News brief: March 10-14

International

The state government of Belém, Brazil has authorized the destruction of tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest for a new four lane highway.

With the COP30 climate summit coming up in November, the new route will allow the 50,000 participants including world leaders easy passage into the city at the expense of local communities and the local wildlife.

The Amazon plays an essential role in absorbing carbon for the planet and providing biodiversity. Some protestors claim the deforestation defeats the point of the convention.

Claudio Verequete lives only 200 meters from the new road and previously made a living for his family harvesting açaí berries from the now fallen trees.

“Everything was destroyed. Our harvest has already been cut down,” he told BBC. “We no longer have that income to support our family.”

He reports receiving no compensation from the government and is forced to rely on his savings.

The now unemployed berry farmer worries more deforestation will follow now that the area is accessible for businesses.

“Our fear is that one day someone will come here and say: ‘Here’s some money. We need this area to build a gas station or to build a warehouse,’ and then we’ll have to leave,” he said. “We were born and raised here in the community. Where are we going to go?”

Scientists think the road will fragment the Amazon ecosystem by inhibiting movement from one side to the other.

“From the moment of deforestation, there is a loss,” Silvia Sardinha, a wildlife vet and researcher at a university animal hospital overlooking the new highway, told BBC. “We are going to lose an area to release these animals back into the wild, the natural environment of these species. Land animals will no longer be able to cross to the other side too, reducing the areas where they can live and breed.”

The government of Pará initially suggested a similar highway in 2012, but it was rejected for environmental concerns.

National

Early on Monday, Police responded to a report claiming a Tennessee resident had been shot by a dog.

Tennessee resident Jerald Kirkwood’s one-year-old pitbull Oreo leapt onto the bed as he slept with a gun next to him. Oreo’s paw allegedly became stuck on the trigger guard, causing the weapon to discharge and graze his owner’s left thigh.

Kirkwood is okay, sustaining only a minor injury. As he told Fox 13, the startling incident is now something he can laugh about.

According to a report by non-profit Brady: United Against Gun Violence, since 2019, unintentional firearm injury is the most common hospitalization related to guns in the U.S.

Local

Oklahoma City will be honored with its very own Monopoly board this November.

“There’s only one Monopoly, and there has never been a true Monopoly for Oklahoma City until now, and so that is exciting,” David Holt,  Oklahoma City Mayor, said at the announcement on Friday. “Our residents will have the opportunity to share the things that they think ought to be included.”

Residents are encouraged to help brainstorm ideas for locations on the board.

“Whatever it is, whatever the inside jokes might be that you guys all know about, let’s put it in the game on these community chess cards, on these chance cards,” Katie Hubbard with Monopoly’s licensing company, Top Trump’s, said.

If businesses wish to be featured, they will be charged a steep fee starting in the thousands as KFOR was told. Some destinations like Scissortail Park get a spot for free.

The official board will not be revealed until November during the game’s 90th anniversary, but idea submissions are open to the public until April 1.

“To really be able to memorialize some of this activity in such a fun and creative way, I think it’s truly an honor,” Zac Craig, president of Visit OKC, told KFOR.

Interested Oklahomans can submit suggestions by following this link.