Too hot to learn: Why school heat is a growing problem
Teachers are increasingly trying to educate students in dangerously hot classrooms, often in old school buildings built to withstand cold weather rather than heat. Unicef says hundreds of millions of schoolchildren globally missed out on education in 2024 after heatwaves forced the closure of their schools. Low- and middle-income countries are the worst hit, especially in cities where the urban heat island effect drives temperatures even higher.
New ordinance requires steps to protect workers from extreme heat
For some workers in the city of Boston, a new ordinance passed by the City Council will mean better protection against extreme heat next summer. That local legislation requires the city of Boston and its contractors to develop a heat illness prevention plan that would include providing employees with opportunities to access shade, water and rest as well as to receive training on heat-related illness and develop response plans in case of emergency.
Every day it’s something new’: Insiders claim Trump obsessed with remaking Washington
President Donald Trump’s laser focus on remodeling the White House and greater Washington, D.C. has reached unprecedented levels when compared with past administrations, according to several White House insiders and officials that spoke with Politico.
Home Prices Are Now Higher Than The Peak Of The 2000s Housing Bubble. What Gives?
Even before the pandemic pushed the U.S. housing market into overdrive, the price of the average American home was on a rocket ride, climbing more than 50% between 2012 and 2019. It was the third biggest housing boom in American history. Then came the pandemic, marked by a buying frenzy and a selling freeze, which created a supply-demand mismatch that made the price boom go into warp speed. The average price of American homes, in real terms, is now the highest it’s ever been — even higher than the peak of the housing bubble in 2006 before it crashed 60% and bottomed out in 2012.
Researchers Partner with Nonprofits to Track Health Effects of Federal and State Environmental Policies
Since the start of 2025, the Trump administration has issued nearly 200 executive orders, including directives that have dramatically altered the trajectory of the country’s environmental policy, challenging climate-related initiatives and ending environmental justice programs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has followed suit, attempting to roll back an array of environmental protections that the administration has deemed a burden to domestic oil, gas, and coal production. The agency has characterized these efforts as the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history.”
Historical Trial to Test Limits of Military Power in US Law Enforcement
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, a post-Reconstruction law that bars the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement, will head to a bench trial Monday for the first time in American history to determine if the Trump administration’s federalization of the California National Guard and deployment of the Marines is legal.
As Trump’s raids ramp up, a Texas region’s residents stay inside — even when they need medical care
As the Trump administration intensifies deportation activity around the country, some immigrants — including many who have lived in Texas’s southern tip for decades — are unwilling to leave their homes, even for necessary medical care.
Rethinking cities through global collaboration
Cities are more than skylines and subways — they are lived experiences shaped by the people who call them home. Recognising this, five world-leading institutions have launched the Global Alliance on Sustainable Urban Societies to reframe how cities are studied and shaped, with a human-centred focus that responds to today’s most pressing urban challenges.
How tax incentives are exacerbating the housing market crisis
House prices in Luxembourg rose ninefold between 1975 and 2022, adjusted for inflation, as demand outstrips supply in the country, but government tax incentives to encourage construction have largely helped developers and investors instead of easing the crisis, says a team of researchers.
As housing pressure rises, planners seek public’s help
On Thursday, June 26, the Planning Department will host a public workshop at William Hall Library, focused on housing and traffic safety. The event is part of Phase 2 of the city’s Comprehensive Plan update, which emphasizes public engagement and will guide land use and development in Cranston for the next 20 years.