School cafeterias are generally not in danger of earning a Michelin star. But this being the era of ubiquitous smartphones and app-based food delivery services, modern students are no longer slaves to the school lunch menu. Enterprising kids are now as...
Responding to a drastic increase in foreclosures since 2009, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a package of bills aimed at helping cash-strapped Garden State residents stay in their homes and overwhelmed cities deal with a rash of vacant foreclosed...
Florida state government has long been under GOP rule. But this year, the state’s Republican legislative majority, energized by three new conservative state Supreme Court justices, new legislative leaders and a new governor, accomplished a few items...
Don’t like the high cost of burials? Against cremation? Not down with mummification? Well, Washington state lawmakers may have just given you another good option. Yes, as the Washington Post reports , Evergreen State pols have endorsed a measure...
OK House Approves HB 2591 The OKLAHOMA House approves HB 2591 , which would strip Medicaid eligibility from providers of “services relating to pregnancy or termination of pregnancy” who do not report evidence of the rape of a minor. It...
FEDERAL APPEALS PANEL ORDERS NEW DISTRICTS, SENATE ELECTIONS IN MI A three-judge federal panel has ordered MICHIGAN’s Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw at least 34 political districts before the 2020 election - and ordered the state...
In a 5-4 decision last month, the Supreme Court ruled that public-sector workers who opt out of joining unions can’t be forced to contribute to those unions’ collective bargaining efforts. In Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977...
The KENTUCKY Board of Education reaches a settlement with Jefferson County Public Schools avoiding a state takeover of the 100,000-student district in Louisville, the Commonwealth’s largest city. The state Education Commissioner, Wayne Lewis, had...
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) vetoed a controversial bill last week that would have given police the power to pursue hackers who probe computer systems but don’t steal any data. Opponents said the bill would also have prohibited so-called “white...
One of the first things I learned as a young scribe was that cops and reporters never say no to coffee. Given that my brother was a cop for 30 years and I’ve been kicking around this gig for almost as long, I know this to be as true today as it...
NE Legislature Approves LB 947 The NEBRASKA Legislature approves LB 947 , a bill that would allow so-called “dreamers” – immigrants who entered the country illegally but were granted lawful status by the federal government –...
Editor: Rich Ehisen Associate Editor: Korey Clark Contributing Editor: Mary Peck, David Giusti Editorial Advisor: Lou Cannon Correspondents: Richard Cox (CA), Lauren Davis (MA), Steve Karas (CA) and Ben Livingood (PA), Cathy Santsche (CA), Dena Blodgett...
CA City Council Adopts Ordinance The city of LOS ALAMOS, CALIFORNIA adopts an ordinance exempting itself from the Golden State’s so-called “sanctuary state” law that restricts local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal...
There are currently three bills dealing with the collection of sales taxes from out-of-state sellers pending in Congress: the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2017 (SB 976) and the Remote Transactions Parity Act of 2017 (HR 2193) , both of which would allow...
West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry is more than a hallowed jurist. He is also the author of a book decrying political corruption in the Mountain State. Alas, as the Charleston Gazette reports , Loughry himself now stands accused of playing...
IA Judge Grants Temporary Injunction An IOWA judge grants a temporary injunction on a new Hawkeye State law barring abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected. Polk County District Court Judge Michael Huppert halted implementation of the law...
You have to give Bell County High School valedictorian Ben Bowling straight A’s for both guts and cleverness. As the New York Times reports , the newly-minted Pineville, Kentucky student used his recent graduation address to share the following...
BULLOCK SIGNS MT REINSURANCE BILL MONTANA Gov. Steve Bullock (D), signed legislation last week that will create a reinsurance program to help reimburse insurers for high-cost claims so those costs aren't included in determining individual marketplace...
NY LAWMAKERS OPENING AVENUE TO TRUMP’S STATE TAX RETURNS The NEW YORK Senate passed a bill that would create a pathway for three congressional committees - the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee...
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) wasted no time last week addressing the final batch of bills lawmakers sent to him this session, vetoing eight and letting another 10 become law without his signature. Most of the measures Hogan vetoed would have imposed...
LA GOV, HOUSE LEADER AT ODDS ON SALES TAX BREAK LOUISIANA state Rep. Lance Harris (R), who heads the House majority caucus, introduced legislation last week to roll back the sales tax increase lawmakers approved last year to help shore up the state...
Man, it just ain’t any fun being a kid these days. Case in point comes from Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp last month vetoed a bill that would have required most Peach State schools to schedule recess time for kids in grades K-5. But as the Atlanta...
Cooper Signs NC Pay Leave Order Saying that “parenting is often more than a full-time job,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued Executive Order 95 last week, which grants up to eight weeks of paid parental leave to many of the estimated...
After much tussling back and forth, California regulators have decided once and for all that coffee does not pose a major risk of causing cancer. This is very good news to coffee giants like Starbucks, which contended that the benefits of drinking a cup...
VA House and Senate Pass HB 1811 and SB 1341 The VIRGINIA House and Senate each pass measures that would make it illegal for drivers to talk on a cellphone without using a hands-free device. Those measures, HB 1811 and SB 1341 , pass now to the opposite...