DENVER - A new bill introduced in the Colorado Senate is designed to help protect consumers from so-called surprise medical bills. Frequently, said Adam Fox, director of strategic engagement for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, patients with insurance end up getting billed for services from ...Read More

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington is set to become the first state to tackle racial bias in the jury-selection process. The new rule, which goes into effect at the end of April, bars attorneys from excluding someone not only for intentional racial bias but also "implicit, institutional and unconscious" b ...Read More

PHOENIX - They're calling them "walk-ins," as Arizona teachers across the state protest today to demand higher pay. About 1,000 public schools are expected to participate. Teachers, along with staff, parents and community members, have said they'll march arm-in-arm into schools before the start of ...Read More

PORTLAND, Ore. - Natural gas has been hailed as a potential "bridge fuel" for the country as it transitions from coal and oil to renewable energy. However, a spokeswoman for a Northwest environmental research group says the news media often overlooks natural gas's dirty secret. Natural gas often is ...Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Civil-liberties advocates call a bill passed Monday by Pennsylvania's House Health Committee "unconstitutional and unenforceable." House Bill 2050 would make it a crime to perform an abortion based on a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Elizabeth Randol, legislative director for t ...Read More

LOS ANGELES - The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has thrown its support behind the twin tunnels project, known as the "Water Fix," voting late Tuesday to spend almost $11 billion to build two tunnels underneath the delta to bring Sacramento River water to the Central Valley and S ...Read More

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minneapolis-based nonprofit is using remote learning to enrich rural and less well-funded school music programs. The MacPhail Center for Music's Online School Partnerships Program connects districts with singers and musicians who teach classes remotely. The center has partnered with ...Read More

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Groups opposed to construction of a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from the nation's commercial reactors are on a tour this week to make sure people know what's being proposed for southern New Mexico. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a proposal from Holt ...Read More