Key Takeaways News in Brief The Houston Area Has Had Two Chemical Plant Fires in Two Weeks. Why Do They Keep Happening? Frequent chemical fires in the Houston area signal larger deficiencies in oversight of the chemical industry at both the state and federal levels. Leah Dunlevy
Key Takeaways News in Brief A Chemical Fire in Texas Has Been Extinguished, but Questions Over Safety Linger Public officials and Texas' environmental regulator maintain that the chemicals released in the fire did not pose a health risk. Emily Moon
Footnotes From the Archives News in Brief Why the FDA’s Plan to Regulate Gene Editing in Animals Has Some Scientists Worried The agency's new plan retains several key limitations on animal biotechnology, despite language promoting innovation. Emily Moon
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
News in Brief ‘Soft Target’: How Should Las Vegas Address Its Serious Safety Concerns? After the attack on Sunday night, decision-makers on the Strip will need to consider what new policies they must implement to keep visitors safe. Laura Bliss
News in Brief Are We Properly Dealing With Young Sex Offenders? Our approach to juvenile sex offenders is misguided at best, and harmful at worst. Kate Wheeling
News in Brief Flint Is What Happens When a Small-Government, Anti-Spending Philosophy Rules the Day The crisis in Flint, Michigan, reveals the dangerous downside of treating public safety as just another line item. Jeff Turrentine
News in Brief Should the FDA Regulate Vitamins? Cancer researcher Tim Byers says yes—it's a matter of public safety. Nathan Collins
News in Brief For Juvenile Records, It’s ‘Justice by Geography’ A new study finds an inconsistent patchwork of policies across states for how juvenile records are sealed and expunged. Lauren Kirchner
Social Justice What We Actually Know About the Connections Between Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and Gun Violence A conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Swanson. Lois Beckett