Tennessee
Judge blocks DACA recipients from getting subsidized health insurance
This story first appeared in the North Dakota Monitor. A North Dakota federal judge’s ruling temporarily will keep some immigrants in 19 states from getting federally subsidized health insurance. U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor on Monday granted a request from a coalition of Republican attorneys general to suspend a new federal rule from the U.S. […]
Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies
A major U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer was hailed as a conservative court’s broadside against a Democratic administration, giving red states more backing to delay or overturn policies they don’t like, such as transgender protections and clean energy goals. But the ruling in the Loper Bright case, which granted courts more power to scrutinize […]
State prisons turn to extended lockdowns amid staffing shortages, overcrowding
Across the United States, state prison systems are grappling with chronic understaffing and overcrowding — dual crises that are keeping incarcerated people confined to their cells for far longer periods than in recent decades. Lockdowns are common in jails and prisons nationwide, but most usually last only a few hours or days. During lockdowns, access […]
Abortion bans could reverse decline in teen births, experts warn
Houston OB-GYN Dr. Hillary Boswell says she has seen how abortion bans affect teenage girls: More of them are carrying their pregnancies to term. “These are vulnerable girls, and it’s just heartbreaking to see the number of pregnant 13-year-olds I’ve had to take care of,” Boswell said, referring to the change since Texas prohibited abortions […]
Election results could mean major changes in Medicaid
A decade ago, an old work injury put Fred Blackman II in the hospital with a slipped spinal disc that threatened to paralyze him. The Austin, Texas, minister spent the next five months there, enduring five back surgeries, extreme pain and a brain infection. He almost died. After discharge, he returned to a life he […]
‘Invisible’ migrant farmworkers cope with hurricane’s aftermath
LAKE PARK, Ga. — For the past month, farmworker Albertin Melo, his wife, Angelica Garcia, and their three children have taken refuge under debris. When ferocious Hurricane Helene left their south Georgia mobile home in shambles, the family improvised new shelter by patching together remnants they found sprawled across their Lake Park neighborhood: salvaged tin […]
How do you vote amid the hurricane damage? States are learning as they go.
WASHINGTON — Hurricane season has not only wreaked havoc on people’s lives throughout much of the country, but could also make it more difficult for voters to cast their ballots in hard-hit regions. Other election threats include misinformation and even terrorism, with warnings from the Department of Homeland Security and an arrest in Oklahoma allegedly […]
More women are seeking sterilizations post-Dobbs, experts say
In the months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, there was a spike in the number of women seeking sterilizations to prevent pregnancy, a recent study shows. Researchers saw a 3% increase in tubal sterilizations per month between July and December 2022 in states with abortion bans, according […]
Some states want to make it easier to cancel subscriptions
When Tennessee state Rep. Bob Freeman, a Democrat, studied his cable and internet bill last year, he kept seeing recurring charges for app subscriptions he didn’t recognize. Turned out, his 14-year-old daughter had been signing up for subscriptions with introductory rates and never canceling when they rolled over to the full price. “I would question […]
24 attorneys general challenge California regulation on big trucks
This story first appeared in the Nebraska Examiner. LINCOLN, Neb. — Twenty-four Republican-led states asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to block a push by Democratic-led California to require more trucks used for transporting goods to reduce carbon emissions. Nebraska Republican Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who led the effort, argued in a letter that […]
States are making it easier for physician assistants to work across state lines
Mercedes Dodge was raised by first-generation immigrant parents from Peru in a modest home in a rural part of southeastern Texas, where there weren’t many health care providers. Sometimes they had to travel to Houston, over an hour and a half away, to get basic health care. Partly because of that experience, Dodge became a […]
‘License plate flippers’ help drivers evade police, tickets and tolls
State and local legislators in Tennessee and Pennsylvania are cracking down on the use of “license plate flippers,” devices that allow drivers to obscure or conceal their license plates at the press of a button. License plate flippers are commonly used for aesthetic purposes at auto shows, where they allow drivers to switch between custom […]