Page 2 - Mark Baumgarten News Today

Peter Rainier never set foot on this continent. Some tribal members suggest giving a more fitting name for Washington’s tallest peak.

Ted Alvarez thinks birding is boring. But with so much interest in it now, he decides to investigate.

Professor Steven Clark is on an ongoing quest to find a rare daisy that helps us understand the intricacies of evolution.

Memorable conversations from the 2021 Crosscut Festival From local art and pandemic disruption to climate change and Black history, here are the discussions you dont want to miss. by From top left: Erin Johnson, Sonia Shah, Abrahm Lustgarten, and Carmen Best; second row: Tim Lennon, Heather Cox Richardson, Teddy Phillips (AKA Stat the Artist), and Vivian Hua; third row: Monyee Chau, Steven Miller, Peter Singer, and Michelle Nijhuis. After the onset of the pandemic canceled last years Crossc...

A Reason for Hope In July 1960, at the age of 26, Jane Goodall traveled to what is now Tanzania and ventured into the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. Her work transformed our understanding of chimpanzees and redefined the relationship between humans and animals in ways that continue to resonate around the world. Over the past 60 years, Dr. Goodall has not only shown us the urgent need to protect chimpanzees from extinction; she has also redefined species conservation to include the n...

Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets (CAHOOTS) is a mobile crisis intervention team integrated into the public safety system of the Oregon cities of Eugene and Springfield. (CAHOOTS) In the past year, as cities have searched for alternatives to police while handling crisis calls, many have arrived in an unlikely place: Eugene, Oregon. In this episode of This Changes Everything’s focus on efforts to defunding the police, host Sara Bernard heads to Eugene for a virtual ride along with C...

Community members hold a press conference addressing an upcoming Seattle City Council vote on an agreement between the Seattle Police Officers Guild and the city of Seattle at City Hall, Nov. 13, 2018. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut) As anti-racism protesters filled city streets this past summer with calls for a radical rethinking of public safety, a majority of Seattle City Council members responded by committing to cut the citys police budget by 50%. But making good on that promise has been diffi...

Torin Bracey chants during a ‘Count Every Vote, Protect Every Person’ rally in Pioneer Square, Nov. 4, 2020. Hundreds of people peacefully marched through Pioneer Square with limited police presence — a noticeable difference from the night before, which ended in multiple arrests of protesters. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut) In the midst of the anti-racism protests that followed the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last spring, a new cry went out: "Defund the police!" And in the...

Proponents of the nations Defund Police movement have argued that some police funding could be redirected to fund community programs, which would help improve policing, lower police interactions for at-risk populations and lead to better job satisfaction for police and results for taxpayers. (Matt M. McKnight/Crosscut) Many activists leading the call to defund the police say the answer to disproportionate policing is to take money from the cops and give it to communities. But change is never as...