US News and World Report covers new research linking green space to smaller racial gaps in COVID-19 infection rates: “Researchers with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Hong Kong and the City University of Hong Kong examined county-level data on coronavirus infections in Black and white people in 135 of the most urban counties in the U.S. from late January to July 10, 2020. Published by the journal Environment International, the study encompassed 40.3% of the U.S. population, and researchers found that the county-level infection rate for Black people was almost twice that of whites, at 988 per 100,000 population versus 497 per 100,000. "It's a striking and profound difference," says study co-author William Sullivan, a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Researchers also used satellite imagery to look at the ratio of green space in each urbanized county, and examined links between different coronavirus infection rates between Black and white people and that green space. They found that four specific types of green space – open space in developed areas (a category encompassing parks, golf courses, large-lot homes and more); forest; shrub and scrub; and grassland and herbaceous landscapes – were "negatively" tied to the disparity in Black-white infection rates, meaning the greater the proportion of such spaces in a county, the smaller the racial gap in coronavirus case rates… “For too often in the U.S., we thought about the provisions of parks and street trees as an amenity. And what the body of research that our group has been involved in shows … is that green infrastructure and green spaces, when in cities, are an essential part of a healthy human infrastructure.”” 

 

The New York Times reports on the indictment of four former Minneapolis police officers, charged with violating the civil rights of George Floyd. “The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury weeks after one of the officers, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Mr. Floyd… Mr. Thao and Mr. Kueng were charged with willfully failing to stop Mr. Chauvin from using unreasonable force. All four defendants saw Mr. Floyd lying on the ground in need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him, depriving him of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which included Mr. Floyd’s right to be free from an officer’s deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, the indictment said.” 

 

KLCC reports on activism to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women: “Today, Native American activists in Oregon and elsewhere will hang red dresses, carry portraits, and grieve missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW.)  The CDC says nearly half of all Native women suffer sexual or physical violence, and in some parts of Indian Country, are ten times more likely to be homicide victims. But recent developments are giving advocates hope… Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, is forming a special unit under the Bureau of Indian Affairs to investigate missing and murdered cases.    “To have Secretary Haaland in that field, in that area, is just going to be amazing,” said Sanchez. “Representation matters.” The newly-formed unit has $6 million in funding, six times more than Operation Lady Justice was given after it was formed in 2019 during the Trump Administration.  Secretary Haaland says the unit’s resources will be devoted to keeping active cases from becoming cold case investigations. “I have 100 percent faith in her,” Deborah Maytubee Shipman told KLCC.  A member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, she heads Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA, based in Portland.  It was founded after two of Shipman’s friends were found murdered in Gallup, New Mexico.  The group tracks cases and offers self-defense courses. Shipman said while trust-building needs to happen between Native communities and the justice system… “…you can’t blame it all on all outside forces.  We need to take ownership of our own. And also hold accountable those things that are dragging us down and continuing to make these numbers rise.”