Culture & Society
FL public universities move to get rid of reports such as race and sex in student enrollment
Florida’s public university system is preparing to eliminate reports related to “representation by race and sex in student enrollment, senior-level administrative positions, and faculty rank and tenure status,” records show. In other changes, a Board of Governors regulation would no longer be called “Equity and Access.” The name would be “Equal Access and Opportunity.” “Equity” […]
Women with serious pregnancy complications sue over state abortion bans
Women and physicians in Idaho and Tennessee have sued their home states after they say they were denied abortion care despite being diagnosed with serious, life-threatening medical conditions while pregnant. The lawsuits are led by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., which also helped a patient in Oklahoma file […]
Menendez, other U.S. Senate Democrats vent frustrations after new ruling against DACA
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday declared illegal the Biden administration’s revised version of a program that protects hundreds of thousands of people brought into the country as children from deportation, and U.S. Senate Democrats, advocates and the White House on Thursday decried the decision. “I think that Congress should act, but it has been incapable of […]
Hit the snooze button: States debate later high school start times
California and Florida have become the first states to require later public school start times, a response to reams of research showing significant advantages for high school students who can get more sleep by beginning their day at 8:30 a.m. or later. But such changes come with difficult ripple effects — upended bus schedules, later starts […]
White House slams ‘baseless’ House GOP impeachment inquiry as ‘political stunt’
WASHINGTON — The White House is lambasting the House GOP’s decision to open an impeachment inquiry into unproven allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s international business scheme during his time as vice president in the Obama administration. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he directed several of the chamber’s committees to […]
Democrats push to extend child care grant program
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday to extend funding for five years for a pandemic-era child care subsidy program set to expire at the end of the month. The legislation would extend the child care stabilization grant program, which Congress established in 2021 to help child care providers meet additional costs during the […]
Attempting to reverse the tide, a South FL House Democrat files bill to protect tenant rights
The 2023 legislative session was a brutal one for tenant rights in Florida, with state lawmakers passing bills preempting local tenant protection ordinances and eliminating local governments from enacting rent control laws. Now a South Florida House Democrat is trying to bring back some rights to renters. West Palm Beach state Rep. Jervonte Edmonds has filed legislation for the […]
On the cusp of his 45th birthday, DeSantis plays the age card against Biden, Trump
Ron DeSantis was a wee lad of six when Ronald Reagan, then 73, performed jiu jitsu on questions about his age as he campaigned for reelection as president in 1984. “I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience,” Reagan said of Democratic contender Walter Mondale. We might forgive DeSantis […]
Joint letter asks Florida education head for transparency on universal vouchers
As Florida rolls into its first school year with a universal voucher program, an estimated 300,000 students will use it for private schooling and 45,000 for homeschooling, according to the state’s primary scholarship program. It’s grown steadily while critics bemoan what will happen to the public school system when any family – rich and poor […]
Congress starts trying to figure out how to set AI ‘rules of the road’
WASHINGTON — The development of artificial intelligence presents far-reaching challenges for virtually every aspect of modern society, including campaigns, national security and journalism, members of a U.S. Senate panel said at a Tuesday hearing, Technology experts invited to testify at a hearing of the Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security Subcommittee of the Senate […]
U.S. House conservatives balk at short-term funding patch that would avert shutdown
WASHINGTON — The most conservative Republicans in the U.S. House announced Tuesday they won’t support the short-term spending bill that’s needed to stop a partial government shutdown from beginning on Oct. 1. Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, said the group is not interested in a stopgap spending bill that “continues the policies […]
U.S. Senate hearing on book bans probes censorship attempts in local libraries
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators at a committee hearing Tuesday discussed the consequences of book bans and parents’ desire to control what their kids read — though they also acknowledged it’s not an issue for Congress to settle. The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony about book bans, focusing on how censorship limits liberty and literature. The […]