United States
Utah horseman rode 6,000 miles through 25 states to spotlight the wild horse crisis
This story first appeared in the Utah News Dispatch. Slow and steady, 25-year-old Jake Harvath rode his trusty white mare, Bella, down Highway 189 toward Charleston, Utah with his other two mustangs, Denver and Eddy, in tow. Motorists roared by in the comfort of their modern modes of transport, but the trio clip-clopped along unphased, not […]
How states are spending opioid settlement cash
This article first appeared on KFF Health News. In the past few years, state and local governments across the U.S. have begun spending billions in opioid settlements paid by companies accused of fueling the overdose crisis. But where is that money going, who is getting it, and is it doing any good? KFF Health News, […]
Montana Supreme Court affirms decision in historic youth climate case
This story first appeared in the Daily Montanan. The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a district court ruling in the nation’s first constitutional climate change trial, affirming that the youth plaintiffs have a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment” while revoking two Montana statutes. The 70-page decision, authored by Chief Justice Mike McGrath, […]
U.S. Education Department pings states, schools to set policies on cellphone use
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Education Department called on every state, school and district on Tuesday to adopt policies on cellphone use in schools. The department asks schools to have well-thought-out policies on the matter, but does not dictate exactly what those policies should be. An accompanying resource for schools notes the risk social media can […]
Fed’s recent rate cuts could improve borrowing options for state and local government projects
The Federal Reserve’s second consecutive key rate cut could mean more than just lower borrowing costs for the average consumer — state and local governments stand to benefit, too. Lower interest rates may bring changes for housing development, tax revenue, debt refinancing and bread-and-butter projects such as roads, water and sewer, state and local government […]
Voters approve most abortion-rights measures in flurry of ballot initiatives
Voters backed the right to an abortion in seven of the 10 states where the question was on the ballot Tuesday, providing a vivid illustration of the issue’s political potency more than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The results in solid-blue Colorado, Maryland and New York were no […]
Computer programs monitor students’ every word in the name of safety
Whether it’s a research project on the Civil War or a science experiment on volcano eruptions, students in the Colonial School District near Wilmington, Delaware, can look up just about anything on their school-provided laptops. But in one instance, an elementary school student searched “how to die.” In that case, Meghan Feby, an elementary school […]
Crime is down, FBI says, but politicians still choose statistics to fit their narratives
Violent crime and property crime in the United States dropped in 2023, continuing a downward trend following higher rates of crime during the pandemic, according to the FBI’s latest national crime report. Murders and intentional manslaughter, known as non-negligent manslaughter, fell by 11.6% from 2022. Property crime dropped by 2.4%. Overall, FBI data shows that […]
Budget restrictions, staff issues and AI are threats to states’ cybersecurity
Many state chief information and security officers say they don’t have the budget, resources, staff or expertise to feel fully confident in their ability to guard their government networks against cyberattacks, according to a new Deloitte & Touche survey of officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. “The attack surface is expanding […]
Federal judge pauses program that grants protections for some noncitizen spouses
WASHINGTON — A Texas federal judge late Monday sided with 16-Republican led states to temporarily block a Biden administration program that grants deportation protections and a potential pathway to citizenship for some noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens. The ruling by Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, […]
GOP states aim to halt Biden program protecting some noncitizen spouses from deportation
WASHINGTON — Texas and 15 states Friday filed a suit in federal court to block the Biden administration’s program that protects some people in the country without authorization who are married to U.S. citizens from deportation and grants them a pathway to citizenship. States in the suit, which was filed in United States District Court […]
Amid Medicaid ‘unwinding,’ many states wind up expanding
This story first appeared on KFF Health News. Trisha Byers left behind one crucial item when she moved to North Carolina last year to be closer to her family after suffering a brain injury: health insurance. In Massachusetts, Byers, 39, was enrolled in Medicaid, the government health program that covers low-income people. But she was […]