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Hasell said that news fatigue “can really lead to news avoidance and disengagement and even defeatism — the idea that nothing can be fixed, so why bother” — so even the most civic-minded news junkies shouldn’t feel bad about limiting their intake.

A request from the fire department was misconstrued online, illustrating the untapped resource of civic-minded neighbors eager to pitch in.

“People once thought City Hall was too expensive to retrofit. Were it not for civic-minded people, it would’ve been torn down. What a tragedy that would’ve been.”

Helping people with their small decisions seemed similarly civic-minded, says Baker: “It just seemed like there was a need that wasn’t being met.”

While none of its prominent civic-minded sponsors have closed their checkbooks and gone elsewhere — yet — fans and even some of the team’s original investors are losing patience.