This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Although the nation has seen record federal investment in infrastructure under President Joe Biden, the majority of the funds are flowing to roads and bridges—not to projects that will clean up the transportation system, those tracking the spending have […]

“Is it antisemitism or anti-Semitism?” a Mother Jones reporter asked me last week, a question freshly in focus as campus protests grow. It’s been six months since the FBI announced that antisemitism (by any style) is at historic levels, and three years since the Associated Press, the New York Times, and several other news organizations […]

After more than 50 years as a Schedule I substance, marijuana is slated to get reclassified. In a historic shift, the Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly plans to modify the drug’s designation under the Controlled Substances Act from a category that includes drugs like heroin and meth to the less dangerous but still illegal Schedule III, […]

On May 7, 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially announced the Trump administration’s infamous “zero tolerance” policy. “If you are smuggling a child,” Sessions said, “then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law.” The idea was to deter would-be migrants from coming to the United States by ripping […]

Israeli forces announced on Tuesday that they had seized control of the Rafah border crossing, a vital passageway for transporting aid into Gaza, prompting intense condemnation from international aid groups warning that the humanitarian crisis would be significantly exacerbated. The incursion into Rafah comes a day after White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said […]

The first criminal trial of a former US president is underway, with Donald Trump facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments allegedly made in 2016 to cover up an affair he had with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Here’s the latest—the key updates and absurd moments—from the historic trial. Stormy Daniels, the porn […]

One of Donald Trump’s greatest political liabilities as he seeks to return to the White House is his position on abortion. Just last month, Trump rolled out a new stance in an attempt to neutralize the issue, switching from support for a national ban to leaving its legality up to the states. “Whatever they decide […]

In December 2021, Army Sergeant Johny Dudek, his wife, and their 2-year-old son moved into a three-bedroom house next to the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. The Dudeks had a baby on the way, and they figured that living in military housing would help them save up for their growing family.     […]

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For Javier Torres and other workers whose jobs are conducted outdoors in south Florida, the heat is unavoidable. A new law recently signed by Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, that prohibits any municipalities in the state from passing heat protections for workers […]

Abortion rights advocates might be surprised to learn that, in deep-blue New York, anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics.  There are more than 120 such centers (known as CPCs, though they also go by other names) throughout New York, according to a coalition of abortion rights groups in the state, compared to a little […]

Fresh off the heels of attracting bipartisan repulsion over the admission that she killed her own dog, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Sunday suggested that President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, should also be killed. “Joe Biden’s dog has attacked 24 Secret Service people,” Noem told CBS’s Face the Nation. “So how many people is enough people […]

Not long ago, I noticed a new term trending in social media wellness circles: “certified hormone specialist.” I could have investigated it the old-fashioned way: googling, calling up an expert or two, digging into the scientific literature. I’m accustomed to researching suspicious certifications for my podcast, Conspirituality, which covers how health misinformation metastasizes online. Instead, I […]

This story was originally published by Grist and Fast Company and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. When office workers stopped working in offices in 2020, trading their cubicles for living room couches during COVID-19 lockdowns, many began questioning those hours they had spent commuting to work. All those rushed mornings stuck in traffic could […]

After it emerged recently that Gov. Kristi Noem recounts a graphic, disturbing story in her forthcoming book about killing her puppy with a gun, the Republican from South Dakota defended the violence as a “tough decision” she had to make. The dog, she wrote, had attacked some chickens. “I talk about it because what I’m […]

As the November election approaches, several of Donald Trump’s vice presidential contenders have taken part in what seems to have become an unofficial loyalty test: question the legitimacy of an election that does not end with Trump winning.  On Sunday morning, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)—who NBC News reported in February was the leading candidate for […]

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. On the evening of August 8, hours after a wildfire ravaged West Maui, Maui County’s top emergency management official, Herman Andaya, texted his secretary to ask about the status of other fires across the island. “Still burning,” she replied.  “Wow … Lol,” […]

Reproductive rights organizers in two states with near-total abortion bans, Missouri and South Dakota, submitted roughly double the signatures needed to allow ballot measures that would put abortion before voters.  In South Dakota, organizers have submitted 55,000 signatures in support of the ballot measure granting a limited right to abortion—far more than the 35,000 required. […]

On Saturday, Fox News reported the launch of the Fair Election Fund, an apparently right-wing nonprofit that says it has a $5 million budget aimed at exposing election fraud. The project promises to pay election workers, organizers, and concerned citizens who have witnessed election fraud firsthand to share their stories. “Your voice could be what […]

Bruce Praet is a well-known name in law enforcement, especially across California. He co-founded a company called Lexipol that contracts with more than 95 percent of police departments in the state and offers its clients trainings and ready-made policies. In one of Praet’s training webinars, posted online, he offers a piece of advice that policing […]

This story was originally published by Capital & Main. August Pfluger, an Air Force veteran and member of the House, representing a small district in West Texas, isn’t exactly a household name on the national political scene, with little press coverage in the last two months outside a recent Fox News appearance. But he is […]