For the past three years, the city has been giving cash to some struggling renters, no strings attached. The first-in-the-nation experiment has been even more successful than researchers studying its impact expected.
Emmy-nominated labor reporter @PaydayReport often in đ§đ·. Alum: @Guardian! Yinzer @UEunion fam. AutisticâŸïž Jew. Falo PortuguĂȘs in Pittsburgh. Melk@PaydayReport.com
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For the past three years, the city has been giving cash to some struggling renters, no strings attached. The first-in-the-nation experiment has been even more successful than researchers studying its impact expected.
"[Simon] wants PRoB to be 'kind of a way in which Pittsburgh writers can be presented to the world and a way in which world writers can be presented to Pittsburgh.' Thanks to Bill O'Driscoll at @wesa.fm for this feature in advance of our 9/3 launch! www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
Very exciting to see @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social launched
âThe Border Is Invading Americaâ: Jean Guerrero on the Bipartisan Failures of Immigration Policy https://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/3/jean_guerrero_immigration_border_politics
Dodgers Chants outweighing Pirates chants tonite
Via @mikeelk.bsky.social
Labor & immigration beats have long been seen as separate beats in newsrooms. Why? Labor reporters are largely white & dont speak foreign languages, while immigration reporters are heavily Latino & speak Spanish. Let's tear down these absurd walls in newsrooms. paydayreport.com/tearing-down...
Valeu
Canât wait to read
Great op-ed from @apagliar.bsky.social. Let's all go buy his book! www.wiley.com/en-us/Lula%3...
Today, come to our Labor Day parade!
Wait?!?! Boston is only gonna have their first ever Labor Day Parade today!
âToday's ICE agents are the modern equivalent of the Pinkertons, police & National Guard, which were sent to break up strikes in the pastâŠIt's long past time 4 journalists 2stop pretending these issues should be kept in separate boxes and bylines.â @mikeelk.bsky.social CC @extremearturo.bsky.social
Labor & immigration beats have long been seen as separate beats in newsrooms. Why? Labor reporters are largely white & dont speak foreign languages, while immigration reporters are heavily Latino & speak Spanish. Let's tear down these absurd walls in newsrooms. paydayreport.com/tearing-down...
A look inside Zohran Mamdani's video team: defector.com/selling-zohran
A Labor Day reminder: today there isn't a single city, metro area, or state in the U.S. where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a modest 2-bedroom apartment. Millions of people with jobsâeven multiple jobsâaren't safe from homelessness in this country.
$2 off beers for union members at our post Labor Day Parade party. All proceeds go to support Casa San Jose ICE bail fund
Todayâs piece is âDonald Trumpâs Kink is Firing Black Women - Even when he canât get it up. (By âitâ of course I mean the legal standing.âđ All about Trumpâs incredibly obvious effort to fire every prominent Black woman that he can⊠even if he canât.
Exactly why I donât use melatonin
I have written extensively about how Substack steals your audience and your revenue but sure, quote Tyler Denk. Maybe when another tech CEO talks, you hear it better journalistspaythemselves.com/p/how-substa...
đšBorder Patrol arrested two firefighters who were actively fighting a wildfire at the time. When the other members of the crew asked for a chance to say goodbye, a Border Patrol agent told the crew member âyou need to get the f*ck out of here. Iâm going to make you leave.â
"It took her nearly two decades to find a permanent academic position. She found occasional work as a visiting professor, filling in for someone on leave for a year or two. She earned grants to fund her research... but she was often living on unemployment benefits" www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/s...
Volkswagen Brazil was found guilty of subjecting workers to conditions âanalogousâ to slavery between 1974 and 1986 in the Amazon and ordered to publicly acknowledge the abuses and pay more than $30 million in damages.
#OtD 31 Aug 1942 a wildcat general strike broke out in Luxembourg in opposition to the occupying Nazi regime's order to conscript young people into the Nazi army stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1035...
I got to talk with @lataco.bsky.social's @eltragon.bsky.social about his tireless documentation of immigration raids in LA, and how his knowledge of the city's street food scene makes him a better immigration reporter
For those keeping score at home, the Navy has sent 3 destroyers, a guided-missile cruiser, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine and an amphibious ready group with a Marine Expeditionary Unit to the southern Caribbean. New @taskandpurpose.com taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-sh...
Agents snatched this person out of his Uber ride this morning in Mount Pleasant, Washington DC. Per source, officers followed his Uber for a few minutes, and then swarmed the vehicle and dragged him out.
Dearest Martha, The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover. Yours in glaze,
In Central PA, an old coal mining town has turned into an ICE detention hub, with the ICE Moshannon Valley Processing Center being the townâs largest employer. A protest is drawing attention to the inhumane conditions. From @mikeelk.bsky.socialâŹ:
Imagine if they were your kids, the anger you would feel
LAPD choppers are a malignant nuisance. They're harbingers of surveillance, operated *continuously*âyet the city's own data show they raise stress, impair cognition and burn 100,000s of gallons of gas. The best part? there's no evidence they deter or reduce crime at all. It's time to ground them.
"By contrast, in 2025 thus far, Bluesky has driven "a hundred times as many page views" to Southern Fried Science as Twitter." arstechnica.com/science/2025...
đ„đ„â€ïžđ„đ„
Former Guards, WELL DONE!!! Keep up the pressure, citizens!!!
Houstonians Are Not Happy With Mass Deportations migrantinsider.com/p/houstonian...
A 21 point swing. In Iowa. Yowza.
On this day in 1956, the home of Montgomery Pastor Robert Graetz was bombed. Pastor Graetz, a white man, had been an outspoken supporter of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Yet another win by Democrats in a tough district
Plz take a few minutes and read this important story today
They told people to sit in certain side if they didnât want their photos taken. These photos are powerful which is why the group wanted them taken cuz they will inspire others to action
The event was open to the press. Showing peopleâs faces its powerful - ice hides their faces
Many activists were scared to protest in an old coal town in Trump country. However, the protest has opened up a community discussion about the Moshannon ICE facility with even former guards coming out to speak about the abuses. paydayreport.com/moshannon-ic...
Cross posting @mikeelk.bsky.social â Rep. Summer Lee Denied Entry to ICE Facility Her Committee Oversees migrantinsider.com/p/summer-lee...
East Liberty presby church
@repsummerlee.bsky.social takes stage to speak at immigrant defense training in Pittsburgh hosted by Casa San Jose. Over 200 here in attendance
Over 200 folks here for Casa San Jose immigration defense training on Pittsburgh
I interviewed one local activists but unfortunate that I could not find more
Rural. Places. Are. Not. Monoliths. The article doesnât mention it, but there were many people from local activist groups there as well.
Brazilian police now monitoring Bolsonaro for suicide risk as he remains under house arrest
Reposting this because if you're thinking of moving from Substack to Ghost, beehiiv, Buttondown or elsewhere, I can help you make that plan but I'm only doing this for 3 people so hit me up this week by contributing to the campaign!
"Martinez visited a friend who was detained for 9 days w/out any prison official speaking to him. "He would bang on the door for hours to speak on the phone. Time & time again, nobody explained anything in a language he could understand. There was no clear process where he would be met w/answers."
'This is a Trump town though and I'm putting my neck out to say it, because I could be firebombed tonight," says Phillipsburg town councilman Luther Gette, who helped to organize the protest. "I already had a rock thrown through my window, but I'm taking that risk..." Luther Gette is 87 years old'
A day after the protest, Congressman @summerlee.bsky.social was denied entry to inspect the Moshannon Valley ICE detention facility. She says that the movement against ICE is having a clear effect on pushing elected officials to do more to fight back paydayreport.com/moshannon-ic...
Phillispburg once was a prosperous coal mine town. The coal mines are gone & the largest employer in town is ICE
Many activists were scared to protest in an old coal town in Trump country. However, the protest has opened up a community discussion about the Moshannon ICE facility with even former guards coming out to speak about the abuses. My look from Phillipsburg paydayreport.com/moshannon-ic...
Netanyahu is calling Israel's double strike on a hospital in Gaza that killed civilians and reporters a âtragic mishap.â Targeting press is not a mishap. Murdering tens of thousands of Palestinians is not a mishap. The US must withhold arms and hold Israel accountable for these war crimes.
Many activists were scared to protest in an old coal town in Trump country. However, the protest has opened up a community discussion about the Moshannon ICE facility with even former guards coming out to speak about the abuses. paydayreport.com/moshannon-ic...
One day, Trump will be gone. This week's NEXT COMES FIRST remembers that a better world is possible, if not inevitable. Subscribe to read it first.
Labor leaders sadly praised her as DOL pick - sad!
AP showing little outrage over the death of one of their freelancers
it is unconscionable that this is how @apnews.com reports a deadly IDF strike that KILLED ONE OF THEIR OWN FREELANCERS
Exposing Scott Siverts - founder of the Berm Pit Podcast and part of Pittsburghâs neo-Nazi network. Months of research, evidence preserved. Scary stuff. Receipts inside đ substack.com/home/post/p-...
Seems silly but I had never considered the ways in which a dead or dying town could be conflicted about an ICE facility that provides jobs to the community. Interesting article.
NEW: Thanks to @theflytrapmedia.com, I got to write about Kristi Noem in a way I wouldn't otherwise be able to write about Kristi Noem, by speaking to feminist writers, organizers, & policy experts about internalized misogyny & what Noem's extreme makeover tells us about the changing face of evil.
Sure melk@paydayreport.com
Hundreds of people from all over Pa drive hours to protest an ICE detention facility in Phillipsburg, PA. The protest lead to a huge debate in the old coal town of 2,700 people. My dispatch from an inspiring protest
The use of national security rhetoric to justify mass incarceration today echoes the same logic that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans. It is inconceivable that the US is once again building concentration camps, denying the lessons learned 80 years ago. www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-a...
May her memory always be a blessing
My lab's been attacked by an anti-wind group and their lawyers. They threatened the science funding of my whole university, to shut me and my undergraduate research assistants up. NYT just covered it. 1/n www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...
Vigilance is how we fight back against ICE
"A U.S. Marine Corps veteran filed a tort claim notice against the Department of Homeland Security after video caught the moment he was tackled by federal law enforcement while protesting outside an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon." www.yahoo.com/news/article...
During her 10-day detainment, Jemmy Jimenez Rosa was hospitalized twice, transferred to a male detention facility and denied access to her legal team, her attorney said.
New York City Evictions are back to pre-pandemic levels. Hell Gate spent two days inside Brooklyn Housing Court to see how tenants are dealing with its long lines and slick landlord attorneys. hellgatenyc.com/two-days-ins...
Journalists writing about Trump's plans to send the National Guard to cities in blue states have to think carefully about how to frame it. The federal government (including the National Guard) call it an anti-crime narrative. But it increasingly feels like that's a pretext for military occupation.
Over a quarter of all homes sold in the first three months of 2025 were bought by real estate investors. If we want to make housing affordable again, we must get Wall Street out of our homes. https://youtu.be/q9TOGxDJ0TE?feature=shared
More than 200 people attended a protest against the use of Camp Atterbury as an ICE detention facility Sunday afternoon at Johnson County Park, which is just a few miles away from the military base.
My friend Alice was violently detained by ICE in Silver Spring, MD yesterday by agents who were waiting outside an apartment in unmarked vehicles. www.gofundme.com/f/justice-fo...
"The violence has sent at least 11 to the hospital. Neighbors are buying gas masks for their toddlers because of chemical weapons seeping into homes." @alissaazar.bsky.social on escalating state violence against the #Portland community as anti-ICE protests continue. itsgoingdown.org/interview-wi...
I just cannot imagine Cuomo or Adams getting this many people, especially people 40 and under, on a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon to do a scavenger hunts accessible by public transit
We will have more tomorrow - donate to help us cover this story paydayreport.com/help-travel-...
Even @reprabb.bsky.social whose running for Congress showed up to the rally against ICE detention center run by GEO Group in bombed out coal mining town of Phillipsburg, Pa
1,000 folks in small Phillipsburg, Pa rallying against ICE detention center run by the GEO Group
Over 147 immigrants are being held in solitary condiment in GEO Groupâs Moshannon Valley ICE facility
Mexican women when they roll up to protest an ICE detention center deep in Trump country of Central PA
Fascists patrols our everyday
đŁâWe shouldnât have to go out there and do wrong to our own people.â đŁ 43 African American soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas refused deployment for riot control at DNC in Chicago, #tdih 1968. Punished with court-martial, hard labor, & reductions in rank. www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/fo...
I got a surprise $300 yesterday (from a class action lawsuit) so I thought what better use of that cash than to back another indie publisher. Sharon Hurley Hall just did a subscriber appeal on LinkedIn so I choose her newsletter www.antiracismnewsletter.com/p/malcolm-ja...
New post: Iowa's senior U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley dodged a journalistâs question this week about his plans for the 2028 campaign. (He would be 95 years old when his current term ends.) #IASen www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/08/23/c...
Madami is organizing a scavenger hunt tomorrow for his volunteers - this is a first
1.5 million immigrants left the U.S. in the first 6 months of 2025 according to Pew
Big thanks to a reader from DC for donating 100 paydayreport.com/help-travel-...
Big thanks to a reader who donated $55. Lets keep the momentum going
just tossed in a few coins.
Its Friday night but I need your help to cover a town in rural PA fighting against an ICE detention center! We need your help to travel!
Big thanks to a reader who donated $40
I need your help to travel this week to cover how a rural PA town deep in Trump county is fighting back against privatized prisons controlled by private prison contractor ICE
Vinnyâs should ban Fetterman for helping persuade Kamala and others to double down on genocide in Gaza!
Another $29 to help us travel to fight back against ice! Donate to help cover workers fighting back
Karma from donating to labor reporters fighting back against ICE is the best karma. Donate today if you can!