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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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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.

MyPlate.gov says toddlers should sit upright for meals and snacks and not wander while eating items such as hot dogs, candy, nuts and seeds, raw carrots, grapes or popcorn, which may cause choking. (Adobe Stock)
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Monday, March 25, 2024
Parents wanting to ensure their children have nutritious meals can serve as their best example, according to new data. Research from the University …

The Environmental Protection Agency said wetlands' sponge-like ability to absorb water slows the momentum of floodwaters or a coastal storm surge. (Adobe Stock)
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The Supreme Court's decision in 2023 to roll back the Clean Water Act has meant less federal oversight in protecting the country's wetlands. …

The Public Schooling in America 2024 report said "charter churn," the opening and closing of charter schools, creates a hardship on families and taxpayers. (Adobe Stock)
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A report released this month by the Network for Public Education ranked Illinois an "A" grade for its overall support of public schools. One …

The bobcat was recognized as an endangered species in Indiana until 2005. (Adobe stock)
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
After years of trying and failing, Indiana lawmakers have put bobcats in the crosshairs. The decision forces the Indiana Department of Natural …

Access to screenings is supported through insurance coverage and assistance programs for the uninsured or underinsured. (Adobe stock)
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024
The recent health diagnosis for Catherine, Princess of Wales, is shining a spotlight on the importance for Hoosiers younger than 50 to be screened …

According to the eco-sustainability site Treehugger.com, if someone was standing on the moon during a total eclipse, the earth would look dark because the sun would be behind it. (Adobe Stock)
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Monday, March 25, 2024
Excitement and curiosity are building for a scientific phenomenon not seen in the United States since 2017. On April 8, a total solar eclipse will …

Farmers apply fertilizer, including nitrogen, before spring planting so the seed and the growing plant have nutrients available throughout the season. (Adobe Stock)
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

Iowa State University Assistant Biochemistry Professor Walter Moss and graduate student Jake Peterson discuss a computer rendering of an RNA molecule. (Iowa State University)
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Monday, March 25, 2024
Researchers at Iowa State University are taking the next step in genetic medicine by targeting diseases in a person's RNA. Most drugs target …

Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)
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An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…

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The Kansas rankings in the 2023 Kids Count Data Book include: 17th in overall child well-being; 22nd in health; 24th in family and community, and 26th in education. (Adobe Stock)
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Kansas ranks seventh among states in the area of economic well-being in the 2023 Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Book. Rankings on the …

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The Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform, formed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and led by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, took a comprehensive look at the state's system and released its report in July 2022 with 32 recommendations for improving Michigan's juvenile justice system. (Oleg Kozlovskiy/Adobe Stock)
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Mental-health treatment is rare in jails and prisons, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. (lagano/Adobe Stock)
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Monday, March 25, 2024
March is National Criminal Justice Month, and advocates say people with mental illness are over-represented in jails and prisons. According to the …

Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline transports 22 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids across 645 miles of countryside every day, from Superior, Wis., through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, under the Straits of Mackinac to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. (Adobe Stock)
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Dana Nessel, Michigan's Attorney General, joined Indigenous and conservation groups at a demonstration Thursday in Cincinnati, highlighting what they …

Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

As part of its Climate and Resilience Action Plan, the city of St. Paul plans to convert the Como Zoo Conservancy building to geothermal heating and cooling. (Flickr)
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024
By Frank Jossi for Energy News Network.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Netwo…

Researchers with North Star Policy Action say Minnesota has more ambitious clean energy goals than neighboring states, but lags behind some of them in output. Permitting issues in Minnesota are cited as a big factor. (Adobe Stock)
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Monday, March 25, 2024
Minnesota has about 15 years to achieve its mandate of 100% carbon-free electricity from utilities. To get there, clean energy voices say the …

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Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

OpenSecrets has tracked more than $2.8 billion in dark money spending and contributions reported to the Federal Elections Commission since the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC decision in 2010. (pla2na/Adobe Stock)
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Monday, March 25, 2024
Undisclosed funding, or "dark money," is pumping into the 2024 election cycle. Political spending by donors who stay hidden is reaching record …

Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)
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By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…

As of 2023, 29 of Nebraska's 93 counties had no behavioral health professionals. (Adobe Stock)
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Cover crops and other regenerative practices prevent erosion, improve soil health and can absorb harmful carbon from the atmosphere and "sink" or "sequester" it in the ground. (Tomas Vynikal/Adobe Stock)
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One of the goals included in Nebraska's Department of Environment and Energy's Priority Climate Action Plan recently submitted to the federal Environm…

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says state programs supporting private schools, such as vouchers and scholarships, "raise the risk of harm to students, do little to expand opportunity, and cut funding to public schools." (jetcityimage/Adobe Stock)
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Nebraskans this November will be able to vote on whether to keep the Opportunity Scholarships Act, which gives a dollar-for-dollar tax credit to …

The Congressional Budget Office estimated as early as 2023, Social Security might have a harder time paying full benefits to beneficiaries because program revenues will not be keeping up. (Adobe Stock)
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Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Congress just avoided a partial government shutdown by approving a budget through the end of September, but a new blueprint is renewing debate about …

Summit Carbon Solutions had initially hoped to begin construction this year on its carbon dioxide pipeline project for several Midwestern states. However, most of the actions so far have centered around public hearings, legal arguments and regulatory setbacks. (Adobe Stock)
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New public hearings and legal decisions are expected in the coming weeks and months about a controversial pipeline project in the upper Midwest…

U.S. researchers said there is a belief that boosting lawmaker pay might lead to more working-class legislators, but their information gathering does not back that up. North Dakota lawmakers are part-time, only meeting in Bismarck every other year. (Adobe Stock)
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In North Dakota and all other states, the backgrounds of people serving in state legislatures largely leave out a key demographic, the working class…

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At least two-thirds of plastics plants examined in a new Environmental Integrity Project report, or 32 out of 50 built or expanded over the last decade, have received tax breaks or subsidies from state and local governments worth a total of nearly $9 billion. (Adobe Stock)
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Wednesday, March 27, 2024
The plastics industry is releasing illegal pollution but rarely faces discipline for environmental permit violations, according to a new report by …

Out-of-school suspensions contribute to Ohio's high chronic absenteeism rates, according to a new report from the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio. (Adobe Stock)
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Monday, March 25, 2024
Ohio's Black students are more likely to face excessively harsh discipline practices such as expulsion and suspension, according to a recently …

The development of worker cooperatives by ReImagine Appalachia is intended to revive the economy across Ohio and nearby states. (Adobe Stock)
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Leaders in Ohio and the other Appalachian states have a plan to turn the regional economy around. Natural resources from the Appalachian region once …

The National Family Farm Coalition says the use of dicamba and other herbicides has been estimated to quadruple with the planting of new herbicide-resistant seeds, resulting in more toxins in the environment and in foods eaten by livestock, wildlife and humans. (Adobe Stock)
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Pesticides are still common in agriculture. Organic producers who avoid them have seen ups and downs in pushing for stronger regulations, and they …

Summit Carbon Solutions had initially hoped to begin construction this year on its carbon dioxide pipeline project for several Midwestern states. However, most of the actions so far have centered around public hearings, legal arguments and regulatory setbacks. (Adobe Stock)
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New public hearings and legal decisions are expected in the coming weeks and months about a controversial pipeline project in the upper Midwest…

South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)
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South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

As more states expand access to legalized sports betting, Wisconsin policymakers face more pressure from supporters to approve a more robust law for live wagers. (Adobe Stock)
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024
March Madness is in full swing, and depending on where you live, you might be able to place a bet on a college basketball tournament game. Wisconsin …

As with most presidential elections, Wisconsin is viewed as a "swing state" for the 2024 race for the White House. Election policy and procedure likely will be closely watched following efforts by Donald Trump supporters to overturn state results from the 2020 election. (Adobe Stock)
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Early voting is underway for the Wisconsin primary election and while the presidential primaries already appear settled for now, pro-democracy …

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