Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs wants the Department of Education to reconsider a new policy that fast-tracks low-dollar spending of Empowerment Scholarship Account funding, but the state’s top public school official asks why she signed it into law.
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Tennessee could be one of the next states to address fluoride levels in drinking water as some question its benefits versus possible risks.
The debate over fluoridation reignited after statements from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for secretary of Health and Human Services.
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Amazon plans to invest $10 billion over the next five years to expand data centers across the state.
Monday’s announcement is on top of a $7.8 billion plan announced last year and more than $6 billion already spent in Ohio through the end of 2022.
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According to a federal survey of school leaders, 40% of students in the nation’s public schools were behind grade level in one or more subjects at the beginning of the school year.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) announced its findings this week that the percentage of students school leaders estimated to be behind where they should be was down 7% from the 2022-23 school year but still 8% higher than before the pandemic.
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Law enforcement officials in Virginia have reported “suspicious” drone sightings appearing over counties containing sensitive military bases and national security facilities.
The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office reports the sightings of “suspicious drones flying over” Stafford, King George and Spotsylvania counties.
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An Arizona Democratic lawmaker is seeking to let voters decide if the death penalty could be legal in 2026.
Rep. Patty Contreras, D-Phoenix, filed House Concurrent Resolution 2001 for the upcoming legislative session, which would ask voters if a ban on capital punishment be placed in the state constitution. The resolution would need to pass both chambers of the Republican-majority legislature in order to make it onto the ballot.
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Following through on a pledge she made months ago, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Friday announced her office was seeking the death penalty in the prosecution of two illegal foreign nationals from Venezuela now charged with the capital murder of a 12-year-old Houston girl.
On June 17, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray’s body was found in a bayou under a bridge in north Houston. The cause of death was strangulation but her body was found bound, without clothing from the waist down. Forensic evidence was collected to ascertain if she was sexually assaulted. According to the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, the perpetrators threw her body into the bayou to get rid of DNA evidence, The Center Square reported.
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The greatest number of illegal foreign nationals on the docket for deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Non-Detention Docket (NDD) was reported under the Biden administration.
The greatest number was 6.2 million in fiscal 2023, followed by 4.7 million in fiscal 2022 and 3.6 million in fiscal 2021, according to an ICE 2023 annual report.
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Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen is seeking election administration reforms similar to what exists in Florida in the upcoming legislative session in hopes of delivering faster results.
Senate Bill 1011 would end the drop off of mail-in ballots at 7 p.m. on the Friday prior to Election Day, which would be a major change from the drop-offs that are available until polls close on Election Day currently.
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A one-hundred dollar bill goes further in Tennessee’s metropolitan areas than in others across the United States, according to a report from the Tax Foundation.
The report measures the purchasing power of $100 based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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In the wake of summer protests on college campuses, the Ohio Senate moved forward with a bill that defines antisemitism and expands the crime of ethnic intimidation.
The legislation now moves to the House, which has only one scheduled session day remaining and a second if needed.
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President-elect Donald Trump said he could start pardons for “most” convicted Jan. 6 protesters during his first minutes in the White House.
Trump pledged throughout his campaign that he would pardon some people convicted of crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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Michigan is one of the most-expensive states in the nation for child care, leading some to label it a “crisis” for parents, who are increasingly choosing to opt out of it.
A new report from the Committee for Economic Development found there are 23% fewer children in paid child care throughout the state, decreasing from 400,807 in 2019 to 306,595 in 2022. It is unlikely that just one factor is contributing to those decreases.
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Annual inflation rates increased last month.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation, which showed that consumer prices rose 0.3% in November, part of a 2.7% increase over the last year.
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Another federal court has ruled against the federal program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), arguing a Biden administration plan to provide free health care to DACA recipients is illegal.
It’s the fourth time a federal judge has recently ruled against a program created by former President Barack Obama through executive order in 2012.
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The average American household credit card balance as of the third quarter of 2024 was about $10,757 after adjusting for inflation, according to a new study.
The personal-finance website WalletHub on Friday released its new Credit Card Debt Study, which found that consumers added $21 billion in debt during the third quarter of 2024.
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Local officials caught defying Pennsylvania election law may find themselves without a job.
Rep. Joe D’Orsie, R-York, is drafting legislation that would give the state House the power to remove county and municipal officials from office. It’s similar to the impeachment process and would ultimately require voter approval.
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One Wisconsin Democrat is taking hardline against the state’s governor over the next round of state funding for local schools.
Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, took to social media to push back on Gov. Tony Evers’ latest comments on the state budget.
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With the Tampa Bay Rays’ $1.3 billion stadium plan in limbo, it’s easy to forget that the team is now on the fourth iteration of a new home.
The proposed stadium is to anchor a $6.5 billion development in St. Petersburg’s historic Gas Plant District. The Pinellas County Commission could vote on its share of the bonds to finance the new stadium Dec. 17, while the St. Petersburg City Council will take up its share Jan. 9.
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Proposition 479 is no longer facing a lawsuit after the Maricopa County Republican Committee scrapped their case.
The committee was suing the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for certifying the results in the race as a victory for the half-cent sales tax for transportation uses, as the group argued that it did not meet a 60% threshold necessary for a tax to take effect. Proposition 479 passed with 59.8% support of voters in the county – the largest in the state.
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More than half of the school districts in Ohio have implemented cell phone policies, a year ahead of a deadline set by a new state law.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed a law in May that requires local school boards to establish local cellphone policies rather than the state limiting use for students during the school day.
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The U.S. Department of Defense announced a new round of nearly $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer money for Ukraine as the conflict with Russia continues. Total U.S. taxpayer funding for Ukraine now totals $62 billion since the war began.
The latest package will provide Ukraine with munitions for rocket systems, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and maintenance and repair programs to sustain and bolster its combat power.
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Memphis Mayor Paul Young cited costs on Thursday saying he would not enter into a consent decree with the Department of Justice over allegations of use of excessive force and discrimination against Black people.
The Justice Department released its investigation, which began in July 2023, this week.
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Two bills before the Michigan House Committee on Government Operations would grant public and district library directors sole authority over the selection, inclusion, and withdrawal of library materials, as well as prohibit out-of-district withdrawal requests.
House Bills 6034 and 6035 would respectively create the Public Library Freedom to Read Act and the District Library Freedom to Read Act, which do not apply to school libraries. Cosponsor of the bills state Rep. Carol Glanville, D-Walker, said the bills are nonpartisan and aim to both support librarians and the communities they serve.
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Pennsylvania schools looking to switch to renewable energy can now receive assistance from the state through its $25 million Solar for Schools grant program.
For eligible schools, the program will cover up to half the cost of installing solar arrays on their campuses.
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Eli Lilly and Company announced plans for a $3 billion expansion of the Kenosha facility that it bought in April.
The expansion will be used to expand the medical supply company’s injectable manufacturing for diabetes, obesity and future medicines.
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Republican Gov. Brian Kemp recently announced winners for grants encouraging both rural development and housing infrastructure.
All the grants were issued through OneGeorgia Authority, an initiative of the Department of Community Affairs hoping to encourage “economic vitality in rural Georgia.”
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New charter schools in Arizona are expected to be developed as a result of new federal taxpayer funding from the United States Department of Education.
The state received a $34.8 million cut of the over $143 million awarded through the Expanding Opportunities Through Quality Charter Schools Program. Although the funding came from fiscal year 2024, it will be doled out in portions each year through 2029. The first two years will have a roughly $8.7 million budget, roughly $10 million in year three, and $5 million and $2.8 million in years four and five, respectively.
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After the greatest number of Chinese nationals illegally entered the country under the Biden administration – more than 176,000, creating national security threats – President Joe Biden and his administration announced several actions.
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by Madeline Armstrong Roosevelt School District in South Phoenix is considering closing five schools amid a deficit that a school official blames on universal school choice and low enrollment. District data suggests a different story. Superintendent Dani Portillo has cited declining birth rates and the expansion of ESA vouchers as the reason for low revenue. The district is facing an almost $5 million deficit with the forecasted $77.9 million expense outpacing the $74.8 million anticipated revenue. There are 36 alternative non-district schools in the area that parents can use ESA funds to enroll their children in. Roosevelt, by comparison, has 18 schools. According to Portillo, there are approximately 900 students currently using ESA funding within the district’s boundaries to attend other schools. However, universal school choice wasn’t enacted until July 2022 and the district’s enrollment has increased by more than 300 students since then, breaking a 10-year decline. According to financial reporting from the district, the reliance on COVID-19 pandemic relief funds may be the bigger reason contributing to the budget deficit. The Roosevelt School District received more than $67 million in ESSER funds, which were awarded between March 2020-21, and have since been tapped dry. In a public…
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As Mexican cartel violence has escalated during the Biden administration, the U.S. State Department announced it is increasing a reward for a Mexican drug lord.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is also seeking information on two others. All three remain at large.
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by J.D. Davidson The state of Ohio plans to use donated driving simulators to teach people living in or entering the country illegally in Springfield safe driving skills in hopes of easing ongoing traffic issues throughout the community. Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday the Maria Tiberi Foundation and Virtual Driver Interactive donated 10 new simulators to the Ohio Department of Transportation for use in Springfield and Clark County. They’ve been put in places that serve the Haitian community, which has recently come to the area with little or no driver training. “One of the big issues we’ve seen with migrants in Clark County is that they are not used to driving here,” said Governor DeWine. “With the generous donations from the Maria Tiberi Foundation and Virtual Driver Interactive, this new program will help the Haitian population learn the rules of the road and allow them to practice defensive driving skills that can keep everyone on the roads safe.” It’s part of an ongoing state effort to deal with a growing legal Haitian refugee population, which has grown since 2020 to around 15,000 in the city of nearly 60,000 under the Temporary Protected Status program. The Temporary Protected Status program…
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by Brett Rowland Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump are working to clear out pending criminal cases before he takes office in January. Federal prosecutors have already moved to end two criminal cases against Trump – the election interference case in Washington D.C. and the classified documents case in Florida. That leaves the hush money case in New York and the election interference charges in Georgia. This week, Trump’s defense team asked New York Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss his conviction. In an 80-page dismissal motion, Trump’s team said prosecutors should never have filed charges. The motion cited President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, in which the president said his son was unfairly targeted for political reasons. Trump has repeatedly said the criminal cases against him were coordinated by his political opponents. His attorneys have continued those assertions in court motions. “This case should never have been brought, particularly during a period when DA Bragg’s failure to protect this City from pervasive violent crime frightens, threatens, and harms New Yorkers on a daily basis,” Trump’s defense attorneys wrote. “And this case would never have been brought were it not for President Trump’s political views, the transformative national movement…
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With the construction of the Ultium Cells LLC battery cell plant in Lansing nearly finished, General Motors announced it will sell back its stake to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution.
According to a news release, the transaction does not change GM’s ownership interest in the Ultium Cells LLC project, in which GM and LG have invested a total of $7 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars, sourced from a Department of Energy loan program.
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State officials hope Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s retirement will not impact the chip manufacturer’s $20 billion plan for central Ohio.
While Gelsinger officially retired after 40 years with the company and stepped down from the board of directors, several national media outlets reported he was forced out by the board as the chipmaker has struggled in the past several months.
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The U.S. Department of Education (ED) may soon recognize Grand Canyon University’s nonprofit status after the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remanded the school’s case back to the department.
The university announced that “in a significant win for Grand Canyon University, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a 3-0 decision, held that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) acted unlawfully by applying the incorrect legal standard in determining GCU’s nonprofit status and remanded the case back to ED.”
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The federal government has the authority to deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally over the objection of local authorities, a panel of three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled.
The 29-page ruling was written by Judge Daniel Bress, with judges Michael Hawkins and Richard Clinton concurring.
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The Tampa Bay Rays ownership said in a letter that a $1.3 billion deal to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg is still in effect and the team is awaiting decisions by local officials on the bonds to help pay for the project.
The letter sent to the Pinellas County Commission on Friday said team Co-President “Brian Auld did not waver from our commitment to the new ballpark project” and blamed the commission for not honoring the spirit of the agreement reached in July to build a new stadium and multi-use development in the historic Gas Plant District.
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In the second and third quarters of fiscal 2024, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents removed nearly 68,000 illegal border crossers, ICE says. ICE claims the number “reflects a 69% increase over removals during the third quarter in fiscal year 2023, and is more than 140% of ICE removals for all fiscal year 2023.”
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Federal agents are arresting a record number of individuals on the terrorist watchlist at the northern U.S. border, including a Jordanian national with ties to terrorism who recently was removed from the country after illegally entering from Canada.
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A Wisconsin group is calling for its state government to undergo a review of state government spending and staffing similar to what is being proposed for the new federal Department of Government Efficiency led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Wisconsin’s Institute for Reforming Government is reiterating a plan it proposed in 2023 to reduce the number of full-time state employees by contracting for professional services and finding redundancies.
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Michigan’s flag of 113 years could be redesigned if new legislation passes both chambers.
State Rep. Phil Skaggs, D-East Grand Rapids, introduced a bill that would set up a 17-member flag commission to officiate a public design contest to change the current state flag.
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Spending on migrants in Denver has ballooned to an estimated $356 million, an updated analysis by the Common Sense Institute says.
The estimate, which amounts to $7,900 per foreign national in the city, includes spending from the city, schools, and health care systems.
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A bipartisan group of 26 U.S. lawmakers have sent letters to seven major tech companies requesting updates on how the platforms plan to counter the growing prevalence of pornographic “deepfakes” on social media.
The number of artificially generated, sexually explicit impersonations of nonconsenting individuals increased by 550% from 2019 to 2023, with deepfake pornography now making up 98% of all deepfake videos online, the lawmakers cited in each of the seven letters addressed to Google, Apple, X, ByteDance, Snapchat, Microsoft and Meta.
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A proposed grocery tax cut and bill addressing illegal immigration are among the first filings ahead of Tennessee’s 2025 legislative session.
Sen. Charlane Oliver and Rep. Aftyn Behn, Democrats from Nashville, introduced bills in their chambers that would remove the sales tax on food and food ingredients. The effort to remove the 4% tax failed last year.
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A liquor lawsuit filed against the Wisconsin Department of Revenue by two small business owners will continue after a judge denied DOR’s attempts to dismiss it.
The case, brought by Farmview Event Barn LLC and Monarch Valley Weddings and Events LLC with legal aid from law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, has argued recent changes in Wisconsin liquor laws pertaining to event venues are unconstitutionally burdensome and essentially regulates the businesses out of existence.
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For Pennsylvanians, there are a few days left to complete the Maternal Health Strategic Plan Survey, part of the Shapiro administration’s approach to tackling the state’s poor maternal health outcomes.
The governor traveled to Scranton Primary Health Care Center where he held a roundtable discussion with patients and staff to inform the strategy. The center serves the Scranton region in Lackawanna County, specifically targeting the poor and underinsured. It had 16,000 patients last year including pregnant and postpartum mothers.
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The Pinellas County Commission asked the Tampa Bay Rays this week if they’re in or out when it comes to a stadium deal.
The letter from board Chairwoman Kathleen Peters gives the Major League Baseball team a Sunday deadline to decide whether the club wants to proceed with a $1.3 billion stadium deal for St. Petersburg reached in July.
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A Scottsdale city ordinance on housing is raising red flags among some Republicans in the state legislature.
Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci and Majority Leader-Elect Michael Carbone are asking for the city to revise Ordinance No. 4651, which explains how the city would go along with two housing bills recently signed by the governor, according to State Affairs.
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After delays and lobbying from business groups around the country, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel announced a deal Tuesday morning to release nearly $8 billion in direct CHIPS Act funding.
The $7.86 billion directly impacts Intel’s commercial semiconductor manufacturing and advanced manufacturing projects in Ohio, Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon.
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