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Utah And New Mexico Lead The Region In COVID-19 Testing. Here's How They've Done It

Rae Ellen Bichell

April 24, 2020 |

KUNR |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Mexico

Deploying a state-wide COVID-19 testing strategy requires coordinating both public and private-industry stakeholders. In Utah and New Mexico, the appointment of “testing czars,” or public health leaders in charge of coordinating testing, has led to targeted, successful strategies to ramp up testing. These “testing czars” work to coordinate with commercial and public labs to find supplies and address bottlenecks. Suppliers work to connect via conference call to discuss logistics, allowing for successful scaling in both rural and urban testing strategies.

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Private Prisons Profit Off Incarceration. One In Australia Shows How To Flip The Script

Rae Ellen Bichell

March 09, 2020 |

KUNC |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Australia

Using a performance-based contract to give a private prison company the incentive to lower recidivism has encouraged the private operator of Australia’s largest prison to foster a more positive environment and provide a rich array of rehabilitative programs. Instead of penalizing the prison operator for problems, the contract rewards it for success, defined as fewer people returning to prison. Early indications are that it’s working well, by providing job training, counseling that continues after incarceration, and help finding housing post-release.

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Instead Of Killing Prairie Dogs, Researchers Consider Birth Control

Rae Ellen Bichell

September 20, 2019 |

Wyoming Public Media |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Researchers at Denver’s Bluff Lake Nature Center are trying a new approach to controlling the prairie dog population: birth control. While still in the experimental phase, it has shown to be effective for larger animals, which makes the approach promising. Birth control is the preferred way of curbing the prairie dog population, because while they bring challenges, they are also a necessary part of the ecosystem.

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As News Deserts Encroach, One City Looks At A New Way To Fund Local Journalism

Rae Ellen Bichell

August 05, 2019 |

Wyoming Public Media |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Longmont, Colorado

A local community member in Longmont, Colorado looks to creative public financing in order to keep the news media alive in his town. Looking to libraries as a successful model of special improvement districts, which act as independent government districts to raise funds for operation, the Longmont Observer aims to bring news back into the hands of locals after the regional newspaper shut down.

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Tracking some of the world's biggest killers, via cellphone

Rae Ellen Bichell

December 25, 2017 |

Public Radio International |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Madagascar

A new project uses cellphones to provide users with information about mosquitos carrying deadly viruses as well as the ability to report sightings of virus carrying mosquitos. Through this reporting system, entomologists are able to more comprehensively and quickly know where work has to be done to keep people safe from disease.

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How Madagascar Took Control Of Its Plague Outbreak

Rae Ellen Bichell

November 19, 2017 |

NPR |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Madagascar

When the bubonic plague began rapidly spreading in Madagascar, the country took a swift and comprehensive approach to try to stop it. From adding staff to treatment centers to screening travelers for symptoms, the country's quick actions resulted in overall low fatality rates.

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How Uganda Came To Earn High Marks For Quality Of Death

Rae Ellen Bichell

January 03, 2016 |

NPR |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Kampala, Central Region

Uganda has the best quality of death among low-income countries, according to the Economic Intelligence Unit. Its success stems in part from the strictly regulated but available supply of morphine, which is distributed by pharmacists in labeled bottles.

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In Finland's 'open prisons,' inmates have the keys

Rae Ellen Bichell

April 15, 2015 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Finland, Kerava

Inmates at the prison in Kerava, Finland, do their own shopping and have keys. Open prisons are the final step of the penal system, one that encourages prisoners—who must apply to the prison, but may be welcome even if they've committed murder—to adjust back into society.

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