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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....

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...

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...

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...

An Amazon warehouse near Newport, Delaware. The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states have sued Amazon over an alleged scheme to inflate advertising prices. (Photo by Jacob Owens/Spotlight Delaware) The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 22 states sued Amazon Monday, claiming the online retail company used artificial bids to inflate costs for advertisers, bringing in tens of billions of dollars. The complaint alleges that Amazon used an “invented auction participant” to drive up prices for advertising placements and sponsored product spots on its online store. The lawsuit quotes a former company employee who said the system allowed the company to charge prices “beyond what [can] be achieved through advertiser competition.” “Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying significantly higher prices,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement. “These higher costs were largely passed on to American consumers.” The complaint says that A...

Vegetables and lettuces at a grocery store in Michigan. A summer of food recalls, including the record-shattering cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands, has raised many Americans’ fears of contracting a foodborne illness. (Photo by Jon King/Michigan Advance) Jalapenos. Frozen berries. Beef. Alfalfa sprouts. A summer of food recalls, including the record-shattering cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands, has raised many Americans’ fears of contracting a foodborne illness. The recalls have focused attention on the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding and staff at several public health agencies, and prompted questions about whether those changes have made consumers more vulnerable. In fact, this year’s tally of food recalls is roughly in line with the numbers in recent years. About 48 million people each year get sick from a foodborne illness. But experts worry that the scope, severity and scale of out...