Big Tech helps drive the economy. It also influences where and how people live. In fact, the biggest tech companies like Facebook are increasingly diving into housing policy. They're starting housing projects and investing in philanthropic affordable housing projects. This creates quite the contrast, Ankita Rao recently wrote for Vice. "On one hand, tech companies have helped fuel the housing crisis—sprawling across cities that are bursting at the seams with little investment in public infrastructure, and avoiding taxes that might help the poor and homeless at virtually every turn," Rao wrote. "On the other, they're positioning themselves as postmodern Robin Hoods, announcing plans to build apartments for rent and subsidize others" that look like "company towns."
How Big ...
The Regional Models of Cooperation program hosted a peer exchange workshop to share best practices in working across jurisdictions to improve connections between bicycle and pedestrian facilities and transit. Participants of the October 2016 workshop released the Regional Cooperation and Bike/Ped and Transit Connections report summarizing the presentations, key themes, and recommendations. In this report, they identified 10 key strategies that agencies can employ to improve connections between bicycle, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure.
1. Recognize that Improvement is Everyone’s Job
Improving bicycle and pedestrian and transit networks is a shared responsibility, spanning geographies and agency types from the state to regional and local levels. For example, to identify ...
The U.S. Military is facing massive costs, criticism because of toxic substances polluting the drinking water of numerous bases where members of the armed forces and their families reside. So far, 106 bases have tested positive for per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) — chemicals found in firefighting foams that have been widely used by the military for years. The House Oversight and Reform environment subcommittee heard testimony last week from experts, witnesses who say contamination cleanup could cost billions of dollars. “[I felt] stabbed in the back,” Army Staff Sgt. Samuel Fortune told The New York Times. “We give our lives and our bodies for our country, and our government does not live up to their end of the deal.” Causes for Concern PFAS are connected to many ...
8 out of 10 food TV ads seen by Latino kids are for junk food, according to a recent study. Each year food companies spend billions of dollars on food advertising. The gap continues to rise in how much junk food is advertised to Latino and black children compared to white children. Why are Latino and Black children targeted by junk food ads? What impact does this have on their health and overall disparities? Find out at a new webinar on April 4, 2019, with Salud America! and its partners to learn more about exactly which companies and brands are marketing junk food products to minority groups.
Register for the Webinar!
Here are the details for the April 4 webinar below! Webinar: Unhealthy Food Advertising Targeted to Hispanic and Black Youth
Hosts: UConn Rudd Center ...
Childhood obesity is getting worse over time, especially for Latinos. Researchers in Texas (39.4% Latino) recently released a data explorer that illustrates trends in body mass index of school-aged children in their state (52% Latino). It also reveals underlying factors in obesity, such as dietary behaviors and physical activity. The information showed many disparities, especially in the Latino community — numbers that could call for statewide, national conversation and legislation concerning childhood obesity.
Need for Obesity Reduction
U.S. Latino children have the highest rates of childhood obesity (25.8%), as compared to their black (22%) and white (14.1%) peers. In Texas, 27.3% of Latino 8th graders have obesity compared to 16% of their white peers. Obesity is ...
Claire’s, the popular accessories store, has recalled three cosmetic items that the FDA reports contain asbestos, a mineral known to spur lethal cancers. While the company believes the FDA’s findings are inaccurate, they have rescinded eye shadow, compact powder, and contour powder products. Claire’s also gave customers the option of returning these items for a full refund. “Every day millions of Americans assume the cosmetics they use are safe, but unfortunately that is not always the case,” Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., who requested an investigation of these products, said in a statement. “The reality is that cosmetics are one of the least regulated consumer products on the market.” So how safe are beauty products, really, especially for Latinos? Latinos and ...
Good nutrition is linked to positive health outcomes. On the other hand, unhealthy eating is the leading risk factor for death, causing more than 500,000 U.S. deaths in 2016. This is bad news for Latinos who lack access to healthy foods and nutrition education. Join #SaludTues on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, to spread the word about what can be done to promote better nutrition and chronic disease prevention in Latino and all communities. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: Celebrating National Nutrition Month
TIME / DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, 3/19/19
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: Alliance For a Healthier Generation (@HealthierGen), MomsRising (@MomsRising) & ChapCare (ChapCareOrg).
OPTIONAL HASHTAG: ...
Governors have the opportunity to use state resources and create partnerships to improve the social and economic inequities that cause poor health outcomes, especially among communities of color. But not all governors have the tools to boost public health. That’s why the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) and the de Beaumont Foundation released four big tools to help governors understand what influences public health and how to embed upstream health- and prevention-related plans into the structure of government. “We’re the state that’s going to tear down the systemic barriers to work and education faced by people of color, people with disabilities, veterans and women,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in his inaugural address, according to an NASHP blog ...
Oregon state leaders recently gave its renting residents greater peace of mind when it comes to housing security. The 13.1% Latino state became the first in the nation to pass a statewide rent control policy. It also makes it harder for landlords to evict tenants without reason. “This bill is a critical tool for stabilizing the rental market throughout the state of Oregon,” said Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, according to The Oregonian. "It will provide immediate relief to renters struggling to keep up with the rising rents in a tight rental market.” Policy Specifics Landlords across the state now can raise rent no more than 7% per year, plus the annual change in the consumer price index. However, the law does exempt rental properties that are less than 15 years ...
