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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.

MA Peace Advocates Lay Out Hopes for Future of N-Weapons Policy

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Monday, January 25, 2021   

BOSTON -- With a United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons now in place, Massachusetts advocates for peace, including Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., are laying out their hopes for the future of nuclear-weapons policy.

Not a single nation with nuclear weapons ratified the international agreement, although more than 50 non-nuclear states did.

Markey said nuclear powers such as the U.S. are unlikely to surrender their arsenals and join the treaty any time soon.

"But even if we can see that nuclear weapons will not disappear overnight, we can at least work on measures that ensure that Hiroshima and Nagasaki will never be repeated," Markey urged.

Markey stated he plans to reintroduce a bill in the Senate that would require a congressional declaration of war before the president can authorize a nuclear-weapons launch, as well as urging President Joe Biden and the Senate to make cuts to defense spending on nuclear-weapons.

He added he wants any savings redirected to efforts to vaccinate every American against COVID-19.

Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, said our current military budget of $800 billion dwarfs the roughly $200 billion allocated for education, jobs and housing combined.

He noted it's more than the military budgets of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and Iraq combined.

"The pandemic exposed the fissures of poverty, racism and how bad our public-health systems really are," Barber asserted. "Federal funding for emergency preparedness and health care has been on the decline for 15 years, while the military budget keeps going up, up, up, up."

Barber also pointed to research that found $1 billion in military spending creates roughly 11,200 jobs, while the same amount of money would create 26,000 jobs if it were invested in education, 16,000 jobs if it were put into clean energy, and 17,000 jobs in health care.


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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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