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More states ban PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals,’ in more products
Legislative momentum against PFAS has surged this year, as at least 11 states enacted laws to restrict the use of “forever chemicals” in everyday consumer products or professional firefighting foam. The legislation includes bans on PFAS in apparel, cleaning products, cookware, and cosmetic and menstrual products. Meanwhile, lawmakers in some states also passed measures that […]
1 million+ patients lose coverage as insurers, hospitals drop Medicare Advantage
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Libby and Andrew Potter usually ignore the avalanche of Medicare Advantage ads that land in the mailbox at their home in Huntsville, Alabama, each fall as Medicare’s open enrollment period begins. Libby, a retired middle school librarian, has what she considers good health insurance through the state employee health plan. Andrew has […]
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...
Garage apartments, in-law suites win support in rural communities
Read more Stateline coverage of how communities across the country are trying to create more affordable housing. NEWMARKET, N.H. — Aside from an extra mailbox, there’s little indication from the street that Ron Durand’s lot is home to two homes. But tucked above the garage is a two-bedroom apartment, where his daughter and granddaughter live. […]
Overdose deaths are down nationally, but up in many Western states
Despite an encouraging national dip in the past year, overdose deaths are still on the rise in many Western states as the epicenter of the nation’s continuing crisis shifts toward the Pacific Coast, where deadly fentanyl and also methamphetamine are finding more victims. Overdose deaths remain sharply higher since 2019. Many states are working on […]
School choice goes before voters in 3 states, faces pushback in others
Supporters of school choice in Kentucky are hoping voters will do what the state courts wouldn’t — allow a new path for state-supported payments to private schools. Kentucky is one of three states, along with Colorado and Nebraska, with school choice questions on the ballot this fall. Voters will be asked to decide whether public money should go to support private education. Opponents say the measures would undermine public schools by shifting money from them, while backers maintain that state aid would give parents more control over their kids’ education.
How one swing-state county has escaped election conspiracies
HERMITAGE, Pa. — Election officials and poll workers across Pennsylvania are braced for a potential flood of misinformation and abuse on Nov. 5, Election Day. But in a drab municipal meeting room north of Pittsburgh, Mercer County Election Director Thad Hall preached a radically different vision. “I think it’s going to be a really fun […]
‘For a while, it looked like the whole world might burn’
DURKEE, Ore. — Bert Siddoway heard the fire before he saw it, no seconds at all between the flash of lightning and the boom of thunder. The strike “shook the whole flipping town,” he said, and immediately ignited a wildfire in a hard-to-reach spot in the hills above the community where he is both a rancher and captain of the rural volunteer fire department.
Oregon could become the first state to tax big companies and send the cash to all residents
PORTLAND, Ore. — The pitch intrigued nearly everyone who encountered a petition gatherer seeking signatures in Oregon: Would you like a $750 annual rebate from the state, for each member of your household? Paid for “by making giant corporations pay their fair share”? Voters signed on to the concept in droves, catapulting the initiative commonly […]
California’s rent control ballot measure could reverberate across the US
Among the many ballot questions American voters will consider next month, housing experts are paying close attention to California and a question known as Proposition 33 — a proposed repeal of the state’s restrictions on local rent control. If passed, the measure would give authority back to local governments to enact or change laws on […]
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...
Need to go to the hospital? Texas and Florida want to know your immigration status.
State Sen. Victor Torres represents predominantly Hispanic Osceola County in central Florida. At Sunday Mass at his local church, immigrants often tell him they are scared to seek health care. “They say, ‘My mother is ill, or my kid is sick, but I don’t have insurance,’’’ the Democrat said in an interview. “And I tell […]
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...
200+ women faced criminal charges over pregnancy in year after Dobbs, report finds
In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, more than 200 pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth, according to a new report. The report was produced by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit 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.
Haitian immigrants find new footholds, and familiar backlash, in the Midwest, South
Fortified with work authorizations and a new freedom, Haitian immigrants are moving out of their longtime strongholds in Florida and New York, often finding good jobs while remaining wary of how they will be received in new places in the Midwest and South. This movement helps explain why Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have become […]
Changing demographics and the political calculus of anti-immigrant rhetoric in swing states
This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country. As former President Donald Trump worked to scuttle a bipartisan border deal in […]
Will abortion swing the first post-Roe presidential election?
Editor’s note: This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country. Dr. Kristin Lyerly’s placenta detached from her uterus when she was […]
Idaho AG accuses pediatrics group of possible consumer violations over gender care policies
This story first appeared in the Idaho Capital Sun. Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador — along with attorneys general and officials from 20 other U.S. states — has accused the American Academy of Pediatrics of possible “violations of state consumer protection statutes” over its standards and recommendations for gender dysphoria care for children. In a […]
In swing states that once went for Trump, unions organize to prevent a repeat
This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country. Wisconsin carpenter Efrain Campos just retired this summer after 30 years, working mostly […]
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