In Arizona, an Electric Utility Holds an Election, Open Only to Property Owners
In one of America’s least democratic elections, the rule is not one person, one vote. It’s one acre, one vote. Only property owners in metropolitan Phoenix can cast ballots in the April 7 race for control of the Salt River Project, one of the nation’s largest public power utilities. Early voting began this week for the landowning select, and the more land they own, the more votes they get. A farmer with 200 acres gets 200 votes; a suburban homeowner on a quarter of an acre gets a quarter of a vote. Renters are locked out entirely.
Too hot to learn: cooling Argentina’s overheating schools
There have been 23 heatwaves in Rosario over the last 15 years, the same number as in the previous five decades, according to data from September 2025 from the National Meteorological Service (SMN). In the city, a heatwave occurs when the minimum temperature exceeds 20.5C and the maximum temperature exceeds 33.4C for three consecutive days. The longest in Rosario’s history was one of the most recent, occurring in March 2023 and lasting 10 consecutive days. During that one, a school in the city drew global attention after telling pupils to come to school in swimwear to try to stay cool.
The YIMBY movement could be on its way out
The YIMBY, or Yes in My Backyard movement, has been steadily growing based on a simple principle: To solve the housing crisis, simply build more affordable houses. But while the YIMBY train of thought has been making waves in many areas, particularly in cities with high levels of homelessness like San Francisco, some economists think the movement has outgrown its lifespan. Others think it has more to give.
Safe and Sheltered: How Tenant Organizers Protect Their Neighbors in Minneapolis
Taylor Kohn lives in the same Minneapolis neighborhood where ICU nurse Alex Pretti was murdered by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents in January. But even aside from this high-profile killing, Kohn says that since CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began occupying the city last December, every block has been written with one traumatic memory or another. On the route she takes to walk her dog every day “is where I hid when [the] feds were tear gassing us.” Farther down the street “is where I [think I] saw a teenager sobbing while they were put in an ICE vehicle,” she adds.
Coyote mating season breeds curiosity and cautiousness
With eastern coyote mating season under way, so too is the annual debate in Arlington over how well humans and coyotes can coexist.
Arlington Animal Control Officer Michelle Parsons said she hasn’t received any reports of coyote attacks on humans or pets so far this season. The last reported attacks in town occurred in 2021, when coyotes attacked two 2-year-olds in separate incidents.
Is the YIMBY movement doomed?
For more than a decade now, a “YIMBY” movement has been working to bulldoze the rules and regulations that have been holding back new housing development. A central goal of this movement — which declares Yes In My Backyard to more development — is to make housing more plentiful and affordable for Americans who are often priced out of owning or even living in the communities they want to.
Can we vacuum our way out of the climate crisis?
Technology may not solve the climate crisis, but that hasn’t stopped a wide variety of new techno-fixes from appearing in recent years, from carbon capture and storage to solar geoengineering. One of the latest is direct air capture (DAC) – a technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. There are now 200 such projects in operation around the world, up from 150 a year ago, and only a handful a decade ago.
Decoding the New Federal Dietary Guidelines
In a stark departure from previous recommendations, the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture jointly released 2025-2030 federal dietary guidelines last month that place an emphasis on consuming red meat, whole milk, and butter, along with fruits and vegetables. Dubbed “the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in our nation’s history,” by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the updated dietary guidelines also suggest people limit—or eliminate entirely—highly processed foods, added sugars, and excess sodium. The guidelines also removed daily limits for alcohol consumption and now urge people to just “consume less alcohol.”
Football in sun and without shadow: How extreme heat puts tomorrow’s stars at risk
Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano called football, not only the most popular sport in the world, but “the music of the body, the festival of the eyes”. It is a beloved hobby of hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers worldwide. But extreme heat is putting their well-being at risk. Researchers, coaches and scientists are now racing to find solutions, ranging from early warnings and awareness campaigns to banning synthetic pitches that trap heat.
How renters and landlords on the Providence City Council are grappling with the rent control plan
The two are among 15 city councilors who will have to decide whether to implement rent stabilization in Providence this year. An ordinance introduced last month would cap rent increases at 4 percent a year across the city, with many exceptions, including for newly constructed homes. More than half of the council’s members are either renters or landlords in the city. And their own experiences, and those of their neighbors, have helped shape their opinions.