logo
Sacramento's Bradshaw Animal Shelter calls for volunteers to help calm animals on Fourth of July

Sacramento's Bradshaw Animal Shelter calls for volunteers to help calm animals on Fourth of July

CBS News19 hours ago

A Sacramento animal shelter is once again looking for volunteers to help comfort animals during the Fourth of July.
Fireworks celebrations can be stressful for many pets. Every Fourth of July, local animal shelters often see an uptick in lost pets being found and brought into custody.
To help shelter pets deal with the loud and stressful night, shelters have in recent years been asking for volunteers to come and spend time with the animals.
On Tuesday, Bradshaw Animal Shelter in Sacramento sent out a call for volunteers for Fourth of July evening.
Do you have just 90 minutes to share on July 4? We're seeking compassionate community members to spend time with our... Posted by Bradshaw Animal Shelter on Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Volunteers are being asked to come and read, sing, or play a soothing instrument to help calm the shelter pets in their kennels.
Bradshaw Animal Shelter says space is limited, so people interested in volunteering should sign up as soon as possible. In 2024, Bradshaw Animal Shelter saw more than 270 volunteers spend their Fourth of July helping keep animals calm.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

How concrete homes can create resilient, affordable housing
How concrete homes can create resilient, affordable housing

Fast Company

time14 minutes ago

  • Fast Company

How concrete homes can create resilient, affordable housing

Wood is, by far, the most common material used in the U.S. for single-family-home construction. But wood construction isn't engineered for long-term durability, and it often underperforms, particularly in the face of increasingly common extreme weather events. In response to these challenges, I believe mass-produced concrete homes can offer affordable, resilient housing in the U.S. By leveraging the latest innovations of the precast concrete industry, this type of homebuilding can meet the needs of a changing world. Wood's rise to power Over 90% of the new homes built in the U.S. rely on wood framing. Wood has deep historical roots as a building material in the U.S., dating back to the earliest European settlers who constructed shelters using the abundant native timber. One of the most recognizable typologies was the log cabin, built from large tree trunks notched at the corners for structural stability. In the 1830s, wood construction underwent a significant shift with the introduction of balloon framing. This system used standardized, sawed lumber and mass-produced nails, allowing much smaller wood components to replace the earlier heavy timber frames. It could be assembled by unskilled labor using simple tools, making it both accessible and economical. In the early 20th century, balloon framing evolved into platform framing, which became the dominant method. By using shorter lumber lengths, platform framing allowed each floor to be built as a separate working platform, simplifying construction and improving its efficiency. The proliferation and evolution of wood construction helped shape the architectural and cultural identity of the nation. For centuries, wood-framed houses have defined the American idea of home—so much so that even today, when Americans imagine a house, they typically envision one built of wood. Today, light-frame wood construction dominates the U.S. residential market. Wood is relatively affordable and readily available, offering a cost-effective solution for homebuilding. Contractors are familiar with wood construction techniques. In addition, building codes and regulations have long been tailored to wood-frame systems, further reinforcing their prevalence in the housing industry. Despite its advantages, wood light-frame construction presents several important limitations. Wood is vulnerable to fire. And in hurricane- and tornado-prone regions, wood-framed homes can be damaged or destroyed. Wood is also highly susceptible to water-related issues, such as swelling, warping, and structural deterioration caused by leaks or flooding. Vulnerability to termites, mold, rot, and mildew further compromise the longevity and safety of wood-framed structures, especially in humid or poorly ventilated environments. The case for concrete Meanwhile, concrete has revolutionized architecture and engineering over the past century. In my academic work, I've studied, written, and taught about the material's many advantages. The material offers unmatched strength and durability, while also allowing design flexibility and versatility. It's low-cost and low-maintenance, and it has high thermal mass properties, which refers to the material's ability to absorb and store heat during the day, and slowly release it during the cooler nights. This can lower heating and cooling costs. Properly designed concrete enclosures offer exceptional performance against a wide range of hazards. Concrete can withstand fire, flooding, mold, insect infestation, earthquakes, hail, hurricanes, and tornadoes. It's commonly used for home construction in many parts of the world, such as Europe, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, as well as India and other parts of Southeast Asia. However, despite their multiple benefits, concrete single-family homes are rare in the U.S. That's because most concrete structures are built using a process called cast-in-place. In this technique, the concrete is formed and poured directly at the construction site. The method relies on built-in-place molds. After the concrete is cast and cured over several days, the formwork is removed. This process is labor-intensive and time-consuming, and it often produces considerable waste. This is particularly an issue in the U.S., where labor is more expensive than in other parts of the world. The material and labor cost can be as high as 35% to 60% of the total construction cost. Portland cement, the binding agent in concrete, requires significant energy to produce, resulting in considerable carbon dioxide emissions. However, this environmental cost is often offset by concrete's durability and long service life. Concrete's design flexibility and structural integrity make it particularly effective for large-scale structures. So in the U.S., you'll see it used for large commercial buildings, skyscrapers and most highways, bridges, dams, and other critical infrastructure projects. But when it comes to single-family homes, cast-in-place concrete poses challenges to contractors. There are the higher initial construction costs, along with a lack of subcontractor expertise. For these reasons, most builders and contractors stick with what they know: the wood frame. A new model for home construction Precast concrete, however, offers a promising alternative. Unlike cast-in-place concrete, precast systems allow for off-site manufacturing under controlled conditions. This improves the quality of the structure, while also reducing waste and labor. The CRETE House, a prototype I worked on in 2017 alongside a team at Washington University in St. Louis, showed the advantages of a precast home construction. To build the precast concrete home, we used ultra-high-performance concrete, one of the latest advances in the concrete industry. Compared with conventional concrete, it's about six times stronger, virtually impermeable, and more resistant to freeze-thaw cycles. Ultra-high-performance concrete can last several hundred years. The strength of the CRETE House was tested by shooting a piece of wood at 120 mph to simulate flying debris from an F5 tornado. It was unable to breach the wall, which was only 2 inches thick. Building on the success of the CRETE House, I designed the Compact House as a solution for affordable, resilient housing. The house consists of a modular, precast concrete system of 'rings' that can be connected to form the entire structure—floors, walls, and roofs—creating airtight, energy-efficient homes. A series of different rings can be chosen from a catalog to deliver different models that can range in size from 270 to 990 square feet. The precast rings can be transported on flatbed trailers and assembled into a unit in a single day, drastically reducing on-site labor, time, and cost. Since they're built using durable concrete forms, the house can be easily mass-produced. When precast concrete homes are mass-produced, the cost can be competitive with traditional wood-framed homes. Furthermore, the homes are designed to last far beyond 100 years (much longer than typical wood structures) while significantly lowering utility bills, maintenance expenses, and insurance premiums. The project is also envisioned as an open-source design. This means that the molds, which are expensive, are available for any precast producer to use and modify. Leveraging a network that's already in place Two key limitations of precast concrete construction are the size and weight of the components and the distance to the project site. Precast elements must comply with standard transportation regulations, which impose restrictions on both size and weight in order to pass under bridges and prevent road damage. As a result, components are typically limited to dimensions that can be safely and legally transported by truck. Each of the Compact House's pieces are small enough to be transported in standard trailers. Additionally, transportation costs become a major factor beyond a certain range. In general, the practical delivery radius from a precast plant to a construction site is 500 miles. Anything beyond that becomes economically unfeasible. However, the infrastructure to build precast concrete homes is already largely in place. Since precast concrete is often used for office buildings, schools, parking complexes, and large apartments buildings, there's already an extensive national network of manufacturing plants capable of producing and delivering components within that 500-mile radius. There are other approaches to build homes with concrete: Homes can use concrete masonry units, which are similar to cinder blocks. This is a common technique around the world. Insulated concrete forms involve rigid foam blocks that are stacked like Lego bricks and are then filled with poured concrete, creating a structure with built-in insulation. And there's even 3D-printed concrete, a rapidly evolving technology that is in its early stages of development. However, none of these use precast concrete modules (the rings in my prototypes), and therefore require substantially longer on-site time and labor. To me, precast concrete homes offer a compelling vision for the future of affordable housing. They signal a generational shift away from short-term construction and toward long-term value—redefining what it means to build for resilience, efficiency, and equity in housing. Pablo Moyano Fernández is an assistant professor of architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

How to address conflict at work
How to address conflict at work

Fast Company

time27 minutes ago

  • Fast Company

How to address conflict at work

Workplaces in the United States are remarkably conflict averse. Many people don't even like to give criticisms to someone else directly, let alone to hash out a disagreement over a path forward or address a conflict of values. As a result, we kick many conflicts down the road in ways that create problems. We lead people to believe we agree with them when we don't and we fail to address small concerns early on, when they can be fixed. This failure to act can turn a molehill into a mountain. That said, it is not always good to engage conflict directly or immediately. Here's what you can do to make those conversations productive. Let the heat die down When you first become aware of a conflict, there is often an emotional reaction that goes along with any contradiction or disagreement that you may recognize cognitively. This duality to a conflict reflects the distinction made in psychology between hot (that is emotional) states and cool (that is cognitive) states. A strong emotional reaction comes along with energy. That energy drives you to want to act. Unfortunately, when the energy level is quite high, you may act without reflecting deeply on what you're doing. In order to make your disagreements as productive as possible, it is best to wait for any initial energy associated with the disagreement to subside. That way, you can focus your discussions on having a good give and take. In addition, it can be valuable to take the time to think through both what you want to say to someone else as well as what you're hoping to accomplish from the interaction. What is there to be gained? Addressing conflict is inherently difficult. It is hard to do, and it can put strain on a relationship in the short-term. So, there has to be some benefit to going through the process. When you're exploring whether to engage directly with someone about a disagreement, you want to highlight what you hope to gain from the conversation. Start by highlighting your ideal end state. Are you trying to make someone else aware of a problem they might not know about? Are you trying to influence someone's behavior? Are you trying to change a decision that was made in the past? Once you have a sense of what you'd like to accomplish, you can then plan a structure for the conversation to help you reach that goal. Part of that plan involves finding a way to tell the individual you'll be talking with what you want. That is, the ideal conversation around a conflict is not one that just highlights that there is a problem, but also charts a path forward. It is important to bring a constructive mindset to difficult conversations. You may not know what the solution to a problem is, but you should plan to explore potential solutions. You can ask others for help generating ideas. If you are raising a problem with someone for the first time, it is also possible this discussion may catch them by surprise (or even lead to an emotional response). So, be prepared to schedule another time to talk later when the other party is ready to explore solutions. Be open When you initiate a conversation around a difficult topic, you know your side of the story. You also have your sense of what you're hoping to accomplish. You are probably missing key information as well. That's one reason why you want to have a conversation. In order to make it a true discussion, though, you have to be willing to learn and potentially change your mind as a result of what you hear. That openness can be difficult. Conflicts can lead to a sense that you have to win the discussion by bringing the other person over to your way of thinking about things. The goal of a difficult conversation isn't to win. It is to reach an accommodation to address the source of the conflict. That solution is likely to involve compromise on your part. You should prepare yourself mentally that you're not going to get everything you want before the discussion starts, so that you don't dig your heels in and get in the way of a path forward.

As Metro Detroit grows for a second year in a row, neighborhoods have shifted
As Metro Detroit grows for a second year in a row, neighborhoods have shifted

Fast Company

time27 minutes ago

  • Fast Company

As Metro Detroit grows for a second year in a row, neighborhoods have shifted

Following decades of population loss, Detroit may finally be turning a corner. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent estimates, the city saw an increase in population for both 2023 and 2024. An additional 11,000 people moved into the city in the years 2023 and 2024, a small gain in a city with a population of 645,705—but one which marked a symbolic shift. The census data shows just over 1% growth in the past year alone and 0.7% the year before compared with a nearly 25% loss between 2000 and 2010. As an urban sociologist studying issues related to race and ethnicity, I am interested in how Detroit's population is changing, and where different groups live in both the city and its suburbs. Analyzing population trends in the metro Detroit area using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, I wanted to understand how racial, ethnic and socioeconomic trends are unfolding, and what those changes can tell us about the evolution and vitality of Detroit. Black Detroiters relocate, city diversifies From 2010 to 2023, Detroit's racial and ethnic makeup continued to gradually diversify even as the city was declining in population. While Black residents are still the majority, their proportion of the total number fell from around 84% to 79%. Other groups, in contrast, increased their share of the city's population. Between 2010 and 2023, the percentage of Hispanic residents grew from 6.6% to 8.3%, the percentage of white residents grew from 8.2% to 10.7%, and the percentage of Asian residents grew from 1.3% to 1.7%. These shifts reflect a steady and ongoing diversification of Detroit's population, indicative of new migration trends and shifting neighborhood dynamics. Suburbs in flux In addition to Detroit's recent population growth, a broader story is unfolding in the city's suburbs. The population of the suburban area as a whole increased 0.73% from 2023 to 2024, but growth was not evenly spread. Collectively, the outer-ring suburbs gained almost 20,000 people, increasing by 1%. Communities such as the city of Troy and Macomb Township accounted for a significant share of that growth. Inner-ring suburbs, such as Southfield, Warren and others, grew less vigorously – gaining just 4,000 people, or 0.31%. These differences highlight the necessity of complicating the conventional city-versus-suburb narrative to acknowledge the many economic and racial divisions across the metropolitan region. The socioeconomic statuses of residents of the inner- and outer-ring suburbs diverged between 2000 and 2020. My analysis of census data shows that although both subregions witnessed increases in median household incomes, the rates of change were significantly higher in the outer-ring suburbs, with a 37.7% increase versus a 16.8% increase in the inner rings. The data shows a similar trend in higher education attainment. Outer ring suburbs gained 7.1% more residents with college degrees or higher during this period, while the inner suburbs lost 7.5%. Homeownership patterns in the two suburban regions also diverged over those two decades, increasing 18% in the outer rings and decreasing 10% in the inner rings. The data on poverty and immigration also reveal contrasting results. According to my calculations of census data, inner-ring suburbs experienced a 77% increase in poverty, while the outer ring experienced a lesser, though considerable, 50.8% bump in poverty during the 2000-2020 period. Meanwhile, during the same time period, the foreign-born populations in the outer suburbs expanded by 24.9%, with increases of at least 10,000 in places such as Sterling Heights, Novi and Canton. In contrast, the inner suburbs saw more modest gains—around 5,000 in cities such as Dearborn Heights and Warren—while their overall foreign-born share declined by nearly 20%. Together, the above trends highlight the necessity of not viewing the suburban area as a monolith. These patterns reflect national trends, in which many older, inner-ring suburbs are experiencing socioeconomic stagnation or decline while newer, outer-ring suburbs continue to attract more people who have higher incomes. Mixed neighborhoods grow Residential segregation also differentiates inner and outer suburban rings. Segregation levels remain high in the inner suburbs, especially between white and Black residents. While outer suburbs tend to be more integrated today, the rate of change there has been more modest over the past two decades. Social scientists measure segregation using a tool called the 'dissimilarity index.' The index represents the proportion of one group that would need to move to establish an equal distribution of the population based on their relative numbers. It ranges from 0 to 100. A score of 0 means equal distribution across neighborhoods, while a score of 100 means the two groups live in completely separate areas. From 2000 to 2020, white-Black segregation across the region decreased from 84.4% to 68.3% on the index, while white-Hispanic segregation decreased from 47.6% to 39.9%. Together, these numbers indicate a broader trend toward more integrated living patterns. In the inner-ring suburbs, segregation fell across the board. White-Black segregation went down by 15.6%; white-Asian and white-Hispanic segregation dropped even more, by 43.2% and 30.7%, respectively. These trends suggest that while the outer suburbs currently have lower levels of segregation, the inner suburbs are integrating more rapidly, reflecting shifting patterns of neighborhood change and increasing racial and ethnic diversity.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store