| Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here. | Plants need a lot of attention when you first put them in the ground. Their roots need to become established — acclimated to their new environment, and rooted enough to withstand the season ahead. | As the growing season fades, I've been putting as many new plants into the earth around my home as I can so they're prepared for the winter months. My birthday is August 12th, and after it passes, the year slopes downward, the pace quickening between back-to-school and the new year. There's a lot I hope to get rooted before we get there — in my yard, in my life. So I've been sweating in the summer sun, ripping up flower beds and redesigning my life, one plant at a time. | During these long, languid summer days, when the heat slows time down and keeps us inside, can you find time to ready your roots? Where can you soften, deepen, and find more fertile soil? | This week's issue is a recap of good work by people and communities deeply rooted for change. I hope you find some inspiration — a framework, an organization, or a moment to help sustain you. Up this week: we'll hear from a reader about their work on recidivism in Chicago. On August 6th, we'll mark the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. And we'll look at what kinkeeping means, and how it might shape your relationships with the people you hold dear. | If you’re looking for some magic, I’m posting a new video later today on Instagram. Until then, take care. | This free resource runs on donations from our readers. Consider making a one-time or monthly donation on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@reimaginednews) to help sustain this work. You can always manage your subscription here. | Nicole | ps – looking for the audio version of this newsletter? Click to read the web version, and you’ll find the audio recording at the top of the page. This is a service provided by Beehiiv, our email publishing platform, and AI-generated. |
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| | Missouri restored voting rights to about 40,000 people on probation or parole. Gov. Mike Kehoe signed HB 1871, which makes restoration automatic going forward, with carve-outs for certain offenses. Virginia moved to restore rights to thousands more, reversing its status as the only state that permanently disenfranchised everyone with a felony conviction for life. | Check whether a past conviction affects your vote. The Campaign Legal Center's Restore Your Vote tool walks through the rules state by state and how to get back on the rolls. Restore Your Vote > Find your August ballot. More than 100 local elections this month decide prosecutors, sheriffs, judges, and school boards. Bolts maps them. Bolts > Save the MigraWatch hotline. United We Dream's hotline (1-844-363-1423) documents ICE activity and connects callers to local rapid-response networks. United We Dream > Carry a red card. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center's Know Your Rights cards state your rights during an ICE encounter, in multiple languages, free to download. ILRC > Give to a bond fund. The National Bail Fund Network directory lists community bond and immigration bond funds by state. Community Justice Exchange >
| | | |  | A delivery worker riding a bike and wearing a DoorDash branded delivery backpack looks towards the right before proceeding down the New York City Street. Image Source: Documented |
| Michigan Supreme Court overturns the Line 5 tunnel permit. The state's highest court invalidated the permit for Enbridge's proposed pipeline tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, finding regulators violated environmental law and public-trust duties. Native News Online > | Appeals court keeps Trump's mail-in voting order blocked in 23 states. The First Circuit upheld an injunction stopping the executive order that sought to build a federal voter list and restrict mail-ballot delivery. CBS News > | Judge blocks the stripping of work permits from asylum seekers and TPS holders. A federal judge temporarily barred the administration from revoking work authorization for tens of thousands of immigrants. Al Jazeera > | Virginia restores voting rights for thousands with past felony convictions. The governor moved to restore rights to thousands of Virginians, reversing a more restrictive rights-restoration posture. Bolts > | NYC delivery workers collect $104 million in extra tips under a new city law. App-based delivery workers, most of them immigrants, earned an additional $104 million after a minimum-pay and tipping law took effect, following years of deliverista organizing. Documented > | Federal officials back off a rushed autism plan after an uproar. Health officials postponed a key autism panel meeting and reopened the comment period after advocates objected to a four-day window to review a 336-page plan. Disability Scoop > | Pennsylvania strikes down mandatory life without parole for second-degree murder. The state's mandatory life-without-parole sentence for felony murder was overturned, opening questions about resentencing for people already serving those terms. The Marshall Project > | | | Immigration | ICE flouted a federal judge's order to stop arresting immigrants at New York courthouses. There have been continued arrests of immigrants moving through the legal system at the courthouse, despite a court order barring them. The Intercept > | Mahmoud Khalil sued the administration and pro-Israel groups over a conspiracy to suppress his speech. The Palestinian organizer filed suit alleging a coordinated effort to punish his First Amendment–protected activity. Democracy Now > | California lawmakers moved to curb price gouging inside ICE detention. State legislators advanced measures targeting the phone and commissary costs charged to people held in ICE facilities. Capital & Main > | Hunger strikes are spreading across ICE detention centers. Advocates report a growing wave of hunger strikes over alleged due-process violations and conditions. Prism > | Criminal Legal System | Attorneys say Oklahoma County's rapid bail hearings fail constitutional standards. Lawyers argue that hearings lasting under a minute deny due process to people awaiting trial. The Appeal > | A man jailed over unpaid court fees in Pennsylvania died within 48 hours. The death in York County renewed scrutiny of incarceration over fines and fees. The Appeal > | A year after promising reform, Chicago police's unreported traffic stops rose. An investigation found undocumented stops increased under the current superintendent despite pledges to fix the practice. Bolts > | Health | A new Medicaid work rule threatens coverage for over a million farmworkers. The 80-hour work requirement is difficult to document for citizen and legal-resident agricultural workers whose seasonal, cash-paid labor is irregular. |
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