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Issac Morgan, Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rejection of an Advanced Placement pilot course on African American studies elicited a resounding response from a crowd of at least a hundred people gathered in the state Capitol Wednesday, praying and loudly chanting about the importance of protecting Black history taught in …

Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix In a direct challenge to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to his backyard Sunday to announce that President Joe Biden was signing an executive order designed to guarantee access to abortion rights, including abortion-inducing medications. During a roughly 20-minute address in Tallahassee …

Global health officials are warning of an expected surge in cases of COVID-19 in the United States and other countries as the latest, most transmissible omicron subvariant continues to circulate. That new subvariant is called XBB.1.5 and it’s been rapidly growing in the United States. Both the World Health Organization …

Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline The mandatory recount in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District changed four total votes and confirmed Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert’s victory, the secretary of state’s office announced Monday. Boebert narrowly defeated Democrat Adam Frisch with 50.06% of the vote. The recount yielded an increase of one vote for …

Jacob Fischler, Arizona Mirror The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously on Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, saying the former president must be held accountable as the “central cause” of a violent attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The panel’s …

Issac Morgan, Florida Phoenix After Congress and President Joe Biden approved a massive spending bill to allow Medicare to negotiate cheaper drug prices with pharmaceutical companies starting in 2026, Florida has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over delays in the state’s own plan to import cheaper medicine from …

Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent The League of Women Voters of Missouri and Missouri NAACP filed a lawsuit Monday attempting to block a wide-ranging elections bill they argue violates the right to core political speech by curtailing voter engagement. The lawsuit focuses on provisions of the law, which is set to …

The United States says it will give Ukraine a new $775 million aid package to help its forces regain territory and mount a counteroffensive against Russian invaders. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters on August 19 that the package will include 15 Scan Eagle surveillance drones, 40 mine-resistant, ambush-protected …

Jennifer Shutt, Virginia Mercury Two months after doctors diagnosed the first case of monkeypox in the United States, Congress has yet to hold a hearing or give any significant attention to the painful and debilitating virus that’s spread to more than 4,600 people. Public health officials in the Biden administration …

Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor A Pennsylvania mortgage company owned by billionaire Warren Buffett deliberately discriminated against Black and Latino homebuyers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, federal officials said Wednesday while announcing a $20 million settlement with the firm. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation found Trident Mortgage Company, one of …

By Brian Lopez, The Texas Tribune A group of Texas educators have proposed to the Texas State Board of Education that slavery should be taught as “involuntary relocation” during second grade social studies instruction, but board members have asked them to reconsider the phrasing, according to the state board’s chair. …

by Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix A state trial judge said Thursday that he will block Florida’s new 15-week abortion ban, concluding it violates the privacy clause voters placed in the Florida Constitution in 1980. “I’m finding that the statute … is unconstitutional in that it violates the privacy provision of …

by Ariana Figueroa, Nebraska Examiner The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday examined the public health effect that gun violence has on children.  “Guns are killing our kids at a devastating rate,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the committee, said in his opening statement. The hearing followed the May …

Originally published by The 19th Over the past two weeks, Diamond Cotton has encountered a lot of empty shelves. At her local CVS, Walmart and Kroger in Indianapolis, the tampon aisles have stood bare, wiped out by a shortage that began as a ripple in the supply chain and then …

The gunman accused of killing ten people in a Buffalo, New York supermarket has been charged with hate crimes by the U.S. Department of Justice. Authorities believe that suspect Payton Gendron, 18, was motivated by racial hatred. Almost all the victims in the shooting were black. He now faces 26 …