This Week in Policy & Public Interest News: 12 Stories You Need to See

A roundup of the week's most newsworthy policy and public interest press releases from PR Newswire, including firearms at airport checkpoints and a billion-dollar housing initiative.

NEW YORK, July 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the policy and public interest industries stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

1. TSA stopped 3,251 firearms at airport checkpoints nationwide during the first half of 2023
   The total represents an average 18 firearms per day at TSA checkpoints of which more than 92% were loaded. This is an increase from the first half of 2022 when Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) stopped 3,053 firearms at security checkpoints of which more than 86% were loaded.
2. Anheuser-Busch Delivering More Than 75,000 Cans Of Emergency Drinking Water To Texas Fire Departments
   Firefighters and first responders in our communities rely on clean drinking water to stay hydrated in times of need; yet volunteer fire departments often lack the budget and resources to supply. The water donations to Texas fire departments are designed to deliver on this critical need, as well as to support the communities where Anheuser Busch's customers and more than 1,000 employees live and work.
3. Actress Lucy Hale Teams with PetSmart to Champion Pet Adoption
   "I want to encourage others to discover the power and joy of the human-animal bond. Shelters across the U.S. are at or beyond capacity and I'm encouraging people to open their hearts and homes to a new pet during PetSmart Charities National Adoption Week," Hale said.
4. New Study Finds High Home Prices Linked to Higher Homelessness Rates in U.S. Metros
   Surprisingly, poverty rates are not a good indicator of homeless rates. New Orleans has the highest poverty rate (18.4%) of any city we examined but has a homeless rate half the national average (96 per 100,000 people). This may indicate that, because of a low cost of living, residents can better afford housing despite lower incomes.
5. American Student Assistance Launches Paid High School Internship Program
   The program provides Boston-based teens with greater access to invaluable opportunities that enable them to gain real-world experiences that are aligned with their interests, earlier in their education to career journeys.
6. Empowering communities: Ally commits nearly $1 billion to housing initiatives
   "Everyone deserves a safe place to live – yet home affordability is at its lowest point in history," said Ali Summerville, business administration executive at Ally and board chair of the Ally Charitable Foundation. "It's important we show up as an ally and support affordable housing and homeownership initiatives that create lasting, positive impact where we work, live and serve."
7. EdSource and Distributed Media Lab partner to create the California Education News Network with funding from Google News Initiative
   By using the DML platform to distribute education journalism, the project seeks to expand the audience and impact of news organizations and empower local communities by providing trusted news, information and analysis with seamless syndication.
8. Consumer Safety Technology Announces New Partnership with Department of Defense
   "We are honored to work with MSEP to support military spouses as part of our ongoing efforts to promote under-served segments of our communities," said Kathy Boden Holland, CEO, Consumer Safety Technology. "Our partnership with MSEP strongly aligns with our goals to drive a culture of diversity, inclusion and equity."
9. Enterprise Holdings ROAD Forward Grants Help Advance Social and Racial Equity in More Than 400 Communities
   Enterprise Holdings Foundation President Carolyn Kindle said, "From supporting social and mental health within at-risk communities, to promoting equity and opportunity for minority business owners, to empowering students from low-income backgrounds to pursue higher education, we're proud to champion hundreds of exceptional organizations as they continue to grow their positive impact."
10. REI commits to putting everyone in America within 5 minutes of outdoor space
    Whether you live in a neighborhood with limited access to parks and trails, one without adequate public transit to those places, or even a place with ample—but inequitable—access, there are challenges to recreating outside that every one of us can help address.
11. WITF and Steinman Communications Complete Transaction Gifting LNP | LancasterOnline to the Central PA Public Media Organization
    While there have been a handful of other collaborations between public media organizations and for-profit media organizations in recent years, they have occurred in large metropolitan areas. The combination of WITF and LNP is the first in the nation in a region like Central Pennsylvania.
12. Elie Wiesel Foundation Announces Inaugural Grantees Dedicated to Uyghur Advocacy Efforts and Education
    The grant-making initiative, launched in October of 2022, identifies and supports organizations whose efforts are grounded by Elie Wiesel's values and the Foundation's mission, and which align to portfolios reflecting Elie Wiesel's legacy: Educator, Activist, Journalist, Student, and Man of Faith.

Read more of the latest policy-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNpolicy and @prnedu on Twitter.

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