Hendricks part of worldwide MCC panel, Tyson stands up for cannabis dealers, the sinking Windy City, “Divisible” in Omaha, and mental health exceptions for abortion
Davenport’s Rich Hendricks appointed to worldwide MCC board: Rev. Rich Hendricks, pastor of Davenport’s MCC of the Quad Cities, is among eight people appointed to be elders with the worldwide MCC denomination. Hendricks is among 14 people in seven countries who applied for the elder positions, wrote Cynthia Eggleston, moderator of MCC. Eggleston chose the elders based on their experience, spiritual perspective, and “current efforts to make MCC more racially equitable, diverse and inclusive.” He and the other seven elders will “offer spiritual and pastoral supoprt and leadership” to MCC churches, pastors and people. The MCC denomination was founded 56 years ago, originally to provide a welcoming place for LGBTQ+ Christians to worship. Now with more than 220 churches in 37 countries, it focuses overall on “inclusion, community, justice and spiritual transformation,” its website says. Hendricks, a former lawyer, helped found One Human Family QCA and QC Unity Pride in the Quad Cities. He recently received the LGBTQ Legacy award from dsm magazine.
Tyson presses for cannabis prisoners’ release: Former boxing star Mike Tyson is pressing President Joe Biden to pardon more than 2,000 people imprisoned for cannabis-related offenses, the vast majority of which are People of Color, reports The Guardian. In a letter he is delivering to Biden today, Tyson questioned why people were doing “murderers’ time” for trafficking a “mild medicine” The Guardian reports that 24 states now have legalized recreational cannabis, yet 2,000 federal prisoners and 30,000 state-level prisoners remain incarcerated for non-violent cannabis-related offenses. The vast majority are People of Color, according to States Reform Act.
Chicago is sinking: A new study that identifies “subsurface heat islands” beneath the city of Chicago suggest the inland city will soon be facing the same challenge as metropolises along shorelines, of gradually sinking into the water. Financial Times reports that “garages, basements, tunnels and underground transportation systems emit heat into the ground and in a dense area such as the Loop,” causing the ground to expand and contract. The city has already sunk four inches over the last century, FT reports.
Divisible redlining documentary to premier March 1 in Omaha: A groundbreaking documentary that explains “redlining” — lending practices that segregate People of Color — will premiere at the Omaha Film Festival March 1. “Divisible” helps explain redlining by looking at Omaha itself, a popular relocation spot for Blacks leaving the South in the late 1800s, and a city documented to have been shaped through redlining for the first half of the 20th century. The film will debut at 5:45 p.m. Fri., March 1.
“Mental health exceptions” receiving greater focus in abortion policy debates: More states are being asked to look at whether threats posed to the potential mother’s mental health are grounds for exceptions to abortion bans, reports PBS. Iowa is among at least 10 states that do not allow mental health conditions to be considered regarding exceptions to bans on abortions of fetuses older than 20 weeks. States where lawsuits are pressing bans to consider mental health exceptions include Missouri and Alabama. learn more here.
(cover photo features Rich Hendricks courtesy of MCC, “Divisible” documentary cover, and Chicago’s Marina City Towers courtesy of Ken Lund through Wikimedia Commons)
Public hearing today for Iowa TG ID proposal, tax credit pitch in Illinois, business orgs and redlining, the warmest January ever, and the future of cultivated meat
Public hearing today over modified Reynolds proposal regarding transgender identification rules : A public hearing will take place at 5 p.m. today (Monday) over House File 2389, which would focus on biological sex at birth for some government identification , and require gender transition documentation on others. The proposal was advanced to the full House last week by the House Education Committee Tuesday, reports Iowa Capital Dispatch. The panel split on party lines (15 Republicans for, eight Democrats against) in the vote to advance the proposal, after removing a provision that called for Iowa driver licenses to note whether someone had changed genders, reports Iowa Public Radio. Lawmakers removed that provision. The proposed law would still require birth certificates to note gender transitions. It would also categorize “male” and “female,” in settings that include rape crisis centers, domestic abuse shelters, prisons and restrooms, according to biological abilities to produce or fertilize ova. You can listen to the public hearing here. To become law, the bill faces debate and approval in the full House; then debate and approval by the full Senate; followed by the governor’s signature. Any amendments to the bill by either House will require the other House’s approval.
Illinois lawmaker proposes tax credit for those fleeing anti-trans and abortion-restricted states: Whether you’re a transgender person seeking transitionary care, a woman seeking abortion care, a teacher impacted by content restrictions, an Illinois legislator wants you to get a tax credit if you choose Illinois over your existing state, reports The Hill. Illinois State Rep. Kelly Cassidy introduced the tax credit bill this week. The Hill reports that 23 states now have laws that ban gender transition care for minors, and 29 states have limited access to abortion since the 2022 Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that ended Roe V. Wade abortion protections.
Business organizations sue to stop redlining initiative: As the federal Department of Justice continues to stack up settlement agreements over redlining, a coalition of business organizations has sued other U.S. government to stop their efforts to combat redlining, which is the historic practice of creating lending rules that minimize access of some identities to loan funds, writes Insurance Journal. The American Bankers Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Bankers Association are among the groups that filed the suit against the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to stop new rules the groups claim will make it harder, rather than easier, to loan to Blacks and Hispanics.
January was world’s warmest ever: Not only was 2023 the hottest year on record worldwide; January 2024 was also the world’s hottest January on record, reports Nature World News. The world’s average surface air temperature of 13.14 degrees Celsius was 0.70 Celsius degrees warmer than the world’s previous warmest January in 2020, writes Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
Cultivated meat to get a close look: How will cultivated meat, or meat created through cell cultivation rather than slaughter, affect the environment, and farming jobs? What will it require in terms of energy, and waste disposal? A British panel will study these questions and more, reports Vegconomist. Currently, Axios writes, an estimated 150 companies worldwide are producing cultivated meat, which is seen by energy experts and animal welfare advocates as a possible tool in mitigating climate change and animal suffering.
(cover photo features the Iowa State Capitol by Ashton B. Crew, and the Illinois State Capitol, courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
More Iowa Republican bills concern LGBTQ activists, racial health disparities, Trump’s plan to gut climate change research, another redlining settlement
Iowa Republican proposals raise growing concern among LGBTQ+ groups:Â An Iowa House subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a proposal by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds that would identify males and females in rape crisis centers, domestic abuse shelters, prisons, locker rooms and restrooms based on whether their “biological reproductive system” was developed to produce, or by contrast to fertilize, ova, reports KGAN. The bill would also require gender transition to be noted on drivers’ licenses and birth certificates, reports the Des Moines Register. In addition, the bill would provide federal Americans With Disabilities protections for anyone diagnosed with a gender disorder. A House subcommittee also forwarded a bill Monday that would remove penalties against public school teachers who used pronouns based on a child’s gender assigned at birth. One Iowa, the ACLU of Iowa, and LGBTQ+ activists across Iowa are rallying against these and other bills, labelling 2024 another record-setting year for “anti-LGBTQ” legislation,” reports The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. Read more about these bills, and Monday’s One Iowa activist day at the state Capitol, in Iowa Public Radio.
Climate change research would be slashed across more than a dozen government agencies under Trump plan: The plan, titled Project 2025, would boost the use of fossil fuels, reports Scientific American. The proposal, titled Project 2025 and generated through the ultra-conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation, would empower Trump, if elected, to “reshape the U.S. Global Change Research Program and related climate change research programs” through an executive order, writes the magazine.
Racial health disparities found regarding impacts of high blood pressure, police-involved killings, Taser use: Three new studies help illuminate the disparity in health effects between Blacks and whites. In one study, Black women with high blood pressure under the age of 35 were three times more likely than the general population to develop a stroke by the time they reached middle age, NBC News reported. In addition, “Black women are twice as likely to experience a stroke compared to white women, and  50% more likely to have high blood pressure (hypertension).” In another study involving 2 million responses, Blacks were more likely than whites to experience sleep disturbances triggered by police-involved killings, reports Amsterdam News. The study occurred from 2017 to 2019, following the highly-publicized police killings of Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, but prior to the police killings of George Floyd and Tyre Nichols. In a third study, also reported by new York’s Amsterdam News, one-third of people injured by Taser use were Black — almost three times the percentage of the general population that identifies as Black. “The injuries included puncture wounds, concussions, fractures and traumatic brain injuries,” Amsterdam News writes.
Another big settlement in Department of Justice’s pursuit of redlining: A North Carolina bank is the latest to agree to a multi-million dollar settlement for actions the Department of Justice says unfairly limited borrowing by Black and Latino customers, reports the Seattle Times. First National Bank of Pennsylvania will pay almost $14 million in the settlement agreement, which will go toward a fund for loans specifically for Black and Latino borrowers the Charlotte and Winston-Salem areas. The settlement agreement comes in response to DOJ accusations that from 2017 to 2021, the bank ignored neighborhoods that were majority Black or Latino residents. FNB denies the accusations. It’s the 13th settlement reached by the DOJ with banks since Attorney General Merrick Garland started a redlining task force in 2021, the Times reports.
(cover photo features Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds courtesy of Gage Skidmore, and a graphic depicting testing for high blood pressure, both through Wikimdia Commons)
Gender identity stays in Iowa code, context about Tyre Nichols killing, settlement for Seattle protesters, and record-setting NFL head coach diversity
Iowa subcommittee rejects proposal to remove ‘gender identity’ from state Civil Rights Code: In a move celebrated statewide on social media, an Iowa House subcommittee consisting of two Republicans and one Democrat rejected an amendment that would have removed “gender identity” from Iowa’s Civil Rights Code, reports Iowa Capital Dispatch. Iowa is one of 25 states that include the phrase in their code (along with Illinois), and Iowa would have been the first of those 25 states to remove it. The proposed change also would have added gender dysphoria to the state’s disabilities law, providing transgender people legal protections similar to those received by people with physical or mental disabilities. Hundreds of Iowans turned out at the State Capitol to speak out against the proposal during the subcommittee hearing. The move was also praised by Iowa’s Republican House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley. “I would say I don’t think that that would be the wise choice or the wise thing to do for those basic civil rights protections that are there,” he told The Des Moines Register. Read more about yesterday’s subcommittee hearing from not only Iowa Capital Dispatch and The Des Moines Register, but also Iowa Public Radio. and U.S. News.
Fixation on assumed drug use revealed in new video of Tyre Nichols’ death: More than 20 hours of video newly-released in the death of Tyre Nichols shows law enforcement and medical workers involved in his death based many of their actions on an assumption that he was under the influence of opioids, reports National Public Radio. “Medics administered Naloxone to reverse a potential opioid overdose as Nichols slouched, unresponsive, after officers propped him up against a car,” with one officer proclaiming that Nichols was “high” rather than severely injured. Blood test results after Nichols’ death revealed low levels of alcohol and THC from cannabis. Nichols died in January 2023 after Memphis police officers beat him for hours. The new video was released on the day that former Memphis police officer Desmond Mills Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, NPR reports. Five of his colleagues also face murder and civil rights charges.
2020 protesters to receive $10 million settlement from Seattle Police: Excessive force by police officers during a protest after by George Floyd’s May 28, 2020 death has led to a $10 million settlement to 50 Seattle protesters, reports USA Today. The protesters sued the Seattle Police Department after it used “flash-bang grenades, foam-tipped projectiles and blast balls that explode and emit pepper gas” to dispel a crowd gathered to protest police brutality after Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Record-setting number of People of Color head coaches in NFL this year: With nine head coaches that are People of Color, the National Football League now has its most diverse slate ever of top coaches, reports USA Today. This year, the NFL hired four coaches that identify as People of Color, also a record. But despite the progress, more work remains. “The nine coaches of color account for 28% of the 32 coaches in a league where roughly two-thirds of the players are men of color,” writes Nancy Armour. Read more here.
(cover photo features Iowa State Capitol and LGBTQ flags during a 2023 protest, courtesy of Phil Roeder through Flickr, and Tyre Nichols protest sign at a protest in Columbus, Oh., courtesy of Becker199 through Wikimedia Commons)
