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More states are putting panic alarms in schools

Three states this year have enacted laws that require or allow schools to use panic alarms to quickly summon emergency responders. Ten other states have such laws and a dozen more are considering them. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) Three states this year have enacted laws that require or allow schools to use mobile, wearable, wireless or silent panic alarms to quickly summon emergency responders. The new laws in Illinois, Virginia and West Virginia bring the number of states with such laws to 13, with 10 of them acting since 2023. Another dozen states have legislation pending. Known as Alyssa’s Law, the measures are named for 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, one of 17 people killed during the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Make Our Schools Safe, a nonprofit founded by Alhadeff’s mother, has advocated for the legislation. Although all the laws are grouped under the Alyssa’s Law name, they involve different technologies. While ...
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Women on parole face higher rates of mental health, housing challenges

Computers line the walls of a reentry center inside the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, Mo. Incarcerated women preparing for release can use the computers to search for employment and other resources while on parole. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline) Women on parole report higher rates of housing instability, poor health and serious mental health and substance use disorders than men on parole and than women who weren’t on parole, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice. For people leaving prison, parole is a period of transition that can involve finding housing and work, reconnecting with family and accessing health care while also meeting the conditions of supervision. How well those pieces come together can shape whether someone successfully settles back into the community — a key part, some argue, of reducing future involvement with the criminal justice system and promoting public safety. ...
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom visits Montgomery; public events limited

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom departs after speaking about the Election Rigging Response Act at a news conference in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, Newsom visited Montgomery, Alabama as the first stop of a tour of the South. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) California Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday visited Montgomery as the first stop on a tour of the South. Although the tour was announced in advance , Newsom, a Democrat considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, did not have public events and did not make appear to make himself available to local or state media during the day. Newsom’s office did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday or Wednesday. Newsom met with Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed as part of a tour of sites of the Civil Rights Movement. During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Reed said he hopes Newsom has a better understanding of the state now that he’s visited. GET THE MORNING HEADLINE...
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Why the rushed Postal Service plan for mail-in voting has states in a panic

A Utah County election worker picks up mailed ballots from the United States Postal Service office on Oct. 26, 2020 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) President Donald Trump’s executive order placing new restrictions on mail-in voting would assign state officials a Herculean task to reach compliance before the crucial midterm elections. The order directed the U.S. Postal Service to strictly regulate the envelope design of mail-in ballots and to collect voter data from each state through an online portal, among other things.  The Postal Service has argued in court that its rule is not an election regulation, but is within the agency’s purview as a standard for a specific type of mail. But some state officials tasked with fitting their systems to the new regulations say it presents massive — if not impossible — challenges to reach compliance for the November midterms, when voters will decide whether to continue Republican control of the U.S. House and Senate....
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Legal aid for immigrant kids remains in question after Trump administration pulls contract

A 10-year-old Honduran immigrant who came into the United States as an unaccompanied minor carries her baby cousin on April 25, 2021, after reuniting with extended family in Sellersburg, Indiana. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) WASHINGTON— More than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant youth remain at risk of losing their legal representation, one month after the Trump administration ended a federal contract with an organization that provided legal services to migrant children, advocates and attorneys said Tuesday. Most of those children who initially had attorneys through funding provided by Congress still have access to lawyers because the Acacia Center for Justice and its network of 100 nonprofits have continued to represent the children without pay.  But unaccompanied immigrant children who have been placed into federal custody since the contract expired after July 31 are likely without attorneys as they appear in immigration court, said Michael Lukens, the executive director of...
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SNAP cuts could lead to kids losing free school breakfast and lunch

Elementary school kids go through the lunch line. Cuts to the nation’s largest food assistance program may cause students to lose access to free breakfast and lunch. (Photo by Marcus Constantino for West Virginia Watch) Cuts to the nation’s largest food assistance program will likely spill over into schools, causing students to lose access to free breakfast and lunch. More than 1 million American children have lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, following a recent federal law. Now, as schools gear up for a new term, a portion of those children could be at risk of losing free meals — viewed as crucial supports for both childhood hunger and classroom learning.   But the changes in cafeterias could affect even families who have never participated in the federal food stamp program. Many students who receive free school meals automatically qualify because of their household participation in SNAP or Medicaid. So a reduction in those social service progra...
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Alabama Public Service Commission lowers rate of return for energy company

A natural gas meter with pipe on wall. The Alabama Public Service Commission Tuesday voted to reduce the return of equity for two Spire Energy subsidiaries after a rate hearing. (Bill Oxford/Getty Images) The state commission regulating investor-owned utilities Tuesday reduced the rate of return that a St.Louis-based energy company can earn. The Alabama Public Service Commission voted to authorize Spire Alabama to receive a return on equity of 9.4% for the next two years, based largely on the recommendation of the Alabama Attorney General’s Office. That is a difference of 1.1% from the 10.5% return on equity that company officials sought, and lower than what it currently collects. But commissioners also authorized the company, which serves roughly 500,000 customers in Alabama, to increase its monthly charge on customers by a total of $5 per month in phases. The company may increase the fixed monthly charge by $2.50 starting Oct. 1, 2026, and by another $2.50 on the same date next ye...
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