FOOTNOTES Archives

A woman sits in the exam room at a Planned Parenthood health center on in West Palm Beach, Florida.

News in Brief

Planned Parenthood Sues the Trump Administration for Proposing Conservative Changes to Its Grant Program

Planned Parenthood sued the Trump administration Wednesday in an effort to block conservative changes to Title X, a family planning grant program.

Ashley Hackett

A Boy Scout salutes the American flag at on July 31st, 2015, outside Payson, Utah.

News in Brief

The Boy Scouts Changes Its Name to Scouts BSA

The Boy Scouts of America is changing the name of its older youth program from Boy Scouts to Scouts BSA, the organization announced today.

Elena Gooray

Chicago Police guard evidence near a murder scene in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on July 27th, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois.

News in Brief

Chicago Police Department Fails to Flag People Considered Mentally Unfit to Carry a Gun

In a city that has continually pushed for stricter gun laws, the Chicago Police Department has routinely failed to flag people whom it considers mentally unfit to legally carry a gun.

Ashley Hackett

An immigrant woman takes her daughter to school before going to work on February 9th, 2018, in Miami, Florida.

News in Brief

Federal Officials Have Lost Track of Nearly 1,500 Migrant Children

The Department of Health and Human Services lost track of nearly 1,500 migrant children that it placed with sponsors in the United States, a top official with HHS told Congress on Thursday.

Ashley Hackett

A phytoplankton bloom in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman (upper right).

Environment

Underwater Robots Identify a Vast Dead Zone in the Gulf of Oman

Researchers found a nearly oxygen-less dead zone the size of Florida in the Arabian Sea.

Rebecca Worby

Prisons have no incentive to pay inmates better—to the contrary. Unlike workers in the free market, who (theoretically, anyway) can weigh factors like pay, working conditions, and other benefits when deciding where to work, inmates do not have a choice between employers. If they need the money, or the experience, they must take or leave what the prison is offering.

Social Justice

Thousands of Privately Owned Companies Are Profiting From the U.S. Prison System

A report released by the Corrections Accountability Project this week exposes over 3,100 corporations—including over 2,500 privately traded companies—that profit from the U.S. prison system.

Ashley Hackett

Environment

A Developer Wants to Build Hundreds of Homes in a Houston Floodplain

The Houston City Council approved a developer's plan to build hundreds of homes in a floodplain. But future flooding is all but inevitable.

Rebecca Worby

People gather to protest President Donald Trump's travel ban in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, on April 25th, 2018, in Washington, D.C.

News in Brief

The Supreme Court Could Soon Endorse Trump’s Travel Ban

After nearly 15 months of legal battles, Supreme Court justices finally appear poised to endorse President Trump's third and most narrow travel ban.

Ashley Hackett

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrest an undocumented Mexican immigrant during a raid in New York City on April 11th, 2018.

Social Justice

ICE Arrests 225 People in a Six-Day New York Raid

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested 225 individuals in a potent six-day raid in New York, a declared sanctuary city.

Ashley Hackett

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson testifies before the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Capitol Hill April 18th, 2018, in Washington, DC.

Economics

HUD Secretary Proposes Steep Rent Increases for Americans in Federally Subsidized Housing

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson plans to propose rent increases of up to 300 percent for low-income households, the Washington Post reports.

Kate Wheeling