WaPo: “She wanted to hear Henry’s voice again. So she went to her son’s room on an overcast February day and started digging through the boxes he left behind, looking for something he’d written to give her guidance. Henry Berg-Brousseau always knew what to say. Eight years had passed since he’d told Kentucky lawmakers how…

WUNC: “A Medicaid expansion deal in North Carolina received final legislative approval on Thursday, capping a decade of debate over whether the closely politically divided state should accept the federal government’s coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income adults. North Carolina is one of several Republican-led states that have begun considering expanding Medicaid after years of steadfast…

Time: “Republican lawmakers in Florida appear likely to expand provisions in the Parental Rights in Education Act, or so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law with a host of new restrictions on what teachers can and cannot say in their classrooms about gender, sex, and sexual orientation. Bills currently being debated in the Florida state House would make it…

WCGU: “Current and former farmworkers, allies and religious leaders are marching across a large swath of Florida. They are calling on retail food giants like Wendy’s, Publix and Kroger to join the Fair Food Program, a human-rights initiative that many of their competitors joined over a decade ago. Some 100 people headed off Tuesday, marching…

TX Observer: “Andrew Gonzales never expected his name to be on a ballot. The 30-year-old native Austinite had taught for seven years in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) before quitting in October 2021—joining an exodus of instructors fleeing the pains and indignities of Texas’ public schools. Then, last November, Gonzales shocked the local political…

TX Tribune: “Almost a year after Texas’ deadliest school shooting killed 19 children and two teachers, there is still confusion among investigators, law enforcement leaders and politicians over how nearly 400 law enforcement officers could have performed so poorly. People have blamed cowardice or poor leadership or a lack of sufficient training for why police…

Off the Kuff: “This is the third cycle I’ve made this document, and I bring you good news: it is very possible to avoid a pro-censorship school board takeover, even in deep red districts in Texas. Look at what happened last November: Of the 38 red- and orange-highlighted candidates I tracked in the last version of…

WaPo: “John W. Jenrette Jr., a flamboyant congressman who was convicted of taking a $50,000 bribe in the Abscam sting operation of the late 1970s, and who gained further notoriety after his wife told Playboy about a romantic rendezvous they had on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, died March 17. He was 86. His…

WaPo: “As many as10 sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at Virginia’s Central State Hospital can be seenpiling on top of a shackled Irvo Otieno for approximately 11 minutes until he stops moving, according tonew video showing the encounter that led to the 28-year-old Black man’s death. The hospital surveillance video, which has no sound, shows Otieno’s…

NY Times: “The parents of a South Carolina ninth grader said in a federal lawsuit that a teacher pushed their daughter into a wall after she ignored demands to acknowledge the Pledge of Allegiance as it was broadcast over her high school’s intercom. The 15-year-old student, Marissa Barnwell, and her parents said that the school…