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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Activists Protest Private Prisons

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Monday, June 15, 2015   

LOS ANGELES – Activists are protesting tax breaks for the $3 billion private prison industry - which runs 16 facilities in California. They protested at an industry conference in New York last week about a loophole that lets private prison companies claim to be in the real estate business and thus pay less income tax.

Ian Trupin, an organizer for the Responsible Endowments Coalition, said California is at the forefront of the move toward private prisons.

"After the federal government," he said, "California is the largest customer of the private prison industry in the United States."

In 2013, a federal judge ordered California to fix overcrowding in its prisons - which led to the practice of sending prisoners to private facilities. Corrections Corporation of America and the Geo Group, the two biggest private prison firms, say they're providing a public service.

Opponents such as Trupin say the firms make financial donations to lawmakers who support anti-crime laws - laws that swell the prison ranks.

"We need to really make this issue something toxic for politicians," Trupin said, "so they have to stop taking money from private prisons and stop passing the laws that this lobby is really going for."

Activists currently are running campaigns to press the University of California System and the County of Los Angeles to divest their holdings in private prison companies.


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The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

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Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

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Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

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Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

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Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

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New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

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Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

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Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

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