A 6-year-old girl in the UK is able to see normally again in the day and night thanks to a one-time gene therapy for a rare form of congenital blindness. At this very tender age, Saffie Sandford from Stevenage was diagnosed with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, (LCA) a mutation in the RPE 65 gene which both […] The post 6 Year Old Saffie Has Her Vision Saved from Rare Form of Blindness Thanks to One-Time Gene Therapy appeared first on Good News Network.

This story was originally published by Next City, a nonprofit newsroom reporting on solutions for equitable and just cities. Get Next City’s stories in your inbox: nextcity.org/newsletter. This story is part of In the Shadow of the Server, a Next City series on the fight over urban technology infrastructure — who builds it, who benefits and how local leaders can push back. A small Wisconsin city has just notched a big win in its fight against a proposed data center, thanks to grassroots community organizing and support from a growing statewide coalition. And to help guide other communities facing similar challenges, organizers in Menomonie have helped develop a toolkit for taking on hyperscale data centers. “It’s like whack-a-mole; you knock out one [data center], and another just pops up,” says Blaine Halverson, an organizer in the city of about 16,800 residents. “We’re trying, in real time and against the clock, to do something to protect our community, and now we’re trying to help other communities do that proactively.” A rendering of the development planned by Vantage in Port Washington, Wisconsin. About four hours away in Menomonie, organizers successfully blocked a separate data center proposal from Balloonist, LLC. Courtesy of Vantage Data Centers Local struggles against data center development projects are kicking off across the country as developers descend on unsuspecting residents with plans to build huge, warehouse-like structures that house the computing power driving the increasing use of artificial intelligence in their backyards. As of last October, there were about 3,000 new data centers being built or planned nationwide. Some experts speculate that global spending on data centers could reach $3 trillion by 2029. Menomonie’s story is similar to those of other communities in Wisconsin. The state passed a sales and use tax exemption for qualified data centers in 2023, just as the AI boom was accelerating with the release of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude. Soon, a wave of data center projects was washing over Wisconsin towns. Weighed down by negative news? Our smart, bright, weekly newsletter is the uplift you’ve been looking for. [contact-form-7] There are now more than $57 billion worth of proposed data center projects across the state. At least five of those projects are behemoth, hyperscale data centers — including two proposed in Janesville and Kenosha, and three under construction in Beaver Dam, Mount Pleasant and Port Washington, where voters this month approved a first-of-its-kind referendum restricting future data center developments. Organizers quashed another proposed hyperscale data center in DeForest earlier this year. “These proposals were coming fast and furious,” says Brittany Keyes, clean air policy manager at Healthy Climate Wisconsin. “Community members were caught off guard, not given much time, and really scrambling to organize, get information, engage their elected officials and make a difference.” ‘In the dark until the last minute’ News of a $1.6 billion data center project proposed in Menomonie broke in July 2025, after city leadership had already begun holding closed-door meetings with Balloonist, LLC. The development firm proposed the data center but has never disclosed which tech company would operate it. Menomonie’s city administrator and other officials have also signed nondisclosure agreements with Balloonist. The city administrator signed his in February 2024, about 18 months before the public learned anything about the project. Leaders in other communities have signed similar agreements. By the time Menomonie residents learned that a secretive development firm planned to build a data center on 320 acres of farmland on the outskirts of town, it was only weeks before the city council voted to annex and rezone the land to move the project forward. Organizers were fighting an uphill battle. A press conference and panel discussion at the state capitol. Courtesy of Blaine Halverson “The playing field isn’t horizontal; it’s almost vertical,” Halverson says. “You’ve got big tech, the for-profit utilities, the legislature, the state economic development corporation, and all that up on the high end, bearing down with all of their power on a community that was kept in the dark until the last minute.” Residents had serious concerns about the project. While companies often win major tax breaks by promising jobs and economic stimulation, data centers bring few permanent jobs and can drain municipal water resources, drive up electric bills, rob cities of tax revenues, and cause damaging noise, light and air pollution. Already, Wisconsin residents have seen some of these impacts at data center sites in Port Washington and Beaver Dam. Residents in Port Washington have complained about the disruption caused by around-the-clock construction at the new data center. Families near the construction in Beaver Dam have reported that their wells have run dry. “Data center construction is the most cruel thing a city can do to its residents,” says Sarah Zarling, who has been fighting the Beaver Dam project and supporting organizers in Menomonie. “The impacts are just absolutely immense. They’re life-changing.” Building a coalition Menomonie residents took to social media and the streets to raise the alarm about the data center proposal and organize community members. They met to share information, staged demonstrations and began attending city council meetings in growing numbers. By September 2025, there were over 10,000 Menomonie residents and allies in a Stop the Menomonie Data Center Facebook group — more than half the town’s population. Although the Menomonie City Council voted to annex and rezone the land for the data center in early September, pressure from local campaigners was so great that Mayor Randy Knaack announced at a September 22 city council meeting that he had notified Balloonist that the city would not be moving forward with a development agreement. More good news came in January when the Menomonie City Council voted unanimously to place additional regulations on data center projects. Organizers participated in a day of action in Menomonie in December 2025. Courtesy of Kyle Gregerson At the same time, Menomonie organizers were making connections with others in Wisconsin facing similar fights. Those efforts grew into a statewide coalition. “We were able to bring folks together and create a statewide network that is able to support each other wherever they are in facing these proposals,” Keyes says. Now, when a new data center pops up in Wisconsin’s Big Tech whack-a-mole, organizers have a pool of resources at their disposal to help beat it back. In February, Zarling was in Menomonie for a community town hall event where she gave a presentation about “community organizing tactics and what it’s like having ground broken and construction happening on the front lines” in Beaver Dam. At that town hall event, attendees developed a list of 42 recommendations they want Menomonie city councilors to consider and incorporate into future ordinances to better protect the city from proposals like Balloonist’s. The recommendations focus on transparency and community protection, administrative review, infrastructure and fiscal protections, and zoning protections. To show that support for those recommendations stretches beyond those who attended the town hall, organizers left signature sheets at 11 local businesses. About 500 residents added their names in the first four days; that number has since grown to about 1,000, organizers say. Halverson expects the recommendations will be considered at an upcoming Menomonie City Council meeting. Statewide action One of the statewide coalition’s greatest achievements is the Big Tech Unchecked Toolkit. Published in December 2025 by Healthy Climate Wisconsin and other coalition partners, the toolkit includes information on what data centers are, their impacts on communities and success stories from struggles across Wisconsin, including Menomonie’s. A webinar held in January to introduce the toolkit attracted an audience of almost 200 people. Thanks to the advocacy of local organizers, Menomonie’s state representative, Republican Clint Moses, has also introduced a bill to prohibit nondisclosure agreements for data center proposals in the state. Other data center-related bills have also been introduced, although Keyes argues none go far enough. She says what’s needed is a “pause to protect,” meaning a moratorium on data center construction to allow meaningful guardrails to be developed and implemented. Wait, you're not a member yet? Join the Reasons to be Cheerful community by supporting our nonprofit publication and giving what you can. Join Cancel anytime “We are pushing for adequate protection for the environment and community health because right now, we are without protection, without guardrails. It is irresponsible, and we need a common-sense pause.” Demonstrators from across Wisconsin gathered at the state capitol to show support for a moratorium during a statewide day of action on February 12. Halverson, who was also in Madison to share Menomonie’s story with lawmakers, says that while legislators scramble, the statewide coalition will continue to support communities. “It’s about proactivity; we need to have a plan for what to do if one of these all of a sudden bubbles to the surface,” Halverson says. “This statewide group is getting pretty adept at getting people organized.” Zarling agrees: “Organizing swiftly and fiercely and relentlessly is the key.” The post The Small Wisconsin City That Defeated a Giant Data Center appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The Bahamas became the 12th country or territory in the Americas to receive WHO certification for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, joining a regional cohort that now accounts for more than half of all such certifications worldwide. The certification, announced April 22 by the World Health Organization, is awarded to countries that can demonstrate sustained results: reducing vertical HIV transmission to below two percent, recording fewer than five new pediatric infections per 1,000 live births, and maintaining coverage of 95 percent or higher for antenatal care, HIV testing, and treatment for pregnant women. Meeting all three bars consistently is what the certification requires. What the Bahamas built to get there The foundation of the Bahamas’ model is universality. Antenatal care is available to all pregnant women regardless of nationality or legal status, across both public and private facilities. Women are screened at their first prenatal appointment and again during the third trimester. HIV-positive mothers receive multi-month supplies of antiretroviral medicines, and their infants are monitored until confirmed negative. STI treatment and family planning services are offered free of charge. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is also made available to pregnant women as part of the standard care protocol, an inclusion that puts the Bahamas ahead of many wealthier health systems. “For years, The Bahamas have been working very hard to address the situation of HIV/AIDS,” said Dr. Michael Darville, the country’s Minister of Health and Wellness. “A lot of people have been involved in us achieving this great milestone: our nurses in our public health system, our nurses and doctors in our tertiary health-care system and, by extension, all of the clinics spread throughout our archipelago.” A region that keeps leading Cuba became the first country in the world to achieve this certification, and Brazil received its certification just last year. More than half of all certified countries and territories are now from Latin America and the Caribbean, a regional track record built through years of sustained investment in primary care, not a single breakthrough moment. “Latin America and the Caribbean has long been a beacon of progress in this global effort,” said Anurita Bains, Global Associate Director for HIV/AIDS at UNICEF. “The region continues to lead with ambition and determination. This is a legacy of leadership that inspires the world.” UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima put the mechanics plainly: “When women can test early in pregnancy, start treatment quickly, and stay in care, every child has a better chance of being born free of HIV and other STIs.” The Bahamas’ certification falls under the broader EMTCT Plus Initiative, which targets not only HIV but also syphilis, hepatitis B, and congenital Chagas disease. The initiative is embedded within PAHO’s Elimination Initiative, a regional effort to eliminate more than 30 communicable diseases in the Americas by 2030. Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization, framed the Bahamas’ result as a starting point rather than an endpoint: “As we look ahead, this milestone is not only a moment of national pride but also an opportunity to build on this success, advancing efforts to end HIV and other communicable diseases as public health threats across the Caribbean and the Americas.” Retaining WHO certification requires ongoing surveillance and sustained coverage rates; the work does not stop at the announcement. The Bahamas now joins a short list of countries that have cleared that bar, and the Caribbean is the region most responsible for making that list grow.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post The Bahamas eliminates mother-to-child HIV transmission first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Getting a library card should be easy. For many children, it isn’t. The process can require documentation that not every family has: a fixed address, proof of residency, or a guardian’s signature. For students who are unhoused, in foster care, or undocumented, those requirements can make the library effectively inaccessible. Chicago just decided to take the question off the table. The 81 Club expands The Chicago Public Library and Chicago Public Schools expanded The 81 Club earlier this month, a program that turns every student’s school ID into a library card. No application, no paperwork, no additional steps. Any CPS student can now walk into one of the city’s 81 library branches, show their school ID or provide their ID number, and check out books or tap into a collection of more than 6 million items, along with digital databases and academic tools. What the pilot showed The program is not entirely new. A 2022 pilot in four Chicago neighborhoods, Englewood, West Englewood, Rogers Park, and New City, gave researchers a look at what happens when you remove friction from library access. Among economically disadvantaged students, library use climbed 63 percent. Among English language learners, it rose 81 percent. Those are not marginal gains. They suggest that the previous process was not simply inconvenient for some students. It was a wall. In the pilot areas, The 81 Club members now outnumber traditional library cardholders among the highest-need students. The citywide expansion takes that result to every CPS school. More than books The program reaches beyond physical library access. CPS teachers gain access to Sora, a digital platform with millions of eBooks, audiobooks, and classroom materials, along with research databases and instructional tools. Students can access the same digital resources through their ID. Mayor Brandon Johnson said the goal was to ensure every student, “no matter their ZIP code, school enrollment or their age, will have access to library cards and programs and resources that make their lives more enriched.” Kenya Merritt, acting commissioner of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, grew up in the Austin neighborhood and recalled visiting the local library as a child. “This partnership is what it looks like in action when young people have access, not just to books, but to stories, art and creative expression,” she said. “It opens doors for them. It helps them to imagine what’s possible for themselves.” The 81 Club will also release limited-edition cards featuring student-made artwork. It is a small touch, but it tells you something about how the program sees itself: not as a workaround, but as a proper welcome. The pilot data bears that out. When the door is genuinely open, students walk through it.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post Chicago public school IDs now double as library cards first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.