the 19th: “Created by the Biden administration in 2021, the Local Food Purchase Assistance program was at once an attempt to support small local farms and an acknowledgement that one of the most direct ways to bring healthy food to hunger-vulnerable populations is to buy it from underserved farmers nearby.  But a USDA press release announcing its…

the 19th: “Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is formally launching a campaign for Georgia governor, saying she will take on what she calls President Donald Trump’s “disaster” of a second term in a governor’s race that remains wide open.  Bottoms officially launched her gubernatorial campaign Tuesday, telling The 19th that the president’s “erratic policies”…

Miami Herald: “Leon County prosecutors say there is an open criminal investigation relating to information a lawmaker provided concerning the Hope Florida Foundation. In response to a request by the Herald/Times for Hope Florida Foundation-related records that prosecutors received from state Rep. Alex Andrade, the records custodian for State Attorney Jack Campbell said the information…

Political Wire: “Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) “says he had never smoked anything, let alone tried drugs in his life. So the retired Navy SEAL had to ask a nearby nurse for guidance on how to inhale a psychedelic drug that was part of the final step of an intense three-day experimental therapy,” the Wall Street Journal reports….

NY Times: “Rebecca Hardy and Michelle Evans helped found Texans for Vaccine Choice with a group of like-minded women in 2015, as measles was spreading in California. They defeated legislation tightening Texas school vaccine requirements, and helped oust the lawmaker who wrote it, earning a catchy nickname: “mad moms in minivans.” Now, as a measles…

WaPo: “It’s a politically convenient tale for courting voters in key swing states, pining for the way things once were. The problem is that it’s not true — and it is leading to some terrible policy decisions. A big missing part of the story: Interstate competition. The Rust Belt’s manufacturing decline isn’t primarily about jobs…

Political Wire: “Florida has become the second state to officially ban fluoride in public water,” NBC News reports. Gov. Ron DeSantis called the fluoridation of water “forced medication,” saying it violates “informed consent.” Tampa Bay Times: “The move to block fluoride has been decried by major health organizations, who warn that it would negatively affect residents’ health.”

Yahoo!: “One of the most consequential new proposals in the House GOP’s massive tax plan may carry a Donald Trump-inspired name — but it’s Ted Cruz’s brainchild. The “money account for growth and advancement,” otherwise known as a “MAGA Account,” surprised plenty of tax policy mavens when it appeared in the long-awaited Republican bill released on Monday….

Democracy Now!: “ In Florida, the family of 23-year-old Roger Fortson, an Air Force member killed by a sheriff’s deputy inside his own home in 2024, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit. The suit alleges deputy Eddie Duran used excessive and unconstitutional deadly force when he shot Fortson just seconds after he answered the…

HuffPo: “A ban on minors attending family-friendly drag shows in Florida was halted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Tuesday after judges ruled 2-1 that it violated the First Amendment. The ruling marks a major victory for Hamburger Mary’s of Orlando, a restaurant in the Sunshine State that offers food and entertainment, including drag…