WUNC: “Howard Dudley spent nearly 24 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of sexually assaulting his 9-year-old daughter, Amy Moore. A few days before Christmas, 30 years after the initial verdict, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper pardoned Dudley. In a recent conversation with WUNC’s Tested Podcast, Dudley reflects on what he’s been through over the…

NY Times: “Ever since Zara, a transgender girl, was 8, she has been certain she wanted to grow up to be a woman. After conversations with her parents and sessions with a therapist, she began transitioning socially: changing her name to Zara and pronouns to she/her. When she turned 9, she began treatment with puberty…

AL Political Reporter: “The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, a newly combined bill comprised of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, moving now to the U.S. Senate where the looming threat of yet another Republican filibuster, which stymied previous attempts to pass the…

Medium: “Example: In 1988, he paid $408 million for the Plaza Hotel and spent millions making it gaudier. Seven years later, his creditors sold it for $325 million. And yet he styles himself a business genius. Genius or no, he is suddenly doing something very smart: in interview after interview, he endorses vaccines and boosters. He’s even called political rivals who…

MS Free Press: “Public school teachers would gain pay bumps ranging from $4,000 to $6,000 under a plan Mississippi House lawmakers overwhelmingly approved Wednesday afternoon. The legislation, known as the Strategically Accelerating the Recruitment And Retention Of Teachers (START) Act, passed on a vote of 114-to-6. Starting pay for teachers with a bachelor’s degree would increase…

TX Observer: “A decade ago, in March 2012, a group of writers, artists, educators, and activists banded together to combat the deplorable actions of Arizona’s state legislature. The state’s lawmakers had recently passed a bill making the teaching of “Ethnic Studies” illegal, along with banning courses that “promote resentment toward a race or class of…

WaPo: “Last spring, four Texas newspapers asked Paxton’s office for all work-related texts and emails sent and received while he was in Washington for “Stop the Steal,” citing Texas law guaranteeing the public the right to government documents. Paxton refused, and the four newspapers took their complaint to Travis County district attorney Jose Garza. Now Garza’s office…

Political Wire: “Hundreds of Texans seeking to vote by mail in the upcoming March primary elections are seeing their applications for ballots rejected by local election offices trying to comply with stricter voting rules enacted by Texas Republicans last year,” the Texas Tribune reports.

WRAL: “Newly-released 911 calls and transcripts could shed light on the moments surrounding the death of Jason Walker, who was shot and killed by an off-duty Cumberland County deputy over the weekend. His death has sparked protests around Fayetteville…. The Fayetteville Police Department said 37-year-old Walker ran into traffic and jumped onto a truck driven by…

NPR: “The New Year’s Eve fire that destroyed a Knoxville, Tenn., Planned Parenthood building was intentionally set, investigators and officials have ruled. The fire was ruled an arson on Thursday after officials from the Knoxville Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the scene. Officials say they don’t know…