PADUCAH, Ky. - An in-depth examination of the death penalty by state House and Senate Judiciary Committee members schedulef for Friday will mark a shift in the debate, according to Kentucky's public advocate. Public defender Ed Monahan said the discussion by lawmakers is moving from "Should we fix ...Read More

MADISON, Wis. - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus has been hitting pork producers all across the nation for a little more than a year. Wisconsin State Veterinarian Dr. Paul McGraw is on the federal committee which has developed a vaccine for PED, which he called a devastating virus. "It will kill nea ...Read More

ST. LOUIS - Missouri voters will decide next week whether to pass the largest sales-tax increase in the state's history to fund road projects, but some environmental advocates feel the proposal is a dead-end street. Chloe Ames, a Washington University student and Sierra Club intern, relies on publi ...Read More

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Laws that ban texting while driving - and that allow law enforcement to cite someone for texting without another reason to pull the vehicle over - are the most effective at preventing distracted driving deaths, according to a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. ...Read More

LANSING, Mich. - Too many Michigan fourth-graders aren't making the grade when it comes to reading, but should struggling students be required by law to repeat third grade? The latest Kids Count data ranks the state 37th in the nation for the number of fourth-graders reading at grade level, and som ...Read More

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The owner of a Southern California livestock auction house is facing probation and fines after pleading no contest to animal cruelty charges under California's "downer" law. Charges were brought against Horacio Santorsola after an animal-rights group secretly videotaped wor ...Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Today is Medicare's 49th birthday, but questions linger about how many more birthdays the program will be able to celebrate. The influx of baby boomers reaching retirement age and increasing medical costs have lawmakers looking for options to prevent the program from going bankrupt ...Read More

SYLVA, N.C. - Who should be monitoring students' online activity? Traditionally, the answer is parents, but one North Carolina school system is employing a private company to monitor posts and "tweets" in what it describes as an effort to protect students' safety. Meanwhile, the ACLU of North Caroli ...Read More