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CDC’s latest youth behavior report offers a narrower look at teen health

Students leave William H. Wells Community High School at the end of the school day in Chicago. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest national survey of high school students focuses on diet, physical activity, sleep, digital behavior and mental health. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) For more than 35 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has surveyed American high school students every two years about their health and behavior. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, established in 1991, draws a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 at public and private schools. Over the years, it has tracked a broad range of issues affecting teenagers, from substance use and sexual behavior to violence, mental health and other health risks. But the CDC’s latest national report, a full-color publication with photos, graphics and high school success stories, offers a markedly different portrait of adolescent health than the one i...
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TikTok to pay Alabama $116 million in lawsuit settlement

In this 2020 photo illustration, the TikTok app is seen on an Apple iPhone. The company and Alabama settled a lawsuit on Friday that requires the company to prevent children from having access to its site in the evenings starting at midnight. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) The Alabama Attorney General’s Office and TikTok Friday reached a settlement over a state lawsuit that alleged the social media platform addicted children and lied about the safety of its platform. The settlement, coming about a month after the social media platform settled a similar lawsuit with the federal government, requires TikTok to install features that prevent teens from accessing the platform from midnight to 6 a.m. The agreement also requires TikTok to pay $116 million in restitution to the state and establish a $183 million fund for contingency payments, to be released depending on whether other states enter settlement agreements. The consent decree, issued by Montgomery Circuit Judge ...
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States put criminal justice, marijuana policies before voters in 2026

Police officers exit a polling station in New York City. Voters in nine states will decide on 11 ballot measures this fall addressing a variety of criminal justice and drug policies. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Voters in nine states will weigh changes to their criminal legal systems and drug policies this fall. The Nov. 3 ballot measures include questions about pretrial release, fentanyl and human trafficking penalties, immigration enforcement, traffic cameras, drug cartels and marijuana regulation. The measures reflect a recent increase in ballot proposals that would expand criminal penalties or limit opportunities for pretrial release, according to Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan election research organization. From 2012 through 2020, measures proposing to reduce penalties or bail restrictions outnumbered those proposing increases, 11 to five.  Since 2022, all 16 statewide measures in those categories have moved in a more punitive direction, according to Ballotpedia’s analysis...
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Millions of dollars of waste found in Trump administration push for immigration detention

The watchtower of CoreCivic’s former Prairie Correctional Facility, in Appleton, Minn., which will now be used as an ICE detention center, on Aug. 20, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) WASHINGTON — Government investigators Thursday released a report that found the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in federal funding in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that millions were wasted  because DHS began expanding detention operations without putting a plan in place to meet U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s goal of detaining up to 100,000 immigrants.  As the second Trump administration aims to deport 1 million immigrants a year, DHS has rapidly increased the numbers of people in immigration detention after congressional Republicans last year approved roughly $175 billion for immig...
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Democrats gain 4 in US Senate GOP on Iran war resolution, but vote falls short

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Despite skyrocketing fuel prices and sinking approval ratings for President Donald Trump’s conflict in Iran ahead of the November midterms, Senate Republicans blocked Democrats’ efforts Thursday to check the president’s unfettered military action in the Middle East. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., joined Democrats in supporting the House-approved Iran War Powers Resolution.  But the number of Republicans who wanted to curb Trump’s prolonged military action in the Islamic Republic fell short in the final tally of  49-50. While Collins, Murkowski and Paul have supported Iran War Powers Resolutions over the past several months, Thursday’s vote marked the first time the retiring Tillis crossed the aisle on the issue.  The North Carolina Republican announced he would not seek reelection after Trump publicly ...
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Alabama commission approves compensation increases for violent crime victims

The entrance to the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission as seen on Sept. 24, 2026. The agency Thursday approved increases to compensation for violent crime victims. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission Thursday voted to increase the payouts on some claims from victims of violent crimes. Under the administrative code change approved by members at a special meeting, payouts will go up for financial losses, lost wages, and funeral and medical expenses. “I am so excited to do so because we had needed these changes for a long time,” said Darlene Hutchinson, commissioner with ACVCC. The board voted to approve the changes for public comment with the Legislative Services Agency during the meeting in May. The changes will take effect next week. The payouts will increase in steps based on a specified time frame the claims are filed, according to the filings on the Legislative Services Agency website. Victims or their families who fil...
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Judge skeptical of White House ban of 3 news outlets but holds off on ruling for now

The White House, south facing, early on the morning of June 11, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly indicated during a Wednesday hearing he may order the Trump administration to reinstate White House press passes for reporters from three news organizations who had their credentials revoked this weekend.  Kelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said at the beginning of a 45-minute hearing that he is largely bound by circuit court rulings that ensure journalists with White House press passes have due process rights before their access to the complex could be rescinded.  “The government says those cases … were wrongly decided,” Kelly said. “Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t. But certainly as a district judge I have to apply them and I think it is fair to say that the processes that the Circuit Court laid out in those two cases … (weren’t) followed here.” Kelly said at the end of the he...
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