When a witness before Congress declines to affirm something nearly every cardiologist in the country accepts, the moment tends to outlast the hearing. That is what happened June 25, 2026, when Gina Plata-Niño of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) repeatedly would not give a direct answer on whether sugary soda is healthy or...
Introduction Over the July 4 weekend, the busiest travel stretch of the summer, a stretch of Midtown Manhattan around Madison Square Garden is set to go quiet — not for a parade, not for the nation’s 250th birthday, but for what is widely reported to be the wedding of pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas...
Introduction A New York State proposal to tax house flippers is back before lawmakers, reviving a debate over whether short-term real estate speculation drives up home prices in working-class neighborhoods—or whether taxing it is government overreach into a market that depends on private investment to renovate aging housing stock. The End Predatory Home Flipping Act,...
Federal and state agencies are increasingly obtaining Americans’ personal data not by passing new surveillance laws or obtaining warrants, but by purchasing it on the open market. Because the information is bought as a commercial product rather than seized, the practice operates within existing statutes while bypassing the legal process those statutes were designed to...
Across the United States, foster parents are not paid a single flat rate for every child. Reimbursement is layered: states pay a base amount for routine care and progressively higher amounts for children assessed as having greater behavioral, emotional, or medical needs. Those higher tiers — labeled “special,” “exceptional,” “specialized,” or “difficulty of care” depending...
Two of Kroger’s most significant modernization efforts have, until recently, been discussed largely in isolation. One is the rollout of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) — the digital price tags now installed in roughly one in four of the company’s stores nationwide, which let prices be changed instantly from a central computer. The other is Kroger’s...
Across the United States, colleges are discovering that a growing share of the people on their class rosters do not exist. Known as “ghost students,” these are fraudulent or stolen identities used by individuals and organized crime rings to enroll in online courses, claim federal financial aid, and disappear once the money is disbursed. The...
A privately funded inquiry led by independent Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe has reignited debate over how British institutions — including police forces, local councils, and successive governments — responded to organised child sexual exploitation, commonly referred to as the “grooming gangs” scandal. The 219-page document, titled The Rape Gang Inquiry Report, was released on...
Eleven days after California’s June 2 primary, election officials in the nation’s most populous state were still counting ballots. The slow pace drew national attention, a federal review of ballot counting in Los Angeles County, and renewed political attacks on how the state runs its elections. The episode revived a recurring question: is California’s lengthy...
A Collin County, Texas, jury convicted 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony of first-degree murder on June 9, 2026, in the 2025 stabbing death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, then sentenced him the following day to 35 years in prison. The verdict closed a trial that had drawn national attention for more than a year, much of it focused...