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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Minnesotans Ready to Hack through Inequity

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Wednesday, September 20, 2017   

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A hackathon this weekend aims to use computer code and real-life experience to solve pressing social problems. The two-day event in Saint Paul is part of the National Day for Civic Hacking, a four-year-old federal initiative to encourage community activists to harness the power of technology.

Sharon Kennedy Vickers, an IT consultant and co-founder of Blacks in Technology, says the event will bring together people from many different backgrounds.

"It's for anyone who is impacted by inequities or a gap that exists here in Minnesota and wants to change that and utilize that skill, whatever that skill is, for good," she explains.

There are five topic areas: public transit, health and wellness, civic engagement immigrants and refugees, and economic opportunity.

Kennedy Vickers says registration already is double what it was last year. The two-day event is free and will take place at the Union Depot in Saint Paul.

Last year, the hackathon prototyped an app that would connect homeless people with available beds.

Organizer Casey Helbling, the CEO of Software for Good, says the hackathon will produce new ideas because of the different experiences people will bring.

"It's going to bring all different kinds of people together from all different walks of life in a very short period of time," he says. "They're going to come up with some really cool things. It gives people a chance to start learning and start trying to solve some problems."

The stated goal of the conference is to disrupt inequity, and to make communities more livable by solving actual problems. More than 20 cities are participating.


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