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Pennsylvania county jails earn millions of dollars detaining immigrants for ICE
BY KATE HUANGPU AND DANIELLE OHL/SPOTLIGHT PA Updated 2:26 PM CDT, April 6, 2026 A group of Pennsylvania counties has billed the federal government more than $21 million in recent years to detain immigrants in their jails, a first-of-its-kind review by Spotlight PA has found. While these agreements predate the second Trump administration by years or even…
How a blind man made it possible for others with low vision to build Lego sets
BY MICHAEL CASEY Updated 8:18 AM CDT, April 6, 2026 NEWTON, Mass. (AP) — Like a lot of young children, Matthew Shifrin loved building Lego sets. But because he was blind, Shifrin had to rely on friends and family to help him complete his creations — sometimes bribing them with tea to get them…
How gender-affirming care is becoming a political test for top medical groups
The country’s largest organization representing doctors is being pressed by Republican attorneys general on health care for trans youth. Orion Rummler April 3, 2026, 5:00 a.m. CT The largest medical association in the United States supports gender-affirming care — a stance it has reiterated in different ways over the last 10 years. But as Republicans press leading…
Warming winters lead to more nitrate pollution in the drinking water near farms
BY MELINA WALLING Updated 8:03 AM CDT, April 1, 2026 When pollution gets bad enough in the rivers supplying Iowa’s largest city with drinking water, it costs Des Moines around $16,000 a day to run a special system to filter out dangerous nitrates. It’s a fact of life in the agriculture-dependent state — and climate change is…
Supreme Court strikes down conversion therapy ban
The justices ruled, 8-1, that the First Amendment prohibits states from using their licensing power to prevent therapists and other professionals from sharing particular views with patients. By JOSH GERSTEIN Updated: 03/31/2026 11:02 AM EDT States can’t ban so-called conversion therapy, aimed at changing a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, the Supreme Court has ruled.…
As wait times soar, Trump mulls deploying National Guard to airports
Trump has already deployed federal immigration officers to airports to assist TSA employees working without pay amid a partial government shutdown. Francesca Chambers Updated March 25, 2026, 11:03 p.m. ET President Donald Trump said he may deploy the National Guard to U.S. airports to ease congestion caused by a partial government shutdown, after already sending…
DOJ says it erroneously relied on ICE memo to justify immigration courthouse arrests
The Justice Department said the memo “does not and has never applied to civil immigration enforcement actions in or near” immigration courts. March 25, 2026, 10:00 PM CDT By Chloe Atkins The Trump administration admitted in a court filing that it had erroneously relied on an ICE memo to justify arrests at immigration courthouses as…
Abortion pills are gaining ground as a method for ending pregnancies, and opponents are responding
BY GEOFF MULVIHILL Updated 8:43 AM CDT, March 24, 2026 As states that already ban abortion look to further restrict access this year, much of the focus is on pills sent by out-of-state providers. A survey released Tuesday helps explain the emphasis. It suggests that more women in states with bans obtained abortions last…
An immigration court few have heard of is quietly shaping policy behind the scenes
MARCH 20, 2026 5:00 AM ET By Ximena Bustillo, Rahul Mukherjee The Trump administration has reshaped a lesser-known corner of the Justice Department to set immigration policy and escalate mass detentions and deportations. An administrative court known as the Board of Immigration Appeals has published a body of immigration case law that significantly narrows the due process and…