 college savings accounts for all public school kindergartners, making it the biggest program of its kind in the nation.

Spain has started quietly banning companies from signing contracts with Palantir.

Kelsey Pfendler, a Grand Canyon river-rafting guide who aimed to become the first US woman to row solo across the mid-Pacific, has completed her record-breaking journey from California to Hawaii.

A federal judge blocked the federal government from rounding up free-roaming horses in a national forest spanning Arizona and New Mexico while a lawsuit challenging the removals proceeds.

Hebert Ibarra Castro, a young San Antonio mariachi player who was in ICE detention has been released and reunited with his family.

A federal judge awarded Hunter Biden $1.7m in punitive damages in a defamation lawsuit he filed against former Overstock.com CEO (and Trump bootlicker) Patrick Byrne.

The Los Angeles Police Department announced that it is ending its agreement with Flock Safety. THIS IS A PEOPLE-POWERED VICTORY!

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level in a decade during the first half of 2026. Thank you President Lula!

Southern California’s landmark rule to slash emissions from industrial heating sources just notched a major victory in court.

The war-caused geopolitical disruption of fertilizer markets is having an unexpected climate co-benefit: American farmers are using less synthetic nitrogen, reducing agricultural runoff that fuels dead zones in coastal waters and pollutes groundwater.

Ionna, the EV charging network founded by eight major automakers, is on track to build 30,000 high-speed stations across the country by 2030.

Meta discontinued a new AI feature that allowed users to generate images using public Instagram accounts following days of criticism over the feature’s opt-out policy. It was only up for about four days, y’all! Public pressure works!

A federal court dismissed a DOJ lawsuit to obtain an unredacted copy of New York's statewide voter registration list. The DOJ is now 0-12 in these cases. Marc Elias’s law group is undefeated.

The ROAD to Housing Act became law (without Trump’s signature)! This bill will hopefully help more housing get built. It also stops private equity from buying up giant masses of single family homes. It’s a start!

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled two-to-one to uphold Illinois’s statewide assault weapons ban.

Meta is facing $1.4 trillion in damages in a social media addiction case brought by four states.

Residents of Lima Township, MI who opposed a proposed power plant celebrated a victory when Consumers Energy announced it had withdrawn plans for a 1.4-gigawatt power plant on a 120-acre parcel of farmland there.

GOP Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, who has publicly defended FBI Director Kash Patel, is now demanding answers on Director Patel’s BMW purchases and his use of the bureau jet.

Two self-described “conservative Republicans,” both of whom have formerly held elected office, wrote an Op-Ed opposing the SAVE Act.

More than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees have signed a letter urging the Senate to reject Todd Blanche’s nomination to permanently lead the department.

Trump lost another legal bid to restore his name to the Kennedy Center.

Bill Frist, the former Republican Senate majority leader, is now a climate activist.

Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan — which is where Alexander Hamilton is buried — is spearheading a new 120-unit development for low-income households on a nearby property.

A new MIT report predicts the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy legacy will continue even after the Trump administration repealed many of the law's incentives, with tons of renewable power still on track to get built through 2035.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of Amanda McGonigle, an influencer and creator (@CatsOnACouch). She’s suing JD Vance for violating her 1st Amendment rights. Amanda was barred from an official government event solely because of the content she posts on Instagram making fun of and trolling him.

A California law that took effect last week is making it easier to reduce unnecessary food waste with a new labeling system that could be a win for both the planet and residents’ wallets.

Trump announced that Ukraine will receive a license to produce Patriot missiles domestically.

Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was spared from prison for ushering a Mexican defendant through her jury room door as ICE agents sought to arrest him in a courthouse hallway.

Gene therapy for sickle cell disease in children age 2 and older was greenlit by the FDA.

The city of Boston identified one of the oldest known gravestones of a free Black American, who shared a name with the Massachusetts capital.

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

It’s time for this week’s good news roundup.

As usual, there’s quite a bit more to celebrate than you might expect. I know it’s been a rough week—it always is—so I hope this long list acts as a salve on frazzled nerves. Enjoy it, savor it, and please, please share it, so that those who think we’re only seeing losses learn how wrong they are!

A special thanks, as always, to my paid subscribers. I marvel every single day that, because of your support, I can do this work full time. Without it I’d be back working a day job and squeezing this newsletter in on my lunch breaks—which I did for years! I do a much better job this way, trust me. You make that possible.

And thank you ALL for doing what you do to save this country. Without you there is no good news roundup. Never forget it!

Celebrate This! 🎉

Major Jason Watson, an active-duty officer (pictured above), called for the ​Trump’s and Vance’s impeachment during a protest event on the steps of the Capitol. He was immediately detained, and risks losing everything for his act. Incredible courage.

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule ⁠stripping public service workers of eligibility for federal student loan forgiveness.

Two people climbed the Empire State Building antenna in New York and unfurled a banner that said “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.” The man also appeared to propose to the woman. Wild!

​Colombia passed the first national law requiring beef to be traced back to its origins. The landmark law is designed to stop deforestation connected to cattle ranching.

The World Health Organization has declared the hantavirus outbreak among cruise ship passengers over, nearly three months after the first case was recorded.

Despite the Trump administration’s myriad attacks on clean energy, developers have continued building renewables “at a stunning pace” over the past year.

The largest data center project ever proposed in the U.S.—to be built in Prince William County, VA—is officially dead.

Trump and Vance are skipping attending tomorrow’s USA v Belgium World Cup match in Seattle.

Conservative backlash to Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche is growing, with a leading conservative courts group publicly announcing their opposition.

California is returning a stretch of rugged Mendocino County coast to the Indigenous nations whose ancestors once stewarded its shores.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked July 4th with a beautiful, pro-immigrant speech.

A Lutheran church near Portland, Oregon returned their land and church to the local Native American tribe that it was taken from originally under the "Discovery Doctrine.” In returning the land, they said: “When something is stolen and it is returned, it is not a gift. It is a return.”

Google lost its last bid to overturn a record-breaking $4.7 billion antitrust fine from the European Union. Good.

Sister Letty, a nun and registered nurse who was walking to mass when immigration officers detained her in South Texas, is out of ICE detention.

The Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots can be counted after Election Day, provided they are postmarked by then.

SCOTUS also ruled that Trump couldn’t (for now) fire Lisa Cook, reaffirming the Fed’s independence.

SCOTUS won’t hear Trump’s bid to overturn E. Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse case, meaning he is now an adjudicated sexual assaulter for life.

SCOTUS also ruled that law enforcement’s use of sprawling warrants that sweep up smartphone location data requires privacy protections under the fourth amendment.

Birthright citizenship is safe! (Barely.) Phew.

A federal appeals court ordered intelligence agencies to rehire officers who were fired for working on diversity issues.

The Cook Political Report moved the Alaska Senate race rating in Democrats’ direction to a Toss-Up.

Legislation to strengthen protections for reproductive and transgender healthcare providers and patients passed the NJ legislature and will be signed into law under Governor Sherrill.

The U.S. overall death rate in 2025 fell to its lowest point on record.

The U.S. men's national team defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0, marking its first FIFA World Cup knockout round victory since 2002.

A new Fox News poll finds Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) leading challenger Mike Collins (R) in his re-election campaign, 56% to 43%.

Warren Buffett postponed his usual mid-year donation to the Gates Foundation while awaiting results of an internal review regarding ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Virginia will now allow recreational marijuana to be sold in retail stores beginning in 2027.

Jesse Tooker, who was sent to prison for the rest of his life at age 17, was released last month and reunited with his family after three decades behind bars.

Amanda Gonzalez, the former head of Common Cause Colorado, won the Democratic primary for secretary of state there. She has long championed reforms to expand ballot access, including a law that requires all jails to operate in-person polling places. Brava!

Renewables, largely bolstered by solar, provided the world’s largest source of energy supply growth in 2025, the first time that’s happened outside of a recession year.

California’s law prohibiting streaming services from playing ads at a volume louder than the main content finally went into effect on Wednesday.

Pope Leo used his first key address in the US to praise its history of ⁠welcoming migrants, urging Americans to live up to the ideals put forward in the ⁠Declaration of Independence.

More than 37,000 kids in Wyoming will have an extra $120 for groceries this summer, after Gov. Mark Gordon (R) went around state lawmakers earlier this year to secure the funding for it.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City Council have reached a budget deal that includes $54 million to expand Fair Fares, a city program that provides reduced-price public transit fares.

Planned Parenthood clinics regained access to hundreds of millions in Medicaid funding, because Republicans haven’t yet passed an extension of the one-year defunding provision they approved last year.

Federal judges dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuits seeking voters’ private data from election officials in Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. These are the Trump admin’s 10th and 11th losses on such cases. They’ve had zero wins.

A federal appeals court rejected the Trump-backed EPA’s bid to abandon tough standards for deadly soot pollution.

Melat Kiros defeated a 15-term incumbent in the Colorado primaries, becoming the latest example of voters saying loud and clear that they want fighters who will stand up to the billionaire class. Also Phil Weiser won the gubernatorial primary!

For the second week in a row, Speaker Mike Johnson was railroaded by his own colleagues in the House Republican Conference and all legislating was stalled.

According to a new Pew Research poll, three-quarters of U.S. adults think racial and ethnic diversity is a good thing for the country, with 62% saying it also has a positive impact on the country’s culture.

Montana debuted a new license plate design that is projected to raise $100K for state wildlife crossings.

In a huge victory for voting rights, a federal ⁠judge blocked a proposed restriction on mail-in voting across the US.

A federal judge has permanently blocked the Department of Transportation from withholding funds for the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel passenger rail line project, putting an end to what she called a “flagrantly” illegal saga.

The Supreme Court declined to take lawyer Alan Dershowitz’s appeal of his defamation lawsuit against CNN.

A man who played Star Wars music at National Guard members in DC and got briefly detained by police as a result received a settlement from the city this week.

​New York City officials announced the first-ever Urban Forest Plan to achieve a 30% tree canopy across the city by 2040. It’s part of a larger effort to achieve the city’s broader goals of advancing environmental justice, mitigating the effects of heat, and improving quality of life.

A new study on the ROI of community parks and green spaces found that every $1 invested in parks and recreation returns, on average, at least $3 in local economic benefits each year.

A federal appeals court upheld a New York law banning natural gas appliances in new buildings.

A new solar installation on Martha’s Vineyard is set to lower utility costs for hundreds of low-income, year-round residents on the island.

​Bloomberg Philanthropies is donating $260 million to help close the ocean protection gap.

The University of Oregon’s Board of Trustees set aside $15 million in student building fees to replace a natural gas boiler with an electric one. UO’s methane boilers are the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in Eugene. The vote comes after nearly a decade of students, staff and community members urging the university to decarbonize its heating system.

A new study found that since 2010, mangrove regrowth around the world has been outpacing losses. This study is more proof that when we protect nature, it can recover.

Amid proposed changes to the OMB’s grant rules, a new poll found that voters overwhelmingly say that decisions about research funding should be made by scientists and experts rather than political officials.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a nearly $352 billion spending plan that delays some cuts to healthcare programs, increases funding for childcare, and sets aside money to help speed up the state's vote count ahead of the November election.

Nestle plans to remove artificial food colorings from all products worldwide by the end of 2026, making it the first major food ‌company to take such a step.

A federal judge ordered the Pentagon to temporarily lift a requirement that all journalists visiting the building be accompanied by an official escort

The Alaska Supreme Court ordered the Alaska Division of Elections to include Dan J. Sullivan on the primary ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate. That means there will be TWO Dan Sullivans running on the Republican ticket, which is likely to siphon some votes away from Trump’s endorsed candidate.

The NAACP announced the rollout of ‘We the People,’ a $20 million get-out-the-vote campaign across 14 states — including competitive states like Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Texas — and 33 congressional districts, with the goal of reaching 6.5 million Black voters.

The San Francisco Archdiocese agreed to pay out nearly $400 million to survivors who said they were abused by clergy members as children — a settlement that is among the largest of its kind.

Mt. Olive Pickles, a North Carolina institution founded in 1926, pulled out of Trump’s State Fair after a Confederate flag was displayed in their state’s pavilion.

Watch This! 👀

America’s Voice invited people from across the country to read the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, then posted this on Saturday. So beautiful!