DEI opponents are using a 1866 Civil Rights law to challenge equity policies in the workplace (apnews.com)
Denver set a record for homeless deaths last year, and the mayor plans to stop the trend (www.nbcnews.com)
John Kerry, the US climate envoy, to leave the Biden administration (apnews.com)
Kerry, a longtime senator and secretary of state, was tapped shortly after Joe Biden’s November 2020 election to take on the new role created specifically to fight climate change on behalf of the administration on the global stage....
Grand Canyon University, already fined $37.7M, faces new federal inquiry (ktar.com)
PHOENIX — Another front has opened in the ongoing battle between the federal government and Phoenix-based Grand Canyon University, which already faces a fine of nearly $40 million....
U.S. and Iran Battle Through Proxies, Warily Avoiding Each Other (www.nytimes.com)
For all the fears of an outbreak of fighting in the Middle East that could draw the United States, Israel and Iran into direct combat, a curious feature of the conflict so far is the care taken — in both Tehran and Washington — to avoid putting their forces into direct contact....
‘Black bodies are not for sale’: the battle over an African American cemetery (www.theguardian.com)
Activists fight to stop further development on historic Maryland burial site beneath an apartment complex
A fossil fuel plant is leaving Louisiana families with ‘barely enough water for your toothbrush’ (www.theguardian.com)
No turning back: The largest dam removal in U.S. history begins (www.kpbs.org)
The largest dam removal in U.S. history entered a critical phase this week, with the lowering of dammed reservoirs on the Klamath River....
St. Paul makes history with all-female city council, a rarity among large US cities (apnews.com)
St. Paul, Minnesota, has an all-woman city council for the first time in its history — and experts say it may be the largest U.S. city to ever have an all-woman council.
Bidding wars erupt as 2024 kicks off, with some listings seeing over 30 offers (finance.yahoo.com)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman marries partner Oliver Mulherin in seaside ceremony (www.nbcnews.com)
4 dead, 1 critically hurt in Arizona hot air balloon crash (www.cbsnews.com)
Milwaukee kindergartner left behind on school bus, found honking horn Monday night (www.jsonline.com)
Police said the student was physically unharmed.
Orlando newspaper publishes spread of 673 books banned in Florida county in 2023 (thehill.com)
The Orlando Sentinel published a two-page print spread Thursday listing 673 books that have been removed from classrooms in Orange County in 2023 due to fears they violate the state’s new laws banning “sexual conduct” from public schools....
Feds charge eBay over employees who sent live spiders and cockroaches to couple; company to pay $3M (abcnews.go.com)
The Steiners, the newsletter’s publisher and editor, have also sued the e-commerce giant in federal court, describing how cyberstalking and upsetting deliveries of anonymously sent packages upended their lives....
Three migrants drown at US border as Texas blocked their rescue (www.aljazeera.com)
Texas Military Department barred US border agents from trying to rescue the migrants in the Rio Grande, US officials say.
Crime Scene DNA Didn’t Match Marcellus Williams. Missouri May Fast-Track His Execution Anyway. (theintercept.com)
FELICIA ANNE GAYLE PICUS was found dead in her home, the victim of a vicious murder that devastated her family and rattled her neighbors in the gated community of University City, Missouri, just outside St. Louis. Police suspected a burglary gone wrong. The scene was replete with forensic evidence: There were bloody footprints...
Trump official who OK'd drugs from Canada chairs company behind Florida's import plan (kffhealthnews.org)
The Food and Drug Administration’s unprecedented approval of Florida’s plan to import drugs from Canada was made possible only after Alex Azar, as the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services secretary, certified that bringing medicines over the border could be done safely....
Trump won’t commit to discouraging violence among his supporters (www.independent.co.uk)
Judge denies Rudy Giuliani’s request to extend deadlines in Georgia election case (www.nbcnews.com)
Johnson Says He’ll Stand by Deal to Avert Shutdown, Spurning Hard-Right Demands (www.nytimes.com)
Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that he stood by the spending deal he negotiated with Democrats to avert a government shutdown, spurning demands from ultraconservatives who have pressured him to jettison the agreement....
A California law banning the carrying of firearms in most public places is blocked again (apnews.com)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new California law that bans people from carrying firearms in most public places was once again blocked from taking effect Saturday as a court case challenging it continues....
School district bans the dictionary to comply with Ron DeSantis’s book-ban law (www.lgbtqnation.com)
A Florida school district has literally banned the dictionary in an effort to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s ® book-banning law....
Drug that Trump called a ‘miracle Covid cure’ is linked to 17,000 deaths (www.independent.co.uk)
A drug infamously touted by Donald Trump has been linked to nearly 17,000 Covid deaths in a new scientific study....
Prosecutors to seek death penalty for white supremacist who killed 10 at Buffalo supermarket (apnews.com)
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket.
