5 mins read

5 states offer to accept nuclear waste in exchange for help developing nuclear energy

WASHINGTON | Five states have agreed to accept nuclear waste from around the country in exchange for federal help developing nuclear energy to create thousands of jobs. The states — Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Idaho — all have Republican governors who say they welcome the chance to help America reclaim its leadership in civilian […]

3 mins read

Health officials urge caution for Gulf Coast beachgoers during surge of deadly bacterial infections

BATON ROUGE, La. | Health officials in Louisiana are urging beachgoers to take precautions during a summertime surge in infections from a flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters. Louisiana has confirmed nine cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, the state’s health department said last week in a news release. All were hospitalized, and five […]

3 mins read

Supreme Court rules Rastafari man can’t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks

WASHINGTON | The Supreme Court on Tuesday barred a former Louisiana inmate from suing prison officials who cut off his dreadlocks in violation of his Rastafari religious beliefs. The justices condemned what happened to the former inmate, Damon Landor. But they ruled that a federal law designed to protect the religious rights of inmates does […]

2 mins read

Ketanji Brown Jackson says Supreme Court risks being seen as political after voting rights decision

WASHINGTON | Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said Monday that the Supreme Court risks being seen as political in the wake of a major voting rights decision. She spoke after writing a solo dissent from the court’s decision allowing Louisiana to move quickly to use new maps after the court’s conservative majority struck down a majority-Black […]

2 mins read

Louisiana advances plan to eliminate majority-Black US House district after court ruling

BATON ROUGE, La. | Republican senators in Louisiana advanced a plan Wednesday to eliminate one of two majority-Black, Democratic-held congressional seats following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state’s U.S. House map as an illegal racial gerrymander. The early morning Senate committee vote came after hours of impassioned testimony from Black residents […]

6 mins read

Tennessee lawmakers to vote on new US House map sought by Trump that carves up Memphis

NASHVILLE, Tenn. | Republican lawmakers in Tennessee forged ahead with a plan Thursday that could carve up a majority-Black congressional district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to try to hold on to a slim House majority in the November midterm elections. Protesters shouted “No Jim Crow” outside […]

2 mins read

Chief Justice John Roberts says Supreme Court is not political

HERSHEY, Pa. | Supreme Court justices are not “political actors,” Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday, insisting unpopular court decisions are based solely on the law. “I think, at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, we’re saying we think this is how things should be, as opposed to what the law […]

6 mins read

Tennessee lawmakers to vote on new US House map sought by Trump that carves up Memphis

NASHVILLE, Tenn. | Republican lawmakers in Tennessee forged ahead with a plan Thursday that could carve up a majority-Black congressional district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to try to hold on to a slim House majority in the November midterm elections. Protesters shouted “No Jim Crow” outside […]

2 mins read

Chief Justice John Roberts says Supreme Court is not political

HERSHEY, Pa. | Supreme Court justices are not “political actors,” Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday, insisting unpopular court decisions are based solely on the law. “I think, at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, we’re saying we think this is how things should be, as opposed to what the law […]