For five years now, Chad Pregracke, a 26-year old Illinois resident, has been on a heroic personal mission to clean up the Mississippi. His efforts have won him an award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"For five years now, he has been hauling junk out of the Mississippi River" - refrigerators, washing machines, even a van. His team members "also have hauled in the top half of a school bus. One 1950 International Harvester truck. And at last count: 3,608 tires, 1,012 steel drums, 64 television sets, four canoes and two prosthetic legs...He started his river cleanup mission when he was just a few years out of high school...Now there's a nonprofit foundation, a board of directors and a roster of corporate donors to fund a $300,000-a-year budget...He's won a prestigious award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His work has been featured on CNN and in Time and Life magazines."
Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan
FULL STORY: Wresting Refuse From the Mississippi

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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