PoliticsNC: “When the legislature opened a couple of weeks ago, Senate President Pro-tem Phil Berger delivered a speech touting the success of Republicans over the past 12 of power. He took credit for the economic growth in North Carolina and bragged that the GOP had changed the state. “Over the last 12 years and following the…

DemocracyNow!: “In Alabama, a worker who helped lead an unsuccessful union organizing drive at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer says he was abruptly fired without explanation. Darryl Richardson, who led a campaign to organize his co-workers into the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, says he was given no reason for the firing, but he believes…

News4Jax: “The governor’s office said the course violates state law and is historically inaccurate. In 2021, the state banned teaching Critical Race Theory. Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill restricting how schools can talk about race with students. The Stop WOKE Act bars instructions that say members of one race are inherently racist…

Democracy Now: “In Atlanta, Georgia, calls are growing for an independent investigation into the police killing of an activist Wednesday during a violent raid on an encampment of protesters opposed to the proposed $90 million “Cop City” training facility in a public forest. Law enforcement officers, including a SWAT team, were clearing protesters who had occupied a…

Axios: “Women in states with abortion bans are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth or soon after giving birth, according to a report from the Gender Equity Policy Institute shared first with Axios. The big picture: The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, and government officials and health experts are concerned that conditions will…

Newsweek: “Tennessee Republican leaders introduced two bills in the state legislature on Wednesday that would ban gender-affirming care for children as well as public drag performances in the state. Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who was reelected in Tuesday’s midterm elections, is sponsoring both bills. He had campaigned to “preserve Tennessee conservative values,” according to…

ABC11: “A replica of a nuclear bomb returned to Downtown Raleigh Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the catastrophic 1961 B-52 nuclear bomber accident. The replica was displayed during a protest by members of North Carolina Peace Action at the Terry Sanford Federal Building on New Bern Avenue. A B-52 bomber dropped two 3.8 megaton…

Fox7: “The family of Hays County inmate Joshua Wright, who was shot and killed by a corrections officer in December, held a demonstration in San Marcos Sunday to protest and call for transparency in the investigation into his death. Community organizations Mano Amiga, Hays County Jail Advocates, the Caldwell/Hays Examiner, Fierce Madres and the Austin Justice Coalition all joined the…

Axios Raleigh: “North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood was charged with a hit and run in Wake County in December and will appear in court Jan. 26, North Carolina court records show. Details: Wood did not return a request for comment, but Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman confirmed that the charges include a Class 2 misdemeanor for hit…

reason: “A bill introduced last week in the Mississippi Legislature would require public schools and postsecondary institutions to install video surveillance cameras all over their campuses. The bill would require that the cameras also record audio and that they be installed in classrooms, auditoriums, cafeterias, gyms, hallways, recreational areas, and along each facility’s perimeter. Further, it would…