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美国国会议员与宗教自由倡导人士星期四(11月20日)在美国国会举行的一场听证会上表示，中国政府正在对境内各宗教团体发动一场“系统性的信仰战争”，不仅侵犯基本人权，也对美国的国家安全构成挑战。

Trophy Club Town Council approves $8.15 million bond sale to pay for infrastructure projects.

Zbardhet kërkesa që qeveria ka dorëzuar sot, më 21 nëntor, në Gjykatën Kushtetuese për shqyrtimin e vendimit të Gjykatës së Posaçme kundër Korrupsionit dhe Krimit të Organizuar (GJKKO), e cila pezulloi nga detyra zv/kryeministren dhe ministren e Infrastrukturës dhe Energjisë, Belinda Balluku, raporton Klan. Në kërkesën e qeverisë theksohet se vendimi i GJKKO-së ka krijuar […]

Over 40 children were adopted across Connecticut on Friday. 'We get to close our case successfully and on a happy note,' a DCF case worker said.

This story was originally published by Capital B. Please sign up for Capital B’s newsletter, which comes out each week, to follow similar stories. The Ohio police officer who shot and killed Ta’Kiya Young was acquitted Friday on all counts, including murder. Young was an excited mom of two little boys, and pregnant with her first daughter, […]

As corporate ownership of residential property across the country rises nationwide, researchers from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Center for Geospatial Solutions, which is housed at the institute, warn this rising trend has complicated the housing market for first-time buyers. According to a joint “Who Owns America” report, nearly 9% of residential […]

This analysis originally ran in New Mexico In Depth’s newsletter. Subscribe here to ensure you don’t miss out on our weekly news and analysis. A federal judge this week granted three nonprofit organizations a temporary restraining order blocking Albuquerque from forcing them to register as political committees—called “Measure Finance Committees” (MFCs)—or comply with rules requiring […]

On Wednesday, five members of the Wheeler Elementary student council learned they would meet “some important people” the following day. They showed up in button-down shirts, dresses, heels and smiles to greet education officials on Thursday afternoon.  The fourth and fifth graders knew two things as they sat in the school library: Their school was […] The post “We work hard” fifth-grader says as her improved school is recognized for better math, reading scores appeared first on AZ Luminaria.

(The Center Square) – As teachers prepare to strike, the Moses Lake School Board moved Thursday to authorize the district to hire temporary replacements and freeze health insurance for any participants. The Moses Lake Educators Association voted last week to strike at a date to be determined if it doesn’t reach an agreement with the Moses Lake School District by Nov. 28. The last union contract expired at the end of August, more than 80 days ago, leaving MLSD teachers without representation for months. The resolution that the board approved Thursday called MLEA’s deadline “arbitrary” and “illegal.” State law prohibits public school employees from striking, but doesn’t specify penalties. Instead, MLSD would have to obtain a court order and hold the teachers and union in contempt if they refused to comply. “The residents of the District and the school-age children in the community will be irreparably injured through the action of [MLEA] and its constituents,” according to the resolution, “[MLSD] is committed to bargaining with [MLEA] and is hopeful that a strike will be avoided.” The officials approved the resolution after a brief explanation without any discussion. Superintendent Carol Lewis said it authorizes her to do a few things, the first being the ability to suspend policies that may limit MLSD operations under a strike. The provision also requires MLSD to promptly notify MLEA. After MLEA voted to strike last week, district officials issued a news release explaining that they may temporarily suspend classes if that were to occur. The board’s resolution authorizes Lewis to close any school facilities and to limit teachers participating in the strike from accessing any district buildings. “The Superintendent of the District is directed to seek legal assistance from the proper authorities to have removed from District property and District buildings any person whose presence thereon is not authorized during the period of withholding services,” according to the resolution approved Thursday. The next clause authorizes Lewis to suspend payments from the district for health insurance premiums for anyone participating in the strike. The resolution also requires those requesting sick leave to obtain a doctor’s “certificate of illness,” or they’ll go without pay and face discipline for “unauthorized leave.” “Unauthorized leave shall constitute a breach of contract and may result in the initiation of discharge procedures or other disciplinary action,” according to the resolution. “Unauthorized leave may include but is not limited to collective refusal to provide service, unauthorized use of sick leave, unauthorized use of other leave benefits, non-attendance at required meetings and failure to perform supervisory functions at school-sponsored activities when such supervisory functions are [contractually] required.” Should teachers walk out next month, Lewis could also temporarily replace them “for as long as may be necessary.” The resolution wraps up by authorizing the district to take all lawful steps available to end the strike, including filing lawsuits against MLEA and individual teachers refusing to come to class. According to several local media reports, the Public School Employees of Moses Lake, another union representing classified employees, announced that it would not take a position on the looming strike. Many of the issues leading up to this were the result of MLSD’s financial crisis following back-to-back levy failures last year. They eventually passed a new levy last February, but only after MLSD realized a $20 million deficit that led the board to lay off more than 250 people, including over 100 MLEA teachers. MLSD also laid off dozens of classified employees, with the remainder now hoping to avoid this crisis. The district cut daily elementary instructional time by 30 minutes, specialist programs and more. The new levy won’t bring in any money until next year, so MLSD is trying to save money anywhere it can. MLEA President Heather Whittall did not respond to a request for comment before publishing on Friday. “No dates have been decided concerning the potential strike,” MLEA posted on Facebook after 90% of its members voted on Nov. 13 to strike. “Based on what happens at the table over the next weeks the MLEA Executive Board has our authorization to [call the] strike and determine when it would begin.”

No policy recommendations were made in the analysis, conducted by the Voting System Technical Oversight Program at Ball State University.

Damage at the Washington state Capitol from vandalism last month could cost nearly $1 million. New estimates released Thursday put the total tab for the Oct. 5 rampage at $623,000 to $914,000 excluding taxes. The biggest cost driver is damage to a historic chenille rug nearly a century old in the state reception room, according […]

The nation’s largest food assistance program was paused beginning in November after the federal government said it would not use emergency funds to pay for the program, even though benefits have continued to flow to states in past shutdowns.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ call for a close reexamination of the 42 million people who receive federal food aid has befuddled advocates and lawmakers, coming mere days after recipients began to see benefits that had been stalled during the government shutdown. Details remain scant a week after Rollins during an interview on the right-wing […]

North Carolina is putting another $2 million toward out-of-school programming for children and families impacted by Hurricane Helene, Gov. Josh Stein’s office said Thursday, expanding access for western summer camps that provide mental health resources. Trillium Health Resources, headquartered in Greenville, will use the money to send children and families to the Henry’s House program […]

Federal changes around vaccine messaging threaten vaccine uptake in Navajo communities and have left medical practitioners who serve this population feeling censored.

Welcome to Episode 1 of  ZimFact Chronicles a series in which  ZimFact, Africa Check and Cartooning For Peace unpack an exciting media literacy resource that will assist in the fight… The post Episode 1 of  ZimFact Chronicles appeared first on ZimFact.

In mid-October, cattle prices surpassed $4 per pound — their highest point in decades, according to Joe Goggins, whose family owns of the Billings Livestock Commission and Public Auction Yard, another facility in Billings. The post A morning at one of the state’s busiest cattle auctions appeared first on Montana Free Press.

Dr. Jay K. Varma is a special contributor to Healthbeat. Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free national newsletter here. While most national attention has focused on the dismantling of public health infrastructure at the federal level, a new law in Idaho may be one of the most consequential. On the surface, the Idaho Medical Freedom Act affirms an individual’s right to bodily autonomy. In practice, its broad language threatens the state’s ability to prevent illness and death from infectious diseases, and, if replicated elsewhere, it could unravel decades of progress in public health. U.S. Constitution delegates public health to state ‘police powers’ Under the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, states are primarily responsible for public health through their “police powers.” The federal government is only permitted to intervene in public health when an issue involves interstate commerce or international borders. The power of states to protect health is vast, including the ability to restrict an individual’s freedom and mandate they receive a medical intervention. In 1905, the Supreme Court’s Jacobson v. Massachusetts decision confirmed that states may compel people to get vaccinated to protect the community from a dangerous infectious disease (in this case, smallpox). The court ruled that individual liberty does not include the right to expose others to harm. Or, as is often said in public health discussion, the right to swing your fist ends where the other person’s nose begins. The Jacobsen decision supports many accepted public health practices that limit one person’s individual freedom in order to protect another person’s safety: requiring vaccination for school attendance, isolating ill people with tuberculosis, quarantining exposed persons during measles or Ebola outbreaks, and mandating masks or other protective equipment for health care workers. What the Idaho Medical Freedom Act does The Idaho Medical Freedom Act prohibits any government or private entity from requiring a “medical intervention,” defined broadly as any procedure, drug, device, or action used to diagnose, prevent, or treat disease. While drafted in response to Covid-era rules, its reach extends far beyond Covid vaccines. The statute bars health departments, employers, and schools from requiring medical interventions unless explicitly mandated by federal law. This includes treatments, testing, vaccination, and any preventive practices that alter “biological function.” In doing so, the law removes public health authority at the state and local level to enforce measures that have long been essential for disease control and occupational safety. A narrow exemption in the law does permit employers to require personal protective equipment if consistent with “traditional and accepted industry standards.” Yet the law excludes vaccines, masks, or any “medical interventions introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.” This language leaves unclear whether respiratory protection like N95 respirators counts as traditional PPE or as prohibited “Covid-era” requirements. The statute also forbids excluding any “healthy” person during a disease outbreak because of vaccination status. This provision directly contradicts standard outbreak management practices, which rely on temporarily excluding people who have been exposed to a disease if they are not immune to that disease. Public health and legal risks of the Idaho Medical Freedom Act Tuberculosis control. Isolation and treatment orders for active tuberculosis could be contested as compelled medical interventions. Preventive therapy for exposed contacts might be viewed as coercive. Hospitals could hesitate to require N95 masks for infectious patients and health care providers, as well as restrict patients to negative-pressure isolation rooms, potentially causing TB outbreaks in health care facilities. Health care infection control. Facilities may face lawsuits for requiring flu vaccines, N95 masks, or testing among staff. The “traditional PPE” clause is vague, leaving health care administrators uncertain whether basic protective standards remain enforceable. Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration rules might override the law, but only after litigation. Outbreak management. Health departments could lose authority to exclude unvaccinated or exposed individuals during outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infections, such as measles and meningococcal disease. As a result, people who are incubating an infectious disease will be permitted to develop and potentially spread that disease. Occupational safety. Laboratories and emergency services may be unable to require hepatitis B vaccination, gloves, or N95 masks unless explicitly mandated by federal law. This creates conflicts with federal occupational health standards and uncertainty for employers seeking to protect workers. Conflicts between federal and state authority to protect health The Idaho law could result in legal challenges on multiple fronts. Prohibiting isolation or exclusion of contagious individuals could violate others’ rights to health and safety under substantive due process. The Tenth Amendment allows states to regulate health but not to obstruct federal laws for infectious disease control. Federal supremacy gives OSHA, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authority to enforce workplace and health care safety rules that pre-empt conflicting state statutes. At the same time, it’s unclear if the current federal administration would pursue these cases, given its negative views of public health interventions. Until courts resolve these conflicts, Idaho’s hospitals, clinics, schools, and employers will operate in legal uncertainty. Some will comply with federal rules and risk violating state law, while others will comply with state law and risk outbreaks. Idaho is choosing to disarm its police powers for health By stripping itself of the authority to require basic infection control, Idaho has weakened both its own government and its private institutions. The Medical Freedom Act’s sweeping ban on medical interventions, ambiguous exemptions for PPE, and prohibition on excluding unvaccinated individuals during outbreaks dismantle standard infectious disease control practices. Public health law balances liberty with the collective right to safety, i.e., the freedom to do something versus the freedom from something. What Idaho calls freedom leaves its citizens less free from infection and less protected from harm. The state has used its police power not to defend public health but to take that power away. Dr. Jay K. Varma is a physician and epidemiologist. An expert in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, he has led epidemic responses, developed global and national policies, and implemented large-scale programs that saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Asia, Africa, and the United States.

När hotet från Etiopien växer samlas delar av den eritreanska oppositionen bakom landets suveränitet – trots sin hårda kritik mot den egna regimen.

Indianapolis police launched a new online transparency portal that lets the public search reports, calls for service and other information about neighborhood policing. The post New IMPD transparency tool makes police data available to public appeared first on Mirror Indy.