Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 7h

Nuns in Central American had insane impact on the Catholic leadership in the generations that followed. You think Pope Leo doesn't know these women's names? www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture...

The four martyred churchwomen of El Salvador dare us to be saints

More than four decades after their murders, the four churchwomen of El Salvador remain powerful examples of faith and commitment to the Gospel.

www.americamagazine.org

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Reposted by Felicity M. Maxwell

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 8h

That’s $5 billion more than the entire annual USAID budget. All to one country. To rescue one friend of the president’s.

Ilhan Omar @ilhanmn.bsky.social · 8h

Trump found another $20 BILLION to give to Argentina, totaling their bailout to $40 BILLION.

Yet we can’t afford to prevent millions of Americans from losing their healthcare.

Shame.

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 9h

Great data on RCV from @fairvote.bsky.social here: fairvote.org/resources/da...

Research and data on RCV in practice - FairVote

fairvote.org

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 2d

That's CHA-OS thank you very much.

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Reposted by Felicity M. Maxwell

Paige Ellis @paige-ellis.bsky.social · 2d

We just passed a City initiative to make it easier for neighborhood cafés like Rosy’s to open across Austin.

Rosy's is a perfect example of how walkable neighborhood spaces help people connect, build community, and combat isolation.

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 2d

If you lived in or experienced "middle class" lifestyles in many parts of Europe during the 80s & 90s, it offered far less material wealth than the US during that same time period. Might not be classified as low income but certainly lower salaries / discretionary spending.

Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 2d

In Austin, we specifically worked to make Tiny Homes legal, which involved updating several codes so they could be approved as a type of ADU: www.austintexas.gov/sites/defaul...

www.austintexas.gov

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 2d

I mean when you are (shamefully!) starting at $78K, the math becomes really hard:
"That’s right, Bueckers, like fellow junior superstars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, is capped at the WNBA’s rookie pay scale, which leaves her at $78,831." www.star-telegram.com/opinion/brad...

Paige Bueckers is the best basketball star in North Texas. Pay her like it | Opinion

Here’s why Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers deserves much higher pay, like all the superstars in the suddenly booming WNBA. | Opinion

www.star-telegram.com

Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 2d

Sadly correct - the pro-transit, climate optimism of the US in the late 90s was soundly defeated by fossil fuel & car monopolies just as Europe moved in the other direction, with resulting predictable outcomes.

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 2d

Over the last 30 years, most EU countries have gone from low income population to modestly wealthy one, esp. if you include social benefits like transportation, healthcare, & education. America had a huge advantage as late as the 90s and then decided to squander it all for tax cuts & billionaires.

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 2d

In case anyone missed it, Stoller threw a similar fit after Derek Thompson took apart the ridiculous "homebuilding oligopolies in Dallas story": bsky.app/profile/dkth...

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 2d

Checking in on the research director of the American Economic Liberties Project

@matthewstoller on X: Your weird insecurities aside, you consistently lie that native born Americans can’t and never have made clothes, and push offshoring in sleazy ways. Then when confronted you talk about your left wing views. You’re slime.

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Reposted by Felicity M. Maxwell

Bradford William Davis @bwd.bsky.social · 2d

wrote about learning that I, Fort Worth's second-best columnist, make more money from my day job than Paige Bueckers, DFW's best hooper, makes from playing in the WNBA

and the pressures and perils of relying on side hustles because our day jobs don't cut it

www.star-telegram.com/opinion/brad...

Paige Bueckers is the best basketball star in North Texas. Pay her like it | Opinion

Here’s why Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers deserves much higher pay, like all the superstars in the suddenly booming WNBA. | Opinion

www.star-telegram.com

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 4d

I think it is some sort of parental rite of passage like travel team sports or kids getting sick from day care: do not buy the cutesy holiday decorations for the kids from the chi-chi crafts store unless you have infinite time and/or a personal assistant that you secretly hate.

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 4d

Ugh - I immediately knew, as a mom who cannot craft but tries anyway, that this was a Paper Source kit! Which, by far have the worse effort to outcome ratio. I swear that store was created by former theatre kids & ex-sorority girls to punish every other non-crafty parent.

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Reposted by Felicity M. Maxwell

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 4d

“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 4d

There is also a great Apple TV show that highlights a similar home restoration in East Austin: tv.apple.com/us/episode/a...

Watch Austin: Edgeland House - Home (Season 1, Episode 7) - Apple TV+

A science-fiction author creates utopia from dystopia when he builds a modern, earth-bermed home on a former industrial wasteland.

tv.apple.com

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 4d

Under-appreciated aspect of Austin's Parking Reform:
Austin Community College was freed from parking rules that forced them to add parking spaces every time they added more classrooms - which they were building with local tax dollars!

These rules are dumb, and not just for High Schools.

Patrick Siegman @siegman.biz · 4d

Seth Goodman’s graphic (above) shows what US planners deemed to be the absolute minimum number of parking spaces required for a 200,000 square foot high school as of 2013. Why does a school in Mesa "need" twice as much parking as one in nearby Phoenix? Beats me!

graphingparking.com/author/sethb...

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Reposted by Felicity M. Maxwell

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 5d

Appears the Trump admin’s reduction in force has hit housing hard this evening.

Reports that all CDFI fund staff have been let go. HUD appears to have lost 442 staff.

Yet another federal cut that will make providing affordable housing in the US all the more challenging.

Reports that all staff of CDFI Fund have been let go

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 5d

SB 79 signed in CA? Looks like some 'texans' have new weekend plans 😂

a group of men riding horses in a field

ALT: a group of men riding horses in a field

media.tenor.com

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 5d

Same in Texas this June. When you achieve an amazing result like this, the moment makes no sense to most people but its something you'll remember forever. Congrats!

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 5d

Thank you for your service 🫡🫡

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 5d

Congrats to Max and the entire @cayimby.bsky.social team. This a tremendous victory for CA and for all the housing advocates who have tirelessly worked towards passing SB 79 and so many other great housing bills this session.

This Texan is calling it: Y'all won 🏆🎉🏘️

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 5d

This bill I wrote is now law.

California YIMBY @cayimby.bsky.social · 5d

[VICTORY ALERT] Governor Newsom has signed AB 1154, which will make it faster, cheaper, and easier to add small accessory dwelling units to existing homes.

Our statement: cayimby.org/news-events/...

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 5d

Younger / less experienced / fewer kids: $15-$18
Older HS / more experienced, can handle multiple kids: $20-$25

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 5d

Legalizing "small" gets big results if we do it at scale.

Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 7d

We don’t just need to build more, we need to embrace building small again.

Our zoning, building codes, permitting & financial systems wiped out the small-scale builders who once shaped great American neighborhoods.

It’s time to rethink how we make “small” possible again.

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Reposted by Felicity M. Maxwell

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 6d

The Administration

- raised taxes on clean energy with one big beautiful bill

- is stopping or making clean energy projects harder to be built

- is raising prices on materials with tariffs

- all while AI is spiking electricity demand

They are stopping supply while demand goes up

It’s a crisis

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 6d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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